DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE
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Minutes of a Meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on
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Monday, September 17, 2007 at 5:30 pm in Room 3210 WMC
Open Session
Present:
Stevenson, Michael, President and Chair of Senate
Black, Sam
Brennand, Tracy
Corbett, Kitty
Cormack, Lesley
Dickinson, Peter
Driver, Jon
Easton, Stephen
Fairey, Elaine (representing L. Copeland)
Fox, Sasha
Gencay, Ramo
Gordon, Robert
Hannah, David
Harder, Derrick
Harding, Kevin
Hemingway, Alex
Joes, Michel
Laba, Martin
Lein, Adam
Letourneau, Michael
Lewis, Brian
O'Neil, John
McArthur, James
Percival, Cohn
Percival, Paul
Peters, Joseph
Plischke, Michael
Popadiuk, Natalee
Russell, Robert
Shaker, Paul
Shermer, Thomas
Smart, Carolyne
Thompson, Steve
Tiffany, Evan
Tse, Karen
van Baarsen, Amanda
Warner, D'Arcy
Waterhouse, John
Weeks, Daniel
Williams, Tony
Ross, Kate, Registrar and Senior Director, Student
Enrolment
Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat
Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary
Absent:
Abduiwahab, Ka'al
Brebner, Sarah
Dagenais, Diane
Fizzell, Maureen
Francis, June
Hayes, Michael
Javed, Waseem
Krane, William
LaBrie, John
Liljedahl, Peter
Louie, Brandt
Pinto, Mario
Smith, Don
Vaid, Bhuvinder
Wakkary, Ron
Williams, Peter
In attendance:
Guthrie, Larry
Hibbitts, Pat
Marshall, Dan
S.M. .17 September 2007
Page
Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
Approval of the Minutes of the O
p
en Session of Jul
y
9, 2007
The Minutes were approved as distributed.
3.
Business Arisin
g
from the Minutes
i) ?
Paper S.07-101 - Bo
y cott Motion to be withdrawn
Moved by S. Black, seconded by S. Easton
"that the motion concerning the proposed boycott by the University and
College Union of the UK be withdrawn"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
4.
Report of the Chair
i)
The Chair reported that as a result of intensive efforts led by Nello Angerilli,
Associate Vice-President, Students and International, Kate Ross, Registrar and
Senior Director of Student Enrolment, their colleagues in Student Services, and in
collaboration with Faculties and staff across the University, SFU has met and
exceeded its enrollment targets. This appears to be largest class of new domestic
students in the Province of British Columbia.
ii)
The Chair reported that the University also welcomed a large number of incoming
new faculty members. Eighty-six new continuing faculty members and librarians
were appointed at the beginning of September 2007 with thirty-eight percent of
that number being female. These new colleagues have come from leading
institutions in Canada, and from the United States, Europe, China and Japan
adding strength to SFU's commitment to 'Thinking of the World'.
iii)
On behalf of Senate and the University, the Chair extended a special welcome to
Dr. Lesley Cormack, the new Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
and to Dr. John O'Neil, the new Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences.
iv)
On behalf of the University, the Chair wished to observe the untimely passing
over the summer months of the following members of the SFU community who
will be greatly missed: Bill Richards, Department of Communication; Blair
Rosser, Technical Director, 7 th
Floor Media Centre; Ian Dyck, Department of
History; Richard Shutler, Professor Emeritus, Department of Archaeology; Barry
Beyerstein, Department of Psychology; and Laurine Harrison, Ombudsperson.
v)
Paper S.07-102 - SFU Financial Statements - March 31. 2007 (For Information)
P. Hibbitts, Vice-President, Finance and Administration, and L. Guthrie, Financial
Services, were in attendance in order to respond to questions.
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S.M. 17 September 2007
Page 3
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It was pointed out that the report had been presented to the Board of Governors at their
May meeting, and an inquiry was made as to why it had not come to Senate in July.
Senate was advised that the delay was due to time needed for the final printing of the
report; however, if Senate wished to have the report presented earlier, this could be
arranged. In addition, expectations were that the September Senate would have a higher
attendance and therefore the report would be more widely read.
A date error in the Auditor's Report on pare 10 was noted.
Reference was made to the end of the first paragraph on page 3 which refers to
competition for top students and mentions that SFU had responded with emphasis on
student recruitment and retention. An inquiry was made if there was any relation to the
fact that at the time the report was produced, the University reduced the budget for
bursaries and undergraduate scholarships. Senate was advised that the overall scholarship
budget was increased by approximately
$1.5
million, and the reduction in the
undergraduate component resulted from the fact that for the two years preceding, there
were unspent funds in that budget.
5.
Question Period
Reference was made to current labour dispute between management and employees of
the daycare centre, and a question was raised as to the University's role in the issue.
Senate was informed that the Childcare Centre is run by a separately incorporated society
with a separate board and management. The University is not involved directly in the
management of the Childcare Centre and is not a party to the negotiations. The
Administration is extremely conscious of the pressures resulting from the labour dispute
for faculty, staff and students who have children enrolled in the daycare centre and has
issued a general statement to the university community calling for consideration of those
persons affected.
6.
Reports of Committees
A) ?
Senate Committee on Universit
y
Priorities
i)
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Paper S.07-103 - Certificate in Earth Sciences
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by K. Harding
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the
proposal for a Certificate in Earth Sciences, in the Faculty of Science"
D. Marshall, Chair, Department of Earth Sciences, was in attendance in order to respond
to questions.
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The question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
S.M. 17 September 2007
Page
ii)
Paper S.07-104
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Centre for the Reduction of Violence Among Children and
Youth
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by D. Weeks
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the
creation of the Centre for the Reduction of Violence Among Children and
Youth as a Schedule A Centre within the Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences"
D. Weeks, Senator (Department of Psychology) was available to respond to questions.
Reference was made to point three on page 6 regarding the election of faculty members
to the Steering Committee. It was pointed out that the document fails to clarify by whom
or from whom the five faculty members would be elected. The following understanding
was agreed to be an editorial adjustment - the initial membership would be as noted in
Appendix A and once set, the faculty from that group would be the ones to elect the
steering committee.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
iii)
Paper S.07-105 - Chair in Health Disparities in Cancer - Terms of Reference
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by J. O'Neil
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the terms
of reference for the Chair in Health Disparities in Cancer"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
B)
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Senate Committee on A
g
enda and Rules
i) ?
Paper S.07-107 - Proposed Chan
g
e to Polic
y
A10.03. sub-section Search
Committee for Dean of Graduate Studies
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by K. Harding
"that Senate approve that Policy A 13.05, sub-section Search Committee for the
Dean of Graduate Studies, be amended to include one member of the support
staff, elected by the support staff of the Dean of Graduate Studies Office"
In response to an inquiry about the membership of the current Search Committee for the
Dean of Graduate Studies, Senate was advised that in anticipation of the approval of this
motion, and in order to obtain balance on the committee, a staff person had been
appointed by the Vice-President, Academic in accordance with the policy which allows
discretion for such appointments to search committees.
S.M. 17 September 2007
Page 5
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The question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
C) ?
Senate Nominating Committee
i) ?
Paper S.07-108 - Elections
Senate was advised that no further nominations had been received. Stephen Spector
(Business Administration) was therefore elected by acclamation to the Senate Committee
on University Teaching and-Learning (SCUTL); Tony Williams was elected by
acclamation to the Senate Committee on University Honours (SCUH); Richard Yates was
elected by acclamation to the Senate Appeals Board (SAB); and Amanda van Baarsen
was elected by acclamation to the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (SCUS).
Vacancies on the Senate Committee on Continuing Studies, the Senate Committee on
University Teaching and Learning, and the Senate Committee on Disciplinary Appeals
would be carried forward to the next meeting of Senate.
7.
Other Business
i)
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Paper S.07-109 - Motion concerning 10 October 2007 SFSS AGM
Moved by M. Letourneau, seconded by D. Harder
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"that Senate request that faculty and instructors make every effort to
accommodate students who wish to participate in the general meeting of
the Simon Fraser Student Society on October 10, 2007 (2:00 - 4:30 pm),
and not penalize these students academically"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
8.
Information
The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday, October 15, 2007.
The Open Session adjourned at 6:00 pm and Senate moved into Closed Session shortly
thereafter.
Alison Watt
Director, University Secretariat