Full Meeting Minutes: http://umanitoba.ca/admin/governance/media/2017_04_05_Senate_Agenda.pdf
In terms of relevance to the Faculty of Science nothing really substantial was discussed. However, there are a couple of things discussed that may be of some importance to students.
senate discussed the possibility of the introduction of a new Masters program in Human Rights. This is what the proposed program would entail
“Canada’s only Master of Human Rights degree program will equip graduates to help address the increasingly complex human rights challenges of the 21st century. It will be broadly interdisciplinary and take advantage of expertise in the University of Manitoba’s professional schools, including Law, Education and Social Work. The MHR program will prepare students to integrate human rights perspectives into their careers in the private and/or public sectors by developing research, advocacy and negotiation skills, as well as professional competencies. The program will emphasize critical engagement with the conception, practice and institutionalization of human rights while preparing students to make ethical, competent, innovative and effective contributions to human rights work locally, nationally and globally. ”
For the time being, this topic has been postponed indefinitely, meaning it's not to "postpone" the main motion, but rather to prevent action on it for now.
The main points being brought up for the program during the meeting were that the University of Manitoba would be the first Canadian University that has this program, Human rights is an issue that requires more people working for it, Winnipeg has a human rights building
The main points against is that the funding for Arts programs are already pretty low and this program would require a hefty sum of money [requesting 57 thousand a year]. and that would take away from students enrolled in Arts programs now.