McGILL UNIVERSITY SENATE Memorandum TO: Senate Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal Academic Room 504, James Administration Building Tel: 514 398 4177 Fax: 514 398 4768 FROM: Prof. Christopher. P Manfredi, Provost and Vice-Principal Academic, and Chair of the Academic Policy Committee SUBJECT: Annual Report of the Academic Policy Committee (2015-16) DATE: October 19, 2016 DOCUMENT #: D16-09 ACTION INFORMATION APPROVAL/DECISION REQUIRED: ISSUE Annual report of activities for 2015-2016 and statement of the committee s plans and priorities for 2016-2017, as required by Senate. BACKGROUND & RATIONALE As a standing committee of Senate, the Academic Policy Committee is required to report annually to Senate on the committee s activities of the past year and on its plans and priorities for the upcoming year. APC also presents regular reports to every meeting of Senate. Full summaries of approval can be found on APC s webpage: http://www.mcgill.ca/apc/approvals. PRIOR CONSULTATION SUSTAINABILITY CONSIDERATIONS The annual report was reviewed by APC on October 13 th, 2016. N/A IMPACT OF N/A DECISION AND NEXT STEPS MOTION OR N/A RESOLUTION FOR APPROVAL APPENDICES Appendix A: Annual Report of the Academic Policy Committee (2015-16)
D16-09 Appendix A McGill University Academic Policy Committee Annual Report 2015/2016 Academic Policy Committee - Terms of Reference The Academic Policy Committee ( the Committee ) is a Standing Committee of Senate charged with making recommendations to Senate on all matters regarding academic policy. In particular, it shall, for the University and in consultation with faculties, develop proposals for the establishment and continuous review of academic programs, policies and structures, and proposals relating to teaching, learning, and research. The Committee may create subcommittees or working groups to deal with issues as appropriate. The Committee shall review academic course and program proposals in order to determine whether they meet academic standards and are aligned with the academic mission and priorities of the University, whether they are based on an adequate body of knowledge, whether proposed teaching or learning methods and methods of evaluation of student performance are satisfactory, and whether the necessary human and material resources are in place. Membership in 2015/2016 Provost, Chair C. Manfredi Ex-officio Associate Provost Policies, Procedures A. Campbell Ex-officio and Equity, Vice Chair Deputy Provost (Student Life and O. Dyens Ex-officio Learning) Chair, Subcommittee on Courses and Teaching Programs (SCTP) Chair, Subcommittee on Teaching and Learning (STL) Associate Provost, Graduate Education J. Nalbantoglu Ex-officio Dean, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Chair, Council of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (CGPS) Associate Vice-Principal (Research and A. Maioni Ex-officio International Relations) Chair, Subcommittee on Continuing Education (SCE) Dean of Continuing Studies J. Potter Ex-officio Dean of Libraries or delegate C. Cook/C. Urbain Ex-officio Director, Teaching and Learning Services (TLS) L. Winer Ex-officio 1
Board of Governors representative S. McDougall 2016 Faculty representatives: Faculty of Agricultural and M. Scott 2017 Environmental Sciences Faculty of Arts E. Lewis 2018 Faculty of Dentistry B. Nicolau 2017 Faculty of Education A. Asghar 2017 Faculty of Engineering R. Chromik 2017 Faculty of Law L. Khoury 2017 Desautels Faculty of Management E. Sarigöllü 2017 Faculty of Medicine T. Hebert 2017 Schulich School of Music W. Caplin 2018 Faculty of Religious Studies I. Henderson 2016 Faculty of Science T. Western 2017 SSMU Vice-President, University Affairs C. Rourke 2016 Undergraduate Student E. Sobat 2016 Undergraduate Student C. MacArthur 2016 Graduate Student X. St-Denis 2016 MacDonald Campus Student M. Rouleau 2016 representative Continuing Education Student Voice but no vote: University Registrar and Director of G. Varela Vallespi K. Massey 2016 Ex-Officio Enrolment Services Secretary: Academic Program Officer J. Degans/V. Arshad Ex-officio A. Summary of 2015-2016 activities Meeting dates: September 17 th, 2015; October 8 th and 29 th, 2015; November 19 th, 2015; December 10 th, 2015; January 14 th, 2016; February 4 th and 18 th, 2016; March 17 th and 31 st, 2016, April 21 st 2016; May 12 th, 2016. Full annual summaries on APC s activities and SCTP/CGPS/APC/Senate/Board approvals (with all reference details) can be consulted at: http://www.mcgill.ca/apc/approvals. 1. Course and teaching program approvals: 2015-2016 2014-2015 2013-2014 2012-2013 New programs 24 18 34 33 Program retirements 16 13 12 18 Major program revisions 9 7 22 6 Minor program revisions 92 124 147 178 New courses 186 200 227 266 2
Revised courses 319 240 315 490 Courses deletions 121 103 1191 123 2. International Education: student exchange programs (approved by APC) APC reviewed and approved: Eight faculty-wide exchange agreements with: - Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPCM), Paris VI, France - Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV, France - Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium - Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany - Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain - University of Iceland - University of Helsinki, Finland Two faculty-specific exchange agreements, as follows: - between the McGill School of Architecture and Tongji University, Shanghai, China. - between the McGill Faculty of Religious Studies and the Rangjung Yeshe Institute, University of Katmandu, Nepal. 3. Policies and standards APC reviewed and approved the following - Changes to the APC composition and membership - Transfer Credit Policy - Revisions to the Subcommittee on Teaching and Learning terms of reference - Revisions to the nomination guidelines for the Lifetime Achievement Award for leadership in Learning (LAALL) - Revisions to the Regulations concerning the investigation of research misconduct - Proposal for a grading scheme for Professional Development Certificates - Revisions to the nomination guidelines for the Principal s Prize for Excellence in Teaching (PPET) - Revisions to the Regulations on Graduate Students Supervision - Revisions to the Regulations on Graduate Research Progress Tracking - Changes to the admission of former students Policy - Changes to the time limitation Policy - Statement of Academic Freedom - Guidelines for developing a research portfolio - Program retirement and reinstatement process 3
4. Academic Entities New entities: 6 - The McGill Cystic Fibrosis Translational Research Centre - The McGill Space Institute - The Institute for Human Development and Wellbeing - The McGill University Research Centre on Complex Traits - The McGill School of Public Policy - The McGill Centre for Islam and Science Renaming: 1 - From the McGill Centre for the Study of Reproduction to the McGill Centre for Research in Reproduction and Development. Changes of status: 1 - Faculty of Religious Studies turned into the School of Religious Studies, housed within the Faculty of Arts. 5. Academic Unit Reviews In accordance with McGill s Regulations on Academic Unit Reviews, the documents pertaining to cyclical reviews of the following academic units were made available to APC: - Department of Biomedical Engineering - Department of Biology - Department of Microbiology and Immunology - Faculty of Law - McGill Institute for the Study of Canada - Languages and Intercultural Communications - Department of English - Department of History and Classical Studies - Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry 6. APC Subcommittee on Teaching and Learning (STL) - STL revised its terms of reference and membership to include specific references to policies as well as the notion of looking at trends and issues in higher education such as assessment and online education. - Terms of reference were written for the STL Online Education Working Group, which has the mandate to assess whether McGill could be its own general contractor on the project to launch online graduate education program, or if it will need a partner. - STL revised the nomination guidelines for both the Principal s Prize for Excellence in Teaching and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Learning. - STL followed up on the McGillX initiative, the recent changes to the Mercury website, and the achievements of the Teaching and Learning Spaces Working Group and the University Teaching Labs Working Group. 4
7. APC Subcommittee on Courses and Teaching Programs (SCTP) In addition to its regular review of courses and teaching programs proposals, SCTP also developed two new processes, to retire obsolete and low enrolment courses, and to reinstate retired programs. Both were approved by SCTP on April 21 st, 2016. Changes to the reporting sequence for new graduate level courses and programs were made: in December 2015, GPS decided to only review and approve proposals for new graduate level programs, prior to their review by ES or SCTP. Proposals for new Graduate level courses have been approved by Enrolment Services on behalf of SCTP since then. 8. Research Advisory Council (RAC) RAC received three applications for status as an officially recognized McGill research Centre: - The Institute for Human Development and Wellbeing (IHDW Faculty of Education), which was endorsed by RAC on September 28 th, 2015. The IHDW received its official McGill status at a meeting of the Board of Governors on February 11 th, 2016. - The McGill Research Centre for Complex Traits (MRCCT- Faculty of Medicine), which was approved by RAC on November 17 th, 2015. The MRCCT received its official McGill status at a meeting of the Board of Governors on February 11 th, 2016. - The McGill Centre on Islam and Science (MCIS- Faculty of Arts), which was approved by RAC on April 26 th, 2016. The creation of the MCIS was approved by Senate on September 21 st, 2016 and will be submitted to the Board of Governors shortly. RAC reviewed and approved revisions to the Regulations concerning the investigation of research misconduct in September 2015. Those revisions were approved by the Board of Governors on February 11 th, 2016. RAC has also started working on revisions to the Regulations on the Conduct of Research and the Intellectual Property (IP) Policy. Consultations on the proposed revisions will continue in 2016/17. 9. Council of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (CGPS) CGPS reviewed and approved the following: - A Joint Doctoral Degree between McGill University and Université de Strasbourg, France - Two Joint Doctoral Degrees between McGill University and Université de Bordeaux, France - A Joint Doctoral Degree between McGill University and Université Claude Bermard Lyon I, France CGPS also reviewed and approved the following regulations and policies: - Regulations on Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking - Regulations on Graduate Student Supervision - Reinstatement and Readmission of Former Students - Time Limitation 5
10. APC Subcommittee on Continuing Education (SCE) SCE worked on the following issues: - Assessing the current continuing education activities throughout the university. The Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences were invited to present their units offerings in terms of continuing education (April 14 th, 2016). - Collecting data on continuing education at McGill via the common reporting template they created in 2014/2015. - Discussing whether or not its membership should be broadened to include representatives from all the units offering continuing activities at McGill, as well as a representative from Teaching and Learning Services 11. APC Subcommittee on Professional Programs (SPP) The Subcommittee on Professional Programs did not meet in 2015/2016. Its activities have been suspended while a working group spearheaded by Prof. Lara Khoury is reviewing the subcommittee s mandate and composition at the request of the Provost and Vice-Principal Academic. B. APC plans and priorities for 2015/2016 APC will continue its work reviewing and approving course and program changes as they arise. 1. Academic Unit Reviews In 2016/2017, the following academic units will be undergoing a cyclical unit review: - Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures - Department of Mathematics and Statistics - Institute for the Study of International Development - Department of Geography - School of Information Studies - Department of Ophthalmology - School of Occupational and Physical Therapy - McGill Writing Centre - Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology - Department of Music Research - Department of Animal Science - Department Of Family Medicine The review of the following administrative units will also be conducted: - Human Resources - Enrolment Services - Rare books and special collections/osler Library/ Visual Art Collection/ Archives and Record Management 6
2. Graduate Studies CGPS will be discussing thesis evaluation. New Graduate Programs proposals will be considered as they arise. GPS expects to receive proposals from Quantitative Life Sciences, Oncology and Dentistry. 3. Teaching and learning STL will work on the following issues: - Online education - Enhancing student engagement - Streamlining communication with instructors - Recognizing and rewarding teaching - Developing students learning skills 4. Research matters for APC consideration RAC s workplan includes: - finalization of the Regulations on the Conduct of Research and the Intellectual property (IP) Policy - consultation on the Conflict of Interest Policy, the Asset Management Project Research Equipment ( Procurement, IT) and the Indirect Costs Procedures. RAC will also look at proposals to establish new Research Centres as they arise and review the status of provisional Research Centres as necessary. 5. Professional Programs APC is planning to restructure the Subcommittee on Professional Programs to readjust its composition and refocus its mandate, especially on professional accreditation. A new Chair will be appointed once APC approves the revised terms of reference. 6. Continuing Education A new Chair for the Subcommittee on Continuing Education will be nominated by APC. The Subcommittee will then continue to: - Distribute and complete the reporting template by all units offering Continuing Education activities at McGill - Reach out to units not represented on the Subcommittee to obtain data on their continuing education activities - summarize and analyze those data 7