This goal is directly tied to the University’s 2025 Aspirations of Transformative Decolonization Leading to Reconciliation and Distinguished Learners. It directly relates to the University’s Commitment areas of Courageous Curiosity (Uplift Indigenization) and Boundless Collaboration (Enrich Disciplines; Align Structures; Experience Reconciliation).

The College will implement a series of curricular initiatives intended to give students more compelling reasons to come to Arts and Science; to underpin teaching and learning experiences of the highest order when they get here; and to set them up for success in life, however they may define it.

Recently approved college-wide curricular changes will take effect starting in May of 2020. The most notable of our curricular changes, applicable across all degree templates, is the introduction of three new degree requirements: Indigenous Learning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Writing in English. Students will meet these requirements by choosing a 3 credit unit course from an array of approved courses offered in various departments and programs.

More generally, our curricular changes will simplify degree pathways (thereby enhancing student retention and graduation rates) and better accommodate interdisciplinary programming, undergraduate research and community engagement initiatives, and education abroad opportunities. The new templates will be easier to change and adapt as our curriculum evolves in the years to come.

Any department can nominate a course for inclusion on the lists of courses that meet a given requirement. For all three new degree requirements, the college will work with department heads and others to ensure that every section of a course listed as meeting a given requirement will be delivered, regardless of mode or term of delivery, in a manner that meets the requirement. Transfer credit evaluations need to be done for which courses will satisfy degree requirements.

• • Indigenous Learning Requirement: a key part of our commitment to uplift Indigenization in our curriculum, counter racism and colonialism in our classrooms, and promote respect and understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
    • Students will meet the requirement by taking a course chosen from a list of carefully vetted and approved courses in various departments deemed to have met the Indigenous Learning standard, by instructors with appropriate academic and cultural experience. The Indigenous Course Advisory Committee (ICAC) will review courses to determine if they meet this learning requirement. We need similar committees for other degree requirements.
    • A standing committee of Indigenous scholars and other acknowledged experts among faculty plus Indigenous student and community leaders will review courses nominated to meet the standard (recently established by a similarly-composed working group and approved by the college.)
    • With matching funding from the Gwenna Moss Centre we will offer collaborative support programs for faculty wishing to develop or re-develop courses to meet the Indigenous Learning requirement standards.
    • The college will support the Indigenous Studies department and its faculty in accommodating an expected surge of students.

• • Quantitative Reasoning Requirement: will ensure that all Arts and Science graduates have the basic skills of quantitative analysis needed to flourish in the modern world. It is also intended to empower more students to consider STEM pathways they might otherwise have considered beyond their abilities.
    • About two-thirds of first-year Arts and Science students will meet the requirement by taking any math or (almost) any statistics course.
    • About 700 first year students are expected to meet the requirement by taking a quantitative reasoning course currently under development.
    • Arts and Science will be the first Canadian partner in the Carnegie Math Pathways Networked Improvement initiative, the first to Canadianize and Indigenize their innovative quantitative reasoning course platform, and the first in Canada to participate in their sophisticated continent-wide analysis of student outcomes.

• Writing in English Requirement: intended to ensure that all Arts and Science graduates have the basic written communication skills to function effectively in their studies and in the world at large. It is also intended to empower students to consider writing-intensive degree programs they might otherwise have considered beyond their abilities.
  • Students will meet the requirement by taking a course chosen from a list of approved courses in various departments deemed to have met the Writing in English standard.
  • In most cases, students will take a course in which the focus is on writing in the particular discipline. In this “writing across the curriculum” approach, writing assignments serve the mutually reinforcing purposes of learning to write while also learning the disciplinary content.
  • The college will partner with STM to offer INTS 103, “Writing for Academic Success”, a course that prepares students to succeed in classes that meet the writing requirement. We will also explore additional strategies to support students for whom English is a second language in meeting the writing standard.

• With matching funds, the College will partner with the Gwenna Moss Centre to support faculty wishing to develop or re-develop courses to meet the new requirements, and to train graduate teaching assistants in the skills and competencies needed to assist in those classes.
• Additional graduate funding and other monies to support the training and deployment of teaching assistants.
• Funding to support our membership in the Carnegie Math Pathways Network, and the hiring of student mentors, TAs, and a course coordinator for quantitative reasoning.

• Sufficient teaching capacity so that students can meet the requirements in a timely fashion, in a course of their choosing, at the time of their choosing.
• Improved retention and graduation rates.
• Improved NSSE scores and other student satisfaction surveys of senior students (i.e. those who successfully completed the requirements.)
• Demonstrable improvements in quantitative capabilities among students, using the advanced metrics of the Carnegie Math Pathways Network.

This goal is directly tied to the University’s 2025 Aspirations of Productive Collaboration, Meaningful Impact and Distinguished Learners. It directly relates to the University’s Commitment areas of Courageous Curiosity (Embrace Interdisciplinarity and Seek Solutions), Boundless Collaboration (Enrich Disciplines and Embolden Partnerships), and Inspired Communities (Amplify Value).

In accord with the university’s goals for enrolment growth, especially but not only of undergraduate enrolment, and with the demonstrable high demand and limited current capacity for growth in key areas such as STEM (a check on enrolment growth across much of the university), the College seeks to increase capacity and enrolment through creative collaborative ventures with departments, other colleges, the university, and external stakeholders.

• Seek an enhanced partnership with the College of Medicine in support of the revised Biomedical Sciences (BMSC) degree program.
• Leverage the attractive force of the health professions in our recruitment efforts inside and outside the province, especially but not only in relation to the BMSC program.
• Strive to support the College of Engineering in its drive for curricular renewal and enrolment growth.
• Continue to develop Indigenous Student Achievement Pathway (ISAP) and other programming and student supports intended to attract more Indigenous students and close the retention and graduation gap.
• Seek to attract and retain more students from the north, including those who may choose to pursue some or all of their studies in the north.
• Expand online and distance learning options, including complete degree options online and in remote locations, in partnership with regional colleges.
• Develop programming and student supports intended to attract and retain more international students.
• Continue to develop the University of Saskatchewan Transition Entrance Program (USTEP) program for students, many of them Indigenous, whose high school grades fall just short of admission, as a means of improving both enrolment and retention.
• Encourage and support the development of multi-disciplinary “capstone” courses, research internships, and other options to attract, support, and enhance the college experience of high-achieving students.
• Ensure that our students are more mindful of the qualities and skills that make them attractive on the job market, and we will do more to assist students in exploring career options and preparing for effective transitions to life after graduation. This will contribute positively to recruitment, retention and graduation rates, and to the college reputation.

Arts and Science will work with departments, especially but not only in the sciences, in a coordinated effort to secure from internal and external funders the human, financial, and spatial resources needed to support enrolment growth in our college and, thereby, across campus.

• Higher enrolments across the board.
• Higher rates of retention
• Swifter paths to graduation

This goal is directly tied to each of the University’s 2025 Aspirations. It directly relates to the University’s Commitment areas of Courageous Curiosity (each goal) and Boundless Collaboration (each goal), and Inspired Communities (Amplify Value).

Saskatchewan is the only province west of the Maritimes that lacks a school of architecture. Non-resident architects greatly outnumber resident architects, with all the outflow of revenues that entails. There is a demonstrable demand among students and in the community for a school of architecture, and enthusiasm for a program that would align closely with the visual arts in the ever-more-critical process of design. Our proposed School of Architecture and Visual Arts (SAVA) will provide a popular new option for undergraduate and graduate students, and serve to reinvigorate our Art and Art History programs.

• Secure academic approval for undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture.
• On hold as of 2022-23.

• Funding to cover hiring a director, faculty, staff, and other start-up costs in advance of projected financial break-even point (ca. 12 years after launch).
• Temporary space on campus in which to launch the school of architecture
• Permanent space on campus for SAVA (architecture and the visual arts, combined)

• School of Architecture up and running.
• School of Architecture and Visual Arts established under a single roof.
• Start-up costs accounted for and program beginning to generate a surplus by year twelve.

This goal is directly tied to the University’s 2025 Aspirations of Productive Collaboration and Distinguished Learners. It directly relates to the University’s Commitment areas of Courageous Curiosity (each goal) and Boundless Collaboration (each goal).

The College will encourage and enable faculty in established disciplines and emerging fields of study to work jointly to create new teaching and learning opportunities that combine, cross, or blur traditional disciplinary demarcations.

• Encourage interdisciplinarity in all its permutations by introducing more flexible degree templates and lowering curricular, regulatory, and administrative barriers to collaboration between programs and instructional units.
• Support the development of new undergraduate disciplinary certificate programs that enable students from Arts and Science and other colleges to gain additional expertise and credentials within and beyond their primary discipline.
• Support the development of new undergraduate interdisciplinary certificate and degree programs.
• Collaborate with the College of Education to develop a laddered undergraduate certificate, post-degree certificate, and Master’s degree program in Indigenous Languages.
• Collaborate with the College of Education and numerous Arts and Science departments to develop a set of joint post-degree certificates designed primarily for teachers.
• Collaborate with the Edwards School of Business to develop a joint undergraduate certificates, including entrepreneurship.

• .5 to 1 FTE ASPA position added to the Programs Office

• More interdisciplinary (by any definition) opportunities for students
• More students enrolled in interdisciplinary courses and programs
• More disciplinary programs cross-listing interdisciplinary classes.
• More disciplinary programs cross-listing classes in other disciplines.

This goal is directly tied to the University’s 2025 Aspirations of Productive Collaboration and Distinguished Learners. It directly relates to the University’s Commitment areas of Courageous Curiosity (each goal) and Boundless Collaboration (each goal).

The College will encourage and enable faculty in established disciplines and emerging fields of study to work jointly to create new teaching and learning opportunities that combine, cross, or blur traditional disciplinary demarcations.

• Increase undergraduate participation in education abroad initiatives by 35% overall compared to 2017/18, and by 50% in the case of Indigenous students.
• Identify or develop at least one viable student exchange option for students in each department or program in the college.
• Lower the ongoing academic, administrative, and financial barriers to creating, implementing, and participating in education abroad opportunities.
• Collaborate with ISSAC and the International Office on new initiatives and partnerships, and on strategic and policy matters as they involve Arts and Science.

• Additional financial support for student travel (bursaries, scholarships, and other subsidies).

• More education abroad options for students
• More students availing themselves of opportunities

This goal is directly tied to the University’s 2025 Aspirations of Productive Collaboration and Distinguished Learners. It directly relates to the University’s Commitment areas of Courageous Curiosity (Seek Solutions) and Boundless Collaboration (Embolden Partnerships), and Inspired Communities (Amplify Value).

The College will provide more undergraduate opportunities for learning outside traditional classrooms (real and virtual), and for bringing that experiential learning back into our classrooms.

• Remove or reduce institutional barriers to developing and implementing community engagement, coops and internships, undergraduate research fellowships, and other experiential learning opportunities.
• Partner with the university, other colleges, and external stakeholders to coordinate and resource the necessary administrative and other support services needed.
• Develop more certificate programs
• Partnerships with regional colleges
• Dept of Computer Sciences industry partnerships