KPU senate kicks off new year with committee appointments, bylaw revisions

The Kwantlen Polytechnic University senate reconvened for the 2025-26 school year on Sept. 29, marking the first meeting under KPU President Bruce Choy’s leadership.

Following a territorial land acknowledgement from KPU Elder-in-Residence Lekeyten and his wife, Cheryl Gabriel, Choy opened the meeting by discussing the important duty of the senate and its role in granting students degrees and diplomas.

“KPU credentials are really only of value if we, here, treat them as lifelong recognitions of achievement, which they’re meant to be,” Choy said. “This is why a properly functioning senate is really the beating heart of the university.”

In his presentation of his report to the senate, Choy said KPU students are likely to be graduating into a “weak economy.”

“There’s a stark scenario where a first-generation family member goes to KPU, spends the hard-earned money and life savings of their parents, only to end up as an Uber driver or low-wage service worker, meaning, from an external, observed point of view, KPU does not fulfill any societal purpose,” he said.

“While we may myopically worry about today’s class skills, the long-term reputational damage if we don’t apply foresight now to this looming risk that in a few years from now, the one that has me most concerned [is] the threat of us potentially becoming a stranded asset, using finance terms.”

Choy said the issue facing KPU has become more urgent with the university’s shrinking revenue pool from international student fees and the “broken systems surrounding student permits.”

Among the highlights and partnerships noted in his report are the Ministry of Health granting $2.5 million in funding to expand KPU’s pilot program to fast-track licensed professional nurses into registered Nurses with two additional cohorts and attending the launch of the Wilson School of Design’s new journal, Assembly.

Choy added his priority for his first weeks was meeting with as many internal and external partners as he could and visiting all five KPU campuses.

Associate Vice-President Academic David Burns and Nadine Siriban, manager of the Flexible Learning Office, provided an update on KPU Flex — which offers personalized learning pathways for mid-career professionals, mature learners, and those with prior learning — and its prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) program.

Burns said the three main focuses of KPU Flex right now are creating and expanding rapid prior learning tools and options, building flexible solutions for people entering programs, and finding external partners, particularly from private institutions, for people looking for degree pathways.

“These things are unquestionably drivers of retention and mature-learner recruitment,” Burns said.

To continue the growth that KPU Flex is seeing from removing barriers for students, Siriban said senators can reach out to her office with any leads or connections on community and strategic partnerships.

The senate approved course outline revisions for two courses, effective Sept. 1, 2026: PRLN 2010: Social Media for Public Relations and HIST 4405: Making Digital History.

The senate also appointed nominees to senate standing committees for terms set to expire on Aug. 31, 2028. Student Wellness Director Shalini Vanan and Josephine Chan, special assistant to the provost on policy and academic affairs, were appointed to the standing committee on policy, and traditional Chinese medicine instructor Jennifer Gao was appointed to the committee on program review.

Design faculty members Max Heximer, Sue Fairburn, and Michael Cober were appointed to the library, research, and university budget senate standing committees respectively.

The senate appointed student Sheena Dela Torre and faculty members Wiktor Tutlewski and Robin Cook Bondy to the search advisory committee for the appointment of a Melville School of Business associate dean.

Senators also appointed student Jujhar Singh and instructors Kaylee Magee, Daniel Anvari, and Mehdi Salimi to the search advisory committee for the appointment of an associate dean of the Faculty of Science.

The senate approved revisions to the graduate studies council (GSC) bylaws. It passed the bylaws last year in support of the establishment of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at KPU.

The revisions were to add a member to represent the Office of Research Services, who will be appointed on a one-year term, to the council and stipulating that members’ year-long appointments may be renewed by the provost for one additional year.

The senate also passed revisions to the Faculty of Academic and Career Preparation bylaws to “provide clarity and consistency,” Faculty of Health Dean Sharmen Lee said.

Senators also approved a list of graduates as well as the academic schedules for the 2026-27, 2027-28, and 2028-29 school years.

Secretary of Senate Nadia Henwood declared a vacancy in the senate, an opening which is sought to be filled in the fall 2025 byelection.

The next KPU senate meeting is scheduled for Oct. 27 at 4:00 pm online via Microsoft Teams. For more information, visit www.kpu.ca/senate.