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S.06-83

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Senate Committee on University Priorities

Memorandum

TO:

FROM: ?

RE:

Great Northern Way Campus: Academic DATE:

May 17, 2006

Governance and Administration of Degree Programs (SCUP 06-24)

At its May 10, 2006 meeting SCUP reviewed and approved a proposal articulating

principles for the academic governance and administration of degree programs for the

Great Northern Way Campus, which is now forwarded to Senate for approval.

Motion

That Senate approve the principles set out for the academic governance and

administration of degree programs for the Great Northern Way Campus.

Rationale

These principles will guide academic development at the Great Northern Way Campus

for the four partner institutions; The British Columbia Institute of Technology, the Emily

Carr Institute, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia.

end.

I ?

Proposal - June 27, 2006

Great Northern Way Campus?

Academic Governance and Administration of Degree Programs ?

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide description of the principles of academic governance

proposed for programs at the Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC) and the administrative mecha-

nisms proposed for their implementation. The institutional context and history of the GNWC are

provided to assist readers.

Background

In 2001, four major post-secondary institutions joined

together

to establish the Great Northern Way

Campus (GNWC) in Vancouver. The British Columbia Institute of Technology, the Emily Carr In-

stitute, Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia are jointly co-owners of the

8.9-hectare parcel of land on Great Northern Way, located between Clark Drive and Main Street.

The GNWC institutions are committed to work together, in concert with Provincial and Federal

governments, the City of Vancouver, industry and other entities, to build a unique, integrated centre

of excellence in teaching/learning, research and entrepreneurship, with program and collaborative

research opportunities not available on any one campus.

In 2003, the Senates and Education Councils of the four GNWC institutions considered and ap-

proved in principle the Great Northern Way Campus Academic Vision document (with caveats, in

one case, about the due diligence required prior to participation in GNWC programs). In 2004, the

Academic Planning Committee of the GNWC completed the first Strategic Academic Plan which

identified the following program areas for initial development: Urban Sustainability, Transforming

Arts + Culture, and Digital Media. It also discussed the range of options for program development,

governance and implementation.

Over the last two years, significant progress has been made in each of these three areas. Briefly:

Urban Sustainability:

UBC is about to break ground on the Campus for the construction of the

Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, which will house activities of all four GNWC

partners. The Learning City Group has offered a number of courses in urban sustainability; courses

jointly designed and taught were "officially" hosted by one of the GNWC partner institutions.

Transforming Arts

+ Culture: The former Finning welding shop has been converted into a Black

Box Studio, which provides a venue for artists to explore the boundaries of their crafts. It has

housed a range of activities and art installations; it served as the centerpiece of "Earth: the World

Urban Festival" the official arts and culture festival of the World Urban Forum June 2

1-25,

2006,

bringing artists from around the globe to Vancouver to share their stories and experiences, and help

build awareness of the role of art in creating livable, sustainable and vibrant cities.

Digital Media:

In fall 2005, after completing three feasibility studies, the GNWC decided to pro-

ceed with the offering of a joint master's program in Digital Media with the strong support and col-

laboration of the local new media industry cluster, represented by New Media BC. In February

2006, in response to a joint request from the GNWC and New Media BC, the BC Government pro-

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vided a substantial grant to facilitate the offering of the program and the construction of a building

at the GNWC to house it, as part of a planned major centre.

As noted above, to date academic programming has been in the form of individual courses hosted

by one or the other of the partner institutions. The GNWC administration facilitated the registration

and transfer credit for students from the other three institutions and, in some cases, funds were

transferred among the institutions to cover costs of instruction. Some modest support was provided

by the GNWC itself.

This delivery method is inadequate for the offering of full academic degree programs, and consider-

able time and effort have been dedicated to development of a workable approach for their initial

governance, administration and delivery. The following description, in outline form (for now), is

presented for consideration. It is recognized that as faculty members and other employees are ap-

pointed and as students are enrolled, the decision-making structures will need to evolve in order to

include mechanisms for their participation.

Structure

The four GNWC partner institutions are signatories of the Shareholder Agreement under which they

are jointly responsible for major decisions about the Campus, including acquisition and disposition

of capital property and appointments to the Board of Directors.

The GNWC Board of Directors comprises three senior representatives from each of the four GNWC

partners, the GNWC President and up to three "external" members. The Board's Academic Com-

mittee comprises the four GNWC institutions' Vice Presidents, Academic (or equivalent) and one

other person from each of the four partner institutions, plus the GNWC President, the Chair of the

GNWC Board and external members. The Academic Committee has responsibility for the estab-

lishment and maintenance of the highest academic standards for GNWC programs. Its approval is

prerequisite to seeking the approvals of the Senates and Education Councils of the partner institu-

tions for GNWC academic programs.

The Academic Committee and Board of the GNWC recommend the following guidelines for offer-

ing of programs at the Great Northern Way Campus:

For each Program initiative, a Steering Committee will be established; it will report to the Aca-

demic Committee. It will have faculty representatives from each of the GNWC institutions, student

representatives from the program itself and external member(s). Each Steering Committee will have

responsibly for the operation of its program and thus will serve in a role similar to that of an aca-

demic department. The Director of each program will be responsible to the Academic Committee

for all matters related to academic content.

Credentialing

The Great Northern Way Campus will not be an autonomous degree granting institution and Pro-

vincial base (FTE) funding is not anticipated. Rather, degrees will be conferred by virtue of the cre-

dentialing authority of the four GNWC partner institutions. Recruiting information, websites, tran-

scripts, degree parchments and similar materials will carry the crests of all four partner institutions.

Program establishment will require approval by the Senates or Education Councils of the four insti-

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tutions, consistent with their established procedures. Approvals by the institutions will also be re-

quired for substantial changes to the program.

Status of the Director and Facult

Members

Each program's Director will be its academic and administrative leader. Appointment may be at a

host institution or may be made under contract to GNWC; in the latter case, it is expected that the

Director will be suitable for appointment as an adjunct professor at one or more of the GNWC insti-

tutions. In either case, appointment will be subject to approval by the GNWC Academic Committee

and Board. All regular continuing faculty members in the program will be appointed at one or the

other of the four GNWC institutions, following its normal appointment procedures, with input from

the program Director. The institution of appointment for each position will be determined by the

GNWC Academic Committee. Faculty members will be seconded to the GNWC program and

housed at the GNWC, with the expectation of involvement also with the institution at which they

are formally appointed - for example, via graduate supervision and/or service on committees. Infra-

structure support for research will be provided by the GNWC. It is expected that regular faculty

members at the GNWC institutions will wish to be associated with GNWC programs and their par-

ticipation will be welcomed.

Student Status

Students will be housed physically and administratively at the Great Northern Way Campus. The

Campus will take full responsibility for recruitment, admission, registration, fee collection, advising

and provision of other services. This will involve creation of a full GNWC policy framework to

. govern academic matters (admission, grades, etc.), financial matters (fees, etc.), and student conduct

(integrity, harassment, etc.). The principles underlying the GNWC policies will be fully consistent

with the relevant policies of the four GNWC partner institutions. For essential and appropriate serv-

ices that cannot be provided by the GNWC, arrangements will be made to offer them to GNWC

students through contract services with any of the GNWC institutions, or other appropriate parties.

Staff Status

Recruitment, appointment, supervision and all other human resource aspects of relationships with

other program employees - including administrative, professional, technical and clerical staff - will

be accomplished via contracts with the GNWC. This will involve creation of a full GNWC policy

framework to govern workplace matters including appointment, compensation and conduct.

Conclusion

It is hoped that this proposal will receive approval by the four GNWC partner institutions and that

this exciting, unique opportunity at inter-institutional, multi-sector collaboration can proceed to ful-

fill its potential.