Questions and frustrations around ArtSci seat reallocations remain a hot topic at Senate.
On Feb. 26, Queen’s Senate met in a hybrid format, both on Zoom and in person at Robert Sutherland Hall. Several academic governance motions passed, alongside updates on provincial post-secondary funding, research partnerships, and the Senate Equity Census.
Faculty Senator and Senate Vice-Chair, Kelly Packalen, chaired the meeting in Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane’s absence, beginning with a land acknowledgement and noting that Deane was speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels and therefore couldn’t attend.
Packalen also recognized the passing of two members of the Queen’s community. Commerce student and senator Amin Nazari and Principal Emeritus Bill Leggett, who served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor from 1994 to 2004. Following the announcement, she called for a moment of silence.
Once the moment of silence concluded, senators passed the consent agenda and moved to the regular agenda.
Reports
Since Deane was unable to attend the meeting, the principal’s report was skipped over, and Provost Matthew Evans shared his report with the Senate. Evans discussed the new provincial government announcements affecting university funding, tuition and OSAP.
Evans stated that the extra funding of 6.4 billion is “welcome and positive news for Queen’s,” but that many technical details are currently limited.
He also mentioned the two per cent tuition increase, stating that it’s a good thing for universities, but noted that the two per cent cap doesn’t cover annual inflation and doesn’t address salary increases.
Finally, on the topic of the new provincial announcements, Evans highlighted the OSAP changes, calling the transition to 25 per cent grants and 75 per cent loans a substantial change that “will obviously make a significant impact on the sum of the student body.”
Following his report, the floor opened to questions, during which Senator Sakura Koner asked whether Queen’s is considering changes to its financial aid in the wake of OSAP changes. Evans answered by stating that Queen’s already has one of the most “generous” packages in Ontario Universities but maintained that Queen’s will support students.
During his report, Evans also announced that Queen’s is preparing to review the current university’s budget model, claiming that there has been interest in changing the model from the Senate and that the new funding provides “an opportune time to begin that discussion.”
Vice-Principal (Research) Nancy Ross presented her report once Evans had concluded. Sharing that since Dec. 19, Queen’s received more than 300 applications to the Impact + Chair Program, a federal initiative meant to attract international leading researchers. She also shared that Queen’s would soon be announcing a partnership with Simon Fraser University on a joint application to the Sovereign Computer Infrastructure Program.
Question Period
During Question period, only one concern was raised by Arts & Science Faculty Senator Diane Beauchemin, who asked whether any new funding would be allocated to hiring new custodial staff, citing the lack of nighttime custodial staff as a safety issue in chemistry labs.
In response, Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration) Donna Janiec stated that new funding had already been put in the 2026-27 budget, and she hoped to see further improvements.
Motions
The Senate approved a series of motions under the Senate Committee on Academic Development and Procedures, including the Policy on Course Outlines, a motion establishing new standards for course guidelines, which will come into effect on Sept. 1, 2026. Alongside approving revisions to the Queen’s University Quality Assurance Processes (QUQAP), subject to re-ratification by the Ontario Universities’ Council on Quality Assurance, a motion to address audit recommendations and provincial guidance on major changes to Queen’s Quality Assurance.
The Senate also approved two Smith School of Business “major modifications,” including the creation of a new dual-degree program between the Bachelor of Commerce and ESAN University in Peru, effective Sept. 1, 2026. The second modification is to the Accelerated Master of Business Administration, effective Jan. 1, 2027.
Following the passage of these motions, a brief back-and-forth broke out between Arts & Science Faculty Senator Adnan Husain and Evans when trying to pass the Enrolment Reallocation Impact Report, which was meant to assess the impacts of the reallocation of 300 seats out of the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) program.
Husain questioned whether the report provided a sufficient analysis of how reallocating seats could affect the Faculty of Arts and Science, particularly regarding long-term program viability and revenue impacts.
Evans responded that the report intended to analyze the anticipated impact of the enrolment shift, especially regarding student supports. He added that cross-faculty revenue splits can be difficult to interpret under Queen’s current budget model, since tuition revenue flows directly to faculties based on enrolment.
After this exchange Senate approved revisions to the Senate Educational Equity Policy, passed the nominations report from the Senate Governance and Nominating Committee, and heard an information update on the Senate Equity Census Report and the 2025 Orientation Report.
Finally, the meeting adjourned, with Packalen remarking, “It may be a record-fast Senate meeting.” The next Senate meeting will take place in a hybrid format on March. 26.
Tags
2026 OSAP Changes, Senate, Senate recap
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