10 new tenure-track positions next year
There will be 10 new tenure-track faculty appointments made next year, Colin Taylor, interim dean of arts and science, told Senate Dec. 9.

       This works out to an increase of 7.4 full-time tenure-track faculty in the teaching program in 1998-99 after retirements, resignations and sabbaticals are taken into account, said Taylor. The additions raise the full-time faculty complement to 190.7 next year. "This is good news," he said.

        In his staffing plan for next year, Taylor has reduced teaching stipends by 17.5 (5.2 full-time equivalents) to about 100. Even so, he said, he exceeds his budget model by $280,000. He said his priority now is to secure that $280,000 and more to implement the plan and have a contingency budget to cover enrolment shifts and other needs that always arise.

Lower standards, higher rustication?
A recent upturn in rustication rates can be traced to lower entrance standards in the past two years, says a report by institutional analyst Torben Drewes.

        In 1994-95, Trent accepted incoming high school students with averages of 75 per cent or more. The cut-off grade in 1995-96 was 69 per cent and in 1996-97 it dropped another point to 68.

        Last year, 189 students were rusticated (barred for one year because they have an average of less than 50 per cent) or debarred (barred for three years after failing again following rustication).

        If the cut-off grade last year had been 75 per cent instead of 68, there would have been 88 fewer rustications, calculates Drewes. At the same time, "had the cut-off grades not declined...346 students would have been denied entry to Trent in 1996-97, 68.8 per cent of whom successfully completed their year," his report concluded. In 1995-96, there were 143 rustications.

        Drewes said his report does not explain rustication statistics at Trent over the long term including why rustication rates rose during periods when entrance standards were increasing.

        Drewes prepared the report in response to a question earlier this fall from the Senate committee on undergraduate standings and petitions. The report will be circulated to the admissions committee, he said.

        Drewes completed a two-year term Dec. 31 as Trent's first -- and part-time -- institutional analyst. His successor will fill the position full time and is expected to start this month.

Tackling deficit
Administrators are working on a 1998-99 plan to begin eliminating Trent's estimated $1-million structural deficit, interim president David Smith told Senate Dec. 9.

        He said the university will look at different measures for next year and over a two- and three-year period to meet immediate financial pressures. "There have been a lot of one-time measures taken to cover deficits in the past, but it is becoming harder and harder to do that," said Smith.

        A plan will be presented to the Senate budget committee and then to Senate, said Smith.

New environmental chemistry program
The Chemistry Department is introducing a new environmental chemistry degree program as one of several measures to strengthen its undergraduate program.

        Senate approved the new single-major general and honors program, which combines chemistry and environmental sciences courses. The program will be strengthened by the addition of a new tenure-track appointment in chemistry and the recent appointment of a junior chair in environmental modelling, said Colin Taylor, chair of Senate's academic development committee which approved the program.

        In addition, biochemistry majors in the general program must take a minimum of 9.5 courses, up from seven. And the chemistry curriculum has been altered to make it more competitive with chemistry departments in other universities and pave the way for possible departmental accreditation. Trent's chemistry department is one of only a handful in Canada that is not accredited.

Extended life for education committee
Senate has decided to extend the life of the committee on educational development (COED) until April.

        The six-year-old ad hoc committee was to be disbanded in December and its $8,700 annual budget diverted to the academic innovation fund. Created to support teaching initiatives, the committee had been criticized recently for spending on teaching technologies.

         By the end of this academic year, Trent's commitment to teaching may be clarified. Capital campaign priorities include raising money for a centre for interactive learning, for teaching facilities and wiring the campus to enhance computer and Internet connections.

More consulting on advisory system
Senate will discuss changes to Trent's academic advisory system in January or February, says interim vice-president academic David Morrison.

        A report by a task force on the advisory system presented to Senate in November was referred to Senate executive to narrow down options. Morrison said further consultations will be held to "flesh out aspects of the advisory system not dealt with in the report" such as the role of senior tutors.

Glowing reports for programs abroad
German, French and Spanish year-abroad programs got glowing reports in the most recent, and last, five-year review.

        Senate has required five-year reviews to renew its approval of the Freiburg, Nante and Granada (now Mexico) programs since they were established 20 years ago. It has decided, however, to conduct future reviews as part of the regular undergraduate program reviews.