posted on April 16: Highlights from the April 11 Senate meeting

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BY Shelly Easton

April 16, 2001

The following items are highlights from the April 11 Senate meeting:

President's Report on Labour Dispute

University President Peter George gave Senate an update on the MUSA labour dispute. He encouraged everyone to check out the various Web sites for information about the University's final offer in preparation for the April 23 vote.

MBA Valedictorian

The School of Business will now have two valedictorians at convocations. Senate approved a recommendation from the Committee on University Ceremonials and Insignia that there be a valedictorian from the MBA program. In the past, the valedictorian for all business students has come from the undergraduate program. Professor Michael Stein said MBA students tend to be older and didn't feel an undergraduate representative “captured well their aspirations.” Undergraduate and MBA student representatives supported the change, Stein told Senate members.

Graduate Senator Motion

Senate defeated a motion by social sciences graduate senator David Farr that asked that “no student suffer any academic penalty for not having crossed the MUSA picket line.” Verbal reports from various deans and associate deans indicated that there have been no reports of students being penalized for not crossing the MUSA picket lines.

Classroom Hotline

The classroom hotline is still receiving calls but they have diminished as the term progressed, provost Harvey Weingarten reported. Clocks and the adequacy of audio-visual equipment in classrooms are the outstanding issues, he said. The University Planning Committee is working on a plan to administer the equipment in a different way.

Chair in Diabetes Research

An endowed chair in diabetes research will be associated with the Population Health Institute in the Faculty of Health Sciences. The chair will be known as the Aventis Pharma/Population Health Institute chair in diabetes research. The chairholder will conduct research directed at preventing diabetes and its consequences and identify and develop new strategies to manage the disease. The appointment is for five years.