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S.98-10

10 ?

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC

From: ?

Senate Committee on Academic Plartining

Subject: ?

Faculty of Science -

Graduate Program in Molecular

Biology

and Biochemistry

(SGSC Meeting Nov. 17, 1997)

(SCAP Reference: SCAP 97-57)

Date: ?

December 9, 1997

Action undertaken by the Senate Graduate Studies Committee and the Senate

Committee on Academic Planning gives rise to the following motion:

Motion:

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors as set forth in S.98 -

10 ,

that the full administrative

authority for the Graduate Program in Molecular Biology and

Biochemistry (MBB) be transferred to the Biochemistry Program

from the Departments of Chemistry and Biological Sciences.

For the purpose of assignment of Teaching Assistantships,

graduate students qualified to teach in, but not registered in,

a departmental program and supervised by a member of the

department will be given preference over external graduate

students, undergraduate students, and candidates for appointments

as External Teaching Assistants."

For

Acting

Information:

under delegated

authority the Senate Graduate Studies Committee

approved the following change to the Calendar entry:

From: ?

The interdepartmental Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

graduate program (MBB) is administered by a steering committee

consisting of members of the Institute of Molecular Biology and

Biochemistry (IMBB). Members have appointments in the

Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Physics. In

addition, the IMBB has associate members from these and other

departments who may serve as senior supervisors.

To: ?

The Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (MBB) graduate program

is administered through the Biochemistry Program by a steering

committee consisting of members of the Institute of Molecular

Biology and Biochemistry (IMBB). Members of the IMBB have

appointments in the Biochemistry Program, and/or Departments of

Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Physics. In addition, the IMBB

has associate members who may also serve as senior supervisors for

students in the MBB graduate program.

CS. 97 . 24

. ?

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

MEMORANDUM

To:

B.P. Clayman,

From: C.H.W. Jones, Dean

Dean of Graduate Studies

Faculty of Science

Subject:

MBB ?

Date: October 24, 1997

At the Faculty of Science meeting on October 20, 1997, the following motion

was approved:

That full administrative authority for the Graduate Program in Molecular Biology

and Biochemistry (MBB) be transferred to the Biochemistry Program from the

Departments of Chemistry and Biological Sciences. For the purpose of

assignment of Teaching Assistantships, graduate students qualified to teach in,

but not registered in, a departmental program and supervised by a member of

the department will be given preference over external graduate students,

undergraduate students, and candidates for appointments as External Teaching

Assistants.

And that the Calendar Entry for this program be changed,

From:

The interdepartmental Molecular Biology and Biochemistry graduate program (MBB) is

administered by a steering committee consisting of members of the Institute of

Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (IMBB). Members have appointments in the

Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Physics. In addition, the IMBB has

associate members from these and other departments who may serve as senior

supervisors.

To:

The Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (MBB) graduate program is administered

through the Biochemistry Program by a steering committee consisting of members of

the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (IMBB). Members of the IMBB have

appointments in the Biochemistry Program, and/or Departments of Biological

Sciences, Chemistry and Physics. In addition, the IMBB has associate members who

may also serve as senior supervisors for students in the MBB graduate program.

Background and rationale:

The MBB Graduate Program was approved in 1995 (Senate document S95-

18). Initially, it was envisioned as an independent program administered by the

Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (IMBB), with its members and

associate members serving as senior supervisors of students in the program. This

proposed arrangement was approved as a Statement of Intent by the Faculty of

Science and was approved in principle by SCAP. However, the Dean of Graduate

Studies maintained that research institutes cannot administer teaching programs and

that interdepartmental programs must be administered by a department, school, or

independent program. The MBB Graduate Program was consequently initiated as two

parallel streams in the Departments of Chemistry and Biological Sciences. The MBB

Graduate Program is overseen by a Steering Committee consisting of members of the

IMBB, which elects a Graduate Program Committee. It reviews students for admission,

and ranks applicants for SFU Graduate Fellowships and external scholarships, then

advising the departments about MBB graduate students enrolled in that department.

The departments have final responsibility for recommending students for admission,

monitoring their progress, ranking them for fellowships/scholarships, and

communicating with the Dean of Graduate studies.

This arrangement has proven cumbersome and fails to acknowledge that some

faculty members in the MBB program do not hold appointments in Chemistry or

Biosciences, making it difficult or impossible for them to accept students into the

program. This proposal would transfer authority for the program to those most

concerned with its success (the MBB Steering Committee), with full administrative

responsibility to be held by the Biochemistry Program. The interests of the students

will be served in a more informed manner by this arrangement, and faculty workload

will be reduced by eliminating some duplication of effort. There should be no net

increase in operating cost since there will be no net change in the number of students

(presently about 45) resulting from this change of an existing program.

The MBB Graduate Program will have representation on Faculty and University

committees identical to that afforded to departmental graduate programs.

Please include this item on the agenda of the next meeting of SGSC for

consideration and approval.

C.H.W. Jones

CHWJ:rh

B.P. Brandhorst, Director, IMBB

A. Lachlan, Chair, Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee