Report: UTSC Academic Affairs Committee - January 13, 2021

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Via Virtual Meeting

THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SCARBOROUGH CAMPUS COUNCIL
 REPORT NUMBER 48 OF THE UTSC ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

January 13, 2021
 


To the Campus Council,
University of Toronto Scarborough,

Your Committee reports that it met on January 13, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. in a virtual meeting, with the following members present:

Present: Sonja Nikkila (Chair), Shadi Dalili (Vice-Chair), Wisdom Tettey (Vice President and Principal), William A. Gough (Vice-Principal Academic & Dean ), Bernie Kraatz (Vice-Principal, Research), Jamie Donaldson (Vice-Dean, Recruitment, Enrolment and Student Success), Katie Larson (Vice-Dean, Teaching, Learning & Undergraduate Programs), Mary Silcox (Vice-Dean, Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies), Grace Skogstad (Interim Associate Vice-Principal, Research - Strategic Initiatives), Sandra Bamford, Glenn Brauen, Corinne Beauquis, Shelley Brunt, Christine Bolus-Reichert, Radhapriya Chawla, Curtis Cole, George Cree, Jessica Fields, Sarah Guay, Alen Hadzovic, Paula Hastings, Margaret Kohn, Patricia Landolt, Daniel Lysak, Parsa Mahmud, Gillian Mason, Juvenal  Ndayiragije, Laura Risk, Paulina Rousseau, Phil Triadafilopoulos, Jessica Wilson, Liana Williams, Betel Woldu, Xiaoyu Yuan

Non-Voting Assessors: Annette Knott, Hugh Laurence, Varsha Patel, Shelby Verboven

In Attendance: Leslie Chan, Christopher Cochrane, Genevieve Dewar, Naureen Nizam

Regrets: Rakiya Abdullahi, Syed Ahmed, George Arhonditsis, Suzanne Erb, Jacob Koudys, April Franco, Barry Freeman, John Hannigan, Angela Hamilton, Thembela Kepe, Neil ten Kortenaar, Brenda Librecz, Andrew Mason, Michael Molloy, Karen McCrindle, Silma Roddau, Natalie Rothman, Larry Sawchuk, Sonja Sedivy, Michael Souza, Changmiao Yu

Secretariat: Emma Thacker (Secretary), Cindy Ferencz-Hammond


OPEN SESSION

  1. Chair’s Remarks

    The Chair, Professor Sonja Nikkila, welcomed members and guests to the virtual meeting. She noted for members that the closed captioning option was now available through the virtual meeting. 
     
  2. Minor Modifications: Undergraduate Curriculum Change – Humanities

    The Chair invited Professor Katie Larson, Vice-Dean, Teaching, Learning and Undergraduate Programs, to present the item. Professor Larson explained that the new courses were proposed to be taught in the 2021-2022 academic year. The curriculum changes were from the Departments of English (3 new courses; 1 course change), Historical and Cultural Studies (8 new courses), Language Studies (2 new courses; 2 course changes) and Philosophy (2 new courses).

    On motion duly made, seconded, and carried,

    YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED,

    THAT the proposed Humanities undergraduate curriculum changes for the 2021-22 academic     year, as detailed in the respective curriculum reports, be approved.

    Members had no questions. 
     
  3. Minor Modifications: Undergraduate Curriculum Change - Sciences 

    The Chair invited Professor Katie Larson, Vice-Dean, Teaching, Learning and Undergraduate Programs, to present the item. Professor Larson explained that the new courses were proposed to be taught in the 2021-2022 academic year. The curriculum changes were from the Department of Psychology and included 1 new course and 2 course changes.

    On motion duly made, seconded, and carried,

    YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED,

    THAT the proposed Sciences undergraduate curriculum changes for the 2021-22 academic year,     as detailed in the respective curriculum reports, be approved.

    Members had no questions. 
     
  4. Minor Modifications: Undergraduate Curriculum Change – Social Sciences 

    The Chair invited Professor Katie Larson, Vice-Dean, Teaching, Learning and Undergraduate Programs, to present the item. Professor Larson explained that the new courses were proposed to be taught in the 2021-2022 academic year. The curriculum changes were from the Departments of Anthropology (1 new course), Human Geography (1 new course), and Political Science (1 new course; 1 course change), and from the Centre for Critical Development Studies (3 new courses; 2 program changes; 2 course changes).

    On motion duly made, seconded, and carried,

    YOUR COMMITTEE APPROVED,

    THAT the proposed Social Sciences undergraduate curriculum changes for the 2021-22 academic     year, as detailed in the respective curriculum reports, be approved.

    Members had no questions. 
     
  5. Minor Modifications: Undergraduate Curriculum Change Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences

    The Chair reported that the item was information only, and that the minor modifications were smaller ‘house-keeping’ items that did not impact program and course learning outcomes, or mode of delivery. Members had no questions for Professor Katie Larson, Vice-Dean, Teaching, Learning and Undergraduate Programs. 
     
  6. UTSC Sessional Dates, 2021-2022

    The Chair invited Dr. Curtis Cole, UTSC Registrar & Assistant Dean Enrollment Management, to present the item for information. Dr. Cole provided an overview of the sessional dates for 2021-22, which included information about the examination periods and reading weeks. 

    A member asked if any of the sessional date changes that had been implemented due to COVID-19 would continue. Dr. Cole responded that the dates had returned to their typical format and that changes due to the pandemic would be considered as needed in the future. 
     
  7. Report of the Presidential Assessors 

    The Chair invited Professor William A. Gough, Vice-Principal Academic & Dean to present his Report. Professor Gough thanked the faculty and staff, whose dedicated work had enabled the continuation of the academic mission. He acknowledged that the pandemic was taking a toll on all members of the community, and he encouraged members and guests to seek support as needed. 

    Professor Gough commented that the COVID-19 landscape was dynamic and changed frequently. He explained that the winter session planning was cautious, and as such did not require extensive adjustments with the recent declaration of restrictions announced by the Province. Some in-person teaching was permitted for a select number of courses that could not be offered online. These courses would be made available in subsequent sessions for those who chose not, or could not enrol. While the vaccine distribution had begun across the country, rollout would take some time, and as such some level of restrictions are anticipated for the summer session. Details regarding the summer session would be announced no later than mid-March. It was too early to be able to provide clear plans regarding the upcoming academic year (2021-2022). 

    Professor Gough shared for information and feedback, the details of a proposal to modify the administrative processes of the UTSC Campus Curriculum Committee. This initiative was led by Professor Katie Larson, Vice-Dean, Teaching, Learning and Undergraduate Programs. Professor Gough explained that timelines for curriculum change proposals were currently not ideal. The goal of the changes were to provide more time for robust consultation and to prepare for the upcoming governance meeting. It was proposed to suspend the current structure and relaunch the UTSC Campus Curriculum Committee in the Fall of 2021. The relaunched Committee would include representation from every department, who would be asked to present an overview of the proposed curriculum changes. 

    Professor Gough provided some information regarding the longer term planning for online and hybrid course approvals. Guidelines were under development to ensure there were administrative processes in place for Fall 2021 course delivery. 

    Members had no questions. 
     
  8. Report of the Previous Meeting: Report Number 47 – October 22, 2020 

    The report of the previous meeting was approved.
     
  9. Business Arising from the Report of the Previous Meeting

    There was no business arising from the report of the previous meeting.
     
  10. Date of Next Meeting - Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 3:10 p.m.

    The Chair advised members that the Committee would meet again on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 3:10 p.m. 
     
  11. Other Business

    Members had no questions. 

The meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m.

January 20, 2021