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Minutes of a meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on Monday,
September 15, 1997 at 5:30 pm in Room 3210 WMC
Open Session
Present: ?
Blaney, Jack, President
pro tern
and Chair
S
Barrow, Robin
Bawa, Parveen
Berggren, Len
Boland, Larry
Bowman, Marilyn
Chan, Albert
D'Auria; john -
Dunsterville, Valerie
Emmott, Alan
Etherington, Lois
Gagan, David
Hassan, Nany
Jones, John
Kanevsky, Lannie
Kirczenow, George
Lewis, Brian
Little, Jack (representing B. Clayman)
Marteniuk, Ron
McInnes, Dina
Morris, Joy
Naef, Barbara
Overington, Jennifer
Parmar, Neelam
Percival, Paul
Peterson, Louis
Pierce, John
Absent:
Baert, Jessica
Beattie, Suzan
Blazenko, George
Cleveland, William
Coleman, Peter
Dobb, Ted
Giffen;Kri- -
Gillies, Mary Ann
Howlett, Michael
Jones, Cohn
Mathewes, Rolf
Mauser, Gary
Nip, Harry
Ogloff, James
Osborne, Judith
Reed, Clyde
Segal, Joseph
Whitbread, Katherine
Wickstrom, Norman
Wong, Tim
Yagi, Ian
In attendance:
Ward, Roger
Pinfield, Larry (representing J. Waterhouse)
Sanghera, Balwant
Tam, Lawrence
Warsh, Michael
Winne, Phil.
Wortis, Michael
Yerbury, Cohn
Watt, Alison, Director, Secretariat Services
Heath, Ron, Dean of Student Services and Registrar
Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary
S.M. 15/09/97
Page 2
On behalf of Senate, the Chair extended a welcome to newly appointed Faculty
Deans John Pierce :(Faculty of Arts) and John Waterhouse (Faculty of Business
Administration) and to the following newly elected Senators: Marilyn
'Bow ' man,
Faculty of Arts and James Ogloff, Faculty of Arts. The Chair was saddend to
report the passing of Professor Douglas Cole whO was a long time member of the
University in the Department of History.
1.
Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of July 7, 1997
G. Kirczenow felt that the Minutes were incomplete and did not contain some of
the substantive Assues that had been discussed and he presented a written
summary of what he felt should be incorporated in the Minutes for
consideration. Approval of the Minutes was tabled to the next meeting in order
to review the submission.
3.
Business Arising from .the Minutes
Paper S.97-59 - Board noted Senate's request for discussion on
Harassment Policy (For Information)
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Senate was advised that expectations are that a revised policy will likely be
presented to Senate for discussion at the December meeting. The Chair of the
Board is then prepared to call a special meeting of the Board in December in
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the hopes of having a new policy approved by the end of the year. Senate was
assured that any comments, including a vote of approval or non-approval,
will be forwarded to the Board for consideration in their deliberations.
It was noted that comments being submitted with regard to the revised
harassment policy were being posted on the Web. However, cases where the
comments refer to specific cases as illustrations of what may be wrong with
the proposed policy were not being posted, and clarification was requested
with regard to this issue. Senate was advised by the Vice-President, Academic
that he had ruled, on his own authority, that it was inappropriate for
submissions to the Web to contain references to specific cases. He explained
that certain information was protected by FOI/POP regulations and he did not
have sufficient resources in his office (or in the FOl Office) to review and
screen all submissions that contained specific references. It was pointed out
that in one particular case the -specific information had already been made
public by one of the parties involved in the case and inquiry was made as to
whether that would change matters. D. Gagan indicated he was aware of the
submission in question but it was not clear that the individual who
originated the information had the right to do so but he would check the
regulations in this regard.
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S.M. 15/09/97
Page 3
4. ?
Report of the Chair
i) ?
Paper S.97-60 - Annual Financial Statement (For Information)
R. Ward, Vice-President, Finance and Administration, was in attendance in
order to respond to questions.
In response to an observation that the 1997 Annual Financial Statement did
not contain the same amount of information as the 1996 Statement, Senate
was advised that there were substantial changes between this year's report
and reports from previous years due to changes in reporting regulations.
Although the reports basically cover the same activities, the information is
presented in a simplified format rather than separate columns and the
-- - - - _unaudited, additioa1 schedules included in previous reports are no longer
provided. Opinion was expressed that the more detaIled Iñfôrthátión was
very useful and a strong recommendation was made to include this
information with the budget information on the Web.
In response to an inquiry about the current financial status of the SFU
Bookstore since moving to its new location in Maggie Benston Centre, Senate
was advised that the Bookstore has not yet experienced a full year of
operation at its new location but a review of its monthly statement indicates
that it is not in an overall deficit position at this time. It was pointed out
however that the Bookstore's income varies month by month.
Clarification was requested with regard to the reference on page 14 to an
endowment fund of 15 million dollars from the sale of land, and inquiry was
made as to what will happen to this money. Senate was advised that the
reference refers to the land agreement between SFU and the City of Burnaby
and the Province, and Senate was provided with a brief summary of the
agreement. It was noted that at the moment there is only a general statement
with respect to the use of the endowment money but it was possible that
funds could be available for scholarships.
Clarification was requested with regard to the reference on page 20 to several
unresolved statements of claims. Senate was advised that the specific
number of unresolved claims was not available at this time.
Request was made for an explanation with respect to long term debt and
Senate was provided with a brief summary of the two categories in which the
University can incur long term debt: Financing through the Capital
• Financing Authority for approved new government controlled capital debt,
and financing through Section 55 of the University Act for operations such as
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the parkade.
In response to an inquiry about the freeze on capital funding, Senate was
advised that the freeze has been in effect for several years and although the
University was receiving funds to deal with ongoing capital renovations,
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serious consideration for new buildings was not expected for several years. - • -
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S.M. 15/09/97
Page 4
University's
ii). ?
Referring
objectives
to the Burnaby
are to create
land agreement
an interesting,
the Chair
integrated,
reported that
viable
the
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community within the ring road, and to create a sizable endowment to help
the University become more sustainable financially. Recommendations will
go forward to the Board of Governors at its next meeting with respect to the
Board of Directors for this new corporation. Expectations are that the
consultations will
:
take place about 'the corporation's mandate and how the
consultative process to the Board will be structured.
iii) The Chair .reported his intention as President
pro tern
to focus on three
areas: ' a move 'toward's :better communication and making the University
community more ccihesEve; a 'focus on the future -to create some sense of
priority and direction, and .a 'focus on the fundamentals - teaching, learning,
research, discovery and the infrastructure to support those fundamentals.
5.
Reports of 'Committees
a) ?
Senate 'Nominating Committee
i)
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:Paper S.97'61 -'Elections
Senate was advised that no further nominations were received with respect
to Senate paper S;9761. The following, candidates 'have therefore been elected
by 'acclamation: Len 'Berggren and Peter Coleman to the Senate Committee
on Continuing
:Studies;
'Andy 'Heard to the International Undergraduate
Student Exchange Committee; 'John D'Auria as Chair of the Senate Policy
Committee on Scholarships, Awards 'and Bursaries; and Irene 'Gordon as
Chair of the Senate Committee on University Teaching and Learning. I.
Gordon had held a faculty at-large position on SCUTL but by taking on the
role of 'Chair 'her position 'became vacant, and therefore both Lannie
Kanevsky and Larry Weldon were elected by acclamation to' the two vacant at-
large positions.
6.
Other Business
There was no other'business.
7.
Information
The next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate will take place on Monday,
October 6,'1997.
The Open Session adjourned at'6:00, pm and the 'Assembly -moved directly.jnto
Closed Session.
Alison Watt
Director, Sec.retariat.'Services