In compliance with Ontario’s Essential Services Order, Senate met remotely on Nov. 26, 2021.  Here are the highlights:

Compassionate Grading for Winter 2022

In light of the ongoing pandemic, Senate approved the extension of the flexible and compassionate grading policy for the winter 2022 term. This allows undergraduate students to designate 0.5 credit courses SAT if a passing grade was earned, and for all undergraduate F grades to be automatically converted to UNS. This excludes grades that are assigned due to an Academic Integrity Offence.

Student Mental Health Framework 3.0

Vice-President (Students and Enrolment) Suzanne Blanchard provided Senate with an overview of the Student Mental Health Framework 3.0 consultation process that was launched in Oct. 2021. Carleton is currently in the listening phase with consultations with students, faculty, staff and external community stakeholders well underway. The draft framework will be shared with the community for feedback in early 2021.

Community Engagement Strategy

The co-chairs of the Strategic Plan for Community Engagement (SP4CE) task force provided Senate with an overview of community engagement at Carleton, the new Centre for Community Engagement and the planning process for the university’s first dedicated strategic plan. Internal consultations are underway and external community consultations are set to begin in spring 2022.

Convocation Dates Approved

If public health regulations allow, Carleton will be holding in-person Convocation ceremonies for all 2020, 2021, and 2022 graduates from June 13 – 25, 2022. More details will be provided in the coming weeks.

New Name for Pauline Jewett Institute

Senate approved the name change of the Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies to the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation. The new name reflects a desire to find an umbrella category that represents all of the institute’s programs and areas of study.

Quality Assurance & Cyclical Reviews

Senate approved the Final Assessment Reports and Executive Summaries arising from the Cyclical Reviews of the following programs:

  • Graduate programs in French
  • Graduate programs in Cultural Mediations
  • Undergraduate and Master’s Program in Social Work

Senator Spotlight: Winnie Ye

Dr. Winnie Ye is a professor in the Department of Electronics and a fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC). She was also a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Nano-scale IC Design for Reliable Opto-Electronics and Sensors from 2009 to 2021. Her expertise is in silicon photonics and its applications in telecommunications, data communication, biophotonics, and renewable energy. Learn more about Dr. Ye.

Next Meeting of Senate

The tentative date of Dec. 17, 2021 is in place should a meeting before the New Year is required. The first Senate meeting is in the new year is Jan. 28, 2022 at 2 pm. The full meeting schedule, associated meeting materials and minutes are available on the Senate website.  Meeting minutes are posted once they are approved at the subsequent meeting.