Ninth Report of the University and Academic Affairs Coordinator

AGM

Here's my report to the annual general meeting. It's been a very busy, active year to date. Below I've summarized the key events.

Equity Commissioner

A proposal for a PGSS Equity Commissioner went to Council in December and was very well received. The first reading of the relevant constituional amendments happened in February, and the second reading will be presented to the AGM. The role of the equity commissioner will be to chair the committee for graduate student support, and to chair a society committee on equity. This part of the university affairs portfolio tends to be demanding in terms of both time and energy, and the addition of someone to chair the CGSS will go a long way to reducing the burden.

Supervision Seminars and other workshops

In the fall we held two workshops on working with your supervisor, and these were well attended. In addition, we hosted a set of workshops on funding applications in cooperation with the fellowships office. I'm hoping to organize a set of workshops this spring that will address the pragmatics of thesis writing.

Supervisor Evaluations

After four years of intense lobbying on the part of the PGSS, the FGSR has implemented a protocol for students to evaluate the quality of graduate supervision and support in their departments. While the protocol will produce only aggregate departmental data, to protect both the anonymity of students, and the professors' precious tenure files :-(, I'm very pleased to see the fruits of our labour pass senate. The protocol is on a three year trial basis, and there will be opportunities to address any problems that arise. Expect to see the evaluation forms in your department in the late spring.

Academic Integrity

Last month Council passed a a society policy statement on academic integrity. My goal is to involve the society in a higher level of advocacy for maintaining the integrity of academic programs at the university. We play an important role in this challenge because we are both students and teachers. It is especially important that everyone understands what constitutes plagiarism and the potentially disastrous consequences of being accused of it. This month's hot topic on the PGSS web page addresses these issues. Take the time to peruse the online resources there.

Senate

On February 14, Senate very nearly passed a PGSS- and SSMU-initiated resolution to allow students to defer their exams to attend the People's Summit in concert with the Free Trade Area of the America's Summit. The debate over this issue was the liveliest I've seen in the two years I've been on senate. I will likely have more to report on this issue at the AGM. Also passed by senate this year: a recommendation to require a two-thirds majority for the awarding of honourary degrees, the supervisor evaluations protocol, and the intellectual property policy.

Intellectual Property

The oft-maligned IP policy finally passed Senate in January after a long and difficult consultation that lasted over two years. The final version of the policy included important clauses simultaneously protecting the University's interests in the commercialization process and the inventor's right to walk away from the table. While the policy excludes students with respect to their own inventions, it has yet to be put to the test as to when a thesis supervisor also qualifies as a co-inventor on a student's work. We will be watching this closely over the next few years to see where it leads.

Daycare

This fall the Academic Issues committee conducted some preliminary research on daycare availability on campus. A busy schedule has forced me to put off plans to run a survey among grad students concerning daycare needs. Our preliminary results suggest that daycare slots on or near campus are the limiting factor for student parents.

Restructuring Graduate Faculty Council

The Task Force on Restructuring Graduate Faculty Council is in the midst of preparing its recommendations on a smaller council structure and also addressing the question of whether there should be a FGSR at all. Expect to hear more about this in the coming month or two.

Dean's Honour List

In late October the Graduate Studies Policy committee voted to do away with the Dean Honour List. I would be very interested to hear your feedback on this contentious decision.

Fee Increases

On the same day as the AGM we will probably discover that Student Services plans to hike our fee by $11 per year. Last month SSMU President Wojtek Baraniak and myself brought a request to the Budget Planning Group for the university to cover part of the student services deficit. We are still hoping that part of the $11 fee will be reduced. Note also that additional session students will likely soon be paying a mandatory student services fee set at 30% of the total.

Feedback

As always, I can be reached by email at academic@pgss.mcgill.ca. Feel free to contact me with any and all of your feedback.

February Meetings

Robert Sim, UAC