Dear members of the McGill Community,
It is our pleasure to provide you with an update on the recent activities of McGill’s Board of Governors. You can learn more about the Board’s mandate and membership on its website.
McGill University’s Board of Governors held the first of its regular meetings on October 5, 2023. The full minutes of the meeting’s open session will be available following approval at the Board’s next meeting, on December 14, 2023. In the meantime, we would like to share with you the meeting’s important discussions, decisions, and developments.
Thank you for your interest in the work of the Board of Governors. If you have any questions, ideas, or comments, please write mcgill.principal [at] mcgill.ca.
Sincerely,
Deep Saini, Principal and Vice-Chancellor
Maryse Bertrand, Chair, McGill Board of Governors
Key Updates
On the recommendation of the Nominating, Governance and Ethics (NGE) Committee, the Board, following consultations with the Senate, approved amendments to the University Statutes to reflect the change of title of “Principal” to “President” and “Vice-Principal” to “Vice-President.” The change serves to align McGill with other universities and will leverage its position at the international level, where the titles of President and Vice-President are more recognized. To comply with statutory requirements, the change has been communicated to the Governor General and is expected to take effect by the end of the calendar year.
Also on the recommendation of the NGE Committee, the Board approved an initiative to develop a new model to promote further Board-community interactions, which would replace the current Community Sessions model and accompanying guidelines. In the interim period, any member of the University community wishing to send communications to the Board or ideas about ways to promote the work of the Board within the University community may contact the bog.mcgill [at] mcgill.ca?subject=bog.mcgill [at] mcgill.ca (subject: bog.mcgill%40mcgill.ca) (Secretariat). While the current guidelines remain in place, it is anticipated that the Board will consider a proposal for a new model at its meeting in December 2023.
In accordance with the “Regulations Relating to the Employment of Tenure-Track and Tenured Academic Staff,” the Board of Governors approved the promotion of four academic staff members to the rank of Full Professor.
The Board of Governors, on the recommendation of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee, approved a new Policy on the Governance of Personal Information, which responds to the requirements set forth in Law 25, An Act to Modernize Legislation Provisions Respecting the Protection of Personal Information. The Act entails a range of requirements for public bodies concerning the collection, communication, use, and the maintenance of personal information. The University will develop tools to support the implementation of this Policy.
On the recommendation of the Audit and Risk Committee, the Board approved the following:
- The 2022-2023 Financial Report to the Board of Governors, including the External Auditor’s report and the Audited Financial Statements of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning/McGill University for the year ended April 30, 2023.
- The appointment of Deloitte as external auditor of the University for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2024.
- Revisions to the Policy on the Approval of Contracts and Designation of Signing Authority (“Signing Policy”), for the implementation of certain recommendations contained in the Report of the Special Project on Board Efficiency. The revisions increase the authority limit of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee from $7 million to $10 million for the approval of construction, renovation, and IT projects, as well as the authority limit of the Principal for the approval of research award agreements and applications from $6 million to $10 million.
Finally, the Board received notice that the annual Joint Board-Senate meeting will be held on November 14, 2023. This year’s meeting will address the theme: “Building on McGill’s Record of Excellence for the Third Century: Challenges and Opportunities Ahead.”
Principal’s Remarks
Principal Saini shared updates on a range of recent developments from across McGill’s campuses.
He began his remarks with McGill’s enrolment status, which is comparable to the previous year (39,397 students for Fall 2023 compared to 39,421). The top five citizenships of international students enrolled for Fall 2023 are China, USA, France, India and Iran.
Government Relations
The Principal shared that McGill was one of 15 universities to participate in a pilot survey for a Trusted Institution Framework by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which pertains to the recruitment and retention of international students. McGill submitted its response to the pilot survey; the IRCC is working to implement the Framework next year.
In addition, McGill tabled a submission at the National Assembly on Quebec immigration planning. The University appeared before the National Assembly’s Committee on Citizen Relations on September 20 to highlight the potentially harmful effects of language distinctions in the Programme de l'expérience québécoise (PEQ).
The University also shared with the Government its comments regarding the modifications brought to the Règlement sur l’immigration, advocating that students who studied in an Anglophone university should continue to be permitted an expedited pathway to residency.
The Principal addressed McGill’s submission to this year’s federal pre-budget consultation process. In line with fellow Canadian research universities, McGill continues to advocate for appropriate financial support for graduate students and research. On November 22, the University will host an advocacy day in Ottawa to raise awareness about the importance of federal support for the Canadian science and research ecosystem.
Finally, the Principal provided an overview of his recent meetings with government officials, such as Ministers Pascale Déry, Pierre Fitzgibbon, and Eric Girard, as well as with Mayor Valérie Plante and Premier François Legault’s chief of staff. These meetings addressed a range of topics, including immigration, university finances, the revision of the Politique québécoise de financement des universités, the retention of international students, and McGill’s contributions to Quebec.
Community Relations
In the context of his first full academic year at McGill, the Principal shared some of the fall campus events that he attended over the past weeks, including Open Air Pub, Security Week Barbecue, and Soup & Science.
McGill held its 12th annual Indigenous Awareness Weeks from September 18-30, which culminated with National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour the survivors and victims of residential schools, their families, and their communities. The McGill community participated is a variety of related events, including the 2nd Annual Legacy Game: Honouring the Indigenous Roots of Lacrosse.
The Principal also expressed his anticipation for the upcoming Homecoming events. Abenaki documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin will deliver the Beatty Lecture and Adam Gopnik headlines this year’s Leacock Lecture.
Rankings
The Principal gave an overview of McGill’s performance in some of the recent university rankings.
- The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings placed McGill as the 49th university in the world and third in Canada.
- The Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities placed McGill in the 70th position.
- The 2023 QS World Rankings placed McGill in the 30th position globally and second in Canada.
Selected Kudos
Finally, the Principal closed his remarks by highlighting a selection of recent achievements by members of the McGill community.
- 19 McGill graduate students earned Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships; 5 postdoctoral fellows were awarded Banting Fellowships.
- The Royal Society of Canada announced 19 McGill inductees, including four new members to the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, and 15 new Fellows.
- Eight members of the McGill community were appointed to the Order of Canada, including Professor Daniel Weinstock, Faculty of Law.
- Professor Cindy Blackstock, School of Social Work, was voted by millions of children as the recipient of the World’s Children’s Prize (WCP) for the Rights of the Child for her decades of advocacy for the rights and welfare of Indigenous children.
- Elham Daneshmand and Haolun Wu, PhD candidates in computer science, are recipients of 2023 Borealis AI Fellowships. Awarded to only 10 people in Canada, the Fellowships support world-leading research across Canada in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Reports and Presentations
The Board received the following reports from its standing committees:
- Report of the Executive Committee
- Report of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (joint Committee with Senate)
- Report of the Audit and Risk Committee
- Report of the Nominating, Governance, and Ethics Committee
- Report of the Investment Committee