Senators approved new dean appointment rules and inquired about Queen’s budget model review.
On March 26, Senate held its second-to-last meeting of the 2025-26 school year. The meeting was held in a hybrid format where senators and observers could attend in person at 2:30 p.m. in Robert Sutherland Hall or online via Zoom. The meeting passed several motions, ranging from final assessment reports and implementation plans to procedures for the appointment of Deans, but the main focus was the provost’s budget model presentation.
Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Patrick Deane, began the opening session with a land acknowledgment. Following the land acknowledgment, Deane presented the Marget Hooey Governance Award to graduate student Senator and the Society of Graduate and Professional Students Vice-President (Campaigns and Community Affairs) elect, Sakura Koner. The award is presented to a student who has made a significant contribution to the University’s good governance through Senate or Senate committees.
Before the Senate moved on to pass the Consent Agenda, a moment of silence was held for the passing of Chris Knapper, who established the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Queen’s in ’91.
Reports
Deane then proceeded with his Principal Report, during which he highlighted news from the federal and provincial governments. He said the federal government is currently focused on decision-making through a Canadian defence and sovereignty lens, and to keep this in mind while conducting research.
“I can say, without exaggerating, that almost all policy decisions now being made in Ottawa are oriented towards this notion of defence and advancement of Canadian sovereignty,” he said.
The Senate then moved to the Provost report, with Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), Matthew Evans, delivering a budget model—a framework for determining how funds are organized—presentation.
Evans said Queen’s is beginning a review of its current budget model, which has been in place for about 13 years. He described the current model as “the closest that you can get to a pure economic model,” meaning it considers only economic factors. He then clarified that the model is used to allocate funds to the faculties, but the distribution of revenues and costs within the faculties is at each faculty’s discretion.
He gave several reasons why the budget model will be changed and why now is the time to do so, arguing the current model doesn’t align with Queen’s goals, specifically regarding the Bicentennial Vision, and that the lifting of tuition freezes and new injection of funds from the provincial government opens up the opportunity for change.
During the presentation, Evans stressed that changing the model wouldn’t increase the total amount of money in the University but would redistribute existing resources and likely change deficit patterns across faculties.
The presentation sparked a lengthy conversation between Evans and senators.
Several members raised concerns that, based on the presentation, it sounded as though the new model would measure a faculty’s success through research production, putting some faculties at a disadvantage, for reasons such as increased class sizes and fewer TAs.
Evans said that faculty who earn more money with good research outcomes would be rewarded, and those struggling would be provided with positive incentives, but couldn’t clarify what those incentives would look like. He also said details like research metrics haven’t been determined yet and would be developed through the consultation process.
Senators also raised concerns about what the review could mean for the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS), which several speakers described as already under significant strain. Questions focused on whether a new model might reinforce the perception that FAS is financially weak or dependent on subsidies, and whether it would fairly account for the humanities.
Senator Sailaja Krishnamurti questioned whether the faculty would have stable representation in the process, given the recent news that a new FAS interim dean has been appointed.
READ MORE: FAS Interim Dean Bob Lemieux prematurely departs Queen’s
“I’m just going to say I’m a bit struck that we’re now an hour into this meeting of Senate, and we haven’t yet mentioned the very big news that we received in Arts and Science today, that we now have an interim dean as of, I guess, the end of today,” Krishnamurti questioned.
In response, Evans stated that all faculties would be a part of the review equally, and the new budget model isn’t about saving ArtSci, but determining what direction Queen’s goes.
“So, I want to comment that the faculty [FAS] will be engaged in the same way as the other faculties. […] I just want to say that changing the budget model isn’t about, in a sense, it’s not really about trying to set up something which will, quote unquote, rescue FAS. It’s about saying, what’s a university, what objectives are we trying to achieve as a university?” Evans answered.
The new budget model is intended to take effect during the 2027 winter semester.
Question Period & Motions
During question period, Senator Samantha King asked about the process for making Interim Dean appointments following the announcement of a new Interim Dean in ArtSci.
Deane said interim deans are typically appointed administratively because those decisions often have to be made quickly. He added that under the revised dean appointment procedures later considered by Senate, an administrative appointment would eventually need to move into a more consultative and formal process.
Under Committee Motions and Reports, Senate first received two information items from the Senate Cyclical Program Review Committee: the final assessment report and implementation plan for the Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence and Master of Financial Innovation and Technology, as well as an 18-month progress report on the cyclical program review of professional graduate programs offered by the Smith School of Business.
Senate then passed a motion from the Senate Governance and Nominating Committee on the Procedure on Decanal Renewal and Appointments. The motion focused on replacing the University’s old dean appointment rules with a new procedure, including committee composition, consultation, timelines, confidentiality, and faculty representation.
Deane said the intent was to avoid committees becoming an “echo chamber” of administrators and to ensure a strong faculty voice in the process. The motion passed unanimously.
Senate then received several communications for information, including the extension of the temporary suspension of admissions to the Graduate Diploma in Business, the reopening of admissions to the Global Master of Management Analytics, and the Honorary Degree Report to the Senate for Spring 2026.
The meeting adjourned around 4 p.m, with the final Senate meeting of the term set to take place on April 16.
Corrections
A previous version of the article incorrectly spelled Senator Sailaja Krishnamurti’s last name.
Incorrect information appeared in the March 27 issue.
The Journal regrets the error
Tags
Interim Dean Bob Lemieux, Operating Budget, Senate
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