In accordance with the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Institutional Quality Assurance Process (IQAP), this Final Assessment Report (FAR) provides a synthesis of the external evaluation and internal response and assessments of the graduate programs in Mathematics offered by the Faculty of Science. This report identifies the significant strengths of the programs, together with opportunities for improvement and enhancement, and sets out and prioritizes the recommendations that have been selected for implementation.
This report includes an Implementation Plan that identifies who will be responsible for approving the recommendations set out in the Final Assessment Report; who will be responsible for providing any resources entailed by those recommendations; any changes in organization, policy or governance that will be necessary to meet the recommendations and who will be responsible for acting on those recommendations; and timelines for acting on and monitoring the implementation of those recommendations.
Overview of Program Review Process:
The Program Self-Study Reports were completed in August 2019. For the programs under review - MSc and PhD in Mathematics - it contained the degree level expectations for these programs, an analytical assessment of the programs, course outlines, program-related data, survey data from the Office of Quality Assurance and appendices with sample examinations and CVs of faculty members. Two arm’s-length external reviewers (Dr. Franco Saliola, Département de mathématiques, UQAM, and Dr. Will Traves, Department of Mathematics, United States Naval Academy) were selected from a list of possible reviewers and approved by the Deans of Science and Graduate Studies. An internal reviewer, Dr. James McKay, Department of Political Science, was also selected for participation on the ERC. They reviewed the self-study documentation and conducted a site visit to RMC on 12 and 13 December, 2019. During the site visit, the ERC met with the Vice-Principal, Academic, Dr. Phil Bates, the Associate Vice-Principal, Research, Dr. Mike Hennessy, the Dean of Science, Dr. Gregg Wade, the Department Chair, Maj David Eisenhauer, Mathematics program coordinators: Alain Gosselin and Charles Paquette,the Head Librarian, Ms. Sarah Toomey, as well as several members of department faculty. The ERC also had the opportunity to meet with several students currently enrolled in the programs. The ERC subsequently produced a Report based on the Self-Study and site visit. The report was circulated to department members and discussed at a departmental meeting.
The reviewers submitted their report in March of 2020. In their report, Committee members indicated they were extremely impressed by the dedication of all the faculty and staff (including military and civilian) to the unique mission of the RMC. They found that the overall quality of the programs offered is comparable to programs at other Canadian universities.
Issues with lack of resources as well as access to journals were noted by some students and relayed by the ERC as ongoing concerns. The ERC also noted tensions between the department and certain levels of administration and the impact that shortfalls in staffing may be having on services and people.
Significant Strengths and Areas of Concern of the Program:
The ERC identified a number of strengths of the mathematics graduate programs:
- Committee members indicated they were extremely impressed by the dedication of all the faculty and staff (including military and civilian) to the unique mission of the RMC;
- The limited number of graduate course available at RMC, due to the small size of the graduate program, is offset by the ability of RMC students to enroll in suitable graduate courses at Queen’s University; and
- Attrition rates in both programs are comparable to national averages, though the time to graduation for both programs is longer than at other universities possibly due to the fact that some of the doctoral students are military officers that teach many classes in the department.
The ERC identified a number of areas of concern for the graduate programs in mathematics, and suggestion for program enhancements:
- A number of faculty members expressed concerns about the current level of teaching and service loads relative to the staffing level. They also reported that hiring staff to teach courses was extremely laborious and time-consuming, in part because the process and requirements for hiring are not clear and change frequently;
- Neither program has a set structure aside from requiring a reasonable number of graduate courses. This allows flexibility in planning individual programs of study but the lack of required courses risks students graduating without exposure to key areas of mathematics; and
- Library holdings are not sufficient for graduate students. Immediate action is necessary to ensure that graduate students have online access to a suitable library facility.
The Program Chair, after consultation with faculty and staff in the programs, submitted a response to the Reviewers’ Report in June 2022. The Dean of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Dean of Science, prepared this Final Assessment Report in August 2022. Specific recommendations are discussed, and follow-up actions and timelines provided.
Summary of the Reviewers’ Recommendations with Dean’s Responses
The ERC identified a number of areas of concern or issues that require attention. These issues are discussed in the order that they appear in the ERC Report:
Recommendation
The Department needs to work with senior leadership at the RMC to develop a long-term HR plan to address the department’s anticipated needs and to smooth the hiring process.
Departmental Response:
The need to hire more regular faculty is by far the most pressing problem in the department. Anything that RMC can do to help smooth the hiring process (reducing the amount of paperwork done by the department to better focus on candidates and interviews) is more than welcome.
Dean’s Response: Recent experience suggests that indeterminate hiring of UTs, from the perspective of the Dean’s office (which is intimately involved in all stages of the process), runs relatively smoothly. Permission to replace retiring faculty is provided in a timely fashion, the process for competitive hiring is clear and straightforward, and the development of Letters of Offer following candidate selection is efficient. It is however acknowledged that the staffing process within the Department of National Defence is more onerous than one might find at a civilian university. There is nothing that the institution can do to change the official processes.
On the general subject of workload, RMC is currently supporting a Joint Committee reviewing workload distribution across all Faculties of the College. The findings of the committee should inform and address concerns related to teaching and service loads.
Recommendation 2
The process of engaging sessionals needs to be streamlined in order to reduce the administrative burden on the Department. One way of doing this, as well as addressing the service task burden, would be to hire more terms as opposed to casuals or part-time exclusions.
Departmental Response:
Anything that can be done to reduce the onerous tasks of recruiting, hiring and mentoring of the department’s unusually large number of term professors and sessional instructors is welcome.
Dean’s Response: The Dean agrees that hiring of Term UTs/Sessional instructors can be fraught with frustrations, including very long lead times (incompatible with identification of suitable individuals to fill positions), burdensome paperwork, etc. Recent changes to the responsibilities of the Faculty of Science CR-04 Claim Clerk, adding assistance with departmental staffing administration and an increase in the number of people working in Faculty Services, should help to alleviate these pressures.
Recommendation 3
Ensure that graduate students have access to a suitable library facility with sufficient holdings and access to on-line journals.
Departmental Response:
The library committee is aware of this. Note that Queen’s library is open to the public (you may need a visitor card). A survey has been sent to MCS in 2020, and it seems that no major journal is missing from the RMC library (or through the EBSCO database), as claimed otherwise in the ERC report.
Dean’s Response: While access to electronic journals through RMC’s library continues to be an issue for some departments, the Department’s response reassures the Dean that access to appropriate electronic journals is not an issue for Mathematics. Clearly, relying on Queen’s University does not represent a viable long-term strategy.
Implementation Plan
| Recommendation | Proposed Follow-up | Responsibility for Leading Follow-up | Timeline for Addressing Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1. The department needs to work with senior leadership at the RMC to develop a long-term HR plan to address the department’s anticipated needs and to smooth the hiring process. |
A 5-year Departmental Business Plan is being developed and discussed with leadership. |
Dept Head |
Dec 2022 |
|
2. The process of engaging sessionals needs to be streamlined in order to reduce the administrative burden on the Department. |
Faculty claims clerk will be trained to assist with sessional and TA hiring administration. |
Dean of Science | May2023 |
|
3. Ensure that graduate students have access to a suitable library facility with sufficient holdings and access to on-line journals. |
As discussed, access to all required Mathematics resources appears to be satisfied. |
N/C | N/C |
Conclusion:
The ERC Report provided positive feedback on the outcomes of the graduate programs in mathematics. It confirmed that the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is delivering an academically rigorous program to its students and that its standards meet those of similar programs in Ontario. However, the ERC did identify areas that had room for improvement, and RMC is, or has already taken, taking steps to address the issues raised. RMC will continue to work toward more streamlined hiring and improve graduate course availability and access to library holdings.
The Dean of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Dean of Science and the Head of the Department of Mathematics, is responsible for monitoring the Implementation Plan.