S.00-106
-0
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY ?
Memorandum
To: ?
Senate
From: ?
Allan MacKinnon
Chair, SCUS
Date: ?
November 14, 2000
Subject: ?
Motion on Proposed Faculty of Applied Science Residency Requirements,
SCUS 00-14
Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies at a meeting held
October 24, 2000 gives rise to the following motion:
"that Senate approve the proposed Faculty of Applied Science residency
requirements as set forth in S.00-106"
Rationale
Further to the proposal on Residency Requirements as set forth in SCUS 00-24, the
Faculty of Applied Science has proposed how it would apply the proposed residency
requirements to all undergraduate degree programs, post-baccalaureate programs and
certificate programs offered through Applied Sciences. A key feature of the FAS
proposal is that the residency requirements for each program are calculated based on the
upper division courses specifically offered by the relevant School.
See attached documentation for further details.
to
SCUSOO-14
t
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY?
Memorandum ?
Faculty of Applied Sciences
To:
From:
Date:
RE
Allan MacKinnon, Chair
Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies
Rob Cameron, Associate Dean
10 April 2000
FAS Residency Requirements
On March 10, 2000 the Faculty of Applied Sciences Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
approved new "FAS Residency Requirements" as documented in the attached paper
(CA.SFU.FAS.UCCIPapers:2000-2, dated February 4, 2000, available on-line at
http://fas.sfu.caluccfPapers/2000/2000-2/2000-2.html).
Please place this item on the agenda of the next convenient meeting of SCUS.
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FAS Res,denc)' Ruurcmenu
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FAS Residency Requirements
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Robert D. Cameron, Associate Dean, Faculty of Applied Sciences
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February 4, 2000
A.
Introduction
SCUS paper 99-27 (November 2, 1999) outlines- a proposal by the Registrar to institute residency requirements in place of the current
system of transfer credit limitations at SFU. The primary goal of the proposal is to scrap an apparently unnecessary limitation process at
the time of admission and to avoid the difficulties that may arise when students switch between programs with different transfer credit
limits. In essence, the proposal relies on the observation that the primary purpose of limiting the allowable transfer credit for a degree
program is to implicitly define the minimum requirements for course work completion at SFU. By making these latter requirements explicit
as residency requirements, the limits themselves can be removed.
The Registrar's proposal also provides a unified approach that simplifies the current system of varying transfer limits by degree program,
using two basic rules.
I. At least 50% of the credit hour requirements for a degree must be completed through study at SFU.
2. At least two thirds of the upper division credit hours used for a degree program must be taken at SFU.
This simplification implies a slight change for Honors degrees, requiring only 66 credit hours of 132 at SFU versus the previous requirement
of 72 credit hours (by virtue of a 60-hour transfer credit limit). Similarly, the proposal will slightly reduce the allowable transfer credit for
the BASc degree from the present 80 credit hours to half of the actual 156-157 credit hours required.
The Registrar's proposal also applies the
50%
rule to certificate programs and the two-thirds upper division credits rule to post-
accalaureaIe diplomas.
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0
Overall, the Registrar's proposal has merit and there is support for it from the Faculty of Applied Sciences. However, two further issues
need to be addressed.
1.
Advising of students who are given transfer credit in excess of 60 hours total or who
are
given substantial upper division credit.
2.
Unification of the degree program residency requirements with the hodgepodge of individual program residency requirements for
majors, minors, degree options, certificates and diplomas.
B. Advising
With the elimination of transfer credit limits, students may well be admitted with substantially more than 60 credit hours overall or with
more than 15 hours of upper division credit. When seeing that these credits have been granted, students may mistakenly assume that the
remaining work at SFU can be determined by subtracting the total credit hours for the degree from the figure awarded for transfer credit.
For example, a student awarded 100 credit hours, including 30 hours of upper division credit, might well assume that s/he need only take 20
credit hours including 15 upper division credit hours to earn an SFU degree. This problem is avoided with the present system of transfer
credit limitations.
Recommendations:
1.
Whenever a student is awarded more than 60 hours of total credit, or 5 hours of upper division credit, a note should be included on
the transcript stating that SFU residency requirements may limit the amount of transfer credit that can be applied to particular
programs.
2.
An overall limit of 90 credit hours (the maximum that could be used for any degree program) should be maintained.
C. Program Residency Requirements: FAS Proposal
)eyond the overall and upper-division residency provisions, it makes sense to consider how those provisions relate to the various finer-
-trained residency requirements in existence for major, minor, honors and other programs at SFU. At present, there is little consistency
hup://(u.sfu ?
013
FAS Reiidenc Rt%uuremens
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between these requirements and it may make sense to suggest a uniform standard be applied to each of these programs. The following
reulations are
p rop osed for the Facult
y
of A pplied
Sciences calendar entry.
Requirements
non Fraser University may award substantial transfer credit for course work completed elsewhere. These transfer
dits reduce the amount of work that need be completed at SFU for a degree, subject to minimum residency
Iuurements for work completed at SFU. In addition to University-wide residency requirements, the Faculty of Applied
iences also defines program-based residency requirements for each of its programs.
verall, the residency requirements define three conditions that apply to every program offered through the Faculty of
pplied Sciences.
1.
At least one half of the total credit hours in the program must be earned through study at Simon Fraser University.
2.
At least two thirds of the total upper division credit hours in the program must be earned through study at Simon
Fraser University.
3.
At least two thirds of the upper division credit hours in the courses of a School offering (or jointly offering) a program
must be earned through that School at SFU.
hese conditions apply to all undergraduate degree programs, post-baccalaureate programs and certficate programs
ifered through Applied Sciences. The conditions also apply to Applied Sciences major, honors, minor, extended minor
rogram and specialist programs that form part of an overall degree program. whether the degree program
is
offered by
pplied Sciences or by any other Faculty.
The following examples illustrate the program-based residency requirements. At least two thirds
of
the upper division CMNS credits
required for a CMNS Major must be taken at SFU. At least two thirds
of the CMPT credits required for a CMPT minor must be taken at
SFU. At least two thirds
of
the upper division CMJ'T credits required for a Joint CMPT-BUS Major must be taken at SFU. At least two
thirds
of
the upper division ENSC credits for a BASc must be taken at SFU. At least two thirds
of the upper division KIN credits for a
PBD in Kinesiology must be taken at SFU. At least two thirds
of
the upper division KIN credits for the Certificate in Health Studies must
be taken at SFU.
'
key feature
of
this proposal is that the residency requirements for each program are calculated based on the upper division courses
ecifically offered by the relevant School. For example, the CMPT Major program may use CWT, MATH and MACM courses, but the
residency requirement for work at SFU is defined simply on the set
of
CWT courses used for the Major. This has three benefits.
I. It is easy for advisors and graduation checkers to do the calculation.
2.
The residency requirement for a credential offered by a School is defined in terms
of the courses that the School directly offers.
3.
The residency concept can be readily applied to joint programs.
The new regulations will supercede the individual regulations for various programs. The deleted provisions currently found in the calendar
are listed below, to
g
ether with the omnosed entries for each School that make reference to FAS Residenc y Reauirements.
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L
Program
Current
II ?
Proposed
Transfer Credit and Residency Requirements
Transfer students are advised that residency
Communication (All
No provisions.
requirements apply to all programs offered or
Programs)
joint
ly offered by the School of Communication.
See Residency Requirements
under
Faculty of
Applied Sciences.
Computing Science
For all major programs in the School of
Computing Science, at least 24 credit hours of
Major
the required CMPT courses must be taken at
______
Simon Fraser University.
Specialist
Program
in
Multimedia
No provision.
Computing
Specialist Program in
rransfer Credit
and Residency Requirements
S ?
are znguneering
. ?
.
No provision.
Transfer students are advised that residency
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Computing
Science
JNo provision.
Jointly
requirements apply to all programs offered or
Honors
offered by the School
of
Computing
Science. See Residency
Requirements
under
Faculty of Applied Sciences.
Computing Science
at least 12 credit hours
of
these courses must
-
Minor ?
I
be completed through study at Simon Fraser
University.
Post Baccalaureate
Diploma in
No provision.
Computing Science
Certificate
in
At least 10 credit hours of the CMPT courses
Computing Studies
required for this program must be completed
through study at Simon Fraser University.
Transfer Credit
Normal university regulations state that 60
Transfer Credit and Residency Requirements
BASc
transfer credit hours may count toward a Simon
Fraser University degree. In addition, a further
Transfer students are advised that residency
20 credit hours in engineering science may be
requirements apply to all programs offered by the
credited toward the BASc degree.
School of Engineering Science. See Residency
Requirements
under
Faculty of Applied Sciences.
Minor in
Computer
and Electronics
No
provision.
Design
Kinesiology Major
No
provision.
Kinesiology Honors
No
provision.
At least seven credit hours of upper division
Kinesiology
Minor
kinesiology courses used toward the minor
must have been completed through study at
Simon Fraser University.
Transfer Credit and Residency Requirements
Post Baccalaureate
Diploma
in
No
provision.
1
Transfer students are advied that residency
Kinesiology
requirements apply to all programs offered by the
Please note that a maximum of nine credit
School of Kinesiology. See
Residency
Certificate in Applied
hours are transferable to the certificate from
Requirements under
Faculty
of Applied Sciences.
Human Nutrition
any other institution, including the Open
Learning Agency.
Certificate in Health
and Fitness Studies
Please note that a maximum of nine credit
hours are transferable to the certificate from
any other institution, including the Open
Learning Agency.
Bachelor
of
General
Studies (Applied
I
No more than 9 of these 30 credit hours may
Faculty of Applied Sciences residency
I ?
Sciences)
be satisfied by transfer credit.
requirements must be satisfied.
I
I
FAS Residency Requirements
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4110100 11:37 AM'
Each of the existing requirements is changed to bring it in-line with the general rule. For example, the requirement for the KIN minor is
increased from 7 upper division KIN credits to 10, while the requirement for the CWT minor is reduced from 12 upper division CWT
credits to 10. The certificate programs of the two Schools change in the opposite fashion: the requirement that one half of the work be done
at SFU is a slight
increase
for the CWT certificate and a decrease for the KIN certificates.
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