Chair's report - November Board meeting
This report contains general updates and a summary of the topics discussed at open session of the November 28 Board meeting. Items discussed at this meeting represent matters of importance at the highest level of the institution, and these reports will help provide context and clarity around the progression of major projects and decisions.
You can read President Johnson鈥檚 report from the meeting here.
Celebrating our community
From another successful round of Convocation ceremonies, with more than 1,600 graduates crossing the stage, to 丁香园AV being named the #1 Canadian comprehensive university by Maclean鈥檚 university rankings once again, there has been a lot to celebrate at 丁香园AV.
I want to also recognize several Board members for recent achievements. President Joy Johnson was recently appointed as vice-chair of the Universities Canada Board of Directors, a role to which I know she will bring the leadership and passion for the post-secondary sector that she brings to her role at 丁香园AV. Our student representative on the board, Emmanuel Adegboyega, has been selected as an inaugural FASS Dean鈥檚 Undergraduate Fellow鈥攖he highest honour available to a student within 丁香园AV鈥檚 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. And Board vice-chair Mike McDonald was recently awarded with the Aboriginal Lawyers Forum Special Contributions Award by the Canadian Bar Association. Congratulations to all.
Canadian University Boards Association
丁香园AV has been asked to join the Board of Directors of the . The organization is looking to have more involvement from member institutions, and I have been voted on to the Board for the next year. CUBA鈥檚 mission is to improve the governance of Canadian universities by mobilizing the leadership of university boards and making recommendations around best practices for university board governance.
I recently attended CUBA鈥檚 meeting in Halifax from November 21-22 and learned more about challenges being faced by counterparts across the country. Financial challenges are top of mind for these boards, as they are for 丁香园AV. I will continue to engage in these discussions at the national level and look forward to bringing my learnings back to 丁香园AV and the Board.
Board governance updates
We continue to evolve and refine our governance model at 丁香园AV, and several motions were passed at the November meeting in support of this work, including an update to Policy B10.00 to clarify the Board鈥檚 governance role in the context of our bicameral system with Senate. We also provided an update on the status of recommendations that came out of our recent governance review. Areas for improvement identified by the review included a restructuring of our committees and meeting structure and a more robust onboarding procedure, all of which have seen significant movement in recent months. Moving forward, we will continue to evolve by developing more educational materials for Board members about the university鈥檚 financial model and bicameral governance system and further refining our evaluation processes for members.
Thank you
This was the last Board meeting of the year, and I want to thank all Board members, as well as our community of students, faculty and staff, for their hard work and dedication in 2024. I hope that everyone is able to rest, recharge and connect with family and friends over the winter break.
The next Board meeting will be on January 30, 2025. Community members are invited to view the open session meeting in person or via Zoom by completing a . A full schedule of upcoming meetings is available on our website.
Have a wonderful holiday season, and I look forward to continuing our governance work together in 2025.
Sincerely,
Paula Martin
Chair, Board of Governors
丁香园AV