BRANDON UNIVERSITY General Faculty Council September 20, 2013
1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Agenda: September 20, 2013 3. Approval of Minutes: September 7, 2012
4. Introduction of New Faculty and Staff Dean of Arts, Dr. Bruce Strang • Dean of Education, Dr. Heather Duncan • Dean of Health Studies, Dr. Dean Care • Dean of Science, Dr. Andrew Egan • Acting Dean, School of Music, William Gordon • Vice-President (Administration and Finance), Scott Lamont • President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Deborah Poff • Vice-President (Academic and Provost), Dr. Gervan Fearon •
5. New Business: a) Election of Vice-Chair b) Election of Secretary
Order of Felis rufus The Order of Felis rufus is an honour society that recognizes those individuals whose distinguished work helps promote the quality and excellence of Brandon University.
Order of Felis rufus Presentation by Dr. Heather Duncan Dean, Faculty of Education: Donna Forsyth, Teacher Education • Daryle McCannell, Physical Education • Presentation by Dr. Andrew Egan Dean, Faculty of Science: William Gallaway, Biology • Betty Peloquin, Dean of Science Office •
S ENIOR A DMINISTRATION U PDATES a) Family Housing (D. Poff) b) Internal Fundraising Campaign (D. Poff) c) Budget Presentation to COPSE (D. Poff/S. Lamont/G. Fearon) d) Program Review (G. Fearon)
Protecting the Core Advancing the Mission • Last year we shared our accomplishments as we entered the 3 rd year of our strategic plan BUILD (Brandon University: Innovation, Leadership and Development); • This year, we did an update on what we have accomplished so far and what we have still to do; • We shared this update with the BU Community, our Board of Governors, our Alumni through Alumni News and more broadly to all of our various stakeholders; • We included the midpoint update with you in the budget estimates document that was sent to you on Friday. We are proud of our accomplishments to date which were achieved with very limited resources.
As part of the context to consider for this year’s budget cycle, we would to briefly remind you about what happened last year • Our planning exercise assumed the 3 rd year of 5% increase to our base budget that the provincial government committed to the post-secondary system, plus CPI increase to tuition; • The 2.5% increase that we actually received created an approximate $1 million problem in balancing our budget; • Our unfunded pension liability payment came in much lower than we had anticipated making available approximately $1 million.
The Consequences We were able to survive intact with little ability to be creative but with the ability to PROTECT THE CORE of Brandon University’s fundamental services, including curriculum and critical teaching needs, and continue to implement some elements of our BUILD plan.
Protecting the Core Advancing the Mission By “protecting the core” we mean that our fundamental challenge in this budget cycle and the subsequent two years is not to erode the central mandate of Brandon University as an institution with a strong liberal education foundation in sciences, social sciences, humanities, fine and creative arts and professional programs. By “advancing the mission” we mean continuing on our path of development according to our BUILD plan which includes the establishment of new graduate and undergraduate degrees. We believe that we will face significant challenges in both of these areas in the next three year budget cycle.
Going Forward: Creating “a sustainable, accountable” plan for Brandon University as part of Manitoba’s post -secondary education system Among this year’s budget tasks, we have been asked by COPSE to provide: • “a detailed assessment of the impact (including number of programs, teaching and non-teaching staff, and enrollments) of holding the 2014/15 to 2016/17 grants to post- secondary institutions at the 2013/14 levels”; and • “plans to reallocate resources within the institution to higher priority programs and/or services”.
While clearly we intend to address all of the other items addressed to Brandon University, we would like to focus on these two items because they pose such a critical challenge for us. As well, we would like to address questions raised in a complementary letter on three year program plans because the challenges in that document work synergistically with our budget letter.
Multi-Year (3 Year) Program Planning We quote the following: • “…where both new funding for programs and increases to base operating grants are limited and the demographics indicate low or flat growth in enrolments, the value of considering program expansion in isolation is problematic.” • “a more comprehensive view…is being introduced to allow institutions to include plans that will/could involve targeted program growth as well as contraction and termination of program areas.” • “we are entering into a time of potential program adjustment.” It notes that this is happening across the country.
• “COPSE will be considering program proposals that include contractions and terminations in addition to those for new or expanded programs.” • “new targeted funding may become available…no guarantee” • “institutions will need to continue or, in some cases develop, alternative resourcing strategies which may include reallocation of funds which become available through the discontinuation of other programs”
Brandon University’s Particular Challenges • Approximately 90 percent of our budget is dedicated to staff and faculty despite a very marginal level of staff in a number of areas; • Our BUFA Collective Agreement requires a lengthy time horizon to contract or eliminate programs with commitments to members that extend beyond program offerings; • Our unfunded pension liability consumes approximately 8 to 10 percent of our budget.
We are being creative, but even the status quo is a challenge… • We balanced the budget the last three years through a three year plan of utilizing what has become a significantly reduced surplus and by leaving key administrative and faculty positions unfilled. We cannot continue to use one- time monies to address ongoing financial issues; • As well, we recently filled some key leadership positions but still have some critical vacancies (e.g. Associate VP Research and Dean of Graduate Studies); • We recently restructured in order to provide leadership and enhance our student success and student recruitment both nationally and internationally.
Academic Activity - 2012/13 Accountability – New Programs Approved: Masters in Psychiatric Nursing • In January 2011, we admitted the first students to this program – 12 part-time students • Fall 2011, the program had 2 full-time and 15 part-time students • Fall 2012, the program had 6 full-time and 15 part-time students • Fall 2013, the program has 5 full-time and 15 part-time students Masters of Science in Environmental and Life Sciences • The implementation is currently under development. Additional faculty and part-time support staff are being recruited. First intake of students will be for September 2014 New Program Submitted: • BU recently submitted a full program proposal for a new undergraduate program in Métis Studies to COPSE
Accountability – Program Review External Program Reviews - Initiated or Completed in 2013 • Chemistry • Environmental Science • Master of Rural Development External Program Reviews - Scheduled in 2014 • Anthropology • Gender & Women’s Studies • History • Library Services (Unit Review) • Master of Education • Psychiatric Nursing • Rural Development Institute (Unit Review)
Planned – Academic Programming In moving forward with strategic academic planning, we intend to explore new potential areas of programming. We share a preliminary list of potential subject areas of focus: • Faculties Planning Program Growth and Renewal • Potential Professional and Career Oriented Degree Programs • Program Renewal and Alignment
Areas of Consideration for Planned Program Growth • Graduate Studies • Faculty of Arts • Faculty of Health Studies • Faculty of Science • Professional Studies and Continuing Education • Partnerships • Assiniboine Community College
Potential Degree Program Growth 2014/2015 to 2017/2018 • Exploration Geophysics • Métis Studies Other Potential Areas for Development: At the undergraduate level: • Bachelor of Business Administration – expansion of majors/areas of concentration within the existing degree • Counseling and Addiction Studies • Information Technology Management At the graduate level: • MA in Management and Leadership • MA in Interdisciplinary Community Health • Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Other Further Developments: • Professional Studies and Continuing Education
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