2024-2025 (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025)
| Name | Composition |
|---|---|
| Santee Smith | Chancellor |
| David Farrar | President |
| Susan Tighe | Provost and Vice-President (Academic) |
| Andy Knights (Acting) | Vice-President (Research) |
| Steve Hranilovic | Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies |
| James Benn | Elected Faculty Member of Senate |
| Tracy Prowse | Elected Faculty Member of Senate |
| Graeme Luke | Elected Faculty Member of Senate |
| Shahram Shirani | Elected Faculty Member of Senate |
| Joëlle Papillon (Chair) | Elected Faculty Member of Senate |
| Manish Kacker | Elected Faculty Member of Senate |
| Jeff Weitz | Elected Faculty Member of Senate |
| Rachelle Sabourin | Elected Student Member of Senate |
| Barb Eftekhari | Consultant - Senior Manager, Faculty Relations |
Terms of Reference
Article IX of the Senate By-Laws states:
116. The Committee on Appointments shall consist of the Chancellor; the President; the Provost; the Vice-President (Research); the Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies; and eight other members of the Senate, seven of whom shall be elected faculty members of the Senate and one of whom shall be a student member of the Senate; and six members of the Committee constitute a quorum at any meeting thereof, except when decisions are being made on tenure, permanence, or promotion recommendations, at which meeting eight members of the Committee, one of whom shall be the Provost and one of whom shall be the Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, shall constitute a quorum. In the event of an equality of votes on tenure, permanence, or promotion recommendations, the question is deemed to be decided in favour of the Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee’s recommendation, notwithstanding the provision of clause 74.
117. The Committee shall nominate the members of the Committee for Nominating a Chancellor in conformity with the provisions of clause 9(a) and shall nominate the members of the Senate component of the Committee for Recommending a President in conformity with clause 9(b). These nominations shall be presented at a Senate meeting, together with a brief statement of each candidate’s skills and interests. No additional nominations may be made at that Senate meeting, but subsequent to the meeting, members of the Senate shall be provided with the opportunity to submit written nominations of additional candidates for inclusion on the slate, provided that such nominations are signed by three members of the Senate. If necessary, an election shall be conducted by the University Secretary immediately following the end of the nomination period. A brief statement of each nominee’s skills and interests shall be provided to Senators along with the ballot. Not more than one faculty member from any one Faculty shall be elected by Senate to the Committee for Nominating a Chancellor or the Committee for Recommending a President.
118. The Committee shall have as a standing order of business the making of nominations for such ad hoc selection committees as are charged to nominate to the Senate those to be appointed to senior academic administrative offices and to the offices of Vice-President (Operations and Finance) and Vice-President (University Advancement). In this context, senior academic administrative offices include those of Provost, Dean and Vice-President (Health Sciences), Vice-President (Research), Vice-Provost, Deans, Director of McMaster Continuing Education, academic Associate/Assistant Vice-Presidents, Associate Deans of Graduate Studies and/or Research, Associate Deans of Faculties (see clause 2(h)), Chair of Undergraduate Council, University Secretary, Registrar, University Librarian and such other positions as are designated by Senate from time to time. The Committee shall ensure that the nominations for each ad hoc selection committee include, as nominated Chair of the ad hoc selection committee, the name of the academic administrative officer to whom the appointee shall report. The Committee shall review, and express its opinion to the Senate on, nominations made by the ad hoc selection committees, before any commitment is made to the nominated candidate.
119. The Committee shall consider and recommend to the Senate on academic appointments, terms of reference, tenure policy, promotion policy, research leave policy, and all matters related to academic appointments. In this context, academic appointments shall be taken to include appointments of Department Chairs and Directors of Schools, Programs, Research Institutes, and Centres, and appointments to named Chairs and Professorships. The Committee shall receive for information reports on the appointment of Associate Department Chairs, Associate Directors of Programs, Research Institutes and Centres, Executives in Residence, and Faculty honorific appointments. The Committee shall recommend to the Senate candidates for the titles of Distinguished University Professor and University Scholar.
120. The Committee shall consider recommendations for appointment to the teaching staff from Faculty or joint-Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committees and shall:
(a) decide that the faculty member is to be nominated for a tenured appointment, a continuing appointment without annual review or a permanent teaching appointment and so inform the Senate; or
(b) recommend to the President that the period of a tenure-track appointment, a special appointment or a teaching-track appointment be extended, and so inform the Senate; or
(c) decide that no action be taken on the case; or
(d) decide that a faculty member’s tenure-track appointment, special appointment or teaching-track appointment be allowed to lapse and so inform the Senate.
121. The Committee shall consider recommendations for promotion from Faculty or joint-Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committees and shall:
(a) decide that promotion is to be granted at this time, and so inform the Senate; or
(b) decide that no action is to be taken in regard to promotion.
122. The Committee shall nominate the membership of the Executive Committee, and shall report thereon to the regular meeting of the Senate in June of each year.
Revised: June 7, 2023