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For Information

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

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OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC

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MEMORANDUM

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S.93-4

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To: ?

Senate

From: ?

J.M. Munro, Vice-President, Academic

Subject: ?

External Review - Department of Political Science

Date: ?

December

11, 1992

Attached for the information of Senate is the executive summary of the external review

of Political Science which was carried out in March 1992. The report and the response of

the Department were reviewed by the Senate Committee on Academic Planning at its

meeting on December 9, and the Committee approved a motion to receive the report.

The full report and the response by the Department are available from the Secretary of

Senate for senators to review.

The review team had the following membership:

Chair: ?

Dr. Hans Michelmann

Chair of Political Science

University of Saskatchewan

Members: ?

Dr. Caroline Andrew

Former Chair Department of Political Science

University of Ottawa

Dr. Charles Pentland

Chair of Political Studies Department

Queen's University

Internal Member:

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Dr. John Hutchinson

Department of History

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Committee to Review the Department of Political Science

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Summary of Proposals

1.

That the Department offer two 200-level courses in each subfield.

2.

That, given the prospect of diminution of short term teaching resources, the

Department review all upper division offerings and retain only those that can be offered at

least once a year by regular faculty.

3.

That the Department relax size restrictions on all 300-level courses, allowing at

least those in greatest demand to be given as lectures, while 400-level courses remain

seminars with rigorously controlled enrolments.

4.

That the Department put in place a system of prerequisites, albeit a fairly liberal

one which required at least one 300-level course in the subfield for entry to any 400-level

seminar. This would have to go hand in hand with greater frequency and predictability in

offering courses, especially at the 300 level. In addition, while prerequisites, credits and

GPA might continue to govern admissions to 300-level courses, it would make sense under

the proposed system to give majors and honours students priority in admission to 400-level

courses.

5.

That either the honours programme be dropped or that it be redefined, in effect, as a

variant on the major which would involve preparation of a thesis (either reduced to the

weight of three semester hours, or increased to six) and the taking of 400-level seminars

in the subfield of concentration.

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6.

That undergraduates be required to take a course in political theory while leaving

them some latitude as to the choice of courses to meet the requirement

7.

That, first, in the context of of the structural changes discussed above the

Department ought to cut the number of courses offered in the upper division so as to

reflect more accurately what full time faculty can realistically be expected to teach on a

regular basis. Second, with the exception of those doing the major administrative tasks, all

faculty should be expected to teach the five course norm each year (at present about half

teach only four).

8.

Some thought should be given to a regular departmental bulletin to meet at least some

of these needs.

9.

That the Department continue the present course of systematizing the teaching

evaluation process, and also commit itself to publish the results

10.

That TAs get clearer guidelines and better instruction and monitoring by the

Department. One step, easily taken, would be to supplement the one day University wide

orientation for TAs with a session in the Department more focussed on the particular needs

of political science students and courses.

11.

That the Department adopt the policy that final examinations are marked by faculty

only, and that this policy be announced as a matter of pedagogical principle.

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S12. That the Department continue, first within field committees, then within the

graduate programme committee and the full Department, discussion about the ways in which

it wants to define the areas of strength within the two areas of concentration at the Master's

level.

13.

That POL 801-5 be reorganized in such away that the choice of thesis area not be

dealt with in the course.

14.

That biennial reviews of course descriptions and course materials be done by the

Graduate Studies Committee so as make sure this material is up to date and reflects the

teaching and research interests of the Department.

• 15. That the Department draw up a written document describing the planned MA in

International Studies that calls for the participation of other departments and that this

proposal serve as the basis of discussion with other departments.

16.

That the Department proceed with their decision to assign supervisors to students

upon entry to the programme and that this policy be consistently administered and

monitored by the Graduate Studies Committee.

17.

That the Chair monitor more closely the work loads of TA's.

18.

That assignment of TA's be the responsibility of the Graduate Studies Committee.

19.

That the Department discuss ways of encouraging its members to submit external

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research proposals.

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20.

That the Department instruct the Graduate Studies Committee to examine the

procedures of the graduate programme in regard to deferred marks, length of time students

take to complete their programmes etc. with a view to devising rules that will be adopted by

the Department.

21.

That additional continuing appointments be made in the Department of Political

Science, at least so that the Department reach the average Faculty of Arts level of continuing

faculty members per F.T.E. student.

22.

That at least one of the new appointments in the Department of Political Science be

made in political philosophy/political theory.

23.

That the Department of Political Science be assigned a room that can serve as

departmental library/seminar room.

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24.

That the Department, meeting collectively and regularly, should become and be

recognized as the main legislative and norm-setting body within and for the Department.

25.

That the Department set aside a time for meetings in which no teaching activities are

scheduled, that this time be of sufficient length (at least 90 minutes) for conducting major

business and that this time be clearly communicated to all members of the Department.

26.

That the Department schedule a regular monthly Department meeting, and meet more

often if the need arises.

27.

That formal minutes of Department meetings be kept, that these be formally adopted

at subsequent meetings, and that accepted rules of procedure be followed in meetings. We

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further recommend that the Department forward copies of these minutes to the Dean for at

least a year.

28.

That Department committees be given clear terms of reference and that they be

required formally to report back to the Department their findings and recommendations.

Major Department decisions should normally be referred to the responsible committee for

preliminary study and deliberation. In particular, the Undergraduate and Graduate

Committees should be charged with monitoring and improving all aspects of their

respective programmes including those arising out of the recommendations of this report.

29.

That committees be required to give at least an annual formal accounting to the

Department meeting of their activities.

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30. That the Department review various areas of its functioning (teaching, its committee

system, its relations with other university offices etc.) with the goal of more systematically

developing and implementing sets of procedures in these areas.

31.

That the Department initiate a regular faculty colloquium and/or speakers

programme, and that it consider periodically organizing an academic conference.

32.

That the Department increase contacts with the Office of the Graduate Dean and work

with that office in the development of the graduate programme.

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SCAP92-51

• ?

RESPONSE TO THE REPORT OF THE EXTERNAL REVIEW

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

1.

INTRODUCTION

I am pleased to send the response of the Political Science Department to the Report of its External

Review Committee. We are grateful to the members of the Review Committee for the time and

careful attention they have given to their task, and are pleased with the generally positive tone of the

Report.

The Political Science Department has been discussing the recommendations of the Report, in a day-

long Departmental Retreat and in other meetings of the whole Department. The Undergraduate and

Graduate Program Committees have examined the recommendations dealing with their areas of

responsibility and have reported to the Department.

The Report contains several detailed recommendations that deal with some general areas of concern.

We thought it would be useful to discuss the general topics and give some idea of the steps we are

taking to move in the directions suggested by the Report rather than to reply on a recommendation-by-

recommendation basis.

2.

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM RESPONSE

The Report has concluded that the undergraduate programme offered by the Department is sound and

well-designed. At the same time it acknowledges the problems the Department faces in attempting to

meet the high undergraduate demand for our courses given our limited full-time faculty component.

As the Report indicates, one of the ways in which the Department has attempted to meet student

demand has been to use limited term and sessional instructors. This has created problems for

curriculum planning and continuity. Therefore, the external review committee has recommended that

the Department's full-time permanent faculty component be expanded in order to reduce the

Department's dependence on sessional and limited term instructors in accommodating some of the

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high student demand. We strongly agree with their judgment that the administration "must take steps

to expand the Department's faculty complement".

Other recommendations with regard to the undergraduate program include some directed toward the

problem of our expanded undergraduate enrollment. The remaining ones are aimed to strengthen the

curriculum and its delivery. In response to the review, and to our own interest in developing our

curriculum to reflect our pedagogical concerns, the Department has begun a process of curriculum

reform. We expect to retain those aspects of the curriculum structure on which the Report commented

positively while amending others to reflect changes in our discipline and our faculty component.

Two of the Report's proposals address the number of course offerings in the undergraduate program.

First, it recommended the Department offer two lower division courses in each subfield. There are

two subfields with only one lower division course. The Department is generally agreed upon the

desirability of offering two courses in each of these fields, however, we are also agreed that with our

present faculty component, we have insufficient resources to do so. Second, the Report suggested we

reduce our offerings to those courses which are regularly taught. Our own examination of our

offerings indicated that only two courses have not been taught within the last four terms. In our

curriculum review, some courses may he abandoned, but we do not anticipate decreasing our number

of course offerings substantially. This is because we must retain a range of offerings within each

subfield.

In order to alleviate some of the problem of student demand, the Report recommended that all faculty,

except those doing the major administrative tasks, should be expected to teach a five course norm

each year. The Department is concerned that this issue of teaching load be addressed in light of the

principle of equity, both within the Department and between the Department and other units in our

Faculty. A review of other Faculty loads outside the Department indicates that we are one of only two

departments that has a five course norm for its full-time faculty members. In addition, Within the

Department, graduate supervision is not equitably distributed. The Department is currently examining

alternative standards for faculty teaching load that will address both these issues of inequity but will

do so with some recognition of our enrollment pressures.

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The Report has also suggested enrollment pressures could be offset through a series of revisions to our

upper division courses. It recommended that 300-level courses be largely lecture-type format and 400-

level ones be strictly seminar format with prerequisites that include at least one 300-level course. The

Department is agreed upon the general principle that size restrictions on some of our 300-level courses

be relaxed. However, for pedagogical reasons, we are also committed to retaining as much of the

seminar system as is realistically possible. As the review committee observed, this is a "unique and

rightly cherished tradition" in the Department. Our curriculum review is currently addressing these

issues of principle and new field committees will examine increasing the prerequisites for our 400-

level courses.

The Report addressed two other, more specific, issues concerning our curriculum structure. The first

was a recommendation that our majors be required to take a course in political theory. In our

curriculum revision we are exploring the possibility of expanding the requirements for our majors,

including ones which would require a political theory course and a methods course. However, we are

keenly aware of-the restrictions we face concerning the availability of faculty to teach such courses.

The second recommendation was that we redefine our honours course, or that it be dropped. We are

aware of the limitations of the programme and the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee is looking at

proposals that would giveit greater prominence and would foster a more cohesive honours cohort.

The final set of recommendations concerned the delivery of our curriculum. One of them, on teaching

evaluations, has already been addressed. The Department has adopted a computerized system of

teaching evaluations and has a policy that promotion, tenure and merit pay will be tied to teaching

performance as well as to research and the other criteria listed in university policy documents. Some

documentation of teaching performance will therefore be requested by the Departmental Tenure

Committee when a faculty member's case is being considered. The Department is generally

favourable to the suggestion that final examinations be marked by faculty only, however our large

lower division courses, combined with the requirements of the semester system which limit the time

available for marking, pose serious implementation problems. Finally, the Department is addressing

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the problems of Teaching Assistants' guidelines and instruction and is considering the proposal for a

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departmental bulletin to facilitate communication with our undergraduates.

3. GRADUATE PROGRAM RESPONSE

The Report notes that the Department has made a real commitment to its graduate programme and that

there is a strong sense in the Department that the continued development of that programme is, and

should continue to be, a high priority (pp. 14-15). This certainly is a correct reading of the situation.

We have been able to attract good students and we continue to receive applications from an increasing

number of very well qualified Canadian and foreign students.

It is suggested (p. 16) that the Department seek ways of defining areas of strength within what the

reviewers identified as the two areas of concentration at the Master's level, namely "Comparative

Politics/International Relations" and "Canadian Politics/Public Policy." We would like to reply that

any further specialization would be inappropriate insofar as the interests of both faculty and graduate

students are too diverse and far-reaching to allow for this kind of hyperspecialization. Nevertheless,

it is true that there is room for closer cooperation among faculty members interested in overlapping

issues (e.g., the problems of "governance") and such a cooperation is already under way; the newly

created Field Committees

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are the ideal vehicle for that purpose.

As far as the graduate curriculum is concerned, the suggested changes to POL 801 have been

implemented already and a committee has been formed to rethink our approach to the development of

an MA in International Studies.

We recognize that support for graduate students and the monitoring of their progress through the

programme are critical areas that require further attention. As far as the work load of lAs is

concerned, we comply with the new TSSU contract rules which in effect achieve the goal suggested

by the report. We also have implemented the recommendation that the assignment of TAs be the

responsibility of the Graduate Studies Committee. In addition to this, the new awareness of the

importance of obtaining external research funding in order to provide our graduate students with

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additional means of support should improve the situation in future years. Finally, efforts will he

made to obtain support for graduate scholarships from, the community at large.

The course work MA option which already has gone through several critical review and approval

stages in the Faculty of Arts and Senate should, when and if it becomes available, enable students who

chose this option to complete their degree in about five terms.

4. GOVERNANCE ISSUES

A.

Size, Background of the Faculty Complement

The Report is particularly concerned about the discrepancy between enrolment pressures at the

undergraduate level and the faculty resources available to cope with those pressures. It states that the

Department is well worth the allocation of further resources and recommends that the Department be

given more continuing appointments. Naturally, we agree with this recommendation.

In fact, the faculty resource situation, already at a critical level when the Review Committee visited us

in the sprig, has become even more serious with the loss of five full-time Limited-Term positions

and two full-time Post Retirement positions. We also lost a potential

appointment

in this spring's

hiring freeze. In other words, at the time of the Review Committee's visit the Political Science

Department had 22 full-time members. We now have 16.5 full-time members. We agree whole

heartedly with the Review Committee's recommendation that we be given the faculty resources to

cope with our enrolment pressures, beginning with the position in International Relations that we lost

last year and the position in Political Theory recommended by the Review Report.

B.

Research and Teaching

Contributions of Faculty

The Report's overall assessment of Departmental research contributions is very positive, and the

Reviewers point to one of the Department's great strengths: the fact that it is not divided into "stars"

and "toilers". Rather, there are strong research accomplishments across the Department.

The Report does suggest two areas where improvements could be made: collaborative research

among Department members, and external funding. There has been an increase in joint research

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projects as we have hired more people with overlapping research interests to the point where, as the

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Report notes, about half the faculty are involved in such projects. This has been particularly the case

in the Public Policy area, and we hope that collaborative research will increase as we add more

members to the Department and develop critical masses of faculty with related interests in other areas

of the discipline.

The low level of external funding has been, in part, the result of the nature of faculty research, which

has tended not to be very expensive and which, in general, has been carried out with the support of

internal funding. However, since the Reviewers' visit one member of the Department has received a

SSHRCC grant for $94,000, and we have sent several applications to SSHRCC and other funding

agencies this fall. We are aware that this funding is of importance not only to our own efforts but

also as a potential source of support for our graduate students, and hope to increase the amount of

external funding we receive in the future.

The comments on our areas of strength in the discipline are useful and correspond to Departmental

perceptions. The Report also identifies areas, especially in International Relations and Comparative

Politics, that need additional faculty resources, both to meet student demand and to create the

possibility of research interaction, and we agree with these recommendations. It should be noted that

we have added a faculty jnember with a specialization in Soviet foreign policy and the international

relations of the Pacific Rim.

The Report's comments on the teaching contributions note a "strong impression" that "commitment to

teaching is high and pervasive" in the Department. However, the Reviewers also note that the

reputation of the Department among students does not appear to match this reality. They have made

several suggestions to remedy this situation, an area dealt with in the section on the undergraduate

program.

C. ?

Size and Distribution of Support Staff

We agree with much of this section of the Review Report, particularly the remark about overload in

the Departmental Assistant's office. Since the current Departmental Assistant started in that position

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to the Spring of 1992, our total of Majors/Minors has increased from 251 to 511 and the number of

faculty to September 1992 from 11 to 16. The Review Committee did not comment on the load

carried by the Secretary to, the Chair/Graduate Program, but this load is also excessive, and will

increase as we carry out the expansion of the M.A. program recommended by the Report.

It should also be noted that the Departmental Assistant is very scrupulous in referring students seeking

advice about the academic content of courses and about vocational goals to faculty members. Also the

Department has moved to install a local area network.

D.

Resources Supporting Teaching and Research

We agree that the adequacy of library resources is a major area. of concern,, and will try to improve

our interaction with the Library so we can make the best use of the limited resources available.

E.

The Provision of Office Space and other Facilities

We agree with the Report's comments on the need for more Departmental common space, since this

type of space greatly increases the possibilities of interaction among colleagues. We have received

renovation money to combine two small offices to create a faculty coffee room, but in the long run,

we will need a larger space as well as common rooms for graduate and undergraduate students and a

seminar/meeting room.

Increasing the amount of common space, and providing more adequate space for Teaching Assistants

is an important goal for the Department as is the provision of adequate computer facilities. However,

here as in other areas we do operate under conditions of limited resources.

F.

Administration of the Political Science Department

The Report devotes a considerable amount of its attention to issues of Departmental governance.

They note the existence of an overall spirit of good will and respect in the Department, but also

record some discontent over procedures that are considered to be excessively informal and not, always

clear. In part, this situation is the result of growth in faculty numbers coming after a relatively long

period of stability Policies and procedures that work in a small department of people with a' long

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history of interaction

are

no longer suitable in a larger department with significant numbers of new /

members. Since Departmental cohesiveness forms the background for the successful performance of

many other activities, we have considered the remarks and recommendations of the Reviewers very

carefully.

We are moving to implement several of the recommendations of the Report. Field committees have

been established and given terms of reference that will, we hope, allow them to function and to be

integrated into the overall Department decision-making process. Other Committees are reviewing and

updating their terms of reference, and we will draw up terms of reference for meetings of the whole

Department. These terms of reference and other components of the Department "constitution" will be

assembled in a form in which they will be easily available. A Departmental implementation of the

Governance Committee has been created to oversee the recommendations of the Review.

The Report's discussion of the role of the Chair also calls for some comment. Although practice may

vary from department to department, it is not at all unusual at Simon Fraser University for an

associate professor to hold the position of Department Chair. It seems to us that the authority of the

Chair is more properly founded on the ongoing support of the Department and the support, where

necessary, of the higher levels of the University administration.

Most of the recommendations of the Review are fairly straightforward and largely consist of urging

the establishment of more formal procedures. We agree that the Department is now at a size where

formalization of Departmental procedures is necessary and are moving in that direction, as I have

noted above.

We will also take steps, as the Report suggests, to provide opportunities for non-permanent instructors

t be better integrated into the life of the Department. However, with the disappearance of our

limited-term contracts, most non-permanent instructors are teaching only one or two courses, and it

seems unfair to urge them to participate. Providing the opportunit

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to participate in, for example,

Department meetings and the activities of field committees should meet the spirit of the Report's

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recommendations.

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G. ?

Relations with the University

This section of the Report mainly discusses the relationship between the Department and the

University Administration and notes that there are problems on both sides of the relationship. It is

true that the Department believes that its actions in meeting the pressures of student enrolments have

not been rewarded by the provision of adequate and necessary resources (although we are aware that

we are probably not the only Department in the University with this perception). In the areas of staff

and operating budget resources have been brought into closer relationship with needs. The gap

between faculty complement and student enrolment remains and has even, as I noted above, grown

since the visit of the Reviewers.

The dissatisfaction of the University Administration with the Department is not something I can

comment on in detail - and this fact may in itself have some significance. It might be very useful to

have a meeting between the Department and members of the University Administration to discuss

problem areas in our relations with each other and ways that the problems might be dealt with.

In general, the experience of the Review has been a positive one for the Department. The Reviewers'

Report contained a large number of useful suggestions and has provided the impetus to undertake

many needed reforms.

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EXTERNAL REVIEW OF THE

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DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

MARCH

1992

Carolyn Andrew, University of Ottawa

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John Hutchinson, Simon Fraser University

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Hans J. Michelmann, University of Saskatchewan

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Charles C. Pentland, Queen's University

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1. Introduction

In assessing the present state and future prospects of any institution, reviewers and

reviewed alike tend to reach for the imagery of crossroads or turning-points. At the outset

of this exercise we heard strong suggestions that indeed the Department of Political Science

at Simon Fraser was at such a critical stage in its development. Indications were that the

Department was at last ready to emerge from the shadows of its troubled past; the

reviewers' task was to determine if, judged by the research performance and potential of

its faculty, the quality of its teaching programmes and the capacity to govern itself

efficiently and harmoniously, the Department was now ready to move on to bigger and

better things.

An earlier review, conducted in 1984, took place in rather different circumstances

and with different prospects before it. It called for major changes in the undergraduate

programme and for a series of measures to correct what it saw as a tendency to collective,

as opposed to individual, under-achievement. In the ensuing years the Department

responded constructively to many of these recommendations, especially with respect to

undergraduate teaching.

Like generals, however, reviewers have a tendency to plan for the previous war. In

the years since 1984 the Department's situation has changed in a number of ways that were

difficult to predict. A new and harder period of financial stringency has descended.

Disproportionate enrolment pressures in political science, now more than ten years old,

have shown no signs of abating. The discipline itself continues to evolve in its cross-

fertilization with other fields, in the relationship between theory and policy, and in the

definition of, and balance among, the subfields. And as we head deeper into the 1990s the

first major wave of faculty retirements, flowing from the first post-war expansion some

thirty years ago, has begun to crest. Thus, however well the Department has responded to

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the earlier review, inevitably it now faces new challenges.

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The Departments principal achievement over the past several years, in direct

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response to that review, has been to put in place the foundations of undergraduate

curriculum reform. In the course of our own review we found a department engaged in

delivering a well-designed, robust and heavily-subscribed undergraduate programme.

Reform has already been a positive experience. Nevertheless, it remains incompletely

realized. New full-time teaching resources and a willingness to make some tough choices,

particularly about the upper division, are now required, in our view, to make the

undergraduate programme a truly first-rate operation.

A number of major questions, however, centre on graduate studies. The

Department's relatively modest M.A. programme is clearly in need of some attention with

respect to its design and administration. In light of its unaccountably difficult history, the

worthy project for a Master's programme in International Studies needs serious rethinking

and a renewal of collective commitment. A better-structured M.A. programme, with closer

integration of teaching and faculty research, would be prime evidence of the Department's

capacity to undertake, eventually, a PhD programme which would signal its emergence in

the front rank. In this respect, however, the Department has some distance yet to travel.

The 1984 reviewers necessarily found themselves responding to a complex or

organizational problems and communal tensions that had persisted from the Department's

early years. Some of these personal and ideological disputes seem to have disappeared, or at

least diminished, since that time. Unavoidably, however, a major theme, from that earlier

review recurs in our report. The Department is an ensemble of talented and committed

scholars whose research productivity, particularly in recent years, has been impressive.

Nevertheless, despite notable progress in the past decade, it does not seem yet to have gelled

as a collective enterprise. There are, in our view, some concrete, common-sense steps it

can take to foster a greater sense of community among faculty, staff and students and to

institutionalize more effective forms of departmental governance and management. These

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changes would be required even of a Department with no aspirations to greater size or

status. For a Department which seeks a presence both at Simon Fraser and in the Canadian

political science community commensurate with the sum of its individual talents, and

which, moreover, does so in the context of financial crisis and persistent enrolment

pressures, such reforms become vital.

2. The Undergraduate Programme

The previous review recommended a number of far-reaching reforms to the

undergraduate programme, many of which have since been implemented. The most

important of these are the establishment of a common first year course and the

rationalization of the second year offerings. There is a clear and generally compelling set

of principles underlying the structure of the programme, with respect to such matters as

distribution requirements, prerequisites and the like. Much remains to be done, however,

particularly with upper division courses, to bring those principles closer to realization in

practice. While university rules may place some constraints on what can be done, for the

most part the required changes are within the authority of the Department to make.

The logic of the programme is that all students proceed from a common first year

course (Fol 100) to a limited selection of second year courses introducing the five

subfields (theory, Canadian, comparative, international and public administration/policy).

Of these courses, which are prerequisites for entry to upper division courses in the sub-

fields, minors must take at least two, majors or honours students at least four. Except for

the significant number of students entering after two years of community college, and for

those who have taken Pol 151 (an alternative prerequisite for some second year courses),

political science undergraduates now work from a common general introduction to

government and politics, through a choice at the 200-level of three theory and methods

courses, two Canadian courses, one comparative, one international and two public

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administration courses, after which they proceed to a much broader range of upper division

courses in all five subfields. This system of common foundations, streaming and

prerequisites makes a great deal of pedagogical sense, and strikes a commendable balance

between professional direction and student choice.

With respect to the lower division courses there is still some room for

improvement. We heard some comment that in Pol 100 there could be considerable

variability from instructor to instructor and from semester to semester with respect to

topics, texts and approaches, frustrating the purpose of laying a common foundation.

Similarly the somewhat anomalous position of Pol 151 as an alternative entry route to

some 200-level courses may need examining in light of scarce teaching resources. Third,

it is not clear why there should be as many as three 200-level courses in one subfield (the

least subscribed of the five) and as few as one in two other subfields. In the latter cases it

is a common complaint that too much is attempted in the space of 13 weeks, resulting in

broad surveys which are weak on theory and method and of dubious pedagogical value as

introductions to upper division courses. The optimal solution here, in the spirit of a

recommendation made to us about comparative politics, would be to offer two 200-level

courses in each subfield, differentiated along some "natural" fault-line (e.g., in

comparative, between industrial democracies and developing countries, or in lR between

the international system and comparative foreign policy) and infused with increased, albeit

basic, theoretical content. In the case of theory, the choice would be reduced to 210 and

211 (required, as mentioned later), with 213 moving to the 300-level. We recommend,

therefore:

That the Department offer two 200-level courses in each subfield.

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The more serious structural issues arise in the upper division. Some of these centre

on the number of courses offered - a concern likely to become more acute, at least in the

near future, as teaching resources diminish. Despite the Department's efforts to respond to

the previous review's recommendations, there are still too many 300 and 400-level

courses on the books, many of which are offered infrequently and unpredictably.

Undergraduates commented that the Department tries to offer too much, at the expense of

depth in any area. (On the other hand, they also wanted more courses in political economy,

IR and comparative politics.) We were not able to determine if in fact every one of these

courses has been offered at least once a year for the last few years. We do recommend,

however:

That, given the prospect of diminution of short term teaching resources, the

Department review all upper division offerings and retain only those that can be

offered at least once a year by regular faculty.

At present, to judge from course calendar descriptions and outlines, there seems to

be little to distinguish 300-level from 400-level courses, apart from some tendency to

greater generality and theoretical content in the latter (most evident in comparative

politics). Only two 400-level courses (433 & 443) have 300-level courses as

prerequisites. It seems to us to be in the spirit of the ongoing reform of the programme to

create more of a distinction between the two levels. One way to do so, we recommend, which

also bows to the seemingly inevitable pressures of growing enrolments and declining

resources, would be:

To relax size restrictions on all 300-level courses, allowing at least those in

greatest demand to be given as lectures, while 400-level courses remained

seminars with rigorously controlled enrolments.

6

---

- ?

7

That the Department put in place a system of prerequisites, albeit a fairly liberal

one which required at least one 300-level course in the subfield for entry to any

400-level seminar. This would have to go hand in hand with greater frequency and

predictability in offering courses, especially at the 300 level. In addition, while

prerequisites, credits and GPA might continue to govern admissions to 300-level

courses, it would make sense under the proposed system to give majors and honours

students priority in admission to 400-level courses.

In this connection it is worth mentioning the honours programme, presently a

source of bemusement or dissatisfaction for students and faculty alike. Currently it

requires an extra twenty semester hours, including a thesis worth five semester hours,

and an extra term beyond the major. It was instituted in this form to meet the unusual

requirements of Simon Fraser's student constituency and of the trimester system. Since,

however, it is an option rarely taken (six Honours graduates in the last seven years) it is

not clear whose needs, if any, it is meeting. We recommend, therefore:

That either the honours programme be dropped or that it be redefined, in effect, as a

variant on the major which would involve preparation of a thesis (either reduced to

the weight of three semester hours, or increased to six) and the taking of 400-level

seminars in the subfield of concentration.

The Department should also consider creating a mandatory honours seminar, worth three

semester hours, in which honours students would engage the theoretical and methodological

issues arising from their thesis research. Such reforms would give the honours

programme a meaning and a prominence, not to mention the enrolment, it presently lacks.

S

---

-. ? 8

0

We believe that these recommendations for change in the undergraduate programme carry

to a logical conclusion the reforms already begun. Although the opening-up of all 300-level

courses would do violence to the unique and rightly cherished tradition of seminars and

tutorials, it seems to us to be a realistic concession to the force of numbers.. At the same

time the proposed changes in the upper division and the recasting of the honours

programme would infuse undergraduate education in political science with greater

cumulativeness and professional rigor at minimal cost to flexibility and breadth.

From these matters of structure we now turn to questions of coverage and to areas of

strength and weakness in the undergraduate curriculum. The previous review found no

reason to dispute the Department's claim to cover adequately the five subfields

distinguished by most Canadian departments of political science. Neither do we. The

Department offers --reasonably regularly as far as we can tell -- a respectable number of

courses in each of these subfields, ranging from a low of 13 in political theory to a high of

23 in comparative politics. Enrolments appear .to be distributed fairly evenly across four

of the five subfields, ranging in 1991-2 from a total of 824 in comparative to 1264 in

international relations (the mean for the four is 1068). Undergraduate courses and

enrolments, at least, bear out the Department's claim to strength in Canadian and public

policy, and in lR and comparative politics.

Political theory is the exception. Its total enrolment for 1991-2, at

. 436, was

about half that of the next smallest subfield. We heard from several faculty that normative

and empirical theory, especially the former, had tended to get short shrift when it came to

hiring and the alcoaon cf resources, party because it lacked a "constituency' among

faculty and students. At the same time, many argued, it should be top priority in future

hiring. The case for giving priority to theory cannot, it is clear, lie in student demand. If

that were the sole justification no department in Canada would be hiring theorists or

methodologists. The case rests, rather, on the sound premise that theory is essential to the

core or to the foundations, of an undergraduate political science education. If this be the

---

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?

9

case -- and we believe it is -- then the argument for hiring a political theorist is also an

argument for making some political theory compulsory for undergraduates (or at least for

majors and honours students). It would seem reasonable to require one of Pol 210, 211 or

213 of all students wishing to take 300-level courses, and perhaps a 300-level theory

course (especially the new Pol 314) for entry to 400-level courses. If such requirements

were put in place the case for hiring a theorist would be self-evident, and the Department

would, in effect, have legislated (to the worthy end of strengthening the professional core

or spine of the programme) a better balance among the five subfields in terms of course

offerings and enrolments. Our recommendation here extends and reinforces that of the

previous review with respect to the place of political theory. We believe it is possible --

indeed necessary

That undergraduates be required to take a course in political theory while leaving

them some latitude as to the choice of courses to meet the requirement.

The Department sees its requirements as "designed to balance concentration in one

of the fields of Political Science with experience of the broad scope of the discipline"

(Information Booklet, 1991-1992,

p.

14). We believe this to be an appropriate objective

for an undergraduate programme and that the existing design in Simon Fraser's Department

serves quite well in that respect. There are, of course, geographical areas and themes that a

department of this modest size cannot claim or aspire to cover. Critics will always have

such 'gaps' to point to, -- and the undergraduates did so -- but there is little that can be

done about them in a climate of scarce resources. Other criticisms, however, centred on the

lack of depth or intellectual weight in established areas. Students and faculty alike often

referred to the limitations of the 13 week semester in this connection. It would be

worthwhile exploring the possibility of mounting two semester courses in some areas to

meet this demand for greater depth, although we recognize the limitations imposed by

---

staffing requirements and by the in-and-out pattern of student enrolment. We were not

able to get a clear sense of how serious the breadth-over-depth" problem is, although we

heard references to it several times. Resource constraints may, in any case, force some

contractions of the Department's reach.

The foregoing observations begin from the premise that in its objectives and design

the Simon Fraser Department's undergraduate curriculum is basically sound and centred in

the mainstream of Canadian political science. (We should add that not all faculty consider

being in the mainstream a good thing). Our recommendations aim, for the most part, at

nudging the curriculum a bit further in the direction proposed by the earlier review and

stated by the Department itself, strengthening somewhat its cumulative, professional

quality and responding, at minimal cost to its pedagogical traditions, to rising enrolments

and declining teaching-resources.

We turn now to a number of problems relating to the delivery of the undergraduate

programme and its responsiveness to the needs of its constituency. The origins of some of

these problems may indeed lie beyond the Department, in the University at large (e.g., in

the trimester system or the reward structure for faculty performance). Others can be

traced to departmental practices which are more susceptible of prompt reform. There is

no doubt that chief among these problems over the past few years has been the large

proportion -- upwards of 40 percent -- of teaching done by limited term and sessional

instructors. For the Department, the advantages are obvious: when the expansion of its

undergraduate enrolment under the Access Programme was not rewarded by new tenure-

track appointments to the extent expected, short term hiring was a way to fill the gaps

flexibly and cheaply from a large pool of qualified people. Although the Department has had

some success in converting sessional to limited term appointments, providing somewhat

more stability in teaching arrangements and a less exploitative employment situation for

the instructors concerned, the situation remains, on balance, unsatisfactory. In taking

otherwise commendable steps to humanize the working conditions of its limited term

10

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=

?

11

instructors (lightening teaching toads and adding a research term) the Department has, in

effect, made them too expensive to continue on the same scale. Even without impending

budget cuts, then, there has been pressure to phase out limited term instruction and, at

best, return to the cheaper sessional format.

Quality of instruction, it must be said, is not the issue here. We were assured

repeatedly that the variability in this respect among short term instructors was no greater

than that among regular faculty. The central issue, rather, has been the lack of continuity

or predictability in the delivery of undergraduate teaching from one year (or even one

semester) to the next. If the Department is unable to predict, with respect to a large

portion of its programme, who will teach what for the next 12 to 24 months, students are

frustrated in trying to plan which terms to be on campus and which to take off to work. The

presence of so many instructors with uncertain future prospects has other costs for

students: they cannot count on continuing counsel from instructors they get to know, and

they question the value of letters of reference from people without seniority or "standing"

in the Department. Such things do not enhance the sense of community felt by students in

the Department.

It might b. said, of course, that having over 40 percent of teaching done by

sessionals and limited term instructors is better than the alternative, which is to have less

instruction. Indeed, the real prospect is that the budget for such teaching will virtually

disappear, if not this year then soon after. The Department ought, in our view, to plan for

such an eventuality in two ways. We recommend:

That, first, in the context of of the structural changes discussed above the

Department ought to cut the number of courses offered in the upper division so as

to reflect more accurately what full time faculty can realistically be expected to

teach on a regular basis. Second, with the exception of those doing the major

---

administrative tasks, all faculty should be expected to teach the five course norm

each year (at present about half teach only four).

This implies that the practice of granting relief from one course for every two MA

supervisions completed, should be abandoned.

We are also convinced, however, and we argue elsewhere in this report, that the

University administration must take steps to expand the Department's faculty complement.

Such a commitment would go some distance to alleviate the Department's lingering sense of

grievance over the outcome of the Access Programme. More important, it would ease a

burden of undergraduate enrolment now bordering on critical and it would be concrete

acknowledgement that the Department has escaped its past and become a solid growth area

worthy of investment.

However it is achieved, a solution to the chronic instability represented by the

heavy reliance on short term instructors would help ease the problems of scheduling about

which we heard numerous complaints from undergraduates. For reasons they, at least, do

not understand Political Science is the only department not to have its fall schedule posted

on time. One student described the Department's scheduling of courses as "completely

random". While acknowledging the real limits to long term rational planning of the

undergraduate programme, faculty and the Departmental Assistant assured us that standard

courses were in fact offered at least once a year and that systematic planning was alive and

well in the DA's "black book" which matched teaching needs with faculty several terms

ahead. The greater the proportion of teaching done by regular faculty, the easier such

planning will become.

In addition to scheduling there are a number of other problems relating to the

administration and delivery of the undergraduate programme which tend to suggest to

students that their needs are not foremost in the Department's consciousness.

Undergraduates will acknowledge that Political Science professors are generally

12

---

approachable and available; nevertheless, many hold the view that what is taught, when and

how often, is a function primarily of faculty research priorities. As in the case of

scheduling, there is clearly an element of student folklore about this impression. Some of

the evident malaise may be a reflection of the anomie and powerlessness inevitably felt by

an on-again, off-again, commuter student body. On the other hand there is considerable

room for improvement in the two-way flow of communications between the Department and

its undergraduate constituency.

In the first place, the flow of information to undergraduates concerning curriculum

and departmental life in general (seminars, visitors, faculty activities, and the like) could

be more timely and comprehensive. We recommend that:

Some thought should be given to a regular departmental bulletin to meet at least

some of these needs.

The Department should also make it clear to undergraduates that their evaluations of

courses and professors are an integral part of assessments concerning tenure, promotion

and salary. We recommend:

The Department continue the present course of systematizing the evaluation

process, and also commit itself to publish the results.

/ Teaching assistants, finally, play a vital role in the delivery of the undergraduate

programme and as intermediaries between faculty and undergraduates. We comment

elsewhere on graduate students' views of their situation. From the undergraduate

"consumers" perspective two issues emerge. First:

13

.

---

S

TAS need clearer guidelines and better instruction and monitoring by the

Department. One step, easily taken, would be to supplement the one day University

wide orientation for TAs with a session in the Department more focussed on the

particular needs of political science students and courses.

The other issue concerns marking. We were surprised to discover that TAs routinely grade

not just term papers but final examinations, and that there is no formal requirement that

only professors mark exams. While TAs may well have good judgement in these matters it

does convey an impression of professorial remoteness and perpetuates the view that faculty

cannot be bothered with the often tedious but vital process of evaluating students' work. We

recommend:

That the Department adopt the policy that final examinations are marked by faculty

only, and that this policy be announced as a matter of pedagogical principle.

Such an action would send an important message about the Department's commitment to

undergraduate teaching.

3. Graduate Programme

There is a widespread feeling in the Department that a higher priority - both in

terms of increased attention and increased resources - should now be given to the

development of the graduate programme. The number of students is growing and there is a

sense that a larger programme fits both the University's and the Departments objectives.

There is, of course, a concern about resources, particularly given the immediate

pressures, but there is a strong sense that continued and increased development of the

graduate prOgramme is the top priority for the Department. Certainly the review

14

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-- ?

15

committee did not get the same sense of that of the 1984 review, that the graduate

programme was largely being driven by the departmental desire to recruit TA'S for

undergraduate courses.

?

The graduate programme now appears driven by objectives

intrinsic to its own development, by the desire to provide education in political science that

is both more research oriented and more theoretically informed than that which is possible

at the undergraduate level.

?

The major strength of the graduate programme is the research

strength and vitality of the individual professors.

?

As we have indicated elsewhere in this

report, all the members of the Department range from respectable to very productive in

their research activities.

?

This gives a good base for the graduate programme in that it

allows the graduate activity to be distributed widely in the Department and also in that it

gives the proper message to the graduate students of the importance of research as an

integral part of political science graduate education.

Another strength of the programme is a growing sense of definition of departmental

concentrations ?

and ?

areas

?

of

?

strength. ?

The ?

Department ?

identifies

?

two ?

clusters ?

-

Comparative/MR and Canadian/Public Policy.

?

Within the Canadian/Public Policy area, one

can see developing ?

an ?

interesting ?

area of expertise combining

?

interest in

?

institutions,

Canadian federalism, intergovernmental relations, provincial politics, urban government,

political economy, economic policy, environmental policy plus interests in the theory of

public administration and public policy.

?

This emphasis on questions of governance

(institutions and the

?

administration of policy,

?

particularly in the

?

interrelations of politics

and the economy) gives a particular thrust to the Department and one that is quite different

from the

?

areas of strength of the

?

UBC ?

Political Science

?

Department (which, within

Canadian ?

politics,

?

is much stronger on questions of "politics" than of "policy" and/or

"governance"). ?

These questions of definition and of strengths clearly need to be discussed

further within the Department.

?

A number of people made very interesting suggestions, for

instance, about areas of emphasis within the Canadian Politics/Public Policy concentration

and the ways in which these areas could be translated into course or research proposals.

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16

0

These suggestions need to continue to be discussed, first of all within the field. The

recommendation about the formalization of field committees would give a place for these

discussions to continue. The particular emphases decided upon should be reflected in the

graduate courses so that students get a sense of the particular strengths of the Department.

This requires some discussion, first by the field committees, of material covered in the

various courses and of ways of highlighting the Department's areas of strength.

The same question of the evolving definition of the Department's concentration in

Comparative/IR can also be raised, in part because of the rapid and dramatic changes in the

world and also because of the changes within the Department. We therefore recommend:

That the Department continue, first within field committees, then within the

graduate programme committee and the full Department; discussion about the ways

in which it wants to define the areas of strength within the two areas of

concentration at the Master's level.

The strengths of the MA programme are therefore important - the research

strengths of the jdividual members of the Department with, in addition, a growing

concentration of resources around the two major poles of the Department. However, there

are also weaknesses in the programme - particularly related to the administration of the

programme and to the will of the Department to adopt a more rigorous and more activist

stance vis-a-vis the programme. Most of this relates to the progress of students through

the programme and will be dealt with in section 3 below but some relates to the definition

of courses and to the structure of the programme.

The one required course at the graduate level, POL 801-5: Scope and Methods, as it

is now organized fulfills two kinds of requirements - those of content (questions of methods

particularly as these are not dealt with elsewhere) and those of process (choice of thesis

areas). This creates problems of overloading the course but also of diffusing the focus. It

---

17

would seem more appropriate to deal with choice of thesis area outside a course format, by

requiring students to choose thesis topics by a certain date (end of first semester or a

specified time, one or two months, after the end of the first semester of registration) and

have this choice confirmed by the student's supervisor. The Department's decision to

assign supervisors to incoming students is a good step towards the implementing of this

policy. Removing this question from POL 801-5 would allow it to focus on an overview of

scope and methods. We recommend:

That POL 801-5 be reorganized in such away that the choice of thesis area not be

dealt with in the course.

A somewhat more impressionistic recommendation would relate to the content of the

courses. Our sense of discussions with Department members is that people are involved in

research and reflection in political science that is more at the cutting edge of the discipline

?

Is

that what emerges from course descriptions, course outlines and calendar descriptions.

The only possible recommendation in this area is that people be encouraged to discuss these

questions and to integrate them into course descriptions and course material. The

Department's public presentation of itself (in terms of course descriptions but perhaps

also course contents) is somewhat more conventional, if not clearly more old-fashioned,

that the reality would appear to be. We recommend:

That biennial reviews of course descriptions and course materials be done by the

Graduate Studies Committee so as make sure this material is up to date and reflects

the teach/hg and research interests of the Department.

The Department is planning an MA in International Studies. The Review Committee

was given a written progress report which indicated that the development of the

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--

? 18

programme would be pursued over the course of the summer of 1992 by contacting chairs

of other departments and by elaborating the proposal within the Department. It is the

opinion of the Review Committee that the participation of other departments (particularly

Economics, History, Sociology and Anthropology, Geography but also Languages and

Communications) would create a much better International Studies MA and we would

suggest that the Department consult with other departments on the basis of a written

document that proposes a programme involving other departments. Only if this avenue

proves impossible should the Department redo the proposal in terms of a departmental

programme. The MA in International Studies should be clearly something broader than an

MA in Political Science and something that builds on an interdisciplinary structure. Simon

Fraser already has strength in Latin America as an area as well as the obvious interest in

building on the Pacific Rim focus. The exact focus of the proposal is clearly up to the

Department but we would recommend that the proposal on which discussions are held this

is summer be based on participation from other departments. In the opinion of the Review

Committee this will create a programme that will be attractive to students and that will be

more than a minor variation on the MA in Political Science. In a six course programme,.

one could imagine .a minimum of two courses outside the Department plus the possibility of

a second language requirement. We recommend:

That the Department draw up a written document describing the planned MA in

International Studies that calls for the participation of other departments and that

this proposal serve as the basis of discussion with other departments.

The Review Committee agrees with the Departmental view that the question of

establishing a PhD programme should be postponed. This recommendation should not be

seen as suggesting a waiting period in the development of the graduate programme but

rather that the Department should accord greater priority and greater attention to its

---

19

development and that once the Department is more satisfied with its MA programme the

?

I

question of further expansion can be raised. Development of the MA programme will result

in even more clearly defined areas of strength and it would then be possible to. think of

creating a specialized PhD programme in those areas of strength.

4. Graduate Students --Support and Progress

The question of support for graduate students and the monitoring of their progress

through the programme is clearly an area that needs improvements. The Department has

already recognized this and the Review Committee recommends that the Department see this

as an area for immediate action and close monitoring. The Department's decision to assign

supervisors to students on the basis of areas of interest as they enter the Department is a

good one and one that should be administered strongly. Given that it represents a change

from past practice it should be implemented in such a way as to clearly change past

practice - professors should understand that the supervision of entering students is to

begin right from the start of the first semester and that the definition of the student's

thesis topic invols clear supervision on the part of the professor. Without being

inflexible, the policy should be administered to minimize changes in supervisors. It is

important that it be clearly understood that the current system of total student initiative

for selecting supervisors is being changed to a more activist Department stance. We

recommend:

That the Department proceed with their decision to assign supervisors to students

upon entry to the programme and that this policy be consistently administered and

monitored by the Graduate Studies Committee.

---

-- ?

20

The policy should also be administered to bring about a more equal distribution of

graduate supervision. Students are often hesitant to ask professors who have only been in

the Department for a short time to act as supervisors (because they are seen as unknown

quantities) and this does not lead to the best use of Department resources. Indeed, the

active research profile of the members of the Department suggests that a more equal

distribution of graduate supervision would be possible than in many other departments of

political science.

In terms of support for graduate students, we were constantly told that TA'ships

were essential as students were dependent on the financial support to continue their

studies. On the other hand, it is clear that the time taken up with the TA work is a factor in

slowing down the progress of the students. University wide policies of reducing TA hours

will help in this regard and the Department should very carefully monitor this question to

make sure that professors are not overworking their TA's. It is our opinion that this is

occurring and we recommend that the Department take a strong line in monitoring its

members. TA's get very involved in the work they are doing and are therefore rather easy

to exploit but this must be resisted strongly by the Department. The progress of the

students in the MA

-

programme is related to this. We recommend:

That the Chair monitor more closely the work loads of TA's.

We note that the assignment of TA's to their responsibilities is done by the

Departmental Assistant. It is our view that the TA's should see their assignment as coming

from the professoriate, and it appears that the Graduate Studies Committee, or its chair,

should have that responsibility. Hence we recommend:

That assignment of TA's be the responsibility of the Graduate Studies Committee.

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21

Additional support to students can also come through research grants to professors.

Indeed, in that research work can often be more closely related to the student's thesis

subject than the TA work, it can facilitate more rapid completion of the degree. This is also

fully in line with the latest objectives of SSHRC which wants to increase the training given

to graduate students through research projects. We suggest that the Vice-President

Research prompt the Department to apply for increased outside funding and recommend that

the Department encourage more professors to request outside funding for their research

and to include support for graduate students in the research proposals. As stated earlier,

members of the Department are active researchers but the level of outside funding of

research is low. Indications suggest that the numbers of requests to SSHRC are increasing

but they could increase still further. This should be a subject for discussion in the

Department. We recommend:

?

That the Department discuss ways of encouraging its members to submit external

?

.

research proposals.

Another dimension that is crucial in the support of graduate students is people's

willingness to give time to graduate students. Clearly the principal role in this respect

falls as the advisor of each student but other Department members can also play a role. It

was not possible to properly study this question but the impression of the Review

Commission was that the present situation could be improved in this respect.

The Department should be encouraged to take a more active stance in relation to

rules for the graduate programme.

,

Examples of this are in tightening up the delays for

deferred marks, length of time to complete degrees, etc. The sense from some Department

members was that University-wide rules had to be followed whereas it appeared to the

?

within

Review

the

Committee

overall University

that it was

policies.

possible

We

for

encourage

Departments

the

to

Department

define more

to

stringent

do this.

rules

This

?

C

---

would also reinforce the impression that the Department sees the MA programme as an

important and significant endeavor and not something simply added on to the undergraduate

programme. We sensed a real will on the part of the Department to have the programme

seen in this way; it remains for the Department to act administratively to realize this.

This is all the more important since there exists outside the Department the view that the

Department has been somewhat lax in the administration of this part of its mandate. We

recommend:

That the Department instruct the Graduate Studies Committee to examine the

procedures of the graduate programme in regard to deferred marks, length of time

students take to complete their programmes etc. with a view to devising rules that

will be adopted by the Department.

S. Size and Back

g

round of the Faculty Complement

To assess the faculty complement needs of the Department of Political Science one

must define for this. purpose what the Department's responsibilities are. We will make the

assumption here that the primary factor determining departmental responsibilities in this

context are needs relevant to the Department's instructional programme since there are no

clearly defined targets either for the type or amount of research or community service

work to be carried on by a typical university department. There are, of course, research

and publication requirements that individual Department members must meet to negotiate

successfully the various career hurdles that they encounter and those they may wish to

fulfil to obtain special increases based on merit. But these have no direct bearing on the

resource base of the Department itself other than perhaps, in the broad sense that if the

Department is productive in research and publication, to leave a favourable impression

among those in the University who have the responsibility for deciding on the allocation of

22

---

a

23

financial ?

resources. ?

Given

the Department's strong research performance, we make the

assumption that such a favourable climate exists.

?

Further, there may be considerations

concerning the adequacy of the existing faculty complement to carry on collaborative

research

?

in ?

certain ?

areas, ?

but

?

such

?

collaboration ?

is ?

a

?

tradition ?

not ?

strong

?

in ?

the

Department and would

?

probably be a criterion of secondary

?

importance given the

expectations by those in government about the primary role of the University's teaching

contribution to society.

We also wish to articulate the assumption that the development of a doctoral

programme should not part of the department's responsibilities for some time to come.

Before such a step is undertaken, the Department should ensure that the undergraduate and

Master's programmes are functioning, smoothly; particularly the Master's programme will

require some work before this is the case.

?

Further, in our view it would be necessary to

increase the faculty complement and also to increase resources in the library before a

viable doctoral programme in Political Science could be established at Simon Fraser

University. ?

It may well be that a doctoral programme can be developed in areas of

departmental strength in which there

?

are ?

important "market niches"

?

in the supply of

Canadian doctoral-students in political science.

?

But this should wait until the requisite

commitment of resources is possible and until such market niches can be demonstrated.

What follows, then, is guided by the assumption that the Department of Political

Science is responsible for maintaining a strong undergraduate curriculum, and a well-

functioning Master's programme that can accommodate an annual intake of some ten to

fifteen students, i.e., slightly less than one graduate student per regular faculty member.1

(This seems to be close to the present pattern, although enrolment figures for graduate

classes in some recent years lead one to assume a slightly lower average annual intake).

who

Appendix

'We

may

use

?

intake

be

B,

?

inactive

Political

?

figures

?

?

and

Science

in

?

this

in that

?

report

Internal

sense

since

?

create

Review,

the measure

no

?

enrolment,

burden

?

in

?

for

?

Table

includes

the

III

Department.

?

of

students

---

24

U We do not think it unreasonable to assume an intake of one Master's student per regular

faculty member: indeed a slightly higher toad might well be considered. The Department

has provisions for course reductions based on the number of successfully supervised

theses. This is a provision that is not found in all political science departments and a more

balanced assignment of graduate students to faculty members, a practice that the

Department is beginning to implement, will reduce the heavy load that some members of

the Department presently have and make more justifiable the abolition of reduced class

toads for MA supervision recommended in another section of this report. Furthermore, the

enrolments in graduate classes are in many instances modest and could be expanded, and the

requirement that each Master's student take four half classes does not place undue strain on

the Department's course offerings, provided that these remain, at the graduate level,

concentrated in areas of the Department's strength. In short, the Department seems

sufficiently

,

well staffed presently to manage the Master's programme or could even expand

.

?

it slightly.

The undergraduate programme is a very different story. Enrolments in this

programme have increased considerably in recent years. Unfortunately, figures provided

for the review allow us to calculate the ratio, of full time enrolments per continuing faculty

member only for 1990/91, but they do allow us to make a point. There were 14 regular

Political Science faculty members in that year and 388.4 F.T.E. enrolments for a ratio of

27.7 F.T.E. students per regular member. This ratio was exceeded in the Faculty of Arts

only by the Psychology Department whose F.T.E. per continuing faculty was 32.75. All

other departments had lower ratios, most significantly lower. While we are aware that the

Department of Political Science has had a large number of limited term and sessional

appointments to help in undergraduate teaching, we consider this to be an undesirable state

of affairs primarily in terms of the potential of its negative implications for the quality of

education but also because, as we will state elsewhere in this report, this places a great

.

?

burden on the administration of the Department. Hence we would recommend strongly:

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25

S

That additional continuing appointments be made in the Department of Political

Science, at least so that the Department reach the average Faculty of Arts level of

continuing faculty members per F. T. E. student.

As for the sub-disciplinary background of the faculty complement, we note that

there is only one faculty member who lists political philosophy as his primary field. This

area should be strengthened especially since the political philosopher teaches in other

areas and has pursued a research agenda only in part related to political philosophy. The

case for reinforcing the political philosophy complement in the Department has also been

made in other sections of this Report. We recommend, therefore:

That at least one of the new appointments in the Department of Political Science be

made in political philosophy/political theory.

?

40

6. Research and Teaching Contributions of Faculty

Measured by the standard indices of research performance this is an active,

productive department. Although it is difficult to test, we see no reason to question the

claim, made during our interviews, that the Department is now above the University

average in research output. Individually and collectively the performance of its faculty

members also seems on a level competitive with the better Canadian departments of

political science.

Since 1985 the fifteen regular faculty (excluding the three emeritus professors)

have authored, co-authored or co-edited some twenty-seven books. Only one has not done

so; six have published one book, and others' totals range from two to four. To this total

should be added about thirty articles in refereed journals and over eighty assorted book

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-- ? 26

chapters, articles and other scholarly publications. This productivity is fairly evenly

distributed across the Department; it is not a case, as sometimes occurs, of a few prolific

scholars standing out against a mediocre landscape. Those very few, on the other hand,

whose recent productivity, as measured by those crude indices, lies below the departmental

norm, are either relatively senior (with a rich corpus of earlier work) or have lost

productive time to illness.

Assessment of the quality of published research is, of course, a more difficult and

sensitive exercise, based on such considerations as the scholarly standing of book

publishers and journals, the impact of research on the field and the reputation of the

scholar among his or her peers nationally and internationally. By these impressionistic

measures we can reasonably conclude that roughly half the members of the Department..

have attained national and international repute in their prime areas of scholarship.

Moreover the Department has in recent years made some first rate new appointments,

whether of sought-after new PhDs or of somewhat more senior faculty attracted from other

institutions. These newer appointees have established, or embarked upon, strong

publications programmes.

In assessing faculty research productivity it is important to ask about the

implications for the general work of the Department, specifically, whether there is any

sign of a division of labour between those who do research, on the one hand, and those who

teach and do the departmental "chores", on the other. If we put the research record of each

faculty member alongside his or her recent teaching commitments it appears -- within the

limits of the evidence available -- that there is no such division of labour. On the contrary,

there is a strong positive correlation between research productivity and teaching load

(measured by number of courses and enrolments). The half dozen most productive

scholars, at least in quantitative terms, tended also to have among the heaviest teaching

loads. We can extend the analysis to include the distribution of departmental administrative

chores. While the range of variation among faculty is greater in this area, and the pattern

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- ? 27

less clear, there is no sign of the inverse correlation between research and citizenship

which marks many departments and which clearly has a history in this one.

Perhaps in contrast to earlier days, then, research in Political Science is relatively

evenly spread across the Department, and appears not to be viewed as something to be done

at the expense of teaching or administrative service. Even more striking is the contrast

between this high degree of productivity and the relatively modest levels of external

financial support. Statistics on research awards to related departments at Simon Fraser

show, for example, that Economics and History, both roughly twice the size of Political

Science, received in 1990-91 over three times the external funding and four times the

total funding. Geography, about forty percent larger, received 2-1/2 times the funding,

while Sociology and Anthropology, of comparable size in faculty complement, had about the

same external funding as Political Science but far outstripped it in funding from

University -sources. Most faculty have been successful at getting a variety of small internal

grants or modest support from SSHRCC for travel or conferences. Few, however, have won

?

is

the sort of large external grant, whether for individual or cooperative research, that is

characteristic of major departments. Until this past fall applications to SSHRCC from

Political Science at Simon Fraser have been sparse, and successes few.

Levels of external funding are commonly used as an index of both the quantity and

the peer-judged quality of a department's research. Viewed this way the pattern of funding

suggests that Political Science is below average at Simon Fraser and probably below the

national average for political science. On the other hand the high level of publications may

be taken as evidence that research in the department is unusually cost effective. For us,

this latter measure is what counts.

In collaborative research -- about the dearth of which the previous' review was

critical -- the Department appears now to be doing much more. Some still comment on

"lone-wolf" tendencies among their colleagues, but the fact is that about half of the regular

faculty have recently been or are presently involved in joint research and publication with

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28

0

other members of the Department. One notable collaborative enterprise was the 1987

project The Vision and the Game, involving three Political Science faculty in the production

of a six part television series and book on Canadian constitutional issues. Subfields

particularly active and productive in joint research are Canadian politics and public

policy.

A half dozen members of the Department have been engaged in joint research and

publication with political scientists from other Canadian departments. Such activity makes

eminent sense, and should be encouraged further. It allows Simon Fraser to share resources

with other departments (particularly in the BC system) to the benefit of both, and it

projects the Department positively in the wider academic community.

We commented earlier that the Department's claim to offer sound undergraduate

teaching in the five "mainstream" subfields was credible, although theory and methodology

needs strengthening. The same is true, by and large, for research. Canadian politics, public

policy and administration, and comparative politics (especially Europe, Asia and the

Pacific) continue to be the three dominant areas of research, with international relations

clearly poised to join them. For stimulating research as much as for ensuring effective

teaching, subfields. -- particularly in relatively isolated departments -- require a certain

"critical mass". We see Canadian politics and public policy and administration as secure in

this respect, while comparative may soon need some shoring up with respect to Asian area-

studies and possibly Latin America. (And there is a still-unrealized potential for a strong

Pacific Rim research programme which would be a mark of distinction for Simon Fraser in

BC and the rest of Canada). International relations is overrun with students while still, in

our view, falling short of the critical mass of faculty needed, for a productive research

environment. An appointment to strengthen the theoretical and methodological component of

international relations would be a major step toward this goal.

Much of what needs to be said about the teaching contributions of faculty members

has been covered in our discussion of the undergraduate programme. One point, however,

---

needs further development. During our visit to the Department we heard repeatedly -- and

not only from students that this was a department many of whose faculty, driven by

their individual research ambitions, showed little commitment to the collective good.

Research, it was frequently said, took clear precedence for most faculty not just over

administrative service (which is perhaps understandable and not uncommon) but over

teaching. Our own investigations and reflections suggest that this image of the Department

may be a caricature, based in part on the legacy of a receding past and on the negative

impact of the problems of delivery referred to earlier (such as with timetabling of

courses).

The impression, nevertheless, is abroad that whether in rational response to the

"real" (as distinct from the fictional) reward structure of the University or as a reaction

to recurring conflict in the Department, most faculty give clear priority to their research,

at the expense of teaching. Graduate students, for example, suggest that the MA programme

is less important to the Department than the undergraduate programme. Its prime function,

some of them implied, is to provide overworked TAs to further ease faculty's fairly light

teaching load. Undergraduates, on the other hand, see teaching schedules as driven not by

student demand or..departmental priorities but primarily by the research and leave plans of

faculty. While they acknowledge the presence of high calibre, committed teachers in the

Department, students note that no political scientist at Simon Fraser has ever won a

University award for teaching.

These impressions may be unfair. They are certainly not the product of a systematic

survey of students. And they have a certain mythic quality suggesting origins in the dark

past of the Department. Nevertheless, they persist, and should not be left unattended in the

expectation that they will die a natural death. Implementation of our earlier

recommendations about teaching evaluations, the selection, training and monitoring of TAs,

and the marking of examinations, could give a signal as to the real importance of teaching.

Insistence that all faculty except those burdened with major chores teach a full five course

29

---

load, and reinforcement of the commendable practice of assigning senior faculty on an equal

footing with their junior colleagues to teach the introductory courses, would underline the

point. Our strong impression is that although there are stronger and weaker teachers here

as elsewhere, commitment to teaching is high and pervasive in the Department. The

problem is to bring the reputation into line with this new reality.

7. Size and Distribution of the Support Staff

There are two perspectives to take on this question. Outsiders are tempted to

compare the Department's support staff complement with what they have in their home

departments: from that perspective the Department seems well served with a Department

Administrator and with three secretaries. Departments of similar size elsewhere tend to

have somewhat less support staff, but then expectations about the proper division of labour

0

between faculty and staff vary. Hence it is best, in our view, to examine these matters from

the perspective of what appears to be normal at Simon Fraser University. For example, at

Simon Fraser, much at least of the routine student advising is done by the D.A.; at other

universities some or. most of this work is done by the faculty and hence a D.A. can do other

things. Given the division of labour in that regard at SFU and given her other

responsibilities, the Department's D. A. appears to be working at or beyond the level of

reasonable expectations, especially given the amount of advising that is associated with the

three term system.

One might wish to consider whether some of the advising duties beyond the routine

checking of requirements and the assignment of students to sections, particularly the

advising having to do with the academic content of courses and appropriateness of students'

programmes of study given their academic or vocational goals, be shared with faculty

members so that students speak formally to a faculty member about such issues at least a

few times in their undergraduate career, if not once a year. Over and above the devolution

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of some of these advising duties, it seems wise to attempt the delegation of some other

routine duties now performed by the D. A. to another member of the support staff, always

keeping in mind the job descriptions of these other persons and university procedures

regarding what is to be expected of various categories of personnel. We were favourably

impressed with the staff's willingness to share the Department's work and to be flexible in

meeting its needs. We feel sure that in consultation with them it will be possible to

undertake any organizational changes that may be required.

There was a hint that the Department could be losing one of its secretaries. It

appears most equitable, given the resources of similarly sized department elsewhere in the

University and the present expectations about the duties of secretaries, that the

Department maintain its full complement of four support staff. It might be said in addition

that supplying all faculty members with computers and installing a local area network

would allow the faculty to do a good deal more "typing" of even routine work such as letters

and memos by themselves, thus at least in part unburdening the support staff.

?

. .

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0

8. Resources Supporting Teaching and Research

The overwhelming preoccupation of faculty and students alike with respect to

resources is the library. Of all the social sciences, political science is arguably the most

dependent on books, serials and documents for teaching and basic research. Faculty in

particular were critical to the point of being dismissive concerning the capacity of Simon

Fraser's library to serve anything but the most basic teaching needs, let alone to be a

resource base for advanced research in political science. Faculty and students -

particularly graduates - consider the UBC library an essential part of their professional

lives, and make frequent, time-consuming trips across town to use it.

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32

9

This situation clearly cannot be sustained indefinitely without some continuing cost

to Simon Fraser's credibility as a front rank institution and to its ability to attract good

students and faculty. It is undoubtedly true, as we were told, that the chances of improving

the library in the near term are very poor. Moreover, some cost-sharing and division of

labour among the B.C. university libraries (especially in the Lower Mainland) will

continue to make sense. Simon Fraser should obviously not aspire to duplicate UBC's

extensive political science holdings. Nevertheless the University, on the advice of the

Department, should undertake to determine selected areas of established research interest

and future potential to which funds could be directed to develop serious collections of

monographs, serials, documents and electronic data. If the Department is to undertake even

the modest expansion we have recommended, and if it is eventually to bid for a PhD

programme, investment in a solid, if selective, base of library resources must begin now.

Other problems of resources pale into normality compared to those of the library. Space is

scarce, a we note elsewhere in this report. Faculty seem to have adeqt.iaté access to

computing:;facilities and equipment, although one member of the Department complained of

inequities in how new equipment was made available.

9. The Provision of

Office Space and other Facilities

Continuing faculty appear to be adequately accommodated in offices. The space

available for teaching assistants is very limited and could be increased. The most glaring

inadequacy in terms of space is the lack of a departmental library/seminar room in which

meetings can be held, in which students can access reserve materials for courses, and in

which some widely used reading materials such as major journals and reference books are

housed. We recommend, therefore:

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33

That the Department of Political Science be assigned a room that can serve as

departmental library/seminar room.

It is also necessary to help faculty obtain adequate computer resources. At least one

faculty member feels that the lack of adequate computer resources has hampered his work

considerably. It has been the experience elsewhere that faculty access to.P.C.s and the

attendant peripheral equipment (printers etc.) has decreased significantly the pressure on

support staff.

9.

Administration of the Political Science Department

It is difficult to speak with finality and great authority about as complex a subject

as the style of collective decision making in an organization if one has studied that

organization for only a short period while not observing its functioning first-hand.

Nonetheless, our meetings with faculty members, administrative and support personnel,

students and with other members of the University community who have dealings with the

Department, as well as our examination of some of the written material at our disposal,

have left us with a number of mutually reinforcing impressions that lead us to feel

reasonably confident in outlining the following characterization of the Department's

administration and drafting a set of suggestions for change.

Traditions and history play major role in determining the functioning of any

organization, and they have played their role with respect to the Political Science

Department. Established as a separate entity in the confusion of the break-up of the PSA

Department, the Department's experience in self-directing and casting of organizational

expectations and norms got off to a rocky start. Its leading members, distinguished

culture

professors

and

with

expectations

national and

of any

international

academic

reputations,

department:

helped

in this

set

case

the norms

that of

that

high

define

flyer and

the

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40

---

highly visible achievers whose set of priorities was focussed more on such very

worthwhile activities as publishing, lecturing at universities abroad, consulting with

governmental organizations and participating in professional meetings that attract the

attention of the academic community outside the university. Such strong personalities

often fail to see eye to eye on a large number of things, and their disagreements can lead to

difficulties in defining procedures and policies a well as a sense of common purpose. They

may also not contribute to what may be termed the citizenship aspects of a department's

collective existence and, because they are prominent members of the Department, may thus

help establish a set of expectations and norms that lead to their devaluation.

Citizenship in the sense that it is used here involves a large number of activities

and a mind set that is bent toward developing collective goals and interacting with

colleagues in ways that lead to mutual benefits or the benefit of, perhaps, the less

established members of the collectivity. Such activities include contributing to the

decision making and management aspects of a departments functioning such as participating

on committees, counselling students, doing programme reviews of existing courses of

study, and proposing new programmes and/or courses. They also include taking the

initiative or at least becoming involved in matters that are not usually specified as part of

the formal duties of academics because they are less directly related to the central and

formal goals of the organization but which, for all that, help to create a sense of common

purpose and enrich the academic atmosphere of a Department; for example, attempting to

help junior faculty members with their careers by offering to read their papers and giving

them advice, if asked, about research funding and submitting papers for publication.

Organizing seminars and colloquia on an extra-curricular basis in which faculty and

students interact are also examples of good citizenship. Speakers may include Department

members or colleagues from across town as well as from government or NGOs. Organizing

conferences on topics of major importance which bring in scholars from across the country

or even from abroad is more nearly related the more formal requirements of scholarship

34

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35

and can lead to the publication with reputable presses of conference proceedings.

Sponsoring a conference aimed at members of the community outside the university is a

service that academic departments often perform and one that, like others just outlined,

can help to bring a sense of community to a department. Such activities seem not to have

been frequently pursued in the past and appear not to be prominent presently.

Whatever the genesis of the present organizational culture, it was striking and a bit

discouraging to hear present members of the Department make reference such as "meddling

in the affairs of others" when asked to express themselves about joint decision making,

Department meetings and other collective activities. Members were surprisingly

uninformed about even formal departmental procedures, and members of committees were

at times unable to clearly articulate their responsibilities in that context even though,

judging by the practice of giving relief from teaching for the chairpersons of the graduate

and undergraduate committees, at least these two committees must be considered important

departmental structures. When volunteering suggestions about the context in which

changes might be discussed, members appeared as often to think about committees composed

of individuals teaching and researching in sub-disciplines (e.g., Canadian government and

politics, international relations) as they did about fora that involved, or represented the

Department as a whole. In one or two instances the expression of disenchantment with

decision making structures and functions in the present Department (although not

necessarily with such activities in principle) were striking. Participating in meetings or

in administrative activities more generally is not necessarily highly prized by academics

anywhere, but this is an important part of academic life which, if it is not carried out

effectively, has negative implications for the unit.

The ambivalent attitude about collective decision making in the Department has

coincided with the practice of frequently appointing relatively junior members of the

Department to the chair. In recent years, Professors T. Cohn, P. Smith and the present

incumbent, Professor M. Covell, have held that position while associate professors. This is

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obviously not a reflection on them as chairs; indeed it is clear that they must have been

considered trustworthy by members of the Department to have the support to be asked to

hold that position and they are to be commended for taking on a duty that may well not have

appeared terribly rewarding. If a department is to function well, especially a department

in which the sense of common purpose is not overly strong, someone must take

responsibility, and see that decisions, even unpopular decisions, are taken and are

implemented, ensure that common procedures are applied in similar situations so that

there is not a sense of grievance among members of the department or its clients, develop

procedures where these are lacking, protect the less senior members of the department if

that is necessary and harness the energies of those reluctant to serve, not give in to the

temptation to assign the less desirable duties to those who, for a sense of duty of for other

reasons can be persuaded to contribute, assure that rewards and resources are equitably

allotted, and give a sense of direction to committees and to the department as a whole.

It is not easy for associate professors to lead in this regard. They have not achieved

the visibility and status of a full professor and are thus in an exposed position when dealing

with senior colleagues or even their rank equals. If they are ambitious (and one hopes that

department chairpersons harbour such drives) they will wish to continue with their

research to advance their careers and to meet the requirements for promotion which, in

most university settings, depend on publications and very little else. They will be less able

than would a full professor to afford the sacrifice of time for the exigencies of their office

which, experiences demonstrates, is more than a full-time position. This essential

investment of time is never adequately compensated by the course-load reduction that

accompanies the office. For all these reasons, it is striking that the Department has so

frequently had a relatively junior person as chair, but it may well be the case that no-one

else had sufficient support to be appointed or that some persons were unwilling to serve.

Further, the duties of the chair of the Political Science Department at Simon Fraser

University have been made more onerous than in many other departments elsewhere and

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the creation of a sense of common purpose and direction made more difficult because of the

large number of non-regular, non-tenure track members teaching in its programme. For

one thing, these persons are not involved heavily, if at all, in administrative

responsibilities because it is felt, for understandable reasons, that they are not adequately

compensated for such activities or are not in the Department long enough to know it and

have the incentive to learn its procedures. Hence the number of persons available for

committee work and related activities is small compared to the level of teaching activity.

Because they are not involved in departmental activities other than in teaching, they feel

little sense of belonging. Non-regular members also impose another heavy burden on the

chair and the administrative structure generally: their recruitment takes an inordinate

amount of time because they are not easy to find and assuring that they are of sufficient

quality for their teaching tasks is not easy to do. Integrating them into the regular teaching

programme is difficult because one cannot be sure, as one can be more or less certain about

regular members, what they stress in their teaching and what their strengths and

weaknesses are. Hence it is not easy to predict what their students will héve learned in

their courses which, typically, are junior (prerequisite) courses. Supervising them and

giving them the orientation that is required so that they may carry out their duties well is

challenging. Simply achieving this task of managing the non-permanent members of the

Department reasonably well would tax anyone's skills: carrying out the regular burdens of

the Department Chair in addition must greatly add to that challenge.

Finally, and a question that was extensively dealt with in the previous evaluation,

the Department has had a long history of conflicts that have added complications to the

chair's role.

Thus far we have outlined what we see as some of the difficulties and challenges

facing departmental governance. But while these are not inconsiderable, they are not

severe and far from insurmountable. While there were expressions of concern about the

Department by some of its members, while students expressed criticism regarding a

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38

number of departmental practices and while there were some complaints by outsiders of

Department administration, the degree of good-will and respect shown by most members

toward each other is encouraging and even gratifying. Indeed, we are of the opinion that the

Department, because of this generally positive atmosphere and because of recent

developments, presently finds itself in a situation which will allow it to deal with some

organizational problems and prepare itself for future challenges.

The most important developments in this respect are the turnover of departmental

members and the growth in the number of faculty members that has taken place and that is

continuing. While the retirement of distinguished members weakens the Department in one

sense, the arrival of new members provides the opportunity to make changes in decision

making and governance which can strengthen its functioning and its sense of common

purpose. It was apparent in our visit that the group of new Department members is highly

qualified and eager to continue as well as to strengthen its tradition of research

productivity, and that its members are equally eager to help in making the Department into

an organization wilh such a strong sense of common purpose and identity. The opportunity

must be grasped speedily to harness and channel that energy and enthusiasm so that the

Department will be..in a strong position to face the organizational challenges of the future

and to manage further potential growth. The acquisition of new teaching positions and the

establishment of new programmes and centers will add vitality and capacity to the

Department; however this growth will be most fruitful and indeed will be properly

undertaken only if effective decision making structures and practices to manage such

growth exist.

A number of fairly straightforward changes that will require little effort can be

suggested in this regard. First is an adjustment of practices having to do. with Department

meetings. We note that the previous set of reviewers also addressed themselves to this

issue. They were concerned that a forum be created in which a sense of common purpose is

nurtured, in which individual interests are expressed and defended, in which common

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39

decisions are made, and in which departmental decisions, because they were made in that

context, are legitimized. Further, it is of. great importance that a set of accepted

procedures be adopted which give everyone a sense of what is acceptable behaviour and what

is unacceptable. While it is difficult to gauge what progress has been made in the direction

of creating such a well-functioning institution in the ensuing years because we cannot

judge the situation that obtained at the time of the last review, it appears from our

interviews and from other evidence that there may well be some distance still to travel

along this road.

We feel it useful, in this regard, to repeat the relevant recommendation of the

previous departmental reviewers, viz.:

That the Department, meeting collectively and regularly, should become and be

recognized as the main legislative and norm-setting body within and for the

Department.

?

..

?

. ?

•

We also feel it serves a useful purpose to make somewhat more detailed recommendations to

achieving this goaL. First, it was not clear to all members of the Department whether a

regular time has been set aside for departmental meetings. Having a time slot of sufficient

length for a fairly lengthy meeting in which teaching activities are not scheduled makes

possible attendance by everyone, not only at meetings of the whole Department but also of

committees because it means there are no conflicting teaching obligations. Hence we

recommend:

That the Department set aside a time for meetings in which no teaching activities

are scheduled, that this time be of sufficient length (at least 90 minutes) for

conducting major business and that this time be clearly communicated to all

members of the Department.

---

.

Second, it does not appear that the Department meets frequently. This is not in and of itself

a failing in some departments. But in one in which a sense of common purpose is not

strongly established, it is useful to make provision for at least a monthly meeting. We

recommend:

That the Department schedule a regular monthly Department meeting, and meet

more often if the need arises.

Interviews established that minutes of Department meetings are not kept, at least

not regularly. This makes it difficult to determine with authority what past decisions have

been taken and hence to develop common policies and procedures, let alone resolve disputes

over interpretation of what has come before. It is essential that proper procedures for the

Department meetings and important meetings of committees be followed: i.e., that there be

an agenda which includes as its first item consideration of the minutes of the previous

meeting, the adoption, after any amendments, of these previous minutes, the consideration

of business arising.out of these minutes, etc., and that proper procedures for arriving at

important decisions, including formal motions that are seconded and duty approved, be

followed. Experience has shown that such procedures help to focus meetings and make more

effective the process of arriving at decisions. The minutes of departmental meetings should

become a main part of the corpus of decisions, policies and procedures, to wit, the

constitution, of the Department. In a number of universities, these minutes are forwarded

to the dean's office so that he/she is apprised formally of major developments in the

Department. We recommend:

That formal minutes of Department meetings be kept, that these be formally adopted

0 ?

at subsequent meetings, and that accepted rules of procedure be followed in

40

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41

meetings. We further recommend that the Department forward copies of these

?

0

minutes to the Dean for at least a year.

It is also essential to have a well-functioning committee system because it is

wasteful of time to deal with complex matters in a Department meeting if these have not

been previously examined by a number of persons who can focus on researching an issue in

some detail and who can make recommendations from among which the Department can

choose a course of action or policy. Committees with an ongoing mandate require clear

terms of reference that are formally spelled out after due deliberation by the Department.

They can have responsibilities of an ongoing or recurrent nature as well as for other

matters that fall in their area of jurisdiction. Committees established for a limited (ad

hoc) purpose should be instructed either by the Chair or by the Department acting

collectively through a resolution taken by a Department meeting to undertake one or a

number of actions. The committee chair should report its deliberations to the Department

meeting, which deliberations become the basis for discussion and ultimately final decision

making in the Department. We recommend:

That Department committees be given clear terms of reference and that they be

required formally to report back to the Department their findings and

recommendations. Major Department decisions should normally be referred to the

responsible committee for preliminary study and deliberation. In particular, the

Undergraduate and Graduate Committees should be charged with monitoring and

improving all aspects of their respective programmes including those arising out of

the recommendations of this report.

When members of the Department expressed themselves about or made reference to

committees, it appeared that they frequently thought about committees established along

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sub-disciplinary (e.g., Canadian politics and government, international relations) lines.

Since this type of committee structure seems to have considerable support, it might

fruitfully be formally institutionalized to allow for preliminary consideration of certain

issues such as curriculum development. However, overemphasis on sub-disciplinary

committees may unduly fracture the Department along lines of sub-disciplinary interests,

hence they should not by themselves be allowed to make final decisions but be required

rather to report to committees that represent the entire Department such as the

undergraduate or graduate committee, or the Department meeting itself. Whenever

possible, the more inclusively structured committees should be given the more important

tasks.

To counteract a tendency toward informality in the Department, a tendency that may

not have served the best interests of the Department because it allowed matters to 'slip

through the cracks" and perhaps to lead to a situation where some are dealt with

ineffectively or not at all, it would be useful for committee chairpersons to formally

report to the Department committee once or twice a year about the work of their

committees and the progress they have made on those matters which they have been

assigned. We recommend:

That committees be required to give at least an annual formal accounting to the

Department meeting of their activities.

The informal manner in which the Department operates may also have had the effect

of impeding the communication process both within the Department and to those who deal

with the Department externally. We have already mentioned that regular members of the

Department were sometimes unaware of procedures, and this state of affairs certainly

applied with respect to non-tenure track members. Further, outsiders, including deans,

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complained about the tardiness of decision making in the Department and the lack of follow-

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up on requests for action or information.

It is difficult to make a specific recommendation or set of recommendations to

rectify such shortcomings. Clearly, a well-institutionalized committee system allows the

chair to assign duties to others so that she/he is not overburdened and hence to have

matters'dealt with in an expeditious fashion. Certainly, for example, most graduate

matters should be dealt with by the graduate committee chairperson with or without the

participation of committee members, depending on whether implementation or decision

making is involved. Again, it is useful to have spelled out in advance what is expected of

various participants in the decision making process. The assignment of a specific task

should also be accompanied by the setting of a target date for its accomplishment: this will

help to ensure, for example, that a request for action by a graduate dean or college dean will

be followed by an expeditious response.

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appears to be need for the formulation of policies for another, and equally or

more important reason. We saw evidence of a considerable degree of variation in practices

among persons performing similar duties, for example teaching. Thus essays are required

in certain sections of a course, not in others, or when a certain instructor teaches a course

but not when that course is taught by someone else. In some senior courses the entire grade

is determined by performance on a final examination, in others there are two or more

methods of evaluation. Some teaching assistants are instructed in detail about their work,

others -are not;- not infrequently there are substantial differences in the way teaching

assistants in the same course section perform their duties. Sometimes teaching assistants

are not required to attend lectures given by the course instructor in part, it was thought by

undergraduate students and some teaching assistants, so that T.A. time could be freed for

research assistance. As a result, they are not satisfactorily able to respond to students'

questions about course material. Such practices have led to feelings of resentment by

undergraduate students in these courses; they have also prompted teaching assistants to

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complain about such inequities or the absence of clear instruction and/or supervision from

the instructor responsible for the course. While these issues are addressed in other parts

of this report dealing with the graduate and undergraduate programmes, it is necessary

here to make the general point that the Department would do well to review its policies and

to ensure more uniformity in practices through setting, communicating and implementing

policies and procedures, especially given the large number of non-permanent persons

teaching in the Department who appear often to be left with comparatively little guidance.

Without a more rigorously defined set of procedures on such matters, the unintended and no

doubt false impression may be left that the Department is run in the interest of its regular

members and is little concerned about what is happening in the teaching trenches in terms

of common standards and equitable practices.

In order to help non-regular members to be more aware of common standards and to

help them feel part of the Department, it is advisable to consider having them participate

in committee and/or Department meetings, or at least to have representation from among

their number active in departmental affairs in this fashion. It appears that though they are

aware that they can participate, they are reluctant to do so. With some encouragement and

a request to participate formally in Department structures or to be involved in some other

way in departmental activities their considerable talents could be harnessed in the

Department's interest. It is also easy for these non-regular members to feel that their

contribution to the Department is seen exclusively in teaching terms: they have little sense

of connection to the Department in terms of research or sharing of ideas. In later

paragraphs we will make some suggestions as to how, without necessarily integrating such

members of the Department into ongoing research projects, they might nevertheless be

more involved in the academic life of the Department.

Finally, it is important to recognize that the allocation of resources to members of

the Department, for example funding for computers, be made on the basis of regular

procedures and well-understood rules.

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In summary, we recommend:

That the Department review various areas of its functioning (teaching, its

committee system, its relations with other university offices etc.) with the goal of

more systematically developing and implementing sets of procedures in these areas.

The impression that there is a tendency toward individual as opposed to collective

departmental action is reinforced by the absence of jointly organized and jointly

implemented activities beyond teaching. There is some limited joint research activity,

although its scarcity is not uncommon elsewhere in political science departments. What is

more striking, though, is the absence of such institutions as an organized speakers

programme in which regular Department members, limited term appointees, sessional

lecturer, interested members of cognate departments as as well as graduate and

undergraduate students meet to attend a presentation and to discuss the ideas introduced by

the speaker. It is common in some departments to have at least four or five such events

each term, which typically do not involve large or even any expenses since local speakers

are called upon, or..speakers sponsored by their organizations, such as federal government

agencies or foreign governments, can be invited. In addition, departments or a sub-set of

their members, frequently organize major conferences at which members and visiting

speakers present papers. Non-permanent members of a department can be fruitfully

involved in such activities. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council has a

programme which will subsidize academic conferences. In many instances such major

conferences result in the publication of conference proceedings. Experience shows that

activities of this kind help to create a sense of common purpose among department

members, and of course also to further the dissemination of knowledge. Hence we

recommend:

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That the Department initiate a regular faculty colloquium and/or speakers

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programme, and that it consider periodically organizing an academic conference.

10. Relations Within the University

Our visit to Simon Fraser unfortunately did not allow us time to look at perceptions

of the other departments as to the participation of Political Science in these programmes.

However, we are unable to comment very much on this question and will in fact focus more

on relations between the Department and the senior governing structures of the University.

It is clear that this is not an altogether happy or successful relation. The majority

view in the Department is that the Department, certainly in the past but perhaps even up to

the present, has not received adequate resources from the University. To some extent, one

can talk of mixed messages - the Department felt that it was being encouraged to very

• rapidly increase student enrolments on the promise that this would be rewarded in terms of

new positions. Although some new positions have been obtained by the Department, the

Department does not feel that the implied promises were fulfilled in that other

departments, perceived to have taken in less new student enrolments, are perceived to have

been rewarded more than Political Science. The on and off-expansion messages are also

seen to have added to the ambiguity of the messages - the University's messages about the

importance of an expanded graduate programme are interrupted by periods of severe

financial restraint. The ambiguity is also sometimes felt by members of the Department in

terms of questions where the University-wide rules are not felt to be supportive of stated

objectives (lack of University-wide teaching evaluations etc).

If the Department feels that the University has been unclear or mixed in its

messages, the University seems to feel some level of discontent about the administrative

laxity of the Department (slowness in scheduling, budgetary problems, etc). Both sides

seem to wish for greater clarity and strength of initiative from the other - the Department

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seems often to feel that the University-wide rules make initiative on its part difficult and

the University seems to feel that the Department is lacking initiative. However there are

also some factors that would suggest improved relations are possible. The Department has

suffered in the past from having had members that by-passed the Department level in

dealing with the University administration. The 1984 evaluation is quite detailed on this

point and our Review Committee clearly confirmed this problem. To the extent that some of

the members involved are no longer with the Department should improve the collective

decision-making capacity of the Department. Both Department members and the

University should be aware of the importance of building this collective decision-making

capacity in the Department and should work to realize this objective.

One particular aspect of this broad question should be mentioned specifically and it

is the relation between the Department and the office of the Dean of Graduate Studies. Given

what we perceived to be the overall Department view that the development of the graduate

programme is "a priority for the Department, it is unfortunate that this view has not

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transmitted itself to the office of the Dean of Graduate Studies. We recommend:

That the Department increase contacts with the Office of the Dean of Graduate

Studies and work with that office in the development of the graduate programme.

Finally, and with particular reference to the present exercise, it appears that there

was. only limited follow-up in implementing the suggestions for change made by the

previous review committee. It is our hope that the recommendations of the present report

will not meet such a fate but that, instead, a monitoring procedure be established in

consultation between the Senior Administration and the Department so that the agreed-upon

changes are undertaken and given a chance to succeed.

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11. Relations Outside the University

The Review Committee looked at the question of the relations of the Department

outside the University only in terms of examining the cv's of the members of the

Department plus our own personal knowledge of the activities of Departmental members.

Generally speaking the members of the Department have not played a very active role

outside the University. There are a few notable exceptions but as a rule this has not been

true. Department members have been widely used as reviewers for academic journals and

research proposals and this is in keeping with their general activity as researchers.

The explanations given for this come back to the history of controversy within the

Department - this led to people going off to do their own research and to tend to individual

rather than collective intellectual enterprises. Once again, and one of the recurring themes

of this report, the time for redressing the balance towards greater emphasis on collective

intellectual enterprises would seem to be ripe. New members of the Department are in

many cases regular participants in the major Canadian meetings (CPSA, IPAC) and greater

departmental visiljlity should both build on this participation and facilitate it. This

greater visibility is obviously a question of degree; no department wants all its members

active in professional associations and in the organizing of professional conferences and,

indeed, several of the members of the Department are already active. What needs to happen

is for the more recent members of the Department to feel that this activity is positively

encouraged by the Department.

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.

Committee to Review

the Department of Political Science

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Summary of Proposals

1.

That the Department offer two 200-level courses in each subfield.

2.

That, given the prospect of diminution of short term teaching resources, the

Department review all upper division offerings and retain only those that can be offered at

least once a year by regular faculty.

3.

That the Department relax size restrictions on all 300-level courses, allowing at

least those in greatest demand to be given as lectures, while 400-level courses remain

seminars with rigorously controlled enrolments.

4.

That the Department put in place a system of prerequisites, albeit a fairly liberal

one which required.at

least one 300-level course in the subfield for entry to any 400-level

seminar. This would have to go hand in hand with greater frequency and predictability in

offering courses, especially at the 300 level. In addition, while prerequisites, credits and

GPA might continue to govern admissions to 300-level courses, it would make sense under

the proposed system to give majors and honours students priority in admission to 400-level

courses.

5.

That either the honours programme be dropped or that it be redefined, in effect, as a

variant on the major which would involve preparation of a thesis (either reduced to the

weight of three semester hours, or increased to six) and the taking of 400-level seminars

in the subfield of concentration.

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6.

That undergraduates be required to take a course in political theory while leaving

them some latitude as to the choice of courses to meet the requirement.

7.

That, first, in the context of of the structural changes discussed above the

Department ought to cut the number of courses offered in the upper division so as to

reflect more accurately what full time faculty can realistically be expected to teach on a

regular basis. Second, with the exception of those doing the major administrative tasks, all

faculty should be expected to teach the five course norm each year (at present about half

teach only four).

8.

Some thought should be given to a regular departmental bulletin to meet at least some

of these needs.

9.

That the Department continue the present course of systematizing the teaching

evaluation process, and also commit itself to publish the results.

10.

That TAs get clearer guidelines and better instruction and monitoring by the

Department. One step, easily taken, would be to supplement the one day University wide

orientation for TAs with a session in the Department more focussed on the particular needs

of political science students and courses.

11.

That the Department adopt the policy that final examinations are marked by faculty

only, and that this policy be announced as a matter of pedagogical principle.

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1 2. That the Department continue, first within field committees, then within the

graduate programme committee and the full Department, discussion about the ways in which

it wants to define the areas of strength within the two areas of concentration at the Master's

level.

13.

That POL 801-5 be reorganized in such away that the choice of thesis area not be

dealt with in the course.

14.

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That biennial reviews

of course descriptions

and course materials

be done by the

Graduate Studies Committee

so as make sure this

material is up to date

and reflects the

teaching and research interests of the Department.

15.

That the Department draw up a written document describing the planned MA in

International Studies that calls for the participation of other departments and that this

proposal serve as the basis of discussion with other departments.

16.

That the Department proceed with their decision to assign supervisors to students

upon entry to the programme and that this policy be consistently administered and

monitored by the Graduate Studies Committee.

17..

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That the Chair monitor more closely the work loads of TA's.

18.

That assignment of TA's be the responsibility of the Graduate Studies Committee.

19.

That the Department discuss ways of encouraging its members to submit- external

research proposals.

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20.

That the Department instruct the Graduate Studies Committee to examine the

procedures of the graduate programme in regard to deferred marks, length of time students

take to complete their programmes etc. with a view to devising rules that will be adopted by

the Department.

21.

That additional continuing appointments be made in the Department of Political

Science, at least so that the Department reach the average Faculty of Arts level of continuing

faculty members per F.T.E. student.

22.

That at least one of the new appointments in the Department of Political Science be

made in political philosophy/political theory.

23.

That the Department of Political Science be assigned a room that can serve as

departmental library/seminar room.

24.

That the Department, meeting collectively and regularly, should become and be

recognized as the main legislative and norm-setting body within and for the Department.

25.

That the Department set aside a time for meetings in which no teaching activities are

scheduled, that this time be of sufficient length (at least 90 minutes) for conducting major

business and that this time be clearly communicated to all members of the Department.

26.

That the Department schedule a regular monthly Department meeting, and meet more

often if the need arises.

27.

That formal minutes of Department meetings be kept, that these be formally adopted

at subsequent meetings, and that accepted rules of procedure be followed in meetings. We

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further recommend that the Department forward copies of these minutes to the Dean for at

least a year.

28.

That Department committees be given clear terms of reference and that they be

required formally to report back to the Department their findings and recommendations.

Major Department decisions should normally be referred to the responsible committee for

preliminary study and deliberation. In particular, the Undergraduate and Graduate

Committees should be charged with monitoring and improving all aspects of their

respective programmes including those arising out of the recommendations of this report.

29.

That committees be required to give at least an annual formal accounting to the

Department meeting of their activities.

30.

That the Department review various areas of its functioning (teaching, its committee

system, its relations with other university offices etc.) with the goal of more systematically

developing and implementing sets of procedures in these areas.

31.

That the Department initiate a regular faculty colloquium and/or speakers

programme, and that it consider periodically organizing an academic conference.

32.

That the Department increase contacts with the Office of the Graduate Dean and work

with that office in the development of the graduate programme.