CSSE Board of Directors Meeting

The Board of Directors of CSSE met for two days in early November. A number of issues arose during this meeting that may be of interest to CASEA members, which I outline below.

There was discussion of the 2005 conference in London. For all associations, there is an on-going issue of having membership fees paid by the time proposal submissions close in early November. Many members may not be aware that the number of sessions CASEA is allotted at the annual meeting is determined by the number of members in the association at the time proposal submissions close. This year that date was November 1st. If you have not already paid your membership fees, please do so. This is an important enough issues that I intend to raise then issue at our 2005 AGM in May.

Patricia Allison and Suzanne Majhanovich, CSSE program co-chairs for the 2005 conference, presented an update on program issues. I am exceptionally impressed with the planning work they have done. Claire Lapointe and other association program chairs will meet with Patricia and Suzanne on January 28th to create the 2005 program.

In other business, there was a presentation by Paul Cappon, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Council on Learning, a federally funded body whose mandate is to “turn life-long learning into a reality and to link and monitor all parts of our learning.” The agency will be small and will maintain offices in Ottawa and Vancouver. I must confess ignorance, for I was not aware of this organization. According to Mr. Cappon, it will operate independent of government (hmmm…) and translate its mandate into work in three broad areas: (1) research, (2) monitoring, and (3) information exchange. In terms of research, Mr. Cappon indicated that the organization’s role would focus on encouragement, capacity, and audience, with a very strong orientation on impact. In other words, research funded by CCL will have to demonstrate how it will make a difference. In terms of monitoring, the CCL will track how we do as a country in terms of the impact of research, but will not engage in provincial comparisons. And, lastly, on information exchange, the agency will maintain an awareness of educational initiatives around the globe, and bring them to the attention of Canadian researchers.

Apparently CCL has identified five initial areas of focus: adult learning, early childhood learning, work and learning, aboriginal learning, and health and learning. Each them will be “located” in one of five regions of the country.

The CCL has a 12-person Board of Directors. There was some concern raised about the fact that most members are from private industry and do not have a background in education. Mr. Cappon acknowledged this, but indicated that two board members are educators, one of whom is Ben Levin. CCL will apparently be establishing a website. Anyone interested in the work of this agency can contact them by calling (613) 782-2959, or by writing at 440 Laurier St. W., Suite 200, Ottawa, ON K1R 7X6. My gut feeling is that we would do well to acquaint ourselves with the work of CCL and to enter into dialogue about its emerging profile in Canadian education.

Don Fisher, the President of the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences, also made a special presentation to the BoD. He indicated that CFHSS’s major advocacy activities are currently focused on the SSHRC transformation process, which is currently stalled, and on federal contracts for research funding. He commented that post-secondary profile is currently rising in Human Resources. In terms of future activities, CFHSS has prepared a publication entitled The Academy as Community, which can be downloaded in both languages from their website. They will also be focusing on training sessions for new scholars, lobbying for funding to new scholar first-time book publication, and nurturing the various humanity and social science associations.

Alice Collins reported that the CSSE New Scholar’s Fund currently has almost $25,000. The present award offered to a new scholar for a published peer-reviewed paper is $750. The BoD voted unanimously to raise that amount to $1,000. In addition, the Board voted to donate $2,000 to the Fund.

Joanne Davies of the University of Alberta, who manages CSSE’s website and membership database, spoke to the new listserv system. You may remember that we have changed our listserv from Queen’s University to the “mailman” system at the University of Alberta. The really big news, says he tongue in cheek, is that you can now hit “reply” to listserv messages without having your response go to all members! Joanne spoke to the ability of CSSE to now accept credit card payments. A major issue that confronts the website is the large number of conference proposals that tend to be received on the due date, and that the system is unable to accommodate them. Some of you have first-hand knowledge of this. While Tim Howard has been flexible in modifying the date to accommodate everyone, the BoD will continue to explore ways to address this issue, beyond the obvious one of getting your proposal in early.

Sam Robinson, editor of CJE, reported that production of the Journal currently lags by one year. He noted that two special issues are planned for CJE, one on Popular Media, Education, and Resistance, and the other on Democracy and Education.

Michael Owen, the editor of CSSE News, spoke about the issues facing that publication. Ideally, he would like to see it published monthly during the academic year. One of the issues we might explore as an association is the profile we would like to have in CSSE News.

Other News

There are two other items of interest that I want to bring to the attention of the membership. This fall Carolyn Shields was elected as a Fellow of the Commonwealth Council on Educational Administration and Management. I have included below the text of the citation that was read at the UCEAM meeting in Hong Kong in the fall.

Dr. Shields has contributed, and continues to contribute, to the scholarship of education generally, and educational administration/leadership particularly, in ways that can only be described as outstanding and prolific. Following a successful first career as a public school teacher in various regions of Canada (1971-1989), Dr. Shields began a second career as a university lecturer in 1989 at the University of Saskatchewan, followed in 1991 by a three-year period as an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. In 1994 she accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, rising to the rank of Professor in 2001. From 2001 to 2003 she was Head of the Department of Educational Studies, and in 2003 accepted the position of Director of the School Leadership Centre at UBC. She has also served two terms on each of two governmental advisory committees in British Columbia: one on multiculturalism, the other on academic standards.

Dr. Shields is held in exceptionally high regard nationally and internationally for her scholarship in leadership for social justice and academic excellence in multicultural and diverse educational contexts. In 2003 she published her highly regarded text on transformative leadership for communities of difference, Good Intentions Are Not Enough. Amazingly, she now has two co-authored books and one co-edited book in press. Her scholarly productivity is stellar. In addition to the five books she has authored or co-authored, she has published over 70 refereed articles, monographs, and reports, and has received over $800,000 in research funding.

Dr. Shields has served for six years as the Canadian Representative to CCEAM. During that time, she played an instrumental role in the decision to offer all benefits to members of developing countries who pay reduced fees. In addition, she initiated a motion within the Canadian Association for the Study of Educational Administration (CASEA) to include membership in CCEAM as part of the annual fees. She has also served on the executive of CASEA, including terms as Vice-President and President.

Amid the long list of accomplishments and service, it is easy to lose sight of the person. In her everyday life, Carolyn is a humanitarian, a magnanimous colleague, an untiring supporter of students, and a mother and grandmother. She is most deserving of the high honour of Fellow of the Commonwealth Council of Educational Administration.

I take the liberty on behalf of all members of CASEA to extend our congratulations to Carolyn for this substantial honour and the recognition that comes with it.

A second item of major interest, and one that probably everyone already knows, is that Ben Levin has accepted the position of Deputy Minister of Education for the Province of Ontario. I am not sure whether we should offer congratulations or sympathies. All kidding aside, this as a tribute to Ben’s considerable political experience and acumen, and his substantial knowledge of and contribution to the field of education. Ben was most recently a professor of educational administration at the University of Manitoba, but has also been Deputy Minister of Education, and Assistant Deputy Minister of Education, for the Province of Manitoba. On behalf on CASEA, I take this opportunity to extent our congratulations to him for this considerable achievement and the recognition that has been accorded him.

That’s it for me. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you the best in the new year. I also encourage everyone who can to come to London in May to witness the superb work that Patricia Allison and Suzanne Majhanovitch have done in preparing the CSSE program, and to be a part of the marvelous CASEA program that I know Claire Lapointe and Rosemary Foster are assembling, as I write.

David MacKinnon
President, CASEA
January 3rd, 2005