BUDGET DEVELOPMENT
Brock University’s 2017-20 Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA2) specifically identifies Indigenous student outreach as one of Brock’s institutional initiatives. This initiative aims “to improve the University experience for Indigenous students and scholars, while also increasing awareness of Indigenous issues and perspectives across campus.” In an effort to support this initiative, the 2018-19 budget provides additional funding for a number of Indigenous areas in the University, as noted below.
2018-19 Budget Report
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Indigenous support • New Vice-Provost Indigenous Education and Community Engagement • Continued support of Tecumseh Centre, Aboriginal Student Services, the Aboriginal stream of Adult Education and the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council • A tenure-track position in Indigenous Sociology • Targeted scholarship support for Indigenous students • Development of an Aboriginal Governance program with Weengushk Film Institute • Certificate program with Weekgushk in Film Studies • Three new courses in Indigenous languages
Operating funding support for all six of the Teaching Faculties, student awards and services, as well as infrastructure renewal remain key priorities in the 2018-19 budget. In April of 2018, the Senate passed the following motion “THAT the 2018-19 Budget is consistent with the academic policy of the University.” Senate passed this motion subsequent to a year of ongoing consultation and review of academic and fiscal matters relevant to the budget with the Council of Academic Deans and the Senate Planning, Priorities and Budget Advisory Committee. A sample of some of the investments in the Teaching Faculties are highlighted below. Teaching Faculties • Total net direct operating budget(1): $137.1 million • Investment in personnel: $2.9 million increase – over 2017-18 budget • Increased work-related placements for students in numerous programs • Innovative I-EQUIP program, which provides students with opportunities to develop health quality related projects with numerous community partners • Enhanced laboratory experiences for Kinesiology and Health Sciences students with human cadaver anatomy laboratories, and improved equipment for wet labs • Opportunities to work with and/or research various populations, such as older adults, cardiac rehabilitation patients, children and youth, and spinal cord injured individuals in clinical, rehabilitation and community settings • Goodman School of Business use of a new cloud-based admissions platform to streamline the assessment process • Faculty of Education offering extra cohort of Master’s Preparation Certificate in Education courses • Faculty of Education continuing teacher education experiential learning in China. • New string orchestra in Music • New stream in Music – Paths to Music Therapy • Faculty of Mathematics and Science continues the development of lab experiences for students, field trips, and other key sources of experiential learning • Tenure-track position in Applied Disability Studies to promote increased graduate spaces, enhancing experiential learning opportunities for students and responding to increased student demand for professional programs. • Support for both undergraduate and graduate student travel to present research and academic conferences • Development of an Aboriginal Governance program to be delivered on Manitoulin Island in partnership with Weengushk Film Institute. • Additional investments in marketing and communications for brandbuilding initiatives. • Offering more Indigenous-language courses university-wide through Tecumseh • Adult education enhancements including online offerings brocku.ca/academics