Implementation Plan
| Recommendation | Proposed Follow-up | Responsibility for Leading Follow-up | Timeline for Addressing Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Improve coordination between academic and military activities. |
The CMC Review Board (CMCRB) that arose from recommendations 28 and 29 from the Arbour report inquired about this as well. Given the turnover on the academic side and a new commandant who seems very engaged with the academic wing, faculty and staff are confident that this relationship will improve. |
Responsibility of Upper Administration |
TBD |
| 2. Develop a list of resource priorities, which includes possible future hires. |
No faculty positions are currently open, we will be looking for future hires with analytical/ biological/environmental expertise keeping with our strategy of versatile hires. |
Head of Dept. | TBD |
| 3. Develop 6-9 clearly articulated program learning outcomes (PLOs) that align with institutional, provincial (Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents' Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations), and national (Canadian Degree Qualifications Framework) standards. |
We have started mapping the DLEs with PLOs, the Dean’s office has to provide us with DLEs that pertain to RMC’s Core Curriculum. |
Chemistry Committee |
2024-2025 |
| 4. Develop a curriculum map to indicate where in the program the PLOs are being met. | See #3 | ||
| 5. Seek knowledgeable assistance in developing those PLOs and the curriculum map. | See #3 | ||
| 6. Prepare a study that surveys, evaluates, and documents the EDI and indigenous aspects of the chemistry programs and the learning environment of the students in it. | Given the small size of our program, we may not meet the minimum threshold for these types of analysis to be meaningful. We would be happy to contribute to broader initiatives at the College. The department will reach out to the EDI officer. |
ChemistryChair |
2024-2025 |
| 7. Generate a list of academic resources (e.g. scientific journals) needed to support the undergraduate chemistry programs and work proactively with the Library to seek access. | The Library did provide us with a usage report for various scientific journals. Unfortunately, this was performed as part of not renewing subscriptions to underutilized journals as part of budget cuts. |
Library Committee/Library representative for CCE. |
TBD |
| 8. Arrange for there to be semi-regular and scheduled discussions between faculty specifically regarding their teaching activities. | We are implementing multiple annual meetings at the departmental level and creating an informal “coffee-day” to facilitate interactions between staff and faculty. Encourage participation in online activities such as lunch and learn. | Head of Dept. |
Completed/Ongoing. |
| 9. Incorporate more Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) into faculty and student research opportunities. | Some Faculty members like Dr. Julien are currently employing undergraduates to help with curriculum development with the phys chem lab rework. Dr. Julien is also in discussions with Dr. Amanda Bongers who is an expert in chemical education at Queens to bring in scholarship of teaching and learning. We also discussed recognizing students for their contributions for volunteering for outreach and other activities via awards or “micro-credentials”. There is a desire to use students to help improve the curriculum especially over the summer. We are also a good “testing ground” for curriculum due to our small class sizes and the fact that students have a more “standardized” experience in terms of living arrangements, time commitment, finances, etc. | Individual Faculty. | Ongoing. |
| 10. Establish ongoing connections with chemistry departments/programs at other military institutions, to share ideas and approaches to teaching, learning, and administration in that environment. | Identifying equivalent institutions will be the first step. As both a training and academic degree granting institution our mandate differs significantly from many institutions like West Point in other countries. We will attempt to identify other military institutions which grant chemistry degrees. | Dr. Julien | 2024-2025 |
| 11. Increase context pieces even more into the program (more CAF officer visits and industry site visits). | We all agree and this is something that we are working towards in regards to curriculum reform and building the industrial and military collaborations necessary to facilitate these experiences for students. [what about seminar speakers in recent years, did we invite CAF officers?] An appreciable number of students have done their CCE420 projects on topics related to CBRN and other defence-related research in the last few years. |
Individual Faculty and Department Seminar Organizer |
Ongoing |
| 12. Integrate at least one completely online course in the program, and carefully consider how the pandemic-related online resources that have been developed can be best-utilized. | It is not clear what the reasoning for offering the online course is, more context for the request would be appreciated. We already employ online courses in the department for other programs with mixed results and run hybrid courses such as CCE101. Online labs were noted to generally be of poor quality. One of the strengths of our department is our small class sizes and facilities both of which favor in person delivery. | N/A | N/A |