Dean of Engineering Office

collegial (k@'li:dZI@l), a.

Of or belonging to a `collegium' or college, or to a body of persons associated as colleagues in the performance of any function.

1878 Seeley Stein II. 515 The clumsy collegial method must be excluded, and the bureaucratic method adopted.

Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.

Of all the bodies that make up the Faculty of Engineering's administrative structure, Engineering Faculty Assembly is the most collegial, having the broadest composition and the broadest mandate. It is mainly composed of all the full-time professors in the Faculty. Among its other members are the President and Vice-President (Academic), representatives of Co-operative Education and Career Services and the Registrar's Office, and relatively small numbers of students and staff members. Technically, it is the Assembly that is responsible for the determination of curricula and the administration of examinations, subject to the approval of the Senate; the Assembly also in principle recommends to Senate candidates for degrees and awards. But the Assembly delegates the above functions to a representative Engineering Faculty Council. Indeed, Council is in essence an executive committee charged with carrying out the Assembly's business under the Assembly's supervision.

The Assembly itself holds regular meetings only once a year, though special meetings may be called by the Dean or the Council, or by the Secretary on receipt of a petition from at least fifty members. At its regular Annual Meetings, the Assembly receives reports from the Dean and the Associate Deans, and from its representatives on other University bodies, such as the Senate. The agenda is prepared by the Assembly's Agenda Committee, which consists of the Dean, the Assembly Chair and Vice-Chair, and the Secretary; any member may submit agenda items for the Committee's consideration. Special Assembly meetings may be held, for example, to recommend to the Senate amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Assembly and Council. Though the Constitution delegates specific powers to Engineering Faculty Council, Assembly may require Council to consider any matter; it may also dismiss the Council through a vote of non-confidence.

Engineering Faculty Council includes the President and Vice-President (Academic), the Dean and the Associate Deans, the Chairs of departments and the Director of the School of Architecture, and the Directors of programs that are not administered exclusively by individual departments (such as the software, mechatronics and nanotechnology engineering programs, PDEng and others). It also includes one faculty member for every five members of each department or school, each of these representatives being elected by his or her unit for a two-year term. These members are elected by their departments or schools not to represent their respective units but only to ensure that they constitute a cross-section of the Faculty: the role of such a member is to represent the Assembly as a whole -- "to act by his or her own conscience for the good of the whole and not as a delegate for any particular sub-grouping of the Assembly." Like the Assembly, Council also includes student and staff representation.

Council is required to meet every month, except in a few specific months when it is typically unnecessary or impractical to do so. At each of its regular meetings, it receives a report from the Dean. It generally also receives reports from standing committees of Council: these include the Undergraduate Studies Committee, the Graduate Studies Committee, the Academic Policy Committee and others. In addition, it receives reports from its own representatives to other councils. The agenda for each meeting is prepared by the Council's own Agenda Committee, but any member may request the addition of an item to the agenda; and any item submitted by fifteen members or more must be included. Any member of the Assembly may address the Council in person or in writing on any issue that is before Council. Special meetings of Council may be called by the Dean or the Chair, or by a petition of at least one-tenth of the members of Council or thirty members of the Assembly.

Faculty members are often unsure of the role that individual members play in the Assembly and Council. This confusion may stem precisely from the two bodies' collegiality: members generally are not assigned specific functions (as in a bureaucracy), but are relied upon to exercise their judgment, conscience and experience as professors, serving as responsible colleagues in all facets of the guidance and governance of the Faculty, for the benefit of the whole.

It's hoped that these few paragraphs have provided an outline of the structures and functions of Assembly and Council. Those seeking to fill in the details are encouraged to read the Constitution and By-Laws, which are quite simple and succinct. For examples of the business carried on, please consult the minutes.

Engineering Faculty Assembly and Council: An Overview