Hello my fellow engineering undergraduates! It is my pleasure to present to you all the first Senate report of the term. There has been much going on since I was elected so here is a summary of the main issues that were addressed over the past two meetings.
The first item of interest was the university’s 2013-2014 operating expense budget. Geoff McBoyle of the Finance Committee presented the budget and explained some of the challenges encountered during preparation (one of which was the ongoing changes to the tuition framework). Senate considered some points that were made during a short discussion and then heard a motion to endorse the budget to the Board of Governors. The motion carried. At the June 4 Board of Governors meeting, the budget was approved. Details of the budget can be seen on page 48 of the agenda package for the May 21st Senate meeting.
It should be noted that this budget was prepared and presented with the acknowledgement that additional fees would need to be charged to student accounts during the term in accordance with the new tuition framework. As the representative to the undergraduate engineering students, I voted for the motion to recommend this budget. Being a student who takes an active interest in university activity and policy, I was aware that the university was waiting for the Provincial Government’s approval of the new tuition framework so that they could collect the rest of this term’s fees. I didn’t see a problem with this, as it would result in lower fees overall compared to what the old framework would have advised. However, I was disappointed in how the university handled the situation in regards to communication with students. A large number of the undergraduate representatives at Senate, including myself, collectively issued a statement at the most recent Senate meeting to voice our concerns.
Our main concern was regarding the damage that was done to the relationship between the students and the institution, something that we as a group consider fundamental to the university’s image and success. Going forward, we stated that we would like to see a review of practices in such communications with students as well as student involvement in these reviews, the publication of the revised practices, and a plan to avoid mid-term fee adjustments in the future. Our opinions and requests were met with agreement at the meeting, and I look forward to seeing where this takes us after the summer break.
Moving on, another major item that was addressed was the University Strategic Plan. As the plan had been revised shortly before the May 21 meeting of Senate, the latest version had not yet been circulated to the members. An electronic vote was held later in the week to allow all senators to read the material. The motion to recommend the strategic plan to the Board of Governors carried, however it was not approved at the June 4 meeting. The Board of Governors felt that the plan had too many proposed areas of improvement with no clear priorities as well as no process to quantitatively measure success in achieving objectives outlined in the plan. They requested that the plan be adapted to suit their recommendations, after which they would hold a special meeting of the board to approve the changes.
The university is now faced with making delicate choices. A strategic plan with a few high impact items is very strong and can be used to differentiate the University of Waterloo from its rivals. Items that would foster this differentiation include focus on entrepreneurship as well as experiential learning (ie. co-op). However, refining the plan would also disenfranchise certain groups of people, and cause the university to lose its strong connection to many of its key stakeholders (for example, students who are not in the co-operative education program). It was decided, however, that the student experience is of the utmost importance and that one thing that should continue to be focused on is the student environment. As the strategic plan is modified and re-presented, I will keep the student body notified to the best of my ability.
As far as admissions go, senate was informed at the June 17 meeting that admissions this year had yielded a higher amount of confirmations than had been anticipated, meaning that, this Fall term, there will be many more first years than the university has seen in the past. Roughly 6500 students are expected to attend UW in the fall whereas the university’s goal was only 6000 (+ 8.5% overall – interestingly enough, engineering admissions actually fell 4%, making it the only faculty that didn’t show an increase). This could pose a problem in regards to residence space, lab time slots, and co-op competition. These issues are to be addressed in the coming months, and are already underway with the opening of the new Waterloo Central Place residence.
The IT department also presented their five-year strategic plan to Senate mentioning specific changes that included improved cellphone/tablet capabilities, higher email security, and better access to teaching aids.
All of the Senate material can be found posted at https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/governance/senate. Senate does not meet in July or August, but if anyone has anything they would like to discuss with me, please don’t hesitate to contact me at allyson.francis@uwaterloo.ca.
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