Council Column

Capital Planning Committee work matching academic needs with facilities ‘never dull!’

The Capital Planning Committee of Council (CPC) is responsible for a variety of tasks related to capital expenditures.  The roles defined by its terms of reference include developing and recommending through Council long- and short-term capital plans for the University.  In practice, these fall in two broad categories: one related to capital expenditures on equipment, and the other is concerned with buildings and University spaces.

The first function is perhaps the one better known to members of the University. Every year, the CPC requests that the academic and administrative units submit equipment priority lists which, in turn, represent the needs of their constitutive units. The Committee then attempts to devise ways of allocating available funds to meet those needs.  There is rarely enough money to meet demand, and only a small fraction of total needs can be met.  The funds required are part of a larger capital budget provided by the Province in support of capital expenditures on buildings, building maintenance and renovation, information technology infrastructure, audiovisual infrastructure, and similar items.  The portion allocated for equipment has amounted to $1.3 million in recent years. A portion of that has been diverted in recent years to help new faculty members with their equipment needs. In order to accomplish this, the CPC reserves $500,000 annually for allocation to new faculty upon application, according to set guidelines. 

By Joe Angel, Committee Chair

Regarding the allocation of money for equipment, the CPC plans to recommend that the faculty startup allocation become a permanent feature of capital equipment funding. The Committee is also considering a means of devolving a major portion of the equipment fund directly to colleges, but reserving a portion for new and creative initiatives.  The plan will be submitted to Council once an appropriate means of allocating the funds is devised.

In addition to allocating funds for equipment, the CPC also advises on space allocation and the various priorities of the building programme.  The Committee has in the past maintained a building priority list.  However, the current CPC has opted to reconsider the methodology employed for constructing such a list, and devised a means that takes into account an integrated view of building needs in the context of University priorities, published Council documents, and inputs from other Council committees, especially the Planning, Budget, Research, and Academic Programs committees.

Because of its involvement with physical facilities planning, the CPC works closely with Facilities Management.  For example, the CPC comments on the capital implications of initiatives referred to it by Council or its committees. It is also involved with the Campus Master Plan, and many other subcommittees concerned with the physical needs of the University.

Altogether, the functions of the CPC deal with the interface between academic needs and the physical resources required to support them.  As such, the work can be at once highly rewarding, and highly frustrating.  But it has not been dull yet!

Instructional Development Committee active in promoting quality of teaching

The Instructional Development Committee of Council (IDCC) recommends to Council programs and policies to enhance the quality of instruction in the undergraduate, graduate and non-degree programs offered by our University.  The IDCC also has a mandate to promote research in teaching and learning and to encourage a variety of forms of teaching, including innovative technologies and approaches.

The IDCC has concentrated for two years on the evaluation of teaching, developing principles that will guide the more general adoption of teaching evaluation across the campus.  Teaching evaluation is important because it is one way that we can be professionally accountable to students for the quality and effectiveness of instruction.  Evaluations also help to improve teaching through formative feedback to instructors. Evaluations by both students and peers provide consistent and valid evidence to review committees that must evaluate teachers for career development, including tenure and promotion decisions, as required in the new University Standards.

An enlarged committee of IDCC developed The Principles for the Evaluation of Teaching document.  This group consulted widely, including interested people with expertise, reviewing the present processes on campus, and learning from those beyond the University with firsthand experience.  To begin a thorough consultation process, drafts of the principles were developed and then distributed to colleges, departments, associations representing the faculty and sessional lecturers, and student organizations.  Based on those consultations, IDCC revised the Principles before bringing them to Council, where they were approved last month.  The next aspect of teaching evaluation is to implement the process consistently across campus.  Many units do a good job already, but others will need guidance and encouragement to develop a process that meets the principles set out

Another area of considerable interest to IDCC and Council is the Gwenna Moss Teaching and Learning Centre.  The IDCC has strongly supported the Centre, was active in its establishment, and continues to regard it as one of our most effective ways of improving teaching.  “What is a Teacher-Scholar?”, a symposium held last November, was jointly sponsored by the Centre, the IDCC and Council’s Research Committee.  The Symposium brought Dr. C. J. Weiser from Oregon State University to Saskatchewan, and everyone benefited considerably from his insights into the scholarship of teaching.

The members of IDCC are strong advocates for improving the quality of instruction at the University of Saskatchewan.  Committee members are interested in your views on ways to promote and encourage good teaching on our campus.  Please contact me with your ideas and suggestions.