DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE
Minutes of a Meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on?
Monday, May 12, 2008 at 5:30 pm in Room 3210 WMC
Open Session
Present: Stevenson, Michael, President and Chair of Senate
Abduiwahab, Kamal
Absent:
Brennand, Tracy
Corbett, Kitty
Atkins, Stella
Cormack, Lesley
Brebner, Sarah
Dagenais, Diane
Dickinson, Peter
Driver, Jon
Fizzell, Maureen
Easton, Stephen
Gençay, Ramo
Fox, Amy
Gordon, Robert
Francis, June
Javed, Waseem
Hannah, David
Louie, Brandt
Harder, Derrick
Malcoe, Lorraine Halinka
Harding, Kevin
McArthur, James
Haunerland, N. (replacing M. Pinto)
O'Neil, John
Hayes, Michael
Peters, Joseph
Hemingway, Alex
Russell, Robert
Jones, John (replacing B. Lewis)
Thompson, Steve
Krane, William
van Baarsen, Amanda
Laba, Martin
Warner, D'Arcy
LaBrie, John
Weeks, Daniel
Lee, Benjamin
Lein, Adam
Letourneau, Michael
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Li, Paul
In attendance:
Liljedahl, Peter
Hinchliffe, Jo
Mathewes, Rolf (replacing M. Plischke)
Mundle, T. (replacing L. Copeland)
Paling, Joe
Percival, Colin
Percival, Paul
Popadiuk, Natalee
Shaker, Paul
Shapiro, Daniel
Shermer, Thomas
Smith, Don
Tiffany, Evan
Tse, Karen
Vaid, Bhuvinder
Wakkary, Ron
Waterhouse, John
Williams, Peter
Williams, Tony
Ross, Kate, Registrar & Senior Director Student Enrolment
Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat
Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary
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S.M. 12 May 2008
Page 2
1.
Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of April 7. 2008
A correction changing the word 'Liberal' to 'Legal' was made to the title of Senate paper
S.08-48 on page 5, sub-section iv). Following this amendment, the Minutes were
approved.
3.
Business Arising from the Minutes
Reference was made to the section of the Chair's Report on page 3 dealing with proposed
cuts to the unspent portion of the scholarship budget. An inquiry was made as to whether
a cut had taken place or whether existing funds were on hold to see if acceptance rates for
scholarships improved. The Chair reminded Senators that budgets were estimates of
revenue and expenses and if the acceptance of scholarships was higher than estimated,
corrections would have to be made. C. Percival, a member of SPCSAB, advised Senate
that, the Committee discussed the budget and expects it will be overspent. He thought it
would be overspent by approximately $800,000.
4.
Report of the Chair
There was no report from the Chair.
Question Period
i) ?
Paper S.08-77 - Question re use of vectors and temporary course changes
The response to the above-noted question was distributed by email to all Senators and
required no further follow-up. There were no new questions.
6.
?
Reports of Committees
A) ?
Senate Committee on Universit
y
Priorities
i)
Paper S.08-54 - 2008/2009 Facult
y
Renewal Plan (For Information)
Reference was made to Table 9 on page 10. It was noted that when compared to past
reports there appeared to be a sharp increase in the number of faculty leaving SFU for
'Other' reasons. Senators were referred to the last paragraph on page 9 which provided a
detailed explanation. The report was subsequently received by Senate for information.
ii)
Paper S.08-68 - Annual Report
The 2007/2008 Annual Report of the Senate Committee on University Priorities was
received by Senate for information.
B) ?
Senate Appeals Board
i) ?
Paper S.08-69 - Annual Report (For Information)
P. Liljedahl, Senator and Chair, Senate Appeals Board was available to respond to
questions. It was noted that a number of the Board's decisions rested on the validity of
S.M. 12 May 2008
Page 3
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medical documentation. A question was raised as to whether there was a place of reference
to find out what standard was required for proper medical documentation. The Chair of
the Board indicated that he was not aware of any such reference point and provided a
brief explanation of how the Board makes decisions. The report was subsequently received
by Senate for information.
C)
Calendar Committee
i) ?
Paper S.08-70 - Schedule of Dates 2009-2012
Moved by K. Harding, seconded by M. Letourneau
"that Senate approve the academic calendar schedule of dates from 2009
Fall term to 2012 Summer term"
J
.
Hincbliffe, Assistant Registrar and Secretary, Calendar Committee, was in attendance in
order to respond to questions.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION CARRIED
D)
Senate Committee on International Activities
i) ?
Paper S.08-66 - SCIA/ISEC Annual Report (For Information)
J
.
Driver, Senator and Chair, Senate Committee on International Activities was available
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to respond to questions. The Annual Report covering the period January - December
2007 was received by Senate for information.
E)
Senate Policy Committee on Scholarships. Awards and Bursaries
i) ?
Paper S.08-67 - Annual Report (For Information)
S. Easton, Senator and Chair, SPCSAB was available to respond to questions. Questions
arose with respect to the criteria for work study, bursary applications and the amounts
provided to individual students. It was noted that subsequent to the report the criteria for
work study had changed and that students now had to apply for a student loan in order to
be eligible for work study. It was also noted that bursary applications have fallen
consistently for the past several years but funding for individual student bursaries had
increased from 80% of need to 100% of need. The Chair of the Committee commented
on the lateness of the 2006/2007 report coming to Senate and indicated that next year's
report would hopefully be presented before the end of the current calendar year. The
report was subsequently received by Senate for information.
F)
Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules
i) ?
Paper S.08-71 - SCAISLE - Extension to January 2009 Senate Meeting
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by K. Tse
S.M. 12 May 2008
Page 4
"that Senate approve the extension of the term of the Senate Committee
on Academic Integrity in Student Learning and Evaluation until the
January 2009 meeting of Senate"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
ii)
Paper S.08-72 - Suspension of Rules of Senate: On-line voting for Senate
Committee Elections
Motion 1:
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by S. Easton
"that the Rules of Senate requiring a notice of motion for changes to the
Rules of Senate be suspended"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
Motion 2:
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by K. Harding
"that Senate approve a change to the Rules of Senate that would permit
on-line voting for Senate Committee elections effective June 2008 for a
one-year trial period" ?
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Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
Opinion was expressed that the process of suspending the Rules in order to make a
change to the Rules was a bad precedent. Request was made for the Minutes to note that
the nature of these motions were specifically to allow for the urgency of motion 2 and this
process should not be considered as a precedent for future actions.
iii)
Paper S.08-73 - Student Alternates on Senate Committees
Moved by K. Harding, seconded by M. Letourneau
"that Senate approve the addition of student alternates to the Research
Ethics Board, the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, the Senate
Policy Committee on Scholarships, Awards and Bursaries, the two Awards
Adjudication Committees (SUAAC, SGAAC), the Senate Committee on
International Activities, and the International Student Exchange
Committee, effective June 2008"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
7.
?
Other Business
S.M. 12 May 2008
Page
5
S
i) ?
Paper S.08-74 - Senate Time and Catering - Notice of Motion
Senate was advised that SCAR was considering changes to the timing of Senate meetings
and to the expenses entailed for dining and catering. A motion will be brought forward to
the next meeting for discussion. Meanwhile SCAR welcomes comments from Senators
and from the University community. In response to an inquiry, Senate was advised that in
the last fiscal year the cost of Senate dinners and catering was approximately $16,000.
Since this was his last meeting and he would not be able to comment on this at the next
meeting, D. Harder expressed opinion that given that everyone in the University was
being asked to cut back, eliminating the extravagance of Senate dinner was a small but
important step that Senate should take.
ii)
Paper S.08-75 - Election Report - Spring 2008 Elections to Senate and the Board
of Governors (For Information)
A report with respect to the results of elections (faculty, staff, and students) to Senate and
the Board of Governors was received by Senate for information.
iii)
Paper S.08-76 - Revisions to the Rules of Senate - Notice of Motion
The Chair indicated that the proposed revisions would be brought before Senate for
discussion at the next meeting. Senators were asked to contact the Registrar prior to the
next meeting if they required further clarification or believed fi.irther clarification was
desirable.
7.
Other Business
There was no other business.
8.
Information
The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday, June 2, 2008.
On behalf of Senate, the Chair expressed thanks to the following retiring Senators and presented
them with a Certificate of Appreciation: K. Abdulwahab, K. Corbett, D. Dagenais, A. Fox, D.
Harder, A. Hemingway, A. Lein, M. Letourneau, P. Li, D. Smith, K. Tse, and P. Williams.
Thanks to retiring Senators not present at the meeting were noted [S. Atkins, S. Brebner, P.
Dickinson, W. Javed, L.H. Malcoe, D. Weeks].
The Open Session adjourned at 5:50 pm, and Senate moved directly into Closed Session.
Alison Watt
Director, University Secretariat
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