Science External Advisory Council Established

The Dean of the Faculty of Science has appointed the first ever Science External Advisory Council (SEAC) at The University of Western Ontario. This action-oriented group will bring an external perspective to the design of Faculty programs and directions. It will also provide input and active participation in seeking solutions to clearly identified needs and problems within the Faculty.

The Council is currently made up of 10 external members, 2 faculty members, 6 ex-officio members, including the Dean and Associate Deans, and a number of resource persons assigned to provide support. The terms of reference call for an additional 3 external members and 1 recent graduate yet to be appointed.

We are very optimistic and enthusiastic about SEAC. As a new entity focused primarily on external participation we have been spending much of our time on matters dealing with Council’s operation, the orientation of members, and clarifying the mandate. Nevertheless, we are involved in some important issues and are confident that the students and graduates of the Faculty will benefit from our involvement.

Areas of immediate interest to SEAC include undergraduate, graduate and student internship program development, and career development for students. The Council may also be asked to address other matters or may chose to inquire into other matters as its work program develops.

At the inaugural meeting, in February 2003, Council members identified areas where some short-term goals could be achieved. The consensus was to have the Faculty support staff focus on specific career development initiatives. These were distilled into two distinct areas; providing students with career planning skills and the availability of business training as part of a science degree. These ideas were not foreign to the Faculty of Science, but the added impetus of SEAC was important in bringing both focus and form to the existing initiatives.

The Career Development Program for Science Students initiative will primarily be in the format of voluntary workshops covering topics such as interview skills, resume preparation and business etiquette. Key to their success will be the timing and venue of these workshops so that a student’s course load will not be impacted. Web resource listings may also be provided as a means to assist students in acquiring career development information.

A new course, Business for Science Students will be introduced in the 2005/2006 academic year, designed to create a more well-rounded science graduate. This course, developed by the Ivey Business School, will focus on giving graduates an awareness of the non-scientific demands to be encountered in their careers. These include financial planning and reporting, communications skills and an understanding business cases. SEAC has provided input into the course development and continues to monitor its implementation.

Currently, SEAC is working to understand how graduates feel about their education at Western. One of the goals is to determine if selected programs met expectations. When students selected their field of study, was it of value in establishing their careers, and what would they change about the program to correct any perceived shortcomings? A sub-committee has been established to develop a survey that will help derive this information. SEAC sees this as an initial step in developing recommendations to the Faculty that will improve the quality and marketability of its graduates.

In the future SEAC plans to involve itself in establishing a broad network of industry contacts. The goal is to provide increased visibility of the Faculty so that companies will be aware of the value of UWO graduates. In addition, this network will provide feedback to the Faculty so that programs can be designed to meet the ever-changing needs of industry.

These current initiatives are a good beginning for SEAC. SEAC will become more involved as it matures and becomes an integral part of the Faculty planning process. We have had great co-operation from the Dean’s Office as well as the faculty, support staff and university administration, all of which share a strong commitment to a tradition of first class education at the University of Western Ontario.

The current Chair of SEAC is Mr. Carl Santoni, BSc.’73. Carl’s business interests are predominantly in the software industry where he has a broad range of experience over the past 30 years. He can be reached at csantoni@uwo.ca. If you have any suggestions, questions or comments regarding SEAC please feel free to contact Carl.

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