Following the 2000 Reunion, class leaders started talking to the then new RMC Principal John Cowan about what the ‘next big thing’ might be for the class to pursue. John Cowan persuaded the Class that our ‘next big thing’ should be a Class of ’65 Professorship, and he was fine with the Class idea that it should be in Leadership Studies.
Numerous administrative lessons were learned from the appointment of the first Class of 65 Professorship in Leadership. As a result, a major review of the program was taken and the following changes were made to the structure of the programme and the administrative procedures required to support it.
Changes were made recently to the terms of reference for Class
of 1965 Professorship in Leadership. These changes are a consequence of
discussions between the Class of 1965 Gifting Committee and the RMC academic
leadership. The latter includes Vice-Principal Academic, Phil Bates, and Dean of
Arts, Jim Denford.
The first change is that applicants must be RMC faculty and teaching or
supervising RMC students. Previously, applicants had to be new faculty in the
broad area of leadership applying for an open position. How-ever, open positions
for a leadership scholar haven’t been readily available at RMC. In contrast,
there are at least a dozen RMC professors who promote research in the broad area
of leadership.
A second change to
the terms of reference for the Professorship in Leadership is a shorter term.
Originally, a successful applicant would hold this named position for five
years. If their work remained outstanding, the applicant could then apply for a
second term of up to five years. Under the new terms of reference, the initial
term is for three years. If requested by the Professor and approved by a review
committee, an additional term of up to two years will be granted. This change
enables more RMC faculty to be supported in conducting leadership research.
The
third change provides flexibility in the number of teaching releases which free
up the time for the Professor in Leadership to conduct research. Previously, the
recipient’s teaching assignment would be reduced by two, one-term courses at a
cost of $7,500 each to the total Professorship annual budget of $25,000. In the
re-vised version of the Professorship, the professor can choose to reduce their
teaching load by only one course and have $7,500 added to their annual stipend.
This change is explained further in the revised Terms of Reference below.
The
Class of 1965 Gifting Committee is comprised of John Adams, Keith Ambachtsheer,
Stephen Arnold, Jim Carruthers and Charles Emond. If you have any questions,
don’t hesitate to contact any of these class-mates. The revised Terms of
Reference for the Class of 1965 Professorship in Leadership follow.
The
Class of 1965 Professorship in Leadership was first established in July 2011
through the generosity of the Royal Military College (RMC) Class of 1965. At RMC,
its objective is to promote research and scholarly activity in the broad area of
leadership. Leadership is broadly defined as the ability of a person to
"lead" or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. Its
stated intent is to retain top scholars at RMC and encourage RMC faculty
research in leadership.
The
Class of 1965 have made available $25k/yr of funding to support the Professor.
Of these funds, $10k/yr will be awarded to the Professor by the Foundation and
$15k/yr will be used to fund replacement instructors to relieve the Professor
from two courses. The Professor may elect to instead receive $17.5k/yr from the
Foundation and $7.5k/yr to support course relief.
In order to obtain the award, the Principal’s office will submit the
appropriate request-for-funding documents to the RMC Foundation. A cheque for
$10k or $17.5k will be awarded annually to the Professor at a mutually agreeable
date and venue.
The
Professor’s teaching assignment will be reduced by the equivalent of two or
one one-term courses (in Arts Faculty) or one one-term course (in Science or
Engineering Faculty). If possible, it is expected that half of the teaching
assignment would normally be at the graduate level.
The
initial term is for three years. At the end of the three year term and, if
requested by the Professor and approved by a review committee, an additional
term of up to two years can be granted.
At
the completion of the final term, the Professorship will end and the former
holder will resume their normal teaching load. The holder will submit a report
at the end of this term.
$7.5k/yr
or $15k/yr of funds, as applicable, will be made available to the Principal’s
Office to be used to hire sessional instructors. To access these funds, the
appropriate request-for-funding documents will be submitted to the RMC
Foundation by the Principal’s office.
It
is expected that the Professor will use the title “Class of 1965 Professor in
Leadership” in the signature block of all RMC emails as well as on their RMC
website. Furthermore, the Professor will acknowledge the contribution of the
Class of 1965 in all publications and presentations.
The
Professor in Leadership will present a public lecture once per calendar year.
Public lecture is broadly de-fined here to include presentations at a department
or faculty seminar, presentations to the RMC Club, or at some other venue
agreeable to both the Professor and the Class of 1965.
During
the three to five-year tenure, the Professor will remain in their substantive
position as part of the UT group and therefore bound by the rights and
obligations associated with the UT Collective Agreement. It is expected that the
Professor will not assume significant administrative responsibilities (such as
Dean, Department Head, or Programme Chair) during the tenure of the award.
The
Faculty of the RMC will be solicited for interested applicants. Candidates must
be teaching or supervising RMC students. The applicants will submit a cover
letter indicating their desire to apply for the Professor-ship and a description
of their future research plans detailing its linkage to leadership, an updated
CV and a teaching portfolio.
The
Class of 1965 Professorship in Leadership Selection Committee (hereafter
referred to as the Committee) will assess and determine a suitable candidate.
The Committee will be chaired by a Vice-Principal of the RMC selected by the
Principal. The Committee chair will coordinate the meetings but will only vote
in the event of a tie. In addition to a VP, the Committee will be made up of all
applicants’ Line Dean, Department Head and a senior RMC professor selected
from each Department.
The
award of the Professorship will be based on three equally-weighted criteria:
· Research record by assessing the applicants’ CV,
· Proposed research programme by
assessing the applicants’ cover letter,
· Teaching effectiveness by
assessing the applicants’ teaching portfolio.
The
selection process will occur in four phases. The Committee will:
· Review the information provided by the applicants,
· Discuss their initial findings,
· Interview the applicants,
· Make an award decision.
Two
outcomes of the Committee are possible:
· Award the Class of 1965 Professorship in Leadership for the period of three
years,
· Do not award the Professorship for
the year, conducting another cycle the subsequent year.