DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SENATE OF SIMON
O
FRASER UNIVERSITY
HELD ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1996 AT 7:00
P.M. IN ROOM 3120 WMC
OPEN SESSION
Present: ?
Stubbs, John, Chair
Akins, Kathleen
Absent: ?
Aujia, Angela
Alderson, Evan
Barrow, Robin
Arnason, Kristjan
Beattie, Suzan
Blaney, Jack
Berggren, Len
Blazenko, George
Cleveland, William
Boland, Larry
Dahl, Veronica
Cellik, Peter
Dunsterville, Valerie
Chan, Albert
Giffen, Kenneth
Clayman, Bruce
Hewitt, Kevin
Crawford, Charles
Howlett, Michael
D'Auria, John
Kozminuk, Angela
Dobb, Ted
Lewis, Brian
Emmott, Alan
Mauser, Gary
Etherington, Lois
McInnes, Dina
• ?
Gagan, David
Morrison, Tim
Hansen, Joey
Naef, Barbara
Jones, Cohn
Nip, Harry
Kanevsky, Lannie
Peterson, Louis
Luk, Wo Shun
Ross, Douglas
Marteniuk, Ron
Sanghera, Baiwant
Mathewes, Rolf
Segal, Joseph
Osborne, Judith
Whitbread, Katherine
Percival, Paul
Wickstrom, Norman
Pierce, John
Pinfield, Larry (representing S. Shapiro)
Rawicz, Andrew
Reed, Clyde
In attendance:
Roth, Michael
Brockman, Joan
Ukrainetz, Mark
Gordon, Robert
Warsh, Michael
Jackson, Margaret
Winne, 'Phil
O'Shea, Tom
Wortis, Michael
Selman, Mark
Watt, Alison, Director, Secretariat Services
Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary
go
S.M.02/12/96
Page
1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by J
.
Hansen
"that the proposed Specialist Program in Software
Engineering which is part of Senate paper S.96-73a under
agenda item 5-c-i be withdrawn from the Agenda"
Senate was advised that the Canadian Association of the B.C. Association of
Professional Engineers have questioned the right of the Univrsity to offer
the program with the proposed title 'Software Engineer'ing'.. The intent is to
meet with representatives from the Association to discuss their objections
and bring this item back to Senate in January.
Concerns
were expressed about the withdrawal of this item from the agenda
and the consequences of delaying Senate consideration. There was some
feeling that Senate should debate and consider the academic merits of the
program at this time and, should there be a threat of legal action or an
injunction, in p.lementation could he delayed until the issue was resolved.
Since the objections appeared to be only related to the use of the word
Engineering in the title, brief discussion followed with respect to whether or
not it was possible to use a different word and therefore have the program
debated. Senate was .advised that software engmeeringi
. is a well recognized
discipline within Computing Science and the School felt it was in the best
interest of the students to retain that specific title.
A 'suggested than ge
4:0
the motion as follows was accepted as a friendly
amendment:
"that The proposed Specialist Program in Software Engineering
which is part of Senate 'paper S9673a under agenda item 5-c-i be
held ,over ito the January meeting of Senate"
It was pointed out that the 'Canadian Association of Professional Engineers is
The body whih certifies 5F15's Engineering Science Prqgrarn and that the
proposed delay for consideration 4of,this programis am atter of courtesy to the
Association and provides an opportunity to have .a friendly discussion with
representatives of the Engineering :profession to shear their concerns. It was
,noted That There was istill sufficient time f or the
program,
if approved, to be
indluded in the new Calendar.
Question 'was called, and a wote taken.
?
MO1ON CARRIED
Flloing this amendmert, the Agenda w
.as pproved as amended.
S
S.M.02/12/96
Page 3
S2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE OPEN SESSION OF NOVEMBER 4.
1996
The Minutes were approved as distributed.
3. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
In response to an inquiry from the last meeting that came forward in
discussion of the Annual Report of SPCSAB, Senate was advised that the
University spent $345,000 on new Entrance Scholarships in Fall of 1995, and
$432,000 in Fall of 1996.
4. REPORT OF THE CHAIR
i)
The Chair advised that University Presidents will be meeting with
Ministry officials on Tuesday, December 3rd to discuss funding for an 18-
month period beginning October 1, 1996. Expectations are that the funding
environment will be known very soon and the University is receiving four
months notice as this information would not normally be known until
March or April.
ii)
The Chair advised that the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on.
Planning Priorities, chaired by K. Heinrich, is complete and will be released to
the University community as quickly as possible.
iii)
The Chair was happy to report that Simon Fraser University had
ranked first among the comprehensive institutions in the Maclean's annual
survey for 1996, and he was pleased to note that universities in British
Columbia again stood very high in the Maclean's ranking.
iv)
Congratulations were extended to the SFU's Women's Soccer Team for
winning the NAIA Championship.
5. REPORT OF COMMITTEES
a) SENATE NOMINATING COMMITTEE
i)
?
Paper S.96-71 - Elections
Senate was advised that no further nominations had been received. A.
Gupta has therefore been elected by acclamation to the Senate Committee on
Disciplinary Appeals; all other positions remain vacant and will be carried
forward. The Chair noted that the Nominating Committee is primarily
looking for Student Senators to fill the remaining outstanding vacancies.
S.M.02/12/96
Page 4
b) SENATE COMMITTEE ON ACADEMIC PLANNING
i) ?
Paper S.96-72 - External Review - School
Of
Criminology
M. Jackson, Director of the School of Criminology, J
.
Brockman,
Director of Graduate Programs, and R. Gordon, Director of Undergraduate
Programs were in attendance in order to respond to questions.
Senate was advised that SCAP had discussed the report at length and had
raised a number of issues which have been communicated to the School and
which the School is attempting to address as resources become available.
Concerns were expressed about statements in the report that much research
work which. might be more appropriately channeled through the University
is being carried out independently through external contracts. Concerns were
expressed that university resources are being used in the fulfillment of these
external contracts and a lengthy discussion ensued with respect to how this
process worked. The External Reviewers had expressed a concern that
graduate students might be missing out on opportunities that were being
handled through externally routed research contracts. However, it was noted
that external contracts often assure more hiring of graduate students than
would be possible otherwise, and it was suggested that this could be
considered as a net benefit to the University in lieu of overhead charges.
It was. .noted that as a full-time employees of the University, faculty members
have an obligation to fulfill their teaching and research responsibilities
within the institution and their primary concern should be for the students of
the University. Senate was assured by the Director of the School and by the
Dean of Arts that faculty members within the School are extremely hard-
working and conscientious about their total university obligations.
It was pointed out that this issue is not unique to the School of Criminology
and that it is common for faculty members to take on outside contracts from
Government and from the private sector. Opinion was expressed that this
should be viewed positively for the University as it is a recognition from
society that faculty members are doing their job well and there is a demand
for their expertise. It was suggested that the University required a better
mechanism to monitor this issue on a more systematic basis and needed to
address how to facilitate on-campus handling of these contracts so faculty will
channel them through the University. Senate was advised that since the
Vice-President Research had introduced more flexibility, more individual
contracts are now being done through the University and attempts are being
made to inform external agencies of this possibility. The Outside Activities
Policy which is the most relevant policy with respect to' this issue is under
review and will probably be amended within the next year. Part of the policy
S.M.02/12/96
Page 5
.
??
dealing with the reporting of income is in abeyance at the moment due to a
FOl/POP concern.
It was noted that the reviewers expressed concern about undergraduate
students having difficulty in getting upper division courses, and about the
average length of time graduate students took to complete their degrees. It
was pointed out that access has been a problem for some time and in an
attempt to address the issue, the School has opened up access to upper
division courses through various curriculum changes which take effect in
September and the intent is to do more as resources become available.
c)
?
?
Senate Committee on Academic Planning/Senate Committee on
Undergraduate Studies
Senate's attention was drawn to the one-page handout distributed at the start
of the meeting which summarized courses which had been renumbered but
not noted on Senate papers S.96-73 through S.96-77. Senate was advised that
although these courses were listed within the papers as having revisions, the
renumbering had been omitted. Senate was advised that a total of 23 courses
throughout these documents were deleted and 31 courses added for a net
addition of 8. These figures do not include new special topics or directed
readings courses.
i)
?
?
Paper S.96-73 - Undergraduate Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of
Applied Sciences
Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by R. Marteniuk
"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors the curriculum revisions for the Faculty of Applied
Sciences as set forth in S.96-73 as follows:
S.96-73a School of Computing Science - New Specialist Program:
Specialist Program in Multimedia Computing"
Senate's attention was drawn to the list of new courses on Page 15 and request
was made to amend ENSC/ENSC 250 to ENSC/CMPT 250. It was noted that
this appeared to be cross-listing of courses which for many years the Registrar
has stressed that the system will not permit and therefore should be avoided.
Request was made that an inquiry be made as to how ENSC/CMPT 150 and
250 will be handled through the current registration system. It was suggested
that should this represent a cross-listing of courses it would be a departure
from existing policy and SCUS would not have had delegated authority to
deal with it. The Chair of SCAP was asked to investigate and report back, and
if the issue had been dealt with in an
ultra vires
manner, it will be brought
back for reconsideration.
S.-M.
02/12/96
Pagë6
Ouie
''stioh was called,
and a vote iákeh.
?
MOtIOW CARRIED
Sefláte was adtTised that SCtJS, acting ündei delegated auth6rity
1
had
approved curriculum revisions as set forth in S 96-73a School of Computing
Scieric, S;96-73b SchOOl of Engineering Sciëhce
1
and S.96-73c School of
Kifléidlogy.
i) ?
Paper 9-74 Ufidegtadliate Curt küluth Revisions - Facuft of Atts
Moved
by
D. Gagan, secoridéd by E; Aldersdn
"that Sefiäté aiprdve and tecOmthehd approval to the Board of
Governors the curriculum revisions for the Faculty of Arts, as
set forth m 506-74 as follows
1)
S 96-74b School for the Contemporary Arts - Proposed
NIeW Pograh Minor ih Art arid culture Studis; JOirit
Major iii Art arid ulttité Studies and Antlitopology;
Joint
Major in Art and CultUre Studies and Sociology
2)
S;96-74h DepAitihotit of Fréflch - PropOsed Joirit Màjdt in
Humanities and French
3)
S.96-74iñ Department of Political Science Popded Neiv
Joint Májör Pbgrain Jblht Major iri Political Science and
Economics, ?
Joint Major ih Political Science and
Women's
Studies
4)
S.9674d Department of Sociology/Anthropology -
Proposed Joint Major in Arithropolo and Afchaeologi
5)
S.96-74q Proposed Integfátëd Stridis
Program
within the
BGS Degree"
M. Selfflan, Associate Dean, Continuing Studies, was in attendance in order
tO respond to questions with fegard to S;96-74q Integtated Studies Program.
Reference was made to the Integrated Studies Program and concerns wete
expressed about the d-
I.
of the University designing a degree
program
?
especially one With less than 120 hours, to improve a person's
marketability;
and
inquiry was made as to how the program would operate. It
was pointed out that the program was' designed to broaden a student's
petspective by blending liberal arid applied studies
iri a
pfograth designed to
meet the needs of a specific group of studerits; Striderits in the program
*ould .
have to maintain good dcadoffik standing and, if a student fails or is
Uñablé to cOmplete a coUrse
1
arangethents could be
made
•
through other
bfferings for the student to dompiete the requirerrients of the program.
Although the program is made
up of regular courses, the packaging of the
c6ifrses are specifically designed for" these hmdents.
•
??
S.M.02/12/96?
Page 7
• There was support for the idea that significant education and skills can be
obtained in the workplace and these skills should be acknowledged when
students come into the University with this type of background. It was felt
that such students were capable of handling university level material, and
concern was expressed that the course descriptions in the program appeared
to be watered down. It was pointed out that the academic content of these
courses is equivalent to other SFU courses and that the specific design and
detail of each program requires approval by the Faculty of Arts Curriculum
Committee.
Opinion was expressed that although this was a good proposal, there is a
danger that SFU's Bachelor's degree could be perceived as devalued and
efforts must be taken to ensure no such perception occurs.
Inquiry was made as to whether a group of regular students who may be
having difficulty getting courses within the last two years of their program
could get together and have a program of this type approved. Although this
was possible, it was pointed out that this program does not provide a major
and therefore it is not an alternative for a major/honors program.
Moved by C. Crawford, seconded by A. Chan
"that the motion be divided to enable consideration of the
Integrated Studies Program as a separate issue"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION TO DIVIDE CARRIED
Concern was expressed about a perceived proliferation of Joint Major
programs and inquiry was made as to why they were needed when these
programs already have Double Majors and Major/Minor options already
available. It was noted that departments in the Faculty of Arts were trying to
consider their curriculum in relationship to curriculum programs in other
departments and attempting to make a combination of curriculum visible
and attractive to students with blended interests. It was also pointed out that
double majors normally require many more hours, whereas a joint major is
specifically designed to be completed within the 120 hours.
Question was called on the following motion:
0
"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors the curriculum revisions for the Faculty of Arts, as
set forth in S.96-74 as follows:
1) S.96-74b School for the Contemporary Arts - Proposed
New Programs: Minor in Art and Culture Studies; Joint
Major in Art and Culture Studies and Anthropology; Joint
Major in Art and Culture Studies and Sociology
S.M.02/12/96
Page
2)
S.96-74h
Humanities
Department
and French
of French - Proposed Joint Major in
?
is
3)
S.96-74m Department of Political Science - Proposed New
Joint Major Programs: Joint Major in Political Science and
Economics; Joint Major in Political Science and Women's
Studies
4)
S.96-74o Department of Sociology/ Anthropology -
Proposed Joint Major in Anthropology and Archaeology
MOTION CARRIED
Question was called on the following motion:
"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors the curriculum revisions for the Faculty of Arts, as
set forth in S.96-74 as follows:
5)
S.96-74q Proposed Integrated Studies Program within the
BGS Degree"
MOTION CARRIED
Senate received information that SCUS, acting under delegated authority,
approved revisions as set forth in S.96-74a Community Economic
Development; S.96-74b School for the Contemporary Arts; S.96-74c School of
Criminology; S.96-74d Department of Economics; S.96-74e Department of
English; S.96-74f Family Studies Certificate; S.96-74g First Nations Studies;
S.96-74h Department of French; S.96-74i Department of Geography; S.96-74j
Department of History; S.96-74k Humanities Program; S.96-741 Department of
Linguistics; S.96-74m Department of Political Science; S.96-74n Department of
Psychology; S.96-74o Department of Sociology/ Anthropology; S.96-74p
Department of Women's Studies.
iii) ?
Paper S.96-75 - Undergraduate Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of
Business Administration
It was noted that many corequisites have been changed to prerequisites and
opinion was expressed that students currently in the program have difficulty
getting courses and this particular change will restrict a student's choice even
more. It was pointed out that the intent of the Faculty was to streamline
pathways and simplify course requirements to enable students to complete
their requirements in approximately four semesters instead of the present six.
However, there appeared to be some uncertainty about whether or not
Business had actually changed corequisites to prerequisites and it was
suggested that this matter be referred back for confirmation.
Moved by L. Boland, seconded by A. Chan
?
41
S.M. 02/12/96
Page 9
"that Paper S.96-75 be referred back to the Senate Committee on
Undergraduate Studies"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION TO REFER CARRIED
iv)
Paper S.96-76 - Undergraduate Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of
Education
Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by P. Winne
"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors the curriculum revisions for the Faculty of Education
as set forth in S.96-76
i) ?
Addition of B.Ed. Specialization in Mathematical
Sciences"
T. O'Shea, Faculty of Education, was in attendance in order to respond to
questions.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION CARRIED
Senate received information that SCUS, acting under delegated authority,
approved revisions of a minor nature as set forth in S.96-76.
v)
Paper S.96-77 - Undergraduate Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of
Science
"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors the curriculum revisions for the Faculty of Science as
set forth in S.96-77 as follows:
i) ?
S.96-77a Department of Biological Sciences - Introduction
of Streams in Biological Science Curriculum"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION CARRIED
Senate received information that SCUS, acting under delegated authority,
approved revisions as set forth in S.96-77a Department of Biological Sciences;
S.96-77b Department of Chemistry; S.96-77c Earth Sciences Program; S.96-77d
Environmental Science Program; S.96-77e Department of Geography; S.96-77f
Department of Mathematics and Statistics; S.96-77g Department of Physics.
S
S.M.02/12/96 *
Page 10
6.
OTHER BUSINESS
Senate was advised of the recent election of T. Morrison to the North
Vancouver School Board.
7.
INFORMATION
• The next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate will take place on Monday,
January 6, 1997.
The Assembly moved directly into Closed Session at 9:10 pm.
A. Watt
Director, Secretariat Services
S