The first draft of the University’s Academic Plan is set to be completed by the end of August, said Principal Daniel Woolf.
“It’s a multi-phase process; the first phase was the document released, which dealt with more departmental consultations,” Principal Daniel Woolf said, referring to the Where Next vision document released on Jan. 15 and the departmental responses.
Woolf said he’s working on Phase II which entails consulting with students and departments to create a first draft of an academic plan.
“There are future consultations planned for both the input of students and departments before the final draft is created,” he said, adding that he hopes to incorporate social media in the process.
The Academic writing team will be using social media outlets such as Facebook and their website to gather information for the first draft.
The six Queen’s academics who are drafting the plan during this summer are: Micheal Adams, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Tim Bryant, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Yolande Chan, School of Business, Kim Nossal, Political Studies, Jill Scott, German and John Smol, Biology.
Woolf said the aim is to take the information gathered from students and departments and try to come up with a plan over the course of the summer. After the first draft we hope to have a whole other round of consultation, to refine that document and come up with the academic plan, he said.
“When the proposal will be completed, it will provide us with guidance for what to do next,” he said, adding that the plan will help in assessing the university’s financial resources, and potential new investments. Woolf said after the first draft of the academic plan is finished, the Academic Writing Team will present it at the Senior Retreat, in the first week of September.
The next step is to bring the plan to the Queen’s Planning Committee and Senate, he said. Woolf said that although the University’s top priority is its academics, academic planning is done in a financial context. Virtualized learning is a good example of a financial and academic innovation, he said.
“People are much more into social media and getting lectures online nowadays,” he said. “It’s a way of supplementing education to other people who aren’t actually Queen’s students.” Woolf said it’s essential students get involved in the academic planning process as much as possible.
“I think we are open to various forms of consultations, smaller and larger. We have to create lots of opportunities for the public to consults us.,” Woolf said.
The final draft of the academic plan is set to be completed by the December board meeting.
“We hope to hold on to that deadline for now as we still think that it is manageable,” he said.
“Following that, there will be public consultations and we will try to get the information out, so people can plan their calendars accordingly.”
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