Directives

PURPOSE

To establish an Advisory College Council as required by the Ministry Binding Policy Directive: Governance and Accountability Framework, Revised April 2010. The Advisory College Council of Algonquin College shall be called the College Academic Council.  

SCOPE

The College Academic Council represents all employees of the College and includes representatives from the academic, administrative, and support staff, and students. 

DEFINITIONS

POLICY

1.            PURPOSE

The purpose of the College Academic Council is to establish a forum for students and staff of the College to provide advice to the President on matters of importance to students and staff. The College Academic Council acts in an advisory capacity to the President. 

2.            MANDATE

2.1          The College Academic Council shall review, monitor and make recommendations on such issues as:

a.  pedagogy
b.  course and program evaluation
c.  teaching methodology and standards
d.  evaluation and promotion policies
e.  standards of student conduct and discipline
f.  admission policies and practices
g.  student awards and scholarships
h.  academic equivalencies

2.2          Consistent with the consultative function of the College Academic Council, its members shall endeavour to consult and report to their constituent groups.  At least one member of the College Academic Council shall sit on each School Academic Council. These members are   to share information between the College Academic Council and the School Academic Councils.                              

2.3          The College Academic Council shall review this policy annually and advise the President if any modifications are necessary.                   

3.  MEMBERSHIP

3.1          The Council shall consist of 23 voting members (Appendix 1) :

Academic Staff – 14 representatives

one academic staff representative from each of the twelve  (12) schools/institutes/centres and one representative each from the librarians and counsellors 

Support Staff – 1 representative 

Students – 3 representatives 

Academic Administrators  - 3 representatives

Chair/Past Chair- 2 representatives 

Ex-officio Non -Voting Members – 3 members

• Vice President, Academic

• Vice President, Student  Services

• Registrar 

3.2.         The Chair of the College Academic Council shall be elected by the members of the Council from among themselves at its first meeting, for a term of one year, renewable once. 

3.3.         Secretarial support to the College Academic Council shall be provided by the Office of the Vice President, Academic. 

3.4        The Council may appoint non-voting members to serve as resource persons to the Council. 

4.            ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

4.1          Academic Staff Election

4.1.1      The Faculty Union, shall be responsible for the establishment of electoral procedures and the  supervision of the election of the academic staff to sit on the Council.                            

4.1.2     The election results for the academic staff to sit on the College Academic Council for the coming academic year shall be communicated to the College community within five days of the electio 

4.2          Support Staff Election

                The Support Staff Union shall elect one support staff member to serve on the College Academic Council. 

4.3          Student Appointment

                The Board of Directors of the Students’ Association shall name three students to serve on the Council.                                

4.4          Administrative Staff Selection

4.4.1      The Deans Council shall request nominations from the academic administrators to sit on the College Academic Council by May 15^th of each year.             

4.4.2      The Deans Council shall select from the nominations received two academic administrators from different Schools to serve on the Council by June 1^st of each year. 

4.5          Announcement of Incoming College Academic Council

                The names of the members of the College Academic Council for the next academic year shall be communicated to the College community by August 15.  

5.            TERMS OF OFFICE  

5.1          The terms of office of the College Academic Council members shall commence September 1 and continue for two years. 

5.2          No member representing a constituency shall serve more than four consecutive years but on the expiration of two years after having served on the Council, a person shall again be eligible for election. 

5.3          A member of the Council may resign at any time by submitting a written resignation to the Chair.

5.4          Where a representative member, not having notified the Chair of the Council or the Secretary,  and is absent from two consecutive meetings without regrets, or three consecutive meetings with regrets, the position shall be declared vacant. 

5.5          If a member changes status and can no longer represent the group or constituency, the position shall be declared vacant. 

5.6          Vacancies, however caused, shall be filled in the following manner: 

                                a)            After March 31, at the next election.

                                b)            Before March 31, by appointment by the Students’ Association, Support Staff  Union, Faculty Union, and the Deans’ Council. 

6.            RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERS 

6.1          Except for ex-officio members, participation on the College Academic Council and its committees shall be on a voluntary basis.  All reasonable arrangements will be made to make participation on the Council as accessible as possible. 

6.2          Members shall participate fully in all meetings of the College Academic Council as well as on any committee to which they are named by the Chair. 

6.3          Members shall make themselves available to their constituencies and will keep their peers informed of major issues before the College Academic Council. 

6.4          Members shall regularly consult their constituencies; however, they may vote on issues as representatives, that is, they will reflect the views of their constituency, their individual perspective and then contribute and vote as their conscience dictates. 

6.5          It is the responsibility of Members to attend meetings; if unable to attend a meeting, a member should name an alternate and notify the chair. 

6.6          Members shall report the decisions made by the College Academic Council to their respective constituencies. 

7.            RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHAIR OF THE COUNCIL

7.1          The Chair of the College Academic Council shall determine the agenda and call the meetings.  In order that items are reviewed by all jurisdictions, all such items shall first be received for preliminary discussion at one meeting and referred to the constituencies for input.  No final resolution may be passed before at least 20 working days have elapsed. In exceptional circumstances, this requirement may be waived by a two-thirds majority vote.                  

7.2          The Chair of the Council shall set aside up to a maximum of fifteen minutes total at each meeting for presentations to the Council outside of the proposed agenda.  Persons or groups wishing to address the Council shall notify the Chair in writing prior to the commencement of the meeting. 

7.3          Any member may place an item on the agenda by forwarding it to the Chair two weeks prior to the next meeting. 

7.4          The Chair shall preside over and conduct all meetings according to conventional rules of order.  In the absence of the Chair, the Past Chair will preside over the Council. 

7.5          The Chair shall notify the appropriate constituent group within five days of any vacancy being  declared.                            

8.            MEETINGS 

8.1          The Council shall normally meet on the last Monday of each month from September to May, with the exception of December.

8.2          The meetings shall normally be held at 4:30 p.m.  

8.3          The College Academic Council agenda, time and location shall be posted at least ten working days in advance of the meeting.                      

8.4          All meetings shall be open to the college community.                     

8.5          Fifty percent (50%) of the members plus one excluding vacancies shall constitute a quorum.       

8.6          In the event that the Chair or any members of the Council believes that a meeting should be cancelled or re-scheduled, such change in schedule will only take place after approval by a majority of the members, which may be determined by a telephone or e-mail poll               

9.            EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE COLLEGE ACADEMIC COUNCIL 

9.1          The Executive Committee is composed of five persons:  the Chair , the past Chair and one council member representating the Academic, Administrative and Student groups.           

9.2          The role of the Executive Committee is to:

• report to the President annually or sooner if needed;

• follow-up on College Academic Council recommendations;

• prepare an annual report for submission to the President . 

10.          WORKING GROUPS 

10.1        Each year, the College Academic Council may establish working groups to assist in carrying  out its work.  

10.2        The College Academic Council will establish the mandate and objectives for its working groups to ensure their work is align with the College Academic Council’s objectives. 

10.3        The College Academic Council will appoint a minimum of two (2) Council members to its working groups.  It may increase the size of the working groups with members from the College community at large.

10.4        Working groups are to be disbanded once they have addressed the specific issues for which they were created.  Working groups may span over two academic years with the approval of the  incoming Council.     

PROCEDURE

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Appendix 1         Representation on the College Academic Council

Appendix 2        Excerpt from MTCU Governance and Accountability Framework, Revised April 2010, on Advisory College Council

RELATED POLICIES
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RELATED MATERIALS
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