Introduction
Every three years, the Senate undertakes a triennial review of its operations and practices. To aid in gathering informed submissions and suggestions, this website has been established to gather relevant documents from UBC and comparator institutions.
This review process is overseen by the Senate Nominating Committee.
Comments are sought from the entire UBC community and specific prompts for feedback are sent to specific groups, including each of the standing committees of Senate.
Background Documents
The following documents may assist you in understanding how Senate formally organizes its work and what types of suggestions past reviews have made.
The University Act. The “current” University Act dates from 1973 but has since been amended many times, most notably in 2005 to establish UBC’s second campus – and second Senate – in the Okanagan Valley. The University Act sets out the structure of the University – including its Chancellor, President, Registrar, Convocation, Board, Senates, Council, and Faculties and grants them a variety of powers and responsibilities. The University Act also sets out the functions and duties of the University generally and the Senate in particular.
The Rules and Procedures of Senate. This document is the Senate’s internal bylaws. These rules set out the parliamentary authority of the Senate, reflect the membership set out by the University Act with any additions made by the Senate, make rules for Senate meetings and the consideration of business, and set out the standing committee structure of the Senate. The Rules and Procedures of Senate also set out the organization of the Senate’s Nominating Committee and how it goes about its work.
The Current Membership of Senate. The University Act sets out the base membership of each Senate. For the Okanagan Senate, this results in a base membership of 22, plus four additional members (a dean, 2 faculty members and a student) for each faculty, and any additional members added by the Senate (Presently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, the Vice-Principal Research, the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies and six additional faculty members). Currently, this results in a Senate of 58 members. The University Act allows Senate to expand its membership so long as it does not alter the 2:1 ratio between faculty members and students. In practice, the Senate usually follows a similar ratio when adding senior academic administrators to the Senate (that is, for any administrator added, 2 additional faculty members and 1 additional student would be added).
The Current Standing Committees of Senate and their Terms of References and Memberships
Select Other Senates in Canada (for Comparison)
Academic Board of the Governing Council of the University of Toronto, Senate of McGill University, Senate of Queen’s University at Kingston, Senate of the University of Victoria, Senate of Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Senate.
NB: The latter three operate under the same University Act as UBC Okanagan (which some differences in mandated Senate memberships)
Questions to Consider
Broad feedback is welcome, however, to focus comments on tangible areas for improvement, the Nominating Committee would also welcome your thoughts on some or all of the following questions:
- Is the current size and composition of Senate appropriate, and is representation suitably balanced between groups?
- Do the Rules and Procedures of Senate effectively support Senate’s functions on behalf of the University?
- Do Senate committees have appropriate mandates and terms of reference to aid Senate in academically governing the campus?
- Does the Senate have sufficient resources to fulfill its mandate?
- Do Senate committees have appropriate sizes and compositions?
- How can the Senate improve its communication with the campus, all relevant stakeholders and constituent groups (e.g. convocation members, deans, faculty members, senior administrators, students and staff)?
- How can Senate better ensure that all its constituent groups (e.g., convocation members, deans, faculty members, senior administrators, students and staff) are engaged in its work?
- Do you have any feedback regarding the Council of Senates?
- Do you have any other comments or suggestions?
How to Submit Comments
Please submit your feedback to okanagan.senate@ubc.ca by 31 March 2023. Please ensure that the subject line begins with “Triennial Review Comments” for ease of sorting. The Senate Nominating Committee will keep the identity of those who submit comments in confidence unless the respondent specifically requests to be identified.