2000-2-7 Student Program Forums

Policy

1. Each School Program Forum will meet at least once each year of the regular school year.
2. The participants in the Forum will consist of the Dean of the School, who will chair the meeting, and the elected program‐year student representatives.
3. The Forum meetings will not be open to observers, except those individuals specifically invited by the Dean.
4. The Forum will be used to provide comment, criticism and suggestions for improvement regarding program and course content, and delivery, as well as other program-related issues that might arise. Items discussed may include course or program content, delivery, proposed changes to courses or programs, exam schedules, promotion policies, awards, events, etc. The Forum may not be used for the discussion or appraisal of individual performance.
5. There will be one student representative for each year of each program. In those programs in which there is a common first year, there will be only one representative for the common first year of the programs.
6. The student representative for each year of each program will be elected by the students in that year of the program.
7. The annual election of the student representatives will be initiated and overseen by the program coordinators.
8. The student representatives, through their program coordinators, will request 15 minutes of classroom time with each section in the program year to identify and discuss items to be brought to the next Forum meeting. As well, a section in the learning management system will be used for student representatives to gather comment from their fellow students and provide reports to them.
9. Student representatives may be required by the Dean to forward agenda items to the Dean at least three working days in advance of the next meeting. The Dean may exercise the discretion to allow discussion items to be raised from the floor during the meeting. Minutes will be distributed, electronically, to members of the Forum, the Senior Vice‐President, Academic & Student Success. Feedback will also be summarized, anonymized, and considered as part of the annual program reflections.
10. At the end of each year, the Deans will report to the Senior Vice‐President, Academic & Student Success and the Deans Council on emerging issues and best practices that have been discussed at the Forums.
11. The program forums are not intended to replace or duplicate in any way the program advisory committees or the Student Administrative Council.