no. agenda item - ualberta.ca · 4b: academic recruitment . ecology positions: dr. kimberly mathot...

Minutes of the Department of Biological Sciences - Departmental Council Meeting April 13, 2016, 2:00 pm, CW410 Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta

Present: Meeting Chair: Caldwell, M.

Allison, T.; Campbell, E.; Campbell, M.; Campbell, S.; Chang, J.; Cornish, T.; Currie, P.; Dunn. E.; Evenden, M.; Fryza, B.; Gallin, W.; Goss, G.; Hall, J.; Harris, N.; Hik, D.; Hwang, C.; Keddie, A.; Koppelpus, E.; Leys, S.; Luong, L.; Mash, P.; McDermid, H.; Moses, R.; Murray, A.; Nargang, F.; Preston, D.; Proctor, H.; Raivio, T.; Scarpella, E.; Shostak, A; Sperling, F.; Srayko, M.; Stafford, J.; Starchuk, C.; St. Onge, K.; Tank, S.; Tierney, K. and Wilson, D.

Recording Secretary: Christensen, L.

NO. AGENDA ITEM

1. Call to Order (The Chair) The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, 2016.

2. Approval of the Agenda (The Chair)

Moved/Seconded by Keddie/Murray that the agenda for April 13, 2016 Biological Sciences Departmental Council meeting be approved. All in favour, CARRIED.

3. Approval of the Minutes of February 10, 2016 (The Chair)

Moved/Seconded by Proctor/Murray that the minutes of the February 10, 2016 Biological Sciences Departmental Council meeting be approved.

37 in favour, 1 abstention, CARRIED. 4. Graduate Student Mental Health Issues (Erica Dunn, Psychologist, Counselling and Clinical Services)

General statistics on mental health on campus from a National College Health Assessment (NCHA). survey in the spring of 2013 were shared. The full Student Mental Health Report Overview is posted on the UA website: http://www.deanofstudents.ualberta.ca/en/StudentMentalHealth/MHReport.aspx Only 10-30% of students who need help seek it. Reasons include barriers such as stigma, the university culture, and lack of knowledge about resources. At the UofA Mental Health Centre, 80% of students who access these services are undergraduate students and 20% are graduate students; 22% of these students are from the Faculty of Science. 30% of all students think about leaving university. Brochures were distributed on Counselling Solutions, Counselling & Clinical Services and the Peer Support Centre. Counselling services include intake or walk-in appointments. Nurses handle the triage and set up appointments with a therapist or provide resources. Therapy sessions are free and are capped at 16 sessions. There are six part-time psychiatrists on staff and average wait time is one month compared to a six-month wait in the community. Workshops are held throughout the year on a variety of topics in many locations, which are open to faculty and students. The Peer Support Centre is a student run group. The volunteers are extensively trained and offer responsible and reliable service. Graduate students, staff and faculty have access to Homewood Health. For graduate students, this access is provided by the $12 fee from the Graduate Student Assistance Program (GSAP). The University of Alberta is committed to supporting a healthy academic and work environment with the Helping Individuals at Risk (HIAR) policy. Mental health services are advertised through various media including Facebook, Twitter, posters and screens throughout campus. Erica Dunn is the satellite psychologist for Science, and she is available for consults. If you are concerned about the mental health of a student you are not alone.

http://www.deanofstudents.ualberta.ca/en/StudentMentalHealth/MHReport.aspx

Minutes of April 13, 2016 Biological Sciences Department Council Meeting

5. Science Internship Program (SIP) (Neil Harris)

The following PowerPoint presentation was shown. The purpose of the SIP is to provide non-academic work experience to students before they graduate. A major change in the program is that 4-month placements are now possible. Your assistance in identifying prospective employers (external collaborating organizations, etc) is needed to help increase participation in SIP. You are encouraged to offer internship programs in your own research groups.

6. The Cirrus Research Computing Cloud (Warren Gallin) The following PowerPoint presentation was shown. It was noted that this can be paid for from an NSERC research grant. Warren is putting together a “tips sheet” that he will share once it is finalized.


7. Comments and Updates from the Chair (Michael Caldwell)

4A: Budget The budget will be announced shortly. The Dean’s office has been communicating that a reduction of 1.5% will be needed. 4B: Academic Recruitment Ecology positions: Dr. Kimberly Mathot has accepted an offer for one of the two positions. She will be joining the department on January 1, 2017. A second offer that was placed is now off the table. The Search Committee is being consulted about reopening this position. Plant Genomics position: The last candidate, Dr. Glen Uhrig, is visiting the department on April 18-19. Philip J Currie Professorship in Vertebrate Palaeontology position: An offer was made and contract negotiations are ongoing. 4C: Strategic Planning Session The Executive Committee are working on a draft agenda for the upcoming Strategic Planning Session on April 28. The goal is to brain-storm so we can collectively contribute to create a vision to craft the department’s future. We are in a good position for hiring over the next few years and we want to make sure we leave these new hires with good opportunities and a strong departmental vision. 4D: HCM 9.2 A major initiative from Central is the Human Capital Management System 9.2 upgrade. The initial presentation of this scope was made and more details will follow. The impact to the research community will be that hourly paid employees will have the ability to self-enter timesheets, which their supervisors will approve electronically. This is moving away from paper time sheets. 4D: E-Procurement Initiative The Faculty of Science has volunteered Science to demo “SupplyNet”, the name of the campus-wide e-procurement initiative. Essentially, this is self-ordering where individual researchers can order items on-line. Training sessions start next week. The roll-out is expected in June. Please email Dianne if you would like your staff to attend the training sessions. 4E: Sunshine List The Sunshine List will be published on or before June 30, 2016. As mandated, this will post all salaries equal to or greater than $125,000/year by name of recipient. It will be posted on government websites in a downloadable, exportable format. 4F: Update on NASA Negotiations Very recent NASA negotiations have resulted in a Letter of Understanding “LOU”. The intent is to recognize that “the Collective Agreement has not been correctly applied and as such the University will ensure it will hire into the appropriate employee types at the inception of the employee’s contract and will educate departments to support this.” Effectively, the department has undertaken a review of all of its Casual (Level 1 and 2) employees, and all Auxiliary Employees, and we must take action to ensure any current contract with work expected to continue longer than four months is reviewed, and this may result in changing the


status to Auxiliary Monthly (salaried). Each contract will be reviewed individually, and the department will contact the trust holder before any contract is made with any employee to discuss the financial impacts. This will result in a requirement for researchers to create job descriptions for work that is more than 0.4 FTE and more than 12 months. We are meeting with the Faculty on April 15 to review all department employees that may be impacted by the LOU, and we will update each researcher accordingly.

8. Courses and Curriculum Committee (Jocelyn Hall)

Moved/Seconded by Raivio/Tierney that the proposed program and course changes for the 2017-2018 calendar year be accepted as a whole.

Calendar Changes

BIOL 315 Biology: An Historical Perspective Changed: An outline of the scientific foundations of biological discovery to the mid-20th century changed to: An outline of the scientific foundations of biological discovery.

BIOL 333 Wetland Ecology and Management Changed: Wetland Ecology and Management changed to: Wetland Science and Management Changed: Introduction to the ecology of wetland ecosystems, communities and plants. changed to: The course includes an introduction to the hydrology, biogeochemistry and ecology of wetland ecosystems. Changed: Major topics include landscape features, hydrological and chemical cycles of wetlands, wetland communities and major flora and fauna. changed to: Topics covered include classification, geomorphic setting, distribution, functions and ecosystem services of wetlands. Human use, alteration and management of wetlands are examined. Changed: Emphasis will be on wetlands in Western Canada including the bog, fen and marsh systems in boreal Alberta, prairie and montane wetlands. Loss or alteration of wetlands due to human activity is documented. changed to: An emphasis is placed on wetlands and wetland management in Western Canada, including boreal peatlands and prairie marshes. Changed: A field trip is required. changed to: A full day field trip on a Saturday is required. Changed: Prerequisite: Biol 208. Credit may be obtained in only one of BOT 333 and BIOL 333. changed to: Prerequisite: one of Biol 208, RenR 250 or EAS 201. Delete Course: BIOL 400 Science Internship Practicum *3 (fi 6) (either term, 0-3s-0). Required by all students who have just completed the on-site portion of the Science Internship Program. Must be completed during the first academic term following return to full-time studies. Note: A grade of F to A+ will be determined by the student’s job performance as evaluated by the employer, by the student’s performance in the completion of an internship practicum report, and by the student’s ability to learn from the experiences of the Internship as demonstrated in an oral presentation. Prerequisites: WKEXP 955 and 956

Bot 411 Paleobotany Changed:*3 (fi 6) (first term, 3-0-3) changed to: *3 (fi 6) (second term, 3-0-3)

Program Changes

Animal Biology Year 2 Added: BIOL 221 Changed: *6 approved credits changed to: *3 approved credits

Years 3 and 4 Deleted: BIOL 321 Changed: *12 approved options … changed to: *15 approved options … Deleted: List A: BIOL … 400 Added: List A: INT D 400; Ecology Year 2


Added: BIOL 221 Changed: *9 in an Arts option changed to: *6 Arts options

Years 3 and 4 Deleted: BIOL 321 Changed: *3 Arts option changed to: *6 Arts options

Evolutionary Biology Year 2 Deleted: BIOL … 321 Added: BIOL 221

Years 3 and 4 Deleted: Recommended options include … BIOL … 400 … Added: Recommended options include … INT D 400; …

Microbiology Years 3 and 4 Deleted: List B) Science options: … BIOL 400 … Added: List B) Science options: … INT D 400; …

Molecular Genetics Years 3 and 4 Deleted: List C) Including, but not restricted to the following: … BIOL 321 … 400 … Added: List C) Including, but not restricted to the following: … BIOL 221, … INT D 400; …

Physiology and Developmental Biology Years 3 and 4 Deleted: Recommended options include … BIOL 400 … Added: Recommended options include … INT D 400; …

Plant Biology Year 2 Deleted: BIOL … 321 Added: BIOL … 221 Years 3 and 4 Deleted: Approved options include … BIOL 400 … Added: Approved options include … INT D 400; … Moved/Seconded by Raivio/Tierney that the proposed program and course changes for the 2017-2018 calendar year be accepted.

Unanimous, CARRIED. 9. Undergraduate Student Updates (Jocelyn Hall)

9A: Teaching Assignments Teaching assignment letters for 2016/2017 are almost complete. There are still a few outstanding. We are actively working on them and will send them out shortly.

9B: Final Grades and Finals • Please be sure to submit marks (including BIOL 499) within four business days of your final or final

assignment. These delays can hold up clearances for students who have applied for convocation, especially in winter term. This includes:

o If you have an outstanding academic misconduct case, please be sure to use INC for your grade. Also, indicate in your spreadsheet that there is an outstanding case. The Undergraduate Office does not have the list of departmental cases and cannot double check.

o Please ensure that you have uploaded your syllabus to the shared drive. The syllabi are


checked when approving final grades. o During finals, please consider closing down your e-class sites. If you have students with

deferred finals, encourage them to download material ASAP. Students will lose access to e-class sites and can cause problems for deferred exams, especially if your deferred exam is after this deadline. A reminder will be sent to download your information before e-class automatically shuts down.

9C: Crowdmark Crowdmark is available to try out free of charge. Crowdmark is an online collaborative grading platform that enables educators to evaluate student work more effectively. Please let me know if you want more information.

9D: MBUN MBUN update for online homework:

• MBUN stands for Meaningless But Useful Number. Every student will be assigned one that is different from their ID number. This will be important for courses that use online homework because it will not compromise student privacy. Because they are unique and assigned by UofA, these numbers can be part of our information system (easy to follow).

• Problem: MBUNs not currently recognized by e-class, so some excel magic needs to be done to match numbers.

• A trial roll-out is planned for spring/summer before the full roll-out occurs in Fall 2016. There are some concerns that students will confuse numbers.

10. Graduate Student Updates (Tracy Raivio)

Admissions Here are the results from the February 1, 2016 deadline contest:

Total Applications: 59 • 15 International, 44 Domestic; 7 PhD, 52 MSc

Fast-tracked: 22 • 3 have declined; 7 accepted; 2 Doctoral Recruitment Subsidies were accepted; 2 MSc Recruitment

Subsidies were accepted; 7 DERSAs were offered; 2 declined, 3 accepted thus far.

Ranked by Committee: 37 • 2 rejected (ELP, GPA); 2 wait-listed (GPA); 2 conditional acceptances; 31 accepted

All applicants have been e-mailed regarding acceptance. The letters of acceptance from FGSR have been sent out, and the funding letters have been signed. These applications are in various stages of being signed by FoS. We expect all the e-mails to applicants will be sent out by the end of this week. The electronic response deadline is April 30. Grad Students Management Solution (GSMS) Campus Wide Graduate Admissions System This new system will be implemented for the next admission cycle. We hope to pilot this in the fall but heard that we need to be aware of glitches. Training of graduate coordinators and Associate Chairs is taking place now. There will be training opportunities for reviewers to work in the on-line environment in the future. Awards Thank you to everyone who attended and helped with the organization of the Celebration of Excellence on April 7.

The Tri-Council awards recently announced: • 16 Tri-Council Awards (14 last year, 19 previous year) • 2 Vaniers • 1 CGS-D • 4 PGS-Ds • 1 CIHR CGS-M • 8 NSERC CGS-Ms


There is no news on AITF’s yet.

The department did very well in TA awards within Faculty and Campus wide: • 8/10 ISSS student nominated TA Awards • 5/8 GSA TA Awards • BGSA won GSA Grad Student Group Award

Professional Development (PD) Requirement The PD requirement will be starting for students beginning in September 2016. There are two pieces to this requirement:

1. “Individualized Professional Development Plan” (IDP) must be submitted/part of student’s file. 2. Eight hours of PD training must occur during degree and be signed off on by the mentor and the grad

coordinator.

At the last Departmental Council Meeting a template was presented for the departmental IDP, and many suggestions were received. The members of the BGSA were consulted and had input to this plan. A modified version was produced with altered terminology and suggestions. The main changes are:

• Mentors: o The language on the form has changed. “Mentor” has been substituted for “Supervisor” to

address the possibility that a graduate student may want a mentor different from their supervisor (e.g. someone that works in the career they hope to pursue). Discussions have been held about how to find a mentor. We ultimately wish to develop a workshop/resource around this activity. In the interim a student could link to CAPS and other resources on campus that address this topic.

o We have implemented a requirement that at least three separate PD activities must be carried out to make up eight hours. This is in keeping with the spirit of the requirement and will ensure students obtain a variety of experiences, rather than fulfill the entire eight hours with one activity, for example supervising one undergraduate student.

o In conjunction with the BGSA we will develop a workshop associated with orientation this fall for incoming students that will discuss how to fill out IDP; where to find resources; and show how to identify a mentor.

Look for PD links to the IDP form and resources to appear on DBS grad pages this summer. All feedback is welcome.

3M (3 Minute) Thesis There is a competition held at Universities worldwide where grad students explain their thesis research in three minutes. This is excellent for building skills in communication, public outreach or recruitment. UBC was one of the first Canadian Universities to do this. The University of Alberta held their first one in 2014. This competition starts at the department level and ends as a University-wide competition. Finalists can go on to national competitions. Next year, the grad office will host a 3M Thesis contest in DBS; watch for details and encourage your students to enter.

11. Adjunct Committee Business (Martin Srayko)

#1: Application from Dr. Chris Glover An adjunct application was received from Dr. Chris Glover, Associate Professor and CAIP Chair in Hydroecology and Environmental Health at Athabasca University. Dr. Glover works on biological impacts of natural organic matter in environmental systems. Dr. Glover's application is supported by Greg Goss. He has 70 peer reviewed research publications and his current CAIP Chair provides him with $2.1M in support. He is interested in an adjunct position because Athabasca does not have a graduate program and he has already established collaboration with Greg Goss. He gave a seminar on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 in BIOL 642, which was attended by all members of the adjunct committee. Based upon his application, his existing and potential collaborations in the department, and his seminar, the committee unanimously supports the appointment of Dr. Glover as an Adjunct Faculty member.


Moved/Seconded by Srayko/Goss that Departmental Council recommend to the Dean of Science that the Adjunct status in the Department of Biological Sciences be granted for Dr. Chris Glover for a five-year period.

34 in favour, 3 abstentions, CARRIED #2: Adjunct Annual Reports The Adjunct Committee reviewed the annual reports from our current adjunct faculty. We have 18 adjunct faculty (19 if Dr. Glover's application is approved). These adjuncts vary in their level of participation in the department, but all have made important contributions to the department's research, teaching, and/or graduate student supervision, and some have actively contributed to our seminar series. #3: NSERC Funds and Adjuncts Based on a change in NSERC's requirements, the Faculty of Science has asked us to state formally in the appointment letter whether adjuncts are expected to do independent research as part of their appointment AND that they are therefore allowed to hold NSERC funds through the Department. The default is they will not be required to do independent research and they will not be allowed to hold NSERC funds. There are both pros and cons to such a situation and we are in discussions about possible consequences. We will discuss this further at the fall Departmental Council meeting, and we will present a motion to modify the departmental Terms and Conditions for Adjunct Professors and Cross-Appointments document.

For the purposes of Dr. Glover's appointment, since he will be able to hold funds at Athabasca and will collaborate with researchers in the Department, there is no need for such a statement.

12. Other Business (None) 13. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m.

no. agenda item - ualberta.ca · 4b: academic recruitment . ecology positions: dr. kimberly mathot...

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