Senate to study U of C's benefits to society

New project will detail real-world examples
of university's impact

by Mark Reid

The examples are endless.

A University of Calgary electrical engineer launches a project to bring light to rural communities in Third World countries.

A U of C psychologist discovers that exercise and activity is the best medicine to help seniors overcome depression.

A university ecologist leads a major study into wildlife ecology in the Rocky Mountains, ultimately helping preserve the fragile ecosystem and the creatures that depend on it.

Everyday, in countless ways, members of the University of Calgary community make a positive difference in the real world.

The challenge, however, is finding ways to get that message out to the greater Alberta community.

Enter the U of C Senate.

Chancellor Bill Warren (left) says the Senate is embarking on a two-year journey of discovery, in an ambitious effort to chronicle the ways the University of Calgary positively impacts the lives of people, both in Alberta and abroad.

“ There are so many things going on at the university that would be of great interest to the general public – so many stories the public doesn’t know,” Warren says.

“ We see the Senate as the bridge between the university and the community. Through this project, we hope to develop anecdotal evidence of the university’s return to community, by talking directly to those that benefit from the services and knowledge provided by the University of Calgary.”

The Senate’s new project will see Senators heading out into the community to interview those affected most by the research and services conducted and provided by the U of C.

Inspector Vince Caleffi of the Calgary Police Service is a new member of the Senate.

He said the diverse backgrounds of the Senate members will help ensure the study is a thorough and honest reflection on the benefits and impacts of U of C on the community at large.

Caleffi adds he’s confident the study will reveal that the U of C has a tremendous impact on people’s everyday lives. “The Senate is so closely linked to the community,” Caleffi says. “With our diverse backgrounds, we can go out there and really facilitate information sharing. The university has so much to offer and it’s a great feeling for me to be able to be part of that. It’s incredibly rewarding.”

“ A university steps out, leaving footprints in local and global settings. We call this ‘Return to Community,’” says Senator Carol Gilchrist. “Quantitative analyses give us the numerical picture. The Senate Project addresses the stories behind the footprints. It has the potential to reveal conventional and non-conventional ways the University of Calgary has impacted the lives of people. These in turn have implications when forecasting and planning teaching, community service and even research activities.”

Warren admits chronicling the myriad good news stories will be a tall order. However, he says the benefits of the study are obvious in this age of fiscal prudence and tight public funding.

“ This study will bring a new argument forward about the value of post-secondary education,” Warren says. “Accessibility and funding are major issues facing post-secondary institutions. Universities have to be able to prove their worth to the community that supports them.”

The Senate is a 62-member, independent body, with members coming from all walks of life.

The Senate carries out a host of projects and initiatives aimed at connecting the wider Calgary and Alberta community to the U of C.

One of the more popular initiatives is the Senate Ambassadors program, which sees Senators head out into the community to meet with citizens and speak about the attributes, programs and goals of the university.

The Senate also engages in a “shadowing” program, in which Senators spend time with faculty, to learn more about their research and the teaching environment at the University of Calgary. And because the members of Senate come from all walks of life, they are well able to articulate the importance of the U of C to all Albertans.

Indeed, Warren considers the Senate “the conscience of the university,” and as such, he says all effort will be made to find funding for the project from outside sources.
“ We hope to be able to fund the project with self-generated monies, in order to assure those who read it we are absolutely objective.”

It is expected the study will be completed by June 2005.

Senate's fresh faces

Lauren Batiuk
Lauren Batiuk presently serves as the vice-president, external, of the Student’s Union at the University of Calgary. She is a fourth year International Relations major specialising in Western Europe and security and strategy. In addition to representing students, she also works to advance freedom, justice and democracy as The Future Group’s director of communications. In the summer of 2003 she drove a 2003 VW Bug across Canada to raise awareness about the need for organ and tissue donations.

Vince Caleffi
Vince Caleffi is presently employed as a Calgary Police Service District Commander for the northeast quadrant of the city (District 5). Caleffi has been a member of the police service for 27 years and has worked in a number of areas in policing, including: organized-crime investigation, canine, traffic, communications, gang investigations, crisis management and patrol. Since becoming a police officer he has obtained two Continuing Education certificates from the University of Calgary — one in human resources development and the other in business administration. Caleffi has also completed the management essentials program through the Haskayne School of Business at the U of C. Caleffi says he is committed to the Alberta Community and look forward to involving myself as an ambassador of the university."

Marguerite Fenyvesi
Marguerite Fenyvesi is a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and has been the assistant head of the department since 1992. She is involved in international issues at the department and faculty level,and is a member of the University International Grants Committee. Fenyvesi has served on the Faculty Promotions Committee. She is a member of the department’s executive committee and coordinates joint ventures with the Faculty of Continuing Education. Fenyvesi is also active in mentoring junior high girls through SCiberMENTOR and WISE, as well as new tutorial assistants and graduate students.

Jayna Gilchrist
Jayna Gilchrist grew up in Medicine Hat, and at twenty-one, transferred to the University of Calgary to finish her political science degree. She has been involved in different levels of politics for the last six years. In 2002, Gilchrist became involved in the Students’ Union as an academic commissioner. She then spent four months as vice-president, academic, before deciding to accept the challenges of being the president of the Students’ Union. Aside from politics, Gilchrist enjoys travelling and a variety of social activities. As a student, she has faced many of the same issues as her peers – dealing with student loans, transferring courses, independent living, and holding a number of jobs while trying to focus on academics. It was the collection of these experiences that encouraged her to stand up for undergraduate students as both their representative and advocate.

Heather Herring
Heather Herring is a professional engineer with a MBA from the University of Calgary who runs her own project management company, Make It So Inc. Currently, she is providing consulting services to the Faculties of Engineering, Kinesiology and Medicine in building industrial partnerships, grant writing, budget preparation and equipment installation. She was the Faculty of Engineering representative on the construction of CCIT, the new multi-discipline research building that opened October 2002. She says the value of education was ingrained in her from a very young age and sees her role as senator as an opportunity to give back to the community.

John Humphrey
A native of Vancouver and a graduate of the University of British Columbia and McMaster University, John Humphrey came to the University of Calgary in 1973, to join the small classics department as a Roman historian and archaeologist. He has participated in and directed excavations in Greece and Turkey, and has published on a variety of topics, from Roman history to ancient technology, to Ottoman Turkish smoking pipes. He has served on dozens of university committees; most recently as chair of the University Budget Committee for two years. He has also served as associate dean, Research, for the Faculty of Humanities, head of the Department of Greek and Roman Studies, acting dean of humanities, and this year, acting dean of continuing education. Humphrey is passionate about teaching, for which he has received two university awards and is equally devoted to the important links between the university and the Calgary community.

David Johnston
David Johnston came to the University of Calgary in June of 2002 after holding positions at Simon Fraser University and the University of California, Davis and holds degrees from SFU and the University of British Columbia. In his role as Registrar, Johnston is involved in many university committees and activities. He has a keen interest in the application of technology in providing better services to students and staff and looks forward to improvements in this area for the U of C community. When not at work he coaches youth soccer and takes the occasional bike ride with his family.

Tamara McCarron
Tamara McCarron graduated from the University of Calgary in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science and is currently completing her MBA from the Haskayne School of Business. In addition to studying at the university, McCarron works on campus where she wears two hats. McCarron is the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Coordinator where she is responsible for leading the organization in the development and implementation of new initiatives that relate to WISE recruitment, support and retention within the faculties of engineering and science. McCarron also serves as the program director for SCIberMENTOR, an email mentoring program for girls between the ages of 11 and 18 that encourage them to continue in science and engineering. Currently, McCarron sits on the board of directors for the University of Calgary Alumni Association, where she is beginning her term as vice-president.

Kathleen McNally-Leitch
A Calgary native, Kathleen McNally-Leitch has a Masters in Art History from Johns Hopkins University. For the past five years, she has been in charge of the Big Rock University Lecture Series. This program showcases the diverse talents of the University of Calgary faculty, while supporting outstanding students.

Jennifer Pelley
Jennifer Pelley is a PhD candidate in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, in the Faculty of Medicine. She is a member of the Cancer Biology Research Group; her research focuses on immune cells and disorders of those cells, such as leukemia. Pelley moved to Calgary in 1999, having recently completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Queen’s University, in her hometown of Kingston, Ont. She has served as speaker of the Graduate Representative Council and president of the Medical Sciences Graduate Students’ Association for the past two years. She is currently the vice-president, external of the Graduate Students’ Association.

Diane Skene
Diane Skene joined the senate as an elected member and is a member of the public communications committee. In addition to being a registered dental hygienist, Skene is an alumna of the University of Calgary, having obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Communications in 1998 and a Masters of Education specializing in adult community and higher education in 2000. She is currently a career communications instructor at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Skene has served as chairperson of the Health Advisory Council of the Calgary Health Region. In her spare time, she runs marathons, plays squash and golfs.

Brenda Spilker
Brenda Spilker is a director of human resources with the Calgary Board of Education. Prior to joining the CBE, she ran her own management consulting practice with a wide variety of clientele. She also held a number of senior human resources and finance roles in the oil industry. Active in community affairs, Spilker has served on the board of directors for Volunteer Calgary since 1998 and is the current past chair for the Women in Need Society of Calgary. She also served on a community advisory committee related to school facilities and space utilization. Spilker holds a Bacherlor of Arts degree (English and Psychology) from the University of British Columbia and an a Masters of Education degree from Oregon State University. She and her husband Mark have two daughters, both of whom are pursuing post-secondary education. Her oldest daughter will graduate from the U of C in 2004 with a degree in Kinesiology.

Steve Stowkowy
Steve Stowkowy joins the senate as an elected member. He is the senate representative for the Faculty of Environmetal Design,and also serves on the University Strategy Committee. Stowkowy is vice-president of UMA Engineering Ltd., responsible for Calgary area operations. He is a graduate of the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration. He is active in many professional and community volunteer organizations in Calgary and has been a minor hockey coach for several years. Stowkowy and his wife Bonnie, who is a U of C senate alumna, are proud parents of Palmer.

Robbie White
Robbie White is political science major at the U of C. Before being elected to the senate he was the vice-president of operations and finance for the Students’ Union and a commissioner for two terms previously. Throughout his university experience Robbie has been active with such organizations as Career Services, Safewalk, NUTV, and the Students’ Union.

Current Non-Voting Faculty Representatives

Dr. Raj Mehta -- Engineering
Dr. Brian Smith -- Fine Arts
Dr. Gene Dais -- Faculty of Law
Dr. Allan Conway -- Haskayne School of Business
Dr. Kok Wah Chang -- Science
Dr. Daniel Lai -- Social Work

New Non-Voting Faculty Representatives

Dr. Donald Wetherell -- Communication &Culture
Dr. Ian Winchester -- Education
Mr. Marc Boutin -- Environmental Design
Dr. Haijo Westra -- Humanities
Dr. Robert Woodrow -- President’s Rep. to Strategy Committee
Dr. Ralph Miller -- Emeritus Association
Prof. Arthur Clark -- TUCFA
Dr. James Rankin -- Nursing
Dr. Keith MacCannell -- Medicine

It is the duty of the Senate to inquire into any matter
that might tend to enhance the usefulness of the University. The Senate also elects the Chancellor and authorizes the conferring of honorary degrees.

The Senate consists of the following:

Ex Officio Members: The chancellor who is chairperson, the president, the provost and vice-president (academic), the chief student affairs officer, the dean of the faculty of continuing education, the president and vice-president of the Alumni Association.

Appointed Members: Two deans appointed by the Deans’ Council, two members of the Board of Governors appointed by the Board, three members of the General Faculties Council appointed by the Council, two members of the Alumni Association appointed by the Association, nine members of the public appointed by the Minister of Learning, four students appointed by the Students’ Legislative Council, one graduate student appointed by the Graduate Students’ Association, two non-academic staff members appointed by the Minister of Learning.

Elected Members: Thirty representative members, elected by the Senate to represent affiliated colleges or institutions, geographical areas and groups and organizations with an interest in the University. In total there are 62 members of Senate, and currently a further 15 non-voting representatives of Faculties and Departments.