Academic

The BUSRC Academic Department is the department overseen by the Vice-President of Academic Affairs. The Academic Department includes the V.P. Academic which oversees the six Senators and the Student Success Manager who is in charge of the Student Success Centre and the Peer Academic Mentors.

The six Senators all represent a division of students at Bishop’s University. Hence, there is a Business Senator, an Education Senator, a Humanities Senator, a Social Sciences Senator, a Natural Sciences Senator, and a Graduate Senator. The Vice-President of Academic Affairs is the student voice regarding everything related to Academics, but the Senators advocate for students in their respective divisions to help the V.P. Academic be more aware of the challenges students face in every division. To gather information on the student population they are representing, all Student Senators must complete two outreach initiatives per month. The goal of these two initiatives is to reach out to students, discuss with them, ask questions, and document themselves. These initiatives represent an opportunity to learn more about students’ situations to better represent them in Senate and with the Vice-President of Academic Affairs.

The V.P. Academic sits on Senate along with the six Senators. All seven Senators sit on a variety of Senate Committees, which all pertain to a field of Academics at Bishop’s University. A list of Senate Committees can be found in the Committees section of the BUSRC Website. The six Senators and the V.P. Academic are student representatives in Senate and their goal is to ensure the decisions taken and the motions approved are student-oriented. The BUSRC works for students, hence we work towards better conditions and opportunities for all students in Senate and in Senate Committees.

The Vice-President of Academic Affairs frequently meets with the Vice-Principal of Academic and Research, Dr. Andrew Webster. The goal of these meetings, which take place once or twice a month, is to ensure the administration considers the student’s voices and perspectives while working on projects and initiatives. The BUSRC often works in collaboration with the university administration as we benefit from this collaboration in comparison to student associations in other universities who do not collaborate as much with their university’s administration.

The Vice-President of Academic Affairs’ term starts on May 1st and ends on April 30th. From the date the election results are published to the first day of the new term, the outgoing and the incoming V.P. Academic meet regularly to go through a transition for the incoming Vice-President to be equipped for the start of their term. The incoming Vice-President also receives a transition document with instructions and advice for the upcoming year. This document includes a description of tasks that vary from planning Orientation Week Academic Tours to sitting on Senate and on committees to plan Student Success Week and more.

Moreover, every summer, the Executive Council prepares an Annual Strategic Plan in which all goals for all Executive Members are listed. This plan intends to set goals for the team to complete throughout their term. These goals are set following the structure established in the five-year annual strategic plan and according to each Executive Member’s personal goals and projects they wish to work on during the year.

Should you have any questions, queries, or concerns regarding courses, academic integrity, plagiarism, students’ rights, professors’ responsibilities, and more, please contact the Vice-President of Academic Affairs at srcacad@ubishops.ca.

To reach the Student Senators:

Business Senator – srcbussenator@ubishops.ca

Education Senator – srcedusenator@ubishops.ca

Humanities Senator – srchumsenator@ubishops.ca

Social Sciences Senator – srcsssenator@ubishops.ca

Natural Sciences Senator – srcscisenator@ubishops.ca

Graduate Senator – srcgradsenator@ubishops.ca