Principal and Vice-Chancellor Daniel Woolf’s current term is scheduled to conclude on June 30, 2019. As per the provisions of his appointment, Principal Woolf has now advised the Chair of the Board of Trustees that he wishes to be considered for a third and final term.

A Joint Board/Senate Committee to Review the Principalship will now be established over the coming weeks to advise the Board of Trustees on Principal Woolf’s reappointment to another term. The committee will be composed equally of nine members of the Board of Trustees, along with nine members of the university’s Senate, in addition to Chancellor Jim Leech who will chair the committee as an ex officio member.

Emails will be sent to all Board and Senate members this week requesting expressions of interest to serve on the Joint Committee. These expressions of interest will be due by Sept. 20. The Board and the Senate will each then follow a detailed process to choose their appointees to the Joint Committee.

For the Board of Trustee appointments, the expressions of interest will go to its Governance and Nominating Committee. This slate of appointees will then be placed before the full Board of Trustees for approval in early October. 

By convention, two of the nine members appointed by the Board have been the Chair of the Board and the Rector. Additional considerations to be used to guide the selection are constituency, diversity and gender balance, length of service and availability. 

The Senate will follow a similar process. Its Governance and Nominating Committee will also recommend nine members to sit on the Joint Committee and the Senate will appoint these members at its meeting on Oct. 3. 

By convention, the nine members of the Senate have been selected as follows: 

•  Five faculty Senators, including one Dean
•  Three student senators
•  One staff Senator

Additional considerations used by the Senate Governance and Nominating Committee will be the desire to achieve a balance with respect to gender and diversity, as well as the importance of selecting Senators who would make a positive contribution to the Joint Committee.

The Vice-Principal (University Relations) and the Director of Human Rights and Equity shall serve as non-voting advisors to the Joint Committee. The Secretary of the University will act as Secretary to the Joint Committee.

Once the Joint Committee’s membership is in place, it will begin its work in mid-October. It will establish a consultation process and period during which it will solicit submissions from all interested individuals, in confidence, on the present state and future development of the University and on the principalship.

“The committee will consult widely and thoroughly in order to gather as much input as possible from both the Queen’s and alumni communities,” says Chancellor Leech.

More details about how members of the Queen’s community can submit their input will be shared over the coming weeks. 

Once all of this input has been collected and considered, the Joint Committee will submit a written report to the Board of Trustees with its recommendation on reappointment by early December.

To learn more about the committee and its timelines, visit the Joint Committee’s web page for regular updates on the consultation process and the Terms of Reference.