Academic College Council Update | Academic Newsletter | Seneca Polytechnic

by JoAnn Purcell, Academic College Council Chair

in the June 2018 issue

What a year it has been! With the summer semester underway, I think we can finally say we are back on track, at least in terms of the academic schedule.

Last September, Academic College Council (ACC) began with the lofty goal of reviewing and revising all the academic policies by the end of the school year in June. This monumental task has been diligently chipped away at by Council with working groups, discussions, and consultations with best practice. Some policies have garnered unexpected discussions; for example, the Promotion Committee policy. Like most policies with a level of complexity, an ACC working group was struck to look at the language to bring it up-to-date. Since the implementation of i3, with its new processing capabilities, the end-of-semester promotion committee has evolved in a myriad of ways across the college. When the working group brought their revisions back to ACC, there was considerable discussion around the composition and value of the promotion committee with suggestions for possible directions going forward. This discussion highlighted that practice often evolves outside of prescriptive policies and only when it is re-presented to a diverse group, such as ACC members, does the wide range of practices become evident. The key point in the revision of this policy was to leave the language open enough to allow for the differences, but still capture the essence of the policy and include an approved name change to ‘Promotion Process.’

With one more meeting in June before the summer break, a few more policies will likely receive endorsement at ACC, after which they will be sent to the next administrative level for final approval, then included in the new policy portal, expected to launch at the end of July, and published for implementation at the beginning of the school year in September. As policy changes can only be published once a year, anything that doesn’t get wrapped up and approved will continue to be worked on and fleshed out for implementation the following year. For example, the work to completely overhaul of the Academic Honesty policy has begun. That sub-committee presented some foundational changes at the May meeting, beginning with the policy name change to ‘Academic Integrity’ reflecting the philosophical shift. This policy will require the investment of more time to create a guide that is in line with current scholarship and best practices.

In closing, I’d like to again refer back to the foundations of academic policies in the Basic Documents relating to Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology written in June 1967 – 51 years ago – with a phrase that seems even more true today: “The world in which we live and must make our way is one which demands an ever-changing pattern of occupations and rising levels of skills.” As such, the work of revising and updating the academic policies will never be done in a dynamic and responsive institution like Seneca.

Wishing you all the very best for the summer, wherever it takes you!

Attention faculty from Seneca Business: there is one (1) vacancy on Academic College Council for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Attention faculty from the Faculty of Communication, Art and Design: there is one (1) vacancy on Academic College Council for the 2018-2019 academic year.

If you are interested in representing your faculty area on Academic College Council, please visit the website for the terms of reference, schematic, and other relevant information, and email Cristina Arlia (Cristina.Arlia@senecacollege.ca) and JoAnn Purcell (JoAnn.Purcell@senecacollege.ca).

View the June 2018 issue of the Academic Newsletter.