the journal Queen’s University
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Vol. 154, Issue 1
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M o n day , M ay 2 5 , 2 0 2 6
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Situated on the
traditional lands of
the Anishinaabe and
Haudenosaunee peoples.
Since 1873
AI-focused College proposal divides Queen’s faculty Faculty questions consultation processes as Queen’s says AI timeline requires urgency E mmet P aradis Senior News Editor A proposed College of Computing has become more than a debate over AI at Queen’s. The college was introduced at the April 16 Senate meeting as a notice of motion. If approved, the structure would create a new academic unit focused on interdisciplinary “X + AI” programming, pairing the School of Computing with other fields like politics, health, law, philosophy, or science. For some faculty members, the proposed college has raised broader questions about consultation, academic governance, and how quickly the University should move when creating a new academic structure. Queen’s proposal
In an interview with The Journal, Vice-Principal (Academic) Matthew Evans said the proposal is intended to prepare students for a workforce increasingly shaped by AI. “It’s not just about coping,” he said. “It’s about thriving and doing really well in that environment.”
Evans said the college model is meant to make interdisciplinary programming easier at Queen’s. “If we’re honest, Queen’s doesn’t do interdisciplinary programming very well,” Evans said. “We have some. But it can be a bit clunky and a bit difficult.” The idea began around January 2025 after faculty from the School of Computing raised concerns about how Queen’s should respond to changes in computing and AI. Evans said he formed a small working group including faculty from computing, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the deans of Smith Engineering and Arts and Science, and external advisors. Evans said urgency around the proposal comes from how quickly AI is changing. If Queen’s misses approval timelines this fall, the college could be delayed from 2028 to 2029. Budget concerns
The proposed college is also tied to financial questions within FAS. With one of the highest tuition costs, Evans said the School of Computing currently brings in
PSAC 901 strike cost Queen’s $576K in external security, documents show
about $20 million in annual revenue and costs the University about $10 million to operate, leaving about $10 million supporting the rest of FAS. According to Evans, moving computing out of FAS would be “maximally bad,” for the faculty because it would remove that revenue. The college is designed to stay within FAS and reduce that impact while creating opportunities for departments to collaborate with computing. Governance concerns
In an interview with The Journal, Daryn Lehoux, professor of classics and philosophy, said the proposal has raised concerns because a “college” isn’t an existing structure in Queen’s governance documents. “It’s not the AI thing that’s got us upset. It’s the governance issue,” he said. “It’s the fact that they’re going around governance.” He argued the proposed college creates a new kind of academic unit without the same established process. Additionally, many faculty members first heard about the proposal within the week that it appeared in Senate materials. Evans rejected the idea that the University is bypassing governance processes. He said because Queen’s doesn’t currently have colleges, the Board of Trustees
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2024 encampment racks up an “It is common practice for CSES [Campus Security and Emergency additional $23K revealing some of Queen’s spending Services] to engage licensed private
J onathan R eilly Editor in Chief
Strike picketing in 2025 and a 2024 pro-Palestine encampment cost Queen’s almost $600,000 in external security costs. Through a Freedom of Information request, The Journal obtained e-mails and spreadsheets queensjournal.ca
on external security contractors. The documents show Queen’s spent $576,331 during the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) 901 strike protests, and $23,146 on the 2024 pro-Palestine encampment. For the PSAC 901 strike, Queen’s paid $307,415 to Investigative Solutions Network (ISN) and $268,915 to Cancom Security to help manage security. @queensjournal
security in times of high demand to augment campus security resources and help ensure the university can continue to operate safely and securely,” Queen’s wrote in a statement to The Journal. A spreadsheet showed that April 7 to 11 was the costliest pay period, with ISN and Cancom charging the University a combined $107,668. PSAC 901 — the union @queensjournal
GRAPHIC BY CLAIRE BAK “Nobody can believe this is happening,” Department Head Daryn Lehoux said.
would create the first one, then give Senate authority over future colleges under defined principles. “Any new program, including every single X + AI program, would have to go through a completely normal program approval process,” he said. A faculty member who specializes in AI in the School of Computing, granted anonymity over concerns about professional repercussions, said in an interview with The Journal that the college idea grew out of long-standing concerns within computing about Queen’s budget model. According to the faculty member, the School of Computing had discussed structural changes internally for several years, including becoming a separate faculty or joining Smith Engineering. “One thing that didn’t really seem to be explored was talking to other departments within Arts and Science who had the same issues and trying to come up with a joint
representing graduate student workers at Queen’s including TAs, teaching fellows, and postdoctoral scholars — went on strike for seven weeks during the 2025 winter semester, consistently holding picket lines at the intersection of University Ave. and Union St. During this time, Queen’s hired external security to help monitor the protests, with former PSAC 901 President Jake Morrow claiming in a CBC article that security got physical with protestors at times. According to an email from Director of CSES Chris Scott, $23,146 was spent on external security contractors for the 12-day encampment — alongside an additional $3,683 in extra CSES staffing — bringing the total encampment cost to $26,830. “During last year’s PSAC strike and also during the encampment activities outside Richardson Hall in 2024, additional security personnel were engaged to support crowd management and monitoring efforts and respond to community security and safety concerns, including maintaining safe access to campus buildings, study spaces, and exam venues,” Queen’s said. Queen’s said the cost figures were “accurate, or very close” to what was paid but couldn’t verify them exactly due to The Journal’s quick turnaround request. The agreement between Queen’s and ISN included a mention for the @queensjournalnow
solution,” the faculty member said. They said computing is “pretty clearly understaffed,” with course sizes growing and instructors struggling to keep up with enrolment growth. “The quality of education is going down,” they said. Queens already has faculty in humanities and social sciences working on AI. “Computing is where we’re weak in AI. The humanities are where we’re strong in AI right now,” they said. What happens next
The proposal is expected to return for further discussion at Senate in the fall. If approved, the proposal would then move to the Board of Trustees. Evans said any future programs created through the college would still need to pass through standard Senate approval processes.
company to “Conduct Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) investigations to identify threats both prior to and during strike activities.” In its statement to The Journal, Queen’s expanded on that agreement. “The university does, as a matter of practice, monitor publicly available social media content related to on-campus activities to maintain awareness of the campus environment. No additional online monitoring activities were undertaken outside of reviewing public posts.” Emails also showed that external security was obtained for convocation, although its cost was not clear. “In addition to the staff you are already supplying for the encampment, I would like to request 4 staff to assist with Convocation on Friday May 24th. We have concerns that protestors may try and disrupt the ceremony and we want to be prepared for that. Can you supply 4 staff for 07:30 - 15:30?” Murray Skeggs, manager of security risk and training, wrote to an external contractor. While PSAC 901 achieved wage increases of 21.53 per cent over three years under their new collective agreement following the strike, University faculty have since claimed TA hours are effectively being reduced because budget allocations have not increased alongside wages. TAs, meanwhile, say they are facing heavier workloads to make up the difference. @thequeensjournal