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Council Highlights

Council Highlights for November 17, 2020


The 424th Council meeting of the RCDSO took place via Zoom on November 17, 2020. The meeting was also livestreamed on the College’s YouTube channel.

President Flavio Turchet opened the meeting.  He told Council that the RCDSO has been adapting to the pandemic environment and dealing with a lot of changes as a result.  This includes staff working remotely, virtual committee meetings and discipline hearings, and the development of a remote facility inspection approach. He assured Council that the College is continuing to provide high quality services to members and the public despite high call and email volumes. 

Registrar Dan Faulkner addressed Council for the first time following his appointment in August. He spoke to the importance of the College’s strategic plan as a foundational document.  Dan said that each Council meeting will hear a report on the strategic plan and that Council members would see a “dashboard” outlining key indicators on the progress of the College’s action plans.  He also noted the importance of the Ministry of Health’s new College Performance Measurement Framework, which was addressed later in the meeting.

On behalf of the College, Dan welcomed two new Council members – Gildo Santos as representative of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western, and Jamie Colliver, a new public member.

The Registrar told Council about the College Performance Measurement Framework (CPMF) which has been in development for past two years. The Ministry of Health led the project which is designed to align performance data across the health Colleges to make it more consistent.  RCDSO, like other colleges, will now report performance data in a number of shared categories and themes.  Previously many data points reported by 26 health colleges were unique to a single college.  Reports will focus on high level statements and drill down to evidential data to track success on meeting goals. Governance is a critical component to ensure transparency. We are positioned to succeed; our Strategic Plan is well integrated with the CPMF framework. Dan said we are also working closely with the other three Ontario oral health colleges to try to be more consistent in the way we each describe our work and our collaboration.

Council President Flavio Turchet and Executive Committee public member Mark Trudell presented a report and recommendations on College governance. They described how governance reform is underway across Canada and around the world. For example, a bill at the Ontario Legislature would eliminate the elected model for the Ontario College of Teachers. An RCDSO governance symposium earlier this year led to further research by College staff and an environmental scan. As a result, competencies and eligibility requirements are now in place for Council members. Much work is yet to be done including developing a College governance “vision” – what governance should look like at the College.  A vision document would embody strategic directions, factor in external developments (like health regulatory reform in British Columbia) and reflect priorities including CPMF priorities. Executive Committee recommended a governance working group be struck to propose a governance vision. Terms of reference for the group and the selection of members will be established by next Council following the 2020 elections. The recommendation was passed unanimously.

In addition:

  • Brian Smith was appointed to Discipline Committee.
  • David Bishop, Brian Smith, and Judith Welikovitch were appointed to the Elections Committee.
  • The By-laws were amended to allow the Registrar to use title “Registrar and CEO”.
  • Council approved no increase in the 2021 stipend rates for Council and Committee members
  • Council agreed that Executive Committee should conduct a comprehensive review of all College fees.
  • Competencies for Committees were approved.

Director of Finance Jeff Gullberg presented the 2021 RCDSO budget on behalf of the Finance, Property and Administration Committee. He told Council that the COVID-19 pandemic has had material ramifications for the 2021 Budget. The College will:

  • Maintain virtual meetings, resulting in cost savings
  • Invest in technology and ergonomics to support continued work-from-home for all staff
  • Implement remote inspections
  • Make further investment in health and safety measures
  • Continue the digitalization of all College records

In addition to these key areas, the budget will focus on operationalizing the 2021 priorities of the Strategic Plan. There is also an increase in membership fees of $75, the third-year of a Council approved plan entrenched in the RCDSO By-laws. Council approved the 2021 budget plan.

Council also approved a financial reserves policy.  The policy establishes that reserve funds may be created, from time‐to‐time, in accordance with sound accounting principles to prepare for future capital expenditures, or to provide funds to meet certain future liabilities or sustain day‐to‐day operations in the event of unforeseen shortfalls. The new policy meets the requirements of the Ministry of Health which will be reported through the College Performance Measurement Framework.

The next RCDSO Council meeting will be held Wednesday, January 20 and Thursday, January 21, 2021.