| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 76.02 |
| Liaison | Rochelle Owen |
| Submission Date | July 21, 2021 |
Dalhousie University
PA-3: Inclusive and Participatory Governance
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 3.00 |
Does the institution have formal participatory or shared governance bodies through which the following stakeholders can regularly participate in the governance of the institution?:
| Yes or No | |
| Students | Yes |
| Academic staff | Yes |
| Non-academic staff | Yes |
A brief description of the institution’s formal participatory or shared governance bodies:
Dalhousie’s Board of Governors has mandatory seats for students, faculty and staff. The BOG is responsible for the overall conduct, management and administration of the property, revenue, business and affairs of the university, and is comprised of members from various external stakeholder groups. Further information on membership and overall responsibility of the Board can be found at: https://www.dal.ca/dept/university_secretariat/board_of_governors/board-members-biographies.html
Dalhousie’s Senate is the university's senior academic governing body. The Senate membership mandates representation from students, faculty and staff and “consists of elected and appointed members from the Faculties (with the exception of the Faculty of Graduate Studies) and the Libraries (hereafter collectively "Academic Units"), elected student representatives, representatives from affiliated institutions (as described below), and senior academic administrators as ex-officio members.” https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/dept/university_secretariat/Senate%20Docs%202016-17/Approved_Senate_ConstitutionNov2017.pdf
The Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) is “a participatory democracy composed of over 19,000 students studying at Dalhousie University. Through elections, 5 student executive members and 22 faculty and community representatives oversee the day-to-day operations of the Union.” https://www.dsu.ca/your-student-union
Collective bargaining between staff, faculty and administration is formalized through regular discussions and negotiations. https://www.dal.ca/dept/hr/labour-relations/about-collective-bargaining.html
University wide planning processes such as the recent strategic planning process engaged hundreds of staff, faculty and students in open sessions, focus groups, and surveys. https://www.dal.ca/about-dal/leadership-and-vision/strategic-plan/about.html
Total number of individuals on the institution’s highest governing body:
Number of students representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
Number of academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
Number of non-academic staff representing their peers as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
Number of women serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body:
Percentage of official members of the highest governing body that are women:
Website URL where information about the institution’s highest governing body may be found:
Does the institution host or support one or more formal bodies through which external stakeholders have a regular voice in institutional decisions that affect them?:
A brief description of the campus-community council or equivalent body that gives external stakeholders a regular voice in institutional decisions that affect them:
Dalhousie has programs, events and committees in which external stakeholder have a regular voice. Examples include: the Dalhousie Advisory committee: https://www.dal.ca/about-dal/leadership-and-vision/dalhousie-advisory-council.html
Dalhousie Community Affairs committee: https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/dept/university_secretariat/Board-of-Governors/Terms%20of%20Reference/CommunityAffairsCommittee-TOR-Approved-2016.pdf
Dalhousie’s Community Committee is being re-scoped as the Dalhousie Community Experience Committee (DCEC) this year to provide a broader scope of engagement. Other examples of community engagement include annual Open House Days, forums, events, newsletters - https://www.dal.ca/about-dal/dal-and-the-community/dal-neighbours.html
Ongoing partnerships and committee work with social partners YMCA, Halifax Public Libraries, Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, the United Way; community newsletter, community events and reports.
Dalhousie’s Board of Governors is responsible for the overall conduct, management and administration of the property, revenue, business and affairs of the university, and is comprised of members from various external stakeholder groups. Further information on membership and overall responsibility of the Board can be found at: https://www.dal.ca/dept/university_secretariat/board_of_governors/board-members-biographies.html
There are also many informal advisory councils in operation at Dalhousie, with representatives from various external stakeholder groups including business leaders, public servants and political figures, which support the institution at large though play no part in governance of the university, including:
• External Advisory Council for the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance: https://www.dal.ca/dept/maceachen-institute/about/governance/external_advisory_council.html
• Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management Advisory Board: https://www.dal.ca/faculty/management/about/Advisory_Board.html
• Schulich School of Law’s Indigenous Blacks & Mi’kmaq Initiative, Advisory Council: https://www.dal.ca/faculty/law/indigenous-blacks-mi-kmaq-initiative/council-committee.html
• Global Health Office Advisory Committees: https://medicine.dal.ca/departments/core-units/global-health/about/advisory-committee.html
Number of people from underrepresented groups serving as official members of the institution’s highest governing body.:
Website URL where information about the institution’s governance structure is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Includes Ex Officio members
Includes Ex Officio members
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.