The UBC Vancouver Senate approved a plan to slightly reduce enrolment next year and amendments to the Deans Appointment Policy at last night’s meeting.
Here’s what you might have missed.
Plans to reduce enrolment increases start next year
Registrar Kate Ross presented UBC’s latest enrolment report, before the Senate approved a slight reduction in enrolment for 2022/23.
UBC currently has 72,281 students enrolled, marking a three per cent increase from last year’s enrolment. Seventeen per cent of those students are at UBC Okanagan, while 83 per cent are at UBC Vancouver.
This year, both UBC Okanagan and UBC Vancouver saw an eight per cent increase in international student enrolment. Applications to UBC Vancouver increased significantly, with 17 per cent more domestic applications and 23 per cent more international applications compared to the previous year.
Currently, eight per cent of the students at UBC Okanagan are Indigenous, while 3.3 per cent of UBC Vancouver students are Indigenous, Ross reported.
The Senate approved a proposal to increase undergrad intake targets at UBC Vancouver by 1.6 per cent for domestic students and 3.3 per cent for international students — a change that will result in 249 fewer new domestic students and 146 fewer international students.
“Our goal is really to try and achieve the targets [and] not to over-enrol, that's really what we're supposed to try and achieve. It's been very difficult to do because, of course, there are many, many factors that affect enrolment,” Ross said.
Amendments to Deans Appointment Policy approved
Following feedback from the Board of Governors, the amended Deans Appointment Policy came back to the Senate last night. The academic governing body approved the changes with 40 in favour and 15 against.
The changes mostly regarded the faculty forums for decanal candidates that had brought up both equity and privacy concerns at the Board last year.
The forum will allow members of a faculty to get to know the final candidates for dean and provide feedback. Faculty members, staff members, undergrads, grad students and postdoctoral fellows within the faculty will be eligible to join the confidential forum.
Privacy was a key concern at last night’s discussion. As written, the policy states that the forum should be confidential, but attendees will know the identities of the finalists and will not be required to sign confidentiality agreements. The policy simply expects attendees to not share the identity of candidates.
Faculty of medicine Dean Dermot Kelleher expressed his skepticism with the confidentiality of this forum.
"We would expect such a forum to send out over 10,000 invites. And I cannot see [that]confidentiality can be protected in that circumstance," he said. “And I have great concern that the types of individuals who are — at one point in time, including myself — applying to a position … will not wish to compromise the confidentiality of those applications by appearing in front of 10,000 people.”
Dr. Paul Harrison, chair of the nominating committee, mentioned that there had been concern in consultations that this motion could impact candidates from marginalized groups.
However, after relatively little discussion, the motion passed. It will still need to be approved by the UBC Okanagan Senate and the Board of Governors.