Minutes of the Department of Biological Sciences - Department Council Meeting December 16, 2009, 2:00pm

CW410 Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta Present: Meeting Chair: Caldwell, M.

Ali, D.; Alison, T.; Barreda, D.; Bayne, E.; Belosevic, M.; Bosonea, A-M.; Burns, M.; Campbell, S.; Chang, J.; Coltman, D.; Cooke, J.; Dennis, J.; Derocher, A.; Foght, J.; Gallin, W.; Geldart, C.; Haag, M.; Harcombe, K.; Hik, D.; Howatt, D.; Jensen, S.; Keddie, A; Leskiw, B.; Leys, S.; Locke, J.; McDermid, H.; Metherell, B; Montgomery, B.; Murray, A.; Nargang, F.; Ong. K.; Owttrim, G.; Paszkowski, C.; Pilgrim. D.; Proctor, H.; Raivio, T.; Scarpella, E.; Shostak, A; Sperling, F.; St. Clair, C.; Stafford, J.; Stein, L.; Szymanski, C.; Tierney, K.; Tonn, B.; Vinebrooke, R.; Wilson, D.; Wilson, M.; Wong, G.

Recording Secretary: Christensen, L.

NO. AGENDA ITEM

1. Call to Order (The Chair) The meeting was called to order at 2:06 p.m. on Wednesday, December 16, 2009.

2. Introductions (The Chair)

Mike Burns, graduate student representative and Keith Tierney, Assistant Professor, were both welcomed to their first Department Council meeting.

3. Approval of the Agenda (The Chair)

Moved/Seconded by Chang/Howatt that the agenda for the December 16, 2009 Biological Sciences Department Council meeting be approved. All in favour. CARRIED.

4. Trust holder’s Role in the Electronic Approval of their Trust Employee Appointments

(Susan Oliver and Nettie Sample from Sierra Systems) SMART Forms are an electronic approach to HR processes by Central HR. The initial implementation was in June 2007 for Hire, Job Change and Change Employment Status for Support and Hire only for Academic (Operating funded). This is being rolled out to the whole university at the end of January 2010. The expectation of these new forms is to get rid of the need for signatures and have all forms signed electronically. A researcher will have to make a decision whether (a) they are the only approvers; (b) they delegate another person the ability to approve; or (c) the ability to approve be assigned to themselves and to another person. These forms are building from Grants 2.0 and the Project Manager must be set up in this system before they can be assigned the ability to approve SMART forms. The presentation given by Susan and Nettie is posted on the Biological Sciences internal website under Department Links, Biological Sciences Department Council, PowerPoint: Smart Forms Research Facilitator Demo.

5. Approval of the Minutes of October 28, 2009 (The Chair)

Moved/seconded by Proctor/Haag that the minutes of the October 28, 2009 Biological Sciences Department Council meeting be approved, with the friendly amendment noted below. Friendly amendment: Under 6B: DBS Service Unit Review Committees: Add David Pilgrim’s name to the list of the Adhoc Committee members. All in favour, CARRIED.

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6. Comments from the Chair

6A: FEC Debrief Congratulations to Enrico Scarpella and Erin Bayne, who were both granted tenure, and to Colleen St. Clair, who was promoted to full Professor. Due to the difficulty of getting letters of reference from research scientists who work in the field, requests for future promotion/tenure cases will go out to them a few months earlier than normal, i.e. near the end of May, and the deadline will be moved up to mid-August from mid-September for receipt of letters. The Supplementary Information Sheet will be modified this year. FEC went well during the week, and at the end of Thursday Biological Sciences was sitting at 1.205 increments, and was a total of four ½ increments higher than the last two years. However, on Thursday evening Rob Holte sent a notice to the FEC Committee to notify members that 16 one-half increments were over-allotted and needed to be retrieved. He attached a list of 25 names; these names represented those that passed by a very close vote. The names on this list were all those who were assigned multiple increments, and 12 of those listed were from Biological Sciences. The claw back phase took place on Friday morning, and 8 of the 12 cases were lost. Six increments were given back, and two increments have been retained for contested cases. At the moment the department is sitting at 1.17 as the average at FEC this year.

6B: Budget Updates

At the last Department Council meeting, it was stated that the Chair would send an update on the budget process as it progressed. The reason this did not happen is because the funding news from the government has not been disclosed, therefore there was nothing to report. Biological Sciences submitted a four-page document to the Dean of Science projecting the impact of budget cuts from 1-10% to the department and the effect each percentage would have on programs and services. Various solutions were presented to the Dean to offset expenses to this department and find a way to generate revenue around the costs of consumables for courses offered each term. An example is the core course expenses for BIOL 107, 108, 207 and 208, which are ~$90,000/year out of the operating budget. Most of these courses have labs. If each student is charged $20 to cover consumables, then ~$86,000 in revenue can come into the department to cover the basics for each course. The Dean of Science amalgamated all of the seven departments’ proposals from the Faculty of Science into one document and sent this forward to the Provost. At this time, it is not known how programming will be affected until the final budget is revealed.

6C: CCUBC Notes (Declan Ali)

Canadian Council of University Biology Chairs (CCUBC) was held in Calgary on November 12-14 and Declan Ali attended on the Chair’s behalf. Highlights from the two-day meeting were outlined, which include:

• Our department is the largest biology department in the country in terms of numbers of faculty, staff and students.

• There are many other institutions facing similar budget cuts. • The University of Waterloo holds a public outreach lecture once a month to get the public

involved with the university. • NSERC gave a presentation on the changing format of the Discovery Grant adjudication

process. • The University of Calgary is looking at changing their first and second year core Biology

courses. • Ideas were exchanged on how to engage students in large classes to become more involved in

discussion groups. • Some institutions gather information on the long-term teaching duties of all the professors for a

3-5 year period and post this information on their faculty website. • In terms of graduate student funding, the Department of Biological Sciences is on the high end

for funding students, as Queen’s, Dalhousie and Western guarantee funding for 2 years for Masters’ students and 4 years for Ph.D. students.

Declan has more detailed information available to anyone requesting it.

Minutes of the October 28, 2009 Biological Sciences Department Council Meeting Page 3 7. Departmental Resource Support Fund (Heather Proctor)

A research grant tithe is being considered by the department. The intent would be to charge 1% or 2% on all eligible grants. Last year’s research income total was $17,691,603. If a 1% tithe had been implemented, this would have brought in $176,916; a 2% tithe would have netted $353,832. It is likely that not all research grants can be charged a tithe because some granting agencies are considered charitable organizations. Nevertheless, we expect that revenue of ~$100,000 could be generated if this is implemented. This plan is being investigated in consultation with the Research Services Offices. Another meeting to discuss this will be scheduled with the other Associate Chairs of Research in the other science departments in early 2010. If you have any comments about this please e-mail them to Heather Proctor.

8. Course and Curriculum Committee (Declan Ali) Moved/Seconded by Ali/Chang that the proposed program and course changes for the 2011-2012

calendar year be accepted as a whole.

Course Changes NEW COURSE Ecotoxicology BIOL 341 *3 (fi 6) (first term, 3-0-0) An overview of the adverse effects of chemicals or

physical agents on biological systems in an ecological context. This course takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding biological effects and their assessment. Prerequisites: BIOL 208, ZOOL 241, and CHEM 164 or 261, or instructor consent.

BIOL 433 Plant-Animal Interactions Changed: Prerequisite: BIOL 331 or BOT 332 or ZOOL 331 or 371 changed to:

Prerequisite: BIOL 331 or 332 or BOT 332 or ZOOL 371.

BIOL 499 Research Project Proposed Addition (last sentence): Credit for this course may be obtained more than

once.

Note: There was opposition to adding this sentence, and after discussion the following motion was made:

Motion: Moved/seconded by Pilgrim/Chang to table the proposal for changes to BIOL 499 pending further review by the Courses and Curriculum Committee. All in favour, CARRIED. ENT 392 Medical and Veterinary Entomology

Changed: Prerequisite: ENT 207 or 220 changed to: Prerequisite: any Entomology course or consent of instructor.

MA SC 401 Special Topics in Marine Biology MA SC 402 Changed: Offered as opportunities arise, by distinguished scientists … changed to:

Offered as opportunities arise, by selected scientists …

Changed: It is expected that the course … changed to The course …

Added (last sentence): Credit for this course may be obtained more than once.

MA SC 410 Marine Invertebrate Zoology Changed: The course includes lectures, laboratory periods, … changed to: The course includes lectures, laboratory exercises, …

MA SC 415 Structure and Function in Animals

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Changed: This course is intended to examine ... changed to: This course examines …

Changed: The following subject areas are included: … changed to: The subject areas include ….

MA SC 420 Biodiversity of Marine Algae

Changed: This course includes lectures, laboratory periods, … changed to: The course includes lectures, laboratory exercises, …

MA SC 425 Ecological Adaptations of Seaweeds Changed: … adaptations of seaweeds to their natural and man-altered environments. changed to: … adaptations of seaweeds to their natural and human altered environments.

MA SC 430 Marine Ecology

Deleted: … in the vicinity of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre; plankton studies and investigations of the subtidal and benthic environments by diving and dredging are envisaged.

MA SC 445 Biology of Marine Mammals

Changed: The course includes lectures, laboratory periods and the course will involve an independent field study. changed to: The course includes lectures, laboratory exercises, field trips and an independent field study.

MA SC 480 Seminars and Papers in Marine Science

Added: A series of weekly discussion groups and seminars … Changed: Seminars will be presented by Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre … changed to: Seminars will be presented by BMSC …

193.10 Marine Science Changed: An academic program operates at the station, in which summer study will provide credit toward degrees in Science. changed to: An academic program operates at the station, with summer and fall programs providing credit toward degrees in Science.

Deleted: A refundable deposit of $100 is payable at the time of application. An extension fee of $1,000 must be paid on arrival at BMSC to cover the cost of field trips, lab supplies and course materials. There is a mandatory room and board charge of $1,840 for the 13 weeks. Information concerning course prerequisites and application procedures for Marine Science may be obtained from the Department of Biological Sciences or the Office of the Dean of Science. Permission to register in these courses is available from the Director of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, to whom application should be made.

Added: (separate paragraph after … Courses run Monday to Saturday).

In additional to tuition paid to the University there are room and board fees payable to BMSC. Information concerning course prerequisites and application procedures for Marine Science may be obtained from BMSC, the Department of Biological Sciences or the Office of the Dean of Science. Permission to register in these courses is available from the University Programs Coordinator of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, to whom application should be made. See BMSC website: bms.ba.ca/university.html

Added: (sentence after See §231 Course Listings for descriptions of available Marine Science courses).

See also BMSC website for courses offered in the current year. bms.bc/ca/university.html

Program Changes Physiology & Development Biology

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Years 3 and 4 Added to list beginning *9 from ZOOL 340 … BIOL 341 or; Added to list beginning BIOCH 310 …BIOL 341, … Moved/Seconded by Ali/Proctor that the proposed program and course changes for the 2011-12 calendar year be approved with the noted tabling of BIOL 499 Research Project. All in favour, CARRIED.

9. Undergraduate Updates (Declan Ali)

Cindy Paszkowski attended a recent meeting on Declan’s behalf for all of the Associate Chairs (Undergraduate Studies) in the Faculty of Science. The topic of discussion was student misconduct. There is a request from the Dean’s office that reporting of misconduct be standardized. The purpose of this new procedure is to be consistent and transparent. A handout titled Inappropriate Academic Behaviour Reporting Form was provided, which will be posted to the University of Alberta website once it has been finalized. Address all comments or questions to Brenda Leskiw.

10. Adjunct Approvals 10A: New Adjunct Application – Dr. Eva Enders

Dr. Eva Enders is a research scientist at the Freshwater Institute of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Winnipeg. She received her M.Sc. at the University of Hamburg in 1998 and her Ph.D. at the Université de Montréal in 2004. Prior to taking up her position at the Freshwater Institute, she did postdoctoral research at several North American institutions, including Woods Hole in Maine and the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Research Center in Washington. Her main research interests are the ecology and behaviour of freshwater and marine fishes. Of particular relevance is her research program on the effects of water extraction/use by oil sands industries on conservation of fishes and their habitat in the Athabasca River. In her letter to the Chair, Dr. Enders expressed enthusiasm at the potential to collaborate with Biological Sciences researchers, undergraduates and graduate students. She presented an adjunct seminar on December 4, 2009 titled “Effects of turbulence on the swimming performance of fish”. Comments on the seminar and application were solicited from members of the department. The feedback was very positive, particularly about the breadth and quality of the research, and the supporting letters from Dr. Enders’ sponsors (Keith Tierney and Bill Tonn) were enthusiastic. Members of the Adjunct Committee met on December 8 to discuss this application, and the decision was unanimously favourable. Moved/Seconded by Proctor/Tonn that Department Council recommend to the Dean of Science that Dr. Eva Enders’ application for Adjunct Professor status in the Department of Biological Sciences be granted. 40 in favour, 0 Opposed, 3 Abstentions, CARRIED.

11. Guaranteed Duration for Department Funding for Graduate Students (Rolf Vinebrooke)

As part of the budgetary strategy to obtain savings to the department, a proposal was included to change the guaranteed graduate student funding in the Department of Biological Sciences starting in September 2010. It is being proposed that M.Sc. students be funded for 2 years, as opposed to the current 2.67 years, and that Ph.D. students be funded for 4 years, as opposed to the current 5 years. There are currently 30 third-year Master Students, and if the guaranteed funding stopped at 2 years it would save the department ~$190,000. The current students would be grandfathered for at least two years, as the government has guaranteed that the EPE funding will remain in place for that length of time. Since this policy change contains a philosophical and a budget component, it needs to be approved at Department Council. The floor was opened for discussion. Concerns about implementing this type of policy were expressed. They included:

• This will cause long-term damage to graduate student recruitment. • What kind of product will be produced at the end of the rainbow? Historically the average time

for a Masters student to complete their program is 3.2 years, and typically a student is most productive in the last year of their program.

• If a student receives a letter stating their funding is guaranteed for this new length of time, it

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will send out a message that it is possible to complete a Masters program in 2 years and a PhD program in 4 years, and this is not realistic.

• If this change is approved by Department Council, a faculty member will have to look at their own budget and have funds in place for their students once the guaranteed funding has stopped.

Letters of offer are going out to potential graduate students immediately, and direction is needed on the content of these letters. It was decided to take a straw vote. The majority would dictate how these letters would be phrased until a formal motion on implementing this new policy can be made at the February 24 Department Council meeting. Motion for straw vote: The wording of the letter of offer of admission to M.Sc. students is maintained as is, specifically that guaranteed length for funding is specified as 2.67 years.

19 in favour; 9 opposed. CARRIED The wording of the letter of offer of admission to Ph.D. students is maintained as is, specifically that guaranteed length for funding is specified as 5.0 years.

23 in favour (majority rules). CARRIED 12. Graduate Student Updates (Rolf Vinebrooke)

John Chang is taking over the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) position for 10 weeks starting January 4, 2009 while Rolf Vinebrooke is on parental leave.

13. Adjournment

David Pilgrim made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 5:04 p.m.