1994 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING


The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.


HONOURABLE DAN MILLER
MINISTER OF SKILLS,
TRAINING AND LABOUR

BILL 23 -- 1994

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AMENDMENT ACT, 1994

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 of the Institute of Technology Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 199, is amended

(a) by repealing the definition of "board" and substituting the following:

"board" means the board under section 3; , and

(b) by adding the following definitions:

"education council" means the education council of the institute;

"educational administrator" means a dean, vice president or similar employee of the institute whose primary responsibility is to provide administrative services in support of education or training offered by the institute, and does not include the president;

"faculty member" includes an instructor, librarian, tutor, counselor, research associate, program coordinator or other employee of the institute that a collective agreement between the bargaining agents, as defined in section 1 of the Labour Relations Code, for the institute and faculty members specifies to be a faculty member;

"joint approval" means approval by the board and by the education council of the institute, each by passing a resolution of approval by majority vote of its voting members;

"president" means the chief executive officer of the institute;

"registrar" means the registrar of the institute;

"representative group" means

(a) a bargaining agent, as defined in section 1 of the Labour Relations Code, for faculty members or for support staff, or

(b) the student association for which student association fees are collected under section 5.1;

"student" means a person the registrar recognizes to be enrolled and in good standing in a course or program of studies at the institute;

"student association" means a society incorporated under the Society Act to represent students;

"support staff" means the employees of the institute who are not the president, educational administrators or faculty members.

2 Sections 2 and 3 are repealed and the following substituted:

Institute continued

2 (1) The institute is continued under the name "British Columbia Institute of Technology" as a corporation consisting of the members of the board.

(2) The Company Act does not apply to the institute.

(3) The institute may acquire or dispose of property with the prior approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(4) A power of the board, other than a power that by an enactment the board must exercise by bylaw, may be exercised by bylaw or resolution of the board.

Board composition

3 The board is composed of

(a) 8 or more persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council,

(b) one person who is a faculty member and who is elected by the faculty members,

(c) 2 students elected by the students,

(d) one person who is part of the support staff and elected by the support staff,

(e) the president, and

(f) the chair of the education council.

Remuneration of board members

3.1 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may set the remuneration that the institute pays to members of its board.

Term of office

3.2 (1) A person elected under section 3 (b) or (d) serves a 3 year term and may be elected to further terms.

(2) A person elected under section 3 (c) serves a one year term and may be elected to further terms.

Elections

3.3 (1) The registrar must conduct the elections described in section 3.

(2) The registrar must establish, after consultation with the chair of the board and the chief officers of the representative groups, rules that are necessary and consistent with this Act for the conduct of the elections described in section 3, including an appeal process for the conduct of elections.

(3) Rules under this section for an election under section 3 (c) must provide for representation of program areas at the institute as determined by the registrar.

Voting at board meetings

3.4 Each member of the board, except the president and chair of the education council, has one vote on the board.

Education council

3.5 (1) The institute must have an education council.

(2) On first being established, the education council must have 20 voting members as follows:

(a) 10 must be faculty members elected by the faculty members;

(b) 4 must be students elected by the students;

(c) 4 must be educational administrators appointed by the president;

(d) 2 must be support staff elected by the support staff.

(3) After the education council is established, the number of its faculty member, educational administrator and support staff voting members having terms of more than one year, and of its student voting members, may be increased or decreased provided

(a) the increase or decrease is agreed to by the president and a majority vote of the voting members of the education council,

(b) the number of voting members after the increase or decrease is apportioned to represent faculty members, students, educational administrators and support staff respectively in the same ratios as under subsection (2),

(c) the new faculty member, student and support staff voting members, if any, are elected by the faculty members, students and support staff respectively, and the new educational administrator voting members, if any, are appointed by the president, and

(d) the total of voting members exclusive of those elected or appointed under subsection (4) is 20 or more.

(4) After the education council is established, the number of its voting members may be increased for one year provided

(a) the increase is agreed to by the president and a majority vote of the voting members of the education council,

(b) these new faculty member, student or support staff voting members are elected by the faculty members, students and support staff respectively, and these new educational administrator voting members, if any, are appointed by the president, and

(c) these new voting members are deemed not to be voting members for the purposes of a vote under subsection (3) (a) or this subsection.

(5) The president is a non-voting member of the education council.

(6) The board may appoint one person to be a non-voting member of the education council to serve for one year.

Term of office of voting members

3.6 (1) Faculty members or support staff elected under section 3.5, other than those elected under section 3.5 (4), serve a 2 year term and may be elected to further terms under that section.

(2) Students elected under section 3.5 serve a one year term and may be elected to further terms under that section.

(3) Educational administrators appointed under section 3.5, other than those appointed under section 3.5 (4), serve a 2 year term and may be appointed to further terms under that section.

(4) Persons elected or appointed under section 3.5 (4) serve a one year term and may be elected or appointed, as appropriate, to further terms under section 3.5.

Elections

3.7 (1) The registrar must conduct the elections described in section 3.5.

(2) The registrar, after consulting with the chief officers of the representative groups and the president, must establish the rules necessary and consistent with this Act for the conduct of the elections described in section 3.5, including an appeal process for the conduct of elections.

(3) Rules for elections described in section 3.5 must provide for representation of program and education support areas at the institute as determined by the registrar after consulting with the chief officers of the representative groups and the president.

Chair of the education council

3.8 The chair of the education council must be elected each year by and from the voting members of the education council.

3 The following section is added:

Degrees

4.1 The institute may grant the baccalaureate degrees or honorary degrees the Lieutenant Governor in Council designates.

4 Section 5 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) (d) by striking out "provide" and substituting "provide, subject to sections 5.3 and 5.4,",

(b) in subsection (1) (e) by striking out "determine" and substituting "determine, subject to section 5.3,",

(c) in subsection (1) by adding the following:

(e.1) provide for the granting of certificates, diplomas, baccalaureate degrees and honorary degrees;

(h.1) set, by bylaw with the prior approval of the minister, the terms for reimbursement of members of the board for travel expenses; ,

(d) by repealing subsection (1) (i) (i), and

(e) in subsection (2) (b) by striking out "principal" and substituting "president".

5 The following sections are added:

Student association fees

5.1 (1) On request from a student association, the board may direct the institute to collect from students and remit to the student association the student association fees duly established under the bylaws of the student association provided that

(a) the institute collected student association fees on behalf of the student association on or before June 1, 1994, or

(b) the student association is designated by order of the minister.

(2) The board may direct that the institute cease to collect or remit the student association fees if the student association

(a) does not comply with the Society Act,

(b) does not prepare and submit annual audited financial statements to the board, or

(c) does not maintain sound fiscal management in the opinion of the board.

(3) The board may direct that the institute cease to collect or remit the student association fees if circumstances for the cessation of collection and remission specified in an order of the minister apply.

Advisory role of the education council

5.2 (1) The education council must advise the board, and the board must seek advice from the education council, on the development of educational policy for the following matters:

(a) the mission statement and the educational goals, objectives, strategies and priorities of the institute;

(b) proposals about implementation of courses or programs leading to certificates, diplomas or degrees, including the length of or hours for courses or programs;

(c) reports, after implementation by the institute without prior review by the education council, of

(i) new non-credit programs, or

(ii) programs offered under service contract;

(d) priorities for implementation of new programs and courses leading to certificates, diplomas or degrees;

(e) cancellation of programs or courses offered by the institute or changes in the length of or hours for courses or programs offered by the institute;

(f) evaluation of programs and educational services;

(g) policies concerning library and resource centres;

(h) setting of the academic schedule;

(i) policies on faculty member qualifications;

(j) adjudication procedure for appealable matters of student discipline;

(k) terms for affiliation with other post-secondary bodies;

(l) consultation with community and program advisory groups concerning the institute's educational programs;

(m) qualifications for admission policies;

(n) criteria for awarding certificates, diplomas and degrees;

(o) other matters specified by the board.

(2) Advice given under subsection (1) must not conflict with policies or directives of the minister.

(3) The board must request advice on a matter under subsection (1) by giving the education council the following at least 10 working days before the board will deal with the matter:

(a) the agenda items concerning the matter for the meeting of the board at which the matter will be discussed;

(b) the date by which a statement setting out the advice of the education council must be given to the chair of the board.

(4) Despite subsection (3), if the board must deal with a matter under subsection (1) and there are substantial reasons why 10 working days' notice under subsection (3) cannot be given, the board must advise the education council, as soon as practicable, concerning

(a) the matter,

(b) the reason why notice could not be given under subsection (3), and

(c) the decision taken on the matter.

Powers of the education council

5.3 (1) The education council must make bylaws, with the prior approval of the minister, for the conduct of the business of the education council including bylaws specifying the duties of members of the education council in conflict of interest situations.

(2) Subject to the policies and directives established by the minister, the education council has the power and duty to

(a) set policies concerning examinations and evaluation of student performance,

(b) set policies concerning student withdrawal from courses, programs and the institute,

(c) set criteria for academic standing, academic standards and the grading system,

(d) set criteria for awards recognizing academic excellence,

(e) set policies and procedures for appeals by students on academic matters and establish a final appeal tribunal for these appeals, and

(f) set curriculum content for courses leading to certificates, diplomas or degrees.

Joint approval

5.4 (1) To be implemented, decisions concerning the following matters must have joint approval:

(a) curriculum evaluation for determining whether

(i) courses, programs or course credit from another post-secondary institution or university or other body are equivalent to courses, programs or course credit at the institute, or

(ii) courses, programs or course credit from one part of the institute are equivalent to courses, programs or course credit in another part of the institute;

(b) other responsibilities of the board that, on the initiative of the board, the board and the education council agree are subject to joint approval.

(2) Subsection (1) (a) does not include curriculum evaluation based on instructional methods.

(3) An agreement under subsection (1) (b) may be terminated by

(a) the board giving written notice of termination to the chair of the education council, or

(b) by the education council giving written notice of termination to the chair of the board.

(4) Joint approval given under subsection (1) must not conflict with policies or directives established by the minister.

(5) If joint approval on a matter described in subsection (1) is not attained within 60 days of the board or education council requesting the other to consider its proposal, the board or education council may refer the matter to the minister and the minister may make the decision the minister considers most appropriate.

6 Section 6 (1) is amended by striking out "principal," and substituting "president,".

7 Section 10 is amended

(a) by striking out "principal" wherever it appears and substituting "president",

(b) in subsection (2) by striking out "shall attend all meetings of the board and", and

(c) by repealing subsections (2.1) and (3) and substituting the following:

(3) Each year and at other times on the request of the board, the president must report to the board on the progress of the institute and make recommendations for the benefit and advancement of the institute.

8 Section 13.4 is amended by striking out "principal" and substituting "president".

9 The following section is added:

Appointment of a public administrator

13.7 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint a public administrator to discharge the powers, duties and functions of the board and education council under this Act if the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers this necessary in the public interest and, on the appointment of a public administrator, the members of the board and education council cease to hold office unless otherwise ordered by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may specify

(a) the powers, duties and responsibilities of a public administrator appointed under this section,

(b) the terms and conditions for management of the property and affairs of the institute during the transition period preceding the ending of the appointment of a public administrator, or

(c) how the institute will operate after the ending of the appointment of a public administrator.

 
Consequential Amendment

 
University Act

10 Section 82 of the University Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 419, is amended by adding the following subsection:

(2.2) The British Columbia Institute of Technology may grant degrees in its own name under the Institute of Technology Act as provided for under that Act.

Commencement

11 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

 
Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: re-enacts the definition of "board" and adds further definitions to the Act.

SECTION 2: revises sections 2 and 3 of the Act respecting the corporate structure of the institute and the composition of its board of governors and adds provisions

SECTION 3: enables the institute to grant baccalaureate or honorary degrees designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

SECTION 4: modifies the powers and duties of the board under section 5 of the Act to complement other amendments to the Act made by this Bill.

SECTION 5: modifies the powers and duties of the board to complement the new powers and duties over some academic matters conferred on the education council.

SECTIONS 6 to 8: replace references in sections 6, 10 and 13.4 of the Act to "principal" with "president" to reflect current usage and restate the president's reporting relationship to the board to reflect current practice.

SECTION 9: allows for the appointment of a public administrator to replace the board and education council if the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers this necessary in the public interest.

SECTION 10: amends section 82 of the University Act to allow baccalaureate degrees and honorary degrees to be granted by the institute when this is authorized by the Institute of Technology Act.


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