S.05-12

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
GS 2004.38
INTERACTIVE ARTS & TECHNOLOGY
1. EXTERNAL REVIEW FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN INTERACTIVE
2. ARTS & TECHNOLOGY
Georgia
Tech
Potential Problems ? 0
The degrees to be awarded ? 9
Minimum Standard Entrance Requirements for MA and MSc Programs ? 0
Concordia University ? 0

S.05-12

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Senate Committee on University Priorities

Memorandum

TO: Senate

FROM:

John WaterIous XA'

Chair,

SCUP,

Vice-President, Academic

RE: MA, MSc and PhD Programs

DATE:

Decemb, 2004

SlAT ?

Attached is a proposal from the Senate Graduate Studies Committee for new MA, MSc

and PhD programs in the School for Interactive Arts and Technology.

The Senate Committee on University Priorities reviewed the proposal at its December

15, 2004 meeting. The proposal was unanimously approved.

MOTION

"That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the proposal for a

MA program in the School for Interactive Arts and Technology."

MOTION

"That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the proposal for a

MSc program in the School for Interactive Arts and Technology."

MOTION

"That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the proposal for a

PhD program in the School for Interactive Arts and Technology"

Attach.

• ?

J. Driver

R. Woodbury

G. Nicholls

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES

MEMORANDUM

TO:

SCUP

FROM: ?

Jonathan Driver, Dean of Graduate Studies

SUBJECT: SlAT Graduate Programs

DATE: ?

70'

December 2004

cc: ?

R. Woodbury, SlAT

At its

6th

December 2004 meeting Senate Graduate Studies Committee unanimously

approved the enclosed proposal for MA, MSc and PhD programs in the School for

Interactive Arts and Technology. I am therefore forwarding this to SCUP, with the

recommendation that it be approved. In addition to the full proposal and course outlines,

I also enclose copies of relevant correspondence and external reviews of the program.

GS 2004.38

PROPOSAL FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN

INTERACTIVE ARTS & TECHNOLOGY

9 April ?

2003 Approved "in-principle" by Senate Committee on

University Priorities

9 December 2003 Approved by Faculty of Applied Sciences

23 January

2004 Received by Dean of Graduate Studies

10 March

2004 Reviewed by Assessment Committee for New

Graduate Programs

27 April

2004 Received revised program proposal from School of

Interactive Arts & Technology

7 July ?

2004 Sent proposal to four external reviewers by Dean of

Graduate Studies

3 August ?

2004 Received external reviewers' reports by Dean of

Graduate Studies

10 September 2004 Sent external reviewers' reports to School of

Interactive Arts & Technology by Dean of Graduate

Studies

4 October

2004 Received School of Interactive Arts &

Technology's response to external reviewers'

reports

14 October

2004 Reviewed and approved by Assessment Committee

for New Graduate Programs, pending acceptable

course proposals

22 November 2004 Received revised program and course proposals,

and submitted to Senate Graduate Studies

Committee

06 December 2004 Reviewed and approved by SGSC

ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE FOR NEW GRADUATE PROGRAMMES

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

COV-SIAT

12/07/04

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

DEAN

OF GRADUATE STUDIES

MEMORANDUM

To: ?

Jon Driver, SGSC

FROM: ?

Trude Heift, ACNGP

SUBJECT:

Graduate Programs (MA,

DATE: ?

November 22, 2004

MSc, PhD) in Interactive Arts

and Technology

At the ACNGP meeting of 14th October 2004 the committee unanimously

recommended that the proposed graduate programs in Interactive Arts & Technology

(MA, MSc, PhD) be forwarded to SGSC, with the recommendation that they be

approved, pending the following revisions:

Explanation of the number of required courses for the Masters degrees

Revised course proposals for IAT 800 and IAT 813 and elimination of the elective

courses, IAT 841 and TAT 843

These changes have now been made and the concerns raised by ACNGP have been

addressed.

TJ c\1n

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE PROGRAM

COMPUTING ARTS

AND

DESIGN SCIENCES

2400 CENTRAL CITY

_____

____

10153 KING GEORGE HIGHWAY

SURREY,BC V3T2WI

TEL. (604) 268 7501

FAX. (604)268 7488

22 November 2004

Dr Trude Heift

Associate Dean of Graduate Studies

SFU

Dear Dr Heift

Re: Graduate Program in Interactive Arts and Technology

I am pleased to respond to the issues raised by the ACNGP and communicated in your note of 15

October 2004 regarding our proposed graduate program.

The issues raised by Dr. Murray have been addressed in our response letter to the external reviews. An

amended version is attached.

We have amended the course outlines for IAT 800 and IAT 813 in response to concerns expressed at the

ACNGP and by Dr Norm Badler. The program proposal itself has been accordingly amended.

The two courses IAT 841 and IAT 843 have been removed from the proposal. We understand that the

sole grounds for this deletion is the uncertainty involved in our faculty hiring process - it is unclear that we

would have appropriate faculty to teach these particular courses in the future. They do, however, occupy

an important structural place in our curriculum as MSc electives. Once the process of faculty hiring has

concluded we will prepare new course proposals to replace these two courses in our curriculum. These

new proposals will be brought forward separate from the current program approval process, likely in the

fall of 2005.

Yours sincerely

Rob Woodbury

Professor

Graduate Program Chair

T: (604) 268 7501

E: rw@sfu.ca

EXTERNAL REVIEW FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN INTERACTIVE

ARTS

TECHNOLOGY

Response of the School of Interactive Arts & Technology

EXT-COV3.DOC 10/06/04

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE PROGRAM

COMPUTING ARTS

AND

DESIGN SCIENCES

2400 CENTRAL CITY

10153 KING GEORGE HIGHWAY

SURREY, BC V3T 2W1-

TEL. (604) 268 7501

FAX. (604) 268 7488

October 2004

Dr Trude Heift

Associate Dean of Graduate Studies

SFU

Dear Dr Heift

Re: Graduate Program in Interactive Arts and Technology

I am pleased to respond to the issues raised by the external reviewers for our proposed graduate

program.

First of all we were delighted to have reviews by four such well-known and respected colleagues. Kellogg

Booth (UBC), Norm Badler (UPenn), Janet Murray (Georgia Tech) and Henry Jenkins (MIT) collectively

cover our program's scope with authority. We were also delighted with the reviews themselves. We read

them all as highly positive, and welcome the specific questions and criticisms they proffer.

I will address the issues reviewer-by-reviewer, in the order in which they are raised.

Badler. Articulation between MA and MSc.

Students will be admitted to one program. Those choosing

to articulate must fulfil the requirements of the program into which they will move. The MSc requirements

include a specific subset of the program requirements, and a record of substantial prior university

coursework in scientific and/or technological areas. Students wishing to articulate in either direction (MA

to MSc or MSc to MA) will do so with the approval of the program's Graduate Studies Committee. The

proposal has been amended (Curriculum.Program Requirements, page 6) to provide a structure for

articulation.

Badler. Foundations of Computation in Computing Arts and Design Sciences course.

Professor

Badler raises substantial concerns about the structure and content of this course. We share many of his

concerns. This semester (Fall 2004) Professors Vive Kumar and Rob Woodbury are offering this course

for the first time under our current Cohort Special Arrangements Program and have revised the syllabus

on several points that align with Professor Badler's concerns. We have updated the course outline and

proposal accordingly.

Badler. Lab scheduling.

The proposed program has adequate lab facilities for its present needs.

Students are not experiencing the problems that Professor Badler anticipates. The upcoming (Sept 2005)

move to new lab space will only improve the situation. With good management (and development) we do

not expect lab scheduling to be a significant issue.

Badler. Students' ability

to cope with accelerated exposure to computational technology.

This

issue pertains to the MA and PhD programs. It is partly addressed by student self-selection and by our

admission of students likely to succeed in our program. In our admissions process we are increasingly

seeing applicants with high levels of prior interest, education and skill in computation. If our Fall 2004

admissions cohort is any indication, our tasks will be two. First we must place students' considerable prior

(and largely practical) knowledge on the firm footings of basic computational theory and programming

practice, embedded within our research areas. Our primary course here is IAT 800 Foundations of

Computation in Computing Arts and Design Sciences. Second, we must assist students in using

technology appropriately in their thesis work. Other program coursework and the thesis work per se are

the devices here. Our faculty and student population has too much diversity to prescribe a single course

of study leading to technological competence. Instead we rely on the quality of faculty advice to students

on coursework and thesis study. There is an analogy to research methods work here. We have a single

course introducing research methods, but place on students the expectation of further research methods

study, both through coursework and thesis work. With respect to technological competence, we have a

single foundations course, requirements in all core courses for use of technological systems (including

programming in several courses) and a faculty group whose research requires technological

sophistication. Our experience to date is that the large majority of graduate students in the program are

developing the requisite technological competence as they progress through the program.

Badler. Demand for graduates.

Professor Badler is concerned that the program may only weakly

enhance graduate employment opportunities. He is right, this is a matter of program perception in the

larger community. Such takes time to develop and the program itself has only the indirect device of the

quality of student work to influence community opinion. We have put forward what we argue is a program

that provides students with access to coursework and faculty of high quality. Our degrees, whether MA,

MSc or PhD, aim at both the breadth necessary to be effective in the complex world of people and

technology and ample opportunity and requirement for the depth needed to do state-of-the-art work. We

note Professor Badler's endorsement of the co-op program and hope to use that in building links within

the industrial community.

Badler. Academic hiring prospects. Again, Professor Badler is right. Some faculty are skittish about

people from 'impure' backgrounds. Such is life. We note that, through the evidence of its recent hiring

processes, SFU's School of Computing Science appears to be immune to this particular disease. We can

only hope that other schools are moving in the same direction. We do note that there is considerable

worldwide growth in academic programs in the areas that our program will serve.

Booth. Renewal of lab equipment.

Professor Booth is completely correct It will take sustained faculty

effort to keep our lab infrastructure at the leading edge. This is a continuing item that is and will be a

strategic focus for our faculty. We note that we have had some success in the last year in bringing in

additional infrastructure funds.

• ?

Booth. Dedicated research space.

We have barely sufficient space now. The plans for new facilities at

SFU Surrey include adequate space for our research and graduate programs. All faculty have been

involved in this planning process. Our administrative structure includes directors for each of our four labs.

Every faculty member has developed an association with one or more labs. Lab directors are responsible

for accommodation within their laboratories.

Booth. Curricula Vitae. We acknowledge the omission of previous employment in the curricula vitae

submitted with this proposal. Our remedy demands some background explanation. SlAT presently has

seven tenurable faculty and one Professor Emeritus. This academic year we are conducting a search for

nine additional tenurable faculty. This will be followed by another search for a similar number. We have

updated the curricula vitae of the present tenurable and emeritus faculty only.

Booth. Academically refereed works. We agree that we need a better collegial understanding of this

important category. As SlAT develops so will this important item.

Booth. Balance of funding for student support.

SlAT stable of active research is growing. Faculty both

want to increase their research effort and are encouraged to do so. At the same time it has a large

demand for teaching assistants. The balance will land where it will, but the trend is towards a greater

proportion of research assistantships.

Jenkins. Flexibility.

We could not agree more with Professor Jenkins when he advocates to "...maintain

a high degree of flexibility to adjust to technological, cultural and economic shifts impacting this area and

to respond to the needs of specific students who often come with very distinctive career goals." Such

flexibility is one of the main design goals for our program. We believe we have achieved flexibility in our

curriculum structure, in which we commit to specific coursework (computation and research methods) for

common needs, a small set of core courses that form the signature of our program and a larger set of

electives. It is our hope that our program will provide a minimal robust structure in which many intellectual

directions can be pursued. Our special topics and directed readings courses we envision partly as

devices with which to maintain healthy change within our program.

Murray.

Revision to

curriculum. Professor Murray points to the likelihood of future revision of our

• ?

program. We completely agree and, again, point to our minimal curriculum structure as a device to enable

such revision. We note that the five specific courses proposed as the core' courses in our program were

collegially designed explicitly as a reflection of the research agenda of the program. Each has aspects of

the "unusual" which Professor Murray ascribes to the proposed Al course. This is intentional - the

courses fit what we do. That said, we expect to revise our courses as the program develops. The rapid

change in the field and the relative youth of our faculty both argue for the need to sustain change. We

note that we have developed for each of the core courses a set of central readings - the anthologies to

which Professor Murray refers.

Murray. Credit comparison with MIT and Georgia Tech programs.

The Georgia Tech MS in

Information Design and Technology requires 10 three-credit courses and a six-credit project or thesis.

Five of the courses are electives and may be taken across a range of disciplines. The MIT Media Arts and

Sciences program 1 requires eight courses, taken two a semester, plus a concurrent thesis. Both of these

programs are consistent with what might be called a

project-based Master's,

in which coursework

predominates over a relatively small project. This is one of two generally accepted designs for a research-

based Master's degree. Ours is simply based on the other design. Our proposal is for a single foundation

course, five courses and a major thesis work. We adopted this design deliberately and for three reasons.

First, we believe that students are better served in future career prospects, particularly in academia, by

having done a major work at the Master's level. Second, both our students and faculty in our cohort

program expressed a desire for a larger capstone work in the program. Third, we perceived that a rough

balance between coursework and thesis seems to be a significant SFU norm.

Murray. Examples of subject areas and reading

lists

for PhD program.

While we would be happy to

provide information from specific PhD students currently in the program (and from our sole graduate to

date), we do not believe that such would add materially to the discussion at this point. The data are few,

and represent diverse research directions.

Murray. Appointment of new senior faculty.

Professor Murray is concerned with the need to acquire

many new senior faculty in a short period of time. Her view is not completely accurate. As of 1 September

2004, SlAT has a complement of seven senior faculty, all appointed through a competitive search, and

one Professor Emeritus. Our current hiring round may include a small number of senior appointments, but

the bulk will be at the Assistant Professor level.

Murray. Non-traditional academics.

Simon Fraser University's policy on tenure and promotion requires

units to define local criteria for tenure consistent with the university's general criteria. A SlAT committee is

presently charged to complete this task by December 2004. Thus it is inevitable that SlAT will soon have

the "...clear procedures for advancement of non-traditional academics" called for by Professor Murray - in

addition to the general criteria put forth by the university.

Murray. Need for a repository of digital artefacts.

We have a repository of approximately 100 digital

games and 350 films in the SFU Surrey Library. The Bennett Library has 3500 films. SFU has access to

the film collections at all BC universities. Such collections are an active concern for our program and one

for which the SFU Library has been supportive. I understand that the SFU Surrey library intends to double

its game and film collection over the next year.

Murray. Problems of the pioneer.

We have experienced all of the problems (and more!) to which

Professor Murray refers. We are happy that Professor Murray sees ample evidence that we are

addressing and solving these issues in our own terms.

Murray. Funding of graduate students.

We refer to the note sent to the ACNGP outlining our positive

funding situation. Also, Professor Murray's question about Canadian students being less pressed that

those in the USA can be answered in the affirmative.

Murray. Faculty availability.

The proposed graduate program is that of the School of Interactive Arts

and Technology. While we welcome appropriate faculty from other to participate, we do not currently have

the problem of program faculty with homes in other units to which Professor Murray refers. Our graduate

program does enjoy significant provincial funding and this is reflected in the teaching load assignments to

the graduate program and in the supervision loads that our faculty undertake.

'This is likely the program to which Dr. Murray refers. We are not aware of an MIT program in Computational Media,

nor could we find one on MIT's website. Courses with similar titles do exist in the MIT Media Lab, the home of the

Media Arts and Sciences program. ?

I hope I have addressed the issues raised by the external reviewers. The reviewers certainly addressed

our aspirations in their summaries:

" ...my

overall enthusiasm for the program." - Badler; My overall

assessment of the proposed graduate program is very positive." -

Booth; 'l look forward to having

another sibling program in the area." - Jenkins; "I judge it to be well worthy of approval." - Murray.

Yours sincerely

Rob Woodbury

Professor

Graduate Program Chair

T: (604) 268 7501 ?

E: rw@sfu.ca

LI,

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

DEAN

GRADUATE STUDIES

MEMORANDUM

COPY'

To: ?

Dr. Rob Woodbury

FROM:

Trude Heift, ACNGP

SUBJECT:

Program Proposal in

DATE: ?

October 15, 2004

Interactive Arts & Technology

Dear Dr. Woodbury:

Thank you for your presentation at the ACNGP meeting on October 14. The committee

recommends the following modifications of the graduate program proposal in

Interactive Arts & Technology for it to go forward to SGSC:

In your response letter to the issues raised by the external reviewers, please address

the following comment by Dr. Murray:

"The number of courses required for the Masters degrees is considerably less than for

our MS in Information Design and Technology, and is also less than MIT's

Computational Media Degree."

To address the concerns expressed by Dr. Badler and committee members of

ACNGP, please revise the two course outlines, TAT 800 and TAT 813, accordingly and

eliminate the two elective courses, TAT 841 and TAT 843.

Please send us a copy of the revised documents and I will forward the recommendation

to SGSC.

Best regards,

.....

. . . . .

N G P2004-7

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

• ?

DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES

MEMORANDUM

TO: ?

ROB WOODBURY

SCHOOL OF INTERACT WE ARTS & TECHNOLOGY

FROM:

TRUDE HEIFT, ASSOCIATE DEAN

SUBJECT:

GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN INTERACTIVE ARTS & TECHNOLOGY

DATE:

SEPTEMBER 10, 2004

CC: ?

ACNGP MEMBERS

You will find enclosed reports of four external reviewers on the proposal for the

Graduate

programs in Interactive Arts

Technology.

Prior to meeting with the Assessment

Committee for New Graduate Programs, I would appreciate a written response to issues

•

raised by the external reviewers, if possible by Monday, October 4, 2004.

For your information, the reviewers were asked to respond to the following points:

• The academic merit and structural integrity of the proposed program

• The adequacy of the faculty and other resources available to the proposed program for

achieving its intended goals

• The demand for the proposed program among prospective students

• The demand for graduates of the proposed program

A meeting will be scheduled for further discussion of the Graduate programs in Interactive

Arts & Technology proposal. I will ask you or a representative of your School of Interactive

Arts & Technology to attend the meeting in order to answer any questions which the

committee may have.

TH:vb

Enc.

EXTERNAL REVIEW FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN INTERACTIVE

ARTS & TECHNOLOGY

Dr. Norman I. Badler

School of Engineering & Applied Science

University of Pennsylvania

220

South

33rd

Street, Towne 111?

Philadelphia,

PA 19104-6391 U. S. A.

EXT-CO

09/10/04

Penn

• ?

Enghieering

June 28, 2004

UJLEL

\.ii

JUL 0 5 ?T- "

DEAN OF GRADUATE

STUDIES OFFICE

Jonathan Driver

Dean of Graduate Studies

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, Canada V5A 1 S6

Dear Dean Driver:

I am herewith pleased to provide you with my review of the proposed Graduate Program in

Interactive Arts and Technology. I have organized my response to mirror the evaluation

points in your letter of June 17, 2004.

Academic merit and structural integrity:

The program is generaiiy well thought out and covers appropriate material. Spthng the

program into two Masters tracks seems wise, since the scope of the faculty and their

collective interests appear to serve both an art/communication emphasis and a

science/technology emphasis. Had only one Masters degree been proposed, it would

probably have the resulted in a dilution of the depth experience for the students. A minor

. ?

administrative point that will undoubtedly appear soon after you admit students is that some

will want to switch tracks (MSc to MA sounds very likely, from my experience). You might as

well plan for that.

The program has an appropriate and significant technology requirement in the proposed

course IAT-800-3 - Foundations of Computation in Computing in the Arts and Design

Sciences. There are some discrepancies in descriptions of the course, however. It is billed

as a course in computing, yet the catalogue listing mentions nothing explicitly about

programming. In perusing the actual topic list, however, programming does re-appear. The

content seems rather more appropriate than the description, as I presume that the intent of

the course is to make it possible for students to program

something,

whether it be in modem

computer languages or in the frequent macro or scripting languages offered in many

multimedia and graphics software tools and systems. My own preference would be to

concentrate on object-oriented programming skills and skip the logic programming, discrete

math, Al, machine learning, etc., for introduction in later courses on an as-needed basis. I

think students should know about these topics, and good readings are available (as well as

the subsequent courses), but the contents of IAT-800-3 sound so broad that the exposure

must necessarily be extremely shallow, especially given the expressed backgrounds of the

applicants. The reading list for this course approaches on the bizarre; where are the

computational methods and programming resources? Also, on page 8 is the assertion that

"... computational work requires proofs and formal languages." While true in some sense, it

is also a "classical" Computer Science view and one no longer necessary for some aspects

of computational science. For the particulars of this proposed program, one could probably

argue more strongly for an understanding of numerical methods, physically-based models, or

. ?

web-based interactive software tools and concepts. At the risk of being divisive, this course

looks as if the MA faculty wrote the textual description while the MSc faculty developed the

/3.

University of Pennsylvania • School of Enaicering and Applied Science • Ill

FOWIiC

Buildin g • 220 South 33rd St. • Philadelphia. PA 19104-6391

Tel: 2 1

15.898.5862 • Fax: 21 5.573.55770 F-mail: badler:seas.ucnn.edu • llomcpaxe: hup://ww%%.cis.upcnn.edu/—badler

• Page 2

June 28, 2004

content. I would suggest a substantial "hands-on" technology course f you want to have both

MA and MSc students in it, otherwise the MSc students may be poorly prepared while the

MA students may be computationally disadvantaged in their subsequent courses.

Adequacy of the faculty and resources available:

In general, the faculty seems highly qualified and motivated to teach the courses in this

program. I have the highest regard for Tom Calvert, having known him for probably about 25

years as we share some common research interests. I believe Tom has sufficient experience

and vision to make this program a success. He will have an interesting time hiring new

tenure track faculty - certainly there are good people available as many of the larger

universities have slowed down hiring rates in computer science, anyway - but a significant

teaching load will have to be balanced against research publication expectations at tenure

time.

It is more difficult to judge resources from the material provided. While suitable labs exist, the

actual load on them when the program is fully operational can be significant. The weak links

(in terms of availability) are often the specialized labs; one has to be careful to schedule them

so the students get a fair chance to utilize and debug programs in them, and it seems that

some of them may have research use obligations that must be factored in as well.

Demand for the program among prospective students:

I agree with the proposal's assessment that student demand is likely to be significant and

sufficient to populate the program. The major question that programs like this face is whether

the students can cope with the accelerated exposure to the computational technology (i.e., by

actually programming stuff). One must also be cognizant of the likely employment

opportunities for these graduates (see below). I obviously believe there is demand since we

are starting just this Fall term a one year Masters degree in

Computer Graphics and Game

Technology

here at the University of Pennsylvania, but it is heavily weighted toward

technological courses and hand-on experiences so applicants are expected to essentially

have an undergraduate computer science (major or minor) education, otherwise they are

admitted instead to a one year concentrated

Masters in Computer and Information

Technology

program first. Suitable applicants have even found us without having advertising

or a web presence until this month'

Demand for graduates of the program:

If the program is perceived as an Arts or Communication MA degree, its benefit to the student

may be to focus a liberal arts unde

rgraduate

degree, but it might not greatly enhance

employment options in the major entertainment or communications industries. I am unable to

judge the value of that degree relative to the North American economy. On the other hand, if

it is a weak MSc degree, it could improve the student's employment options but again, not

necessarily in the most technologically demanding fields such as movie special effects or

computer game programming. On that basis I would urge as much technical depth in the

MSc as time and student skill allows. The optional co-op component may be an attractive

mechanism for focusing students on employable trajectories, but it does then tend to limit

students to more or less local options.

A PhD is a PhD, but one should be clear that turf lines that are easily crossed at SFU might

present issues for a PhD applying to teach in a "classical" department. We encountered just

such resistance here in trying to hire an excellent computer graphics faculty candidate last

• Page 3 ?

June 28, 2004

year with a MIT (Media Lab) PhD in Media Arts and Technology: unfortunately he didn't have

a "pure" Computer Science (or Computer Engineering) PhD and some of our faculty were

skittish about that. One should carefully consider whether a PhD in "Interactive Arts and

Technologies" would be treated with similar prejudice - or whether the post-secondary

employment options and patterns in Canada (and the US) would provide rewarding academic

positions for these people. (Industry won't care so much about the title.) Justine Cassell just

moved to Northwestern University from the MIT Media Lab, and is setting up a roughly similar

PhD program to yours, but as it will have a similar "non-standard" name she is having some

trouble attracting highly technically-oriented students. That may not be bad; it's just a factor

to consider. In this regard the University of Toronto's

Knowledge Media Design

program may

have the slight advantage of retaining the admitting department's PhD name. Mind you, I

have no objection to the SlAT degree name and I don't feel that insularity is best for the future

development of forward-looking (computer science) departments, but one needs to be sure

potential hiring departments understand what they are and what they aren't getting from your

graduates.

In conclusion, I have tried to be quite forthright, but that should not obscure my overall

enthusiasm for the program. It is timely, the faculty is strong, they appear to be solidly behind

it, the students will love it, and if all goes well, there will be a strong economy and real

industries to employ them all. Good luck!

Sincerely,

Norman I. Badler

Associate Dean, SEAS

Professor, Computer and Information Science

Director, Center for Human Modeling and Simulation

Director, Digital Media Design Program

EXTERNAL REVIEW FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN INTERACTIVE

ARTS & TECHNOLOGY

Dr. Kellogg Booth?

Department of Computer Science

University of British Columbia?

2366 Main Mall?

Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

EXT-COV 09/10/04

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Depart en ?

2366

N11a n Mall

Tel: (604) 822-3061

Fax:

(604) 822-5485

ICE ?

August 30, 2004

Dr. Jonathan C. Driver

Dean of Graduate Studies

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby BC V5A 1S5

Dear Dean Driver,

Attached is my review of the proposed

Graduate program in Interactive Arts

Technology that you requested.

Please contact me if any additional information is required.

Sincerely,

Kellogg S. Both

Professor of Computer Science

Biographical information

Dr. Kellogg S. Booth is Professor of Computer Science and was the founding Director of the Media and

Graphics Interdisciplinary Centre at the University of British Columbia. He has worked in the fields of

computer graphics and human-computer interaction since 1968. Prior to UBC, he was a faculty member in

the Department of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo (1977-1990), and a staff member at

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1968-1976). He received his B.S. in mathematics in 1968 from

Caltech, and his M.A. in 1970 and doctorate in 1975 from U.C. Berkeley, both in computer science under

the supervision of Dr. Richard Karp. Research interests include computer graphics, human-computer

interaction, visualization, user interface design and analysis of algorithms. He has been involved in a

number of interdisciplinary research projects at UBC. Simon Fraser University, and the New Media

Innovation Centre of British Columbia, where he was an adjunct scientist while on sabbatical leave from

UBC during the 2001-2002 academic year. He is a former chair of ACM SIGGRAPH (1985-89), and

served as conference co-chair for SIGGRAPH '83 and past chair of the organization from 1989 to 1993. He

has served on numerous conference program and selection committees including ACM CHI 2002 and

2004, ACM 13D 2001, ACM UIST 2000,2002 and 2003, ACM SIGGRAPH '98 and '99, and various of the

Canadian Graphics Interface conferences including Graphics Interface '98 for which he co-chaired the

program committee. He is a fellow of the B.C. Advanced Systems Institute.

Review

proposed graduate programs in Interactive Arts & Technology

Submitted to the Dean of Graduate Studies, Simon Fraser University

This review is based on the binder of documents that was sent on July 7, 2004, with

the letter requesting a review of the proposed graduate programs. The documents were

the following:

• three cover letters dated 26 April 2004, one summarizing the documents and

providing a few short notes, one describing the transition process, and one

addressing issues related to graduate student support;

the document "Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive

Arts and Technology (SlAT)";

a collection of graduate course outlines;

and

• curricula vitae of the current faculty members.

The copy of the proposal that I received was missing page 29 (of 62). A replacement

copy was sent to me by FAX.

I have provided comments in the following sections on the four general issues raised

in the letter of July 7, 2004, and on the specific issue of support for graduate students.

My overall assessment of the proposed graduate program is very positive. The

proposal consolidates a number of innovative ideas developed at the former Technical

University of British Columbia into a framework that complements existing strengths of

programs at Simon Fraser's other campuses. It is evident that a lot of thought has gone

into the proposal and that a good balance between traditional and alternate approaches to

graduate education in art and technology has been achieved. It is also clear that

implementation of these programs is already underway.

Academic merit and structural integrity of the proposed program

The stated goals of the program, taken from the first page of the proposal, are two-

fold:

• To explore, understand and critically evaluate the interplay between technology

and society in the broadest terms, and in particular, between technology and our

social and cultural environments.

To foster the development and design of new technologies to benefit society in

existing and future contexts.

30 August 2004

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of 6

Review

proposed graduate programs in Interactive Arts & Technology

Submitted to the Dean

of Graduate Studies, Simon Fraser University

These goals will be achieved by establishing research-based master's and doctoral

programs emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach. There is a strong sense of "learning

by doing" in the curriculum, and also of experiencing first-hand the interactions between

art and technology that forms the intellectual basis for the program. Opportunities to

participate in co-op placements enhance the more traditional academic components of the

program.

The curriculum has been designed with due concern for pedagogical issues, as

described in pages

5-6

of the proposal, which provide a "design rationale" for the

program. The admission and program requirements, anticipated completion times,

assessment criteria, and the various milestones that students are expected to achieve in

their programs including the stages through which master's and doctoral students

progress as they complete their theses and dissertations are all in line with well accepted

practice and represent realistic expectations for academic programs.

There is a sensible plan in place to retire courses in the legacy programs that were

associated with Technical University of BC. Keeping the directed readings courses for

the near future will allow students in the CADS program to complete their degrees in a

timely manner.

The distinction between the MA and MSc degrees is clearly articulated and in line

with my understanding of common practice in most Canadian universities. A broad-

ranging program such as STAT cannot expect all students to meet the combined

requirements of both an arts degree and a science/engineering degree. The foundations

course is clearly designed to ensure that all graduate students have adequate background

to embark on the rest of their coursework. The core courses that follow, which all

students take, provide common ground that will unify the program, while the two tracks

in the master's program allow enough diversity to attract the types of students who will

most benefit from the program. I would not be surprised to find that some students will

manage to satisfy both sets of requirements, but this will be the exception rather than the

rule. Most will need to gain depth in their chosen focus, which the requirements

encourage through a series of electives after completing the core requirements.

The course on Research Methods and Strategies is one of the cornerstones of the

proposed program. The importance of instilling research skills early in the program, and

also an appreciation for the range of methodologies and standards of assessment within

different fields cannot be overestimated. The STAT proposal addresses this well by

providing a core course (TAT 801-3) and then a required second specialized course

appropriate to a student's disciplinary focus.

At the doctoral level new students start by taking a program similar to that of the

master's students, but those who already have adequate preparation (such as, one

assumes, students who have completed a master's degree within STAT) proceed more

rapidly to advanced work. I would expect that there may be some changes to this

philosophy after a few years of experience with the system, but it is a sensible approach

for now given the need to bootstrap into a steady-state where there is a shared

understanding of the objectives, goals, and approaches characteristic of the program.

iq.

30 August 2004 ?

Review of proposed graduate programs in Interactive Arts & Technology

Submitted to the Dean of Graduate Studies, Simon Fraser University

Adequacy of the faculty and other resources

The faculty team that has been assembled is an interesting mix drawn from a number

of disciplines. I understand that a substantial amount of additional entry-level tenure-

track hiring is expected to take place during the coming year (or two). This will have an

influence on the directions that the program takes, but the current complement of faculty

members includes some accomplished senior faculty, some mid-career faculty, and some

faculty just beginning their academic careers. Not all of the senior and mid-career faculty

have traditional academic backgrounds (see later in this section for comments on the lack

of complete employment histories). This is to be expected for a program such as this,

where experience as a practitioner either within the artistic community or within industry

is both appropriate and necessary in order to have the full range of talents needed for a

program like SlAT.

The ratio of 3-to-i for graduate students to research faculty is a sensible goal.

Although some programs have much higher ratios, on average, the nature of the graduate

program in SlAT is such that I would expect to see a greater need for contact time

between faculty and graduate students. Over time, this ratio might increase as additional

resources are acquired, such as administrative and technical support staff well versed in

the needs of the program. For now, I would expect that many of the faculty members will

be called upon to play these roles.

•

Library facilities seem adequate based on the information provided by the SFU

Library.

Equipment for teaching and research, which is essential for a program like this,

appears to be in place. CFI funding has played a major role in establishing the research

infrastructure. It will be important to have an on-going plan to renew the infrastructure on

a regular basis. The nature of the program requires state-of-the-art equipment (hardware

and software), not all of which is computer-oriented. A significant investment in other

types of equipment to meet the wide-range of activity characteristic of new media is

necessary. Some of the infrastructure will have a very short time to obsolescence due to

rapid advances in technology.

It is difficult to comment knowledgeably on whether appropriate space has been made

available for the teaching, research, and administrative functions associated with the

proposed programs. I draw particular attention to the need for dedicated research space

where faculty and graduate students can conduct highly specialized studies that may not

be accommodated in the spaces assigned for teaching or for more general research

activity. At most institutions this is an issue that is always a hot topic for discussion. It is

important that STAT be aware of this and that there be a well-defined mechanism for

assigning research space to the faculty members who require it.

I have addressed the issue of support for graduate students separately below.

•

I close this section with two comments on the curricula vitae. The first is that none of

the faculty list their previous academic or professional employment, only their education

30 August 2004

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Review

proposed graduate programs in Interactive Arts & Technology

Submitted to the Dean of Graduate Studies, Simon Fraser University

(in some cases dates were not provided for degrees). Normal practice for curricula vitae

is to list all previous employment. I believe that all of the Canadian granting agencies

require this information on the personal data forms that accompany grant applications. In

some cases it is possible to guess where the senior faculty have worked previously given

their list of publications and other information contained with the main body of the

proposal, but it would have been much easier to assess the strengths of the faculty as a

whole had there been more information about previous employment.

There is a lot of variation in the interpretation of "Academically Refereed Works"

across the curricula vitae of the faculty in SlAT. Some of this is normal, representing

differences between disciplines regarding what constitutes peer review, but I would have

expected to see more uniformity in a proposal that has been put forward by a group of

faculty members who have spent considerable time addressing the challenges of

mounting a multidisciplinary program.

Demand for the proposed program

I am aware of a significant latent demand within the Lower Mainland for a program

similar to that proposed for SlAT. No doubt this extends to other parts of British

Columbia and beyond. As noted in the proposal, there are no comparable programs in

Canada and few in the rest of the world (see below for comparisons to some other

programs). I feel confident in stating that there are and will continue to be well qualified

students eager to enroll in this program.

I have often been approached by students who have appropriate backgrounds but who

have been unable to find suitable programs that will allow them to continue their

education by pursuing a combination of interests in art and technology. In many cases

they have already examined the alternatives, both within the public colleges and

universities in British Columbia and the many private organizations that offer training

leading to careers in art and technology. Of these people, I count at least half a dozen

who are already listed as students in the existing program inherited from the Technical

University of British Columbia. Clearly they have identified with the philosophy

espoused by current faculty members in SlAT and are making progress toward their

career goals.

The Media Lab at MIT is the universal example cited for programs like SlAT. With

almost twenty years of experience and a substantial international reputation, the Media

Lab sets the standard by which other programs are measured. Nevertheless, the Media

Lab has not managed to successfully resolve all of the issues that arise when combining

art and technology. There have been notable shortfalls in some areas, and many agree that

there has been a persistent imbalance of too much science and engineering and too little

reflective artistic, cultural, and social commentary. The program in SlAT has an

opportunity to redress this imbalance, which is one of the strengths of the approach that

has been proposed.

More recent examples of successful academic collaborations between art and

technolo

y exist in Europe, Japan, and elsewhere. I am mostly familiar with North

?I.

30 August 2004

Review

proposed graduate programs in Interactive Arts & Technology

Submitted to the Dean

of Graduate Studies, Simon Fraser University

America, which I think is the appropriate comparison to make. Georgia Institute of

Technology has programs in arts that have a strong technology component and programs

in technology that have a strong artistic component, with ties between the two. A more

traditional program exists at the Rhode Island School of Design, in art and design, where

the focus is on design with a strong technology component. There is a collection of

programs at the University of Southern California that focus on specific aspects of art and

technology related to the film, television, and game industries. None of these programs

are as integrated as the SlAT proposal, although each of them does build on strong

interdisciplinary ties. In this sense the program in SlAT represents an ambitious

undertaking with its fully integrated approach.

Within Canada, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design is perhaps one of the closest

comparable programs to SlAT, along with the Ontario College of Art and Design,

Sheridan College, and NSCAD University (the former Nova Scotia College of Art and

Design), but all of these take a more mainstream approach by emphasizing the

relationship of technology to art and design while still having a primary focus on art and

design. Largely missing is the commitment to critical analysis of the interplay between

art and technology within society, perhaps in part because none offer doctoral programs.

Demand for graduates of the program

Forecasting demand within industry is never easy. Right now many sectors of the

. ?

high technology and entertainment industries within British Columbia have not fully

recovered from the effects of the "dot corn bust" (for the high technology firms) and the

rise of the Canadian dollar (for the entertainment industry, especially the film-related

entertainment industry). Despite this, there are positive prospects for students who

successfully graduate from the SlAT program. As the economy picks up, and as more and

more people with training like what SlAT will provide take positions in industry and in

academia, demand will increase.

Classic "chicken and egg" issues are at work here. Twenty years ago, when the

computer animation industry in Canada was just starting to take off, similar questions

were asked about whether there was any demand for programs in computer graphics and

animation. A few Canadian schools rose to the challenge (Sheridan College in Oakville

and Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver being two of them). This meant

that there was a supply of talented computer animators when the demand came from

industry. Companies such as Electronic Arts Canada (Burnaby) relied heavily on these

two schools when they began production of computer games in earnest in the late 1980s

and early 1990s, as did a number of animation companies from south of the border

including Disney and other mainstream Hollywood production houses.

I have no doubt that a similar phenomenon will play out on a larger scale as we

continue to see the economic intertwining of art and technology. Following after the

industrial demand we can expect a wave of new academic programs from universities

•

down to colleges and eventually into secondary schools, all of which will need people

trained in not only the practical aspects of art and technology but also able to put together

the necessary educational programs ranging from basic training to scholarly research on

August 2004

dQ.

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Review of

proposed graduate programs in Interactive Arts & Technology

Submitted to the Dean of

Graduate Studies, Simon Fraser University

the social and cultural impact of what is still rightfully referred to as "new media" despite

its having been around for more than a few decades already.

Support for graduate students

The issue that was addressed in one of the letters of 26 April 2004, that of support for

graduate students, is something that I feel should be commented on because it is an

important aspect of any graduate program that aspires to being highly regarded within the

academic community.

SlAT is a new program, with some new junior faculty members who do not have high

levels of research funding. Some of the senior faculty are quite experienced, but have

transferred into the Canadian granting system and thus do not have the levels of funding

that colleagues with comparable experience might have in other departments. It will take

time to build up full research funding. The short-term plan presented in the letter of 26

April 2004 is a sensible one. Over time I would expect externally funded research to

increase to the point where there are at least as many research assistantships as there are

teaching assistantships. A roughly equal balance between these two is typical in most

universities where research and undergraduate teaching are equally valued. Most strong

PhD programs have a higher percentage of their students funded as research assistants, so

the final mix depends in part on the balance between the master's and PhD programs.

A potentially difficult issue, which is inherent in this type of program, is the disparity

in funding between science and engineering, on the one hand, and the arts, social

sciences, and humanities on the other. The latter group historically receives measurably

less funding and this is almost always reflected in support for graduate students. SlAT

will not be able to change this situation, but will need to deal with it. It appears from the

documents that I reviewed that there is a sensible plan in place to pursue a combination of

sources for funding and this is to be distributed fairly equitably amongst the students,

subject only (I assume) to rules imposed by the granting agencies related to eligibility of

students for support. I would expect to see, over the long term, an on-going imbalance

between those parts of the program that are more oriented to science and engineering

over those that are not, despite the best efforts to the contrary by the faculty members in

SlAT. This should not be viewed as a shortcoming, but rather as recognition of the

availability of funding. Should funding priorities within Canada shift to a more balanced

perspective, SlAT ought to be poised to take advantage of the opportunity, having

already put in place a program that brings the various disciplines together.

It is worth noting that the infrastructure funding from CFI is perhaps higher than

might be expected for such a program, indicating that the current faculty members have

been successful in their applications, which are peer-reviewed. This will have a positive

effect on graduate students, to some extent compensating for what may be a modest

shortfall in funding for direct support.

30 August 2004 ?

o23.

6 of

EXTERNAL REVIEW FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN INTERACTIVE

0 ?

ARTS

TECHNOLOGY

Dr. Henry Jenkins

Comparative Media Studies 14N - 207

Massachusetts Institute of Technology?

Cambridge,

MA 02139-4307 U. S. A.

EXT-CO y 09/10/04

'p41.

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6172585133

MIT CMS

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Comparative Media Studies

Room 14N

707

Cambridge MA

02139 ?

Telephone: 617.253-3599 ?

Fax: 617.258-5133

August

2004

Jonathon C. Driver

Dean of Graduate Students

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, British Columbia

Canada, V5A 1S6

Dear Dean Driver,

PAGE 82

1 -n

I have been asked to write a letter assessing the proposed new graduate program within

the school of interactive arts and technology. I am delighted to share my thoughts which

are based both on reading the submitted materials and on the basis of having visited the

program's faculty and students earlier this summer. I must say that I am very impressed

by what this faculty has achieved so far and by the directions they are proposing for

future growth and development.

The explosion of new media technologies in the past few decades has required many

universities to rethink their coverage of media studies and has led to a significant

reconfiguration of the field. I have overseen the development of the Comparative Media

Studies program here at MIT, one of the programs cited in this proposal as a potential

model for the developments being proposed. Most universities have come to the

conclusion that only an interdisciplinary approach can generate research and prepare

students for work in these emerging fields. Each university has come up with its own

interdisciplinary mix of faculty and subjects, building on their existing strengths and

competencies, and relying on students to help forge the most vital, links between faculty

prepared in more traditional disciplines. Our own experience at MIT suggests that such

an approach works best if you are able to maintain a high degree of flexibility to adjust to

technological, cultural, and economic shifts impacting this area and to respond to the

needs of specific students who often come with very distinctive career goals. This

flexibilit

can sometimes be difficult to negotiate in relation to established university

bureaucracies, but it is vital for the success of the kind of program being described here.

My sense is that this proposal gets it right - as far as Simon Frasier is concerned -

offering a distinctive mixture of subjects which bring together technical and cultural

expertise and should enable students to enter a range of different fields all related to the

growth of electronic media. What is being described in this proposal is a rich laboratory

environment which allows for intellectual exploration, aesthetic expression, and

technological innovation and which will allow for dialogue and collaboration between

faculty and students coming from diverse backgrounds. This is very much what I felt

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PAGE

03

. ?

when I visited the program. The faculty were committed and excited at

the

prospects of

what lay ahead; the students were engaged and

reflected

interesting perspectives and

backgrounds. The caliber of my conversation with these students was quite high and the

facilities available for their work were impressive. This was a place where good work

was and will be done.

My own experience with the Comparative Media Studies Program suggests that there is

an enormous untapped demand from students around the world for the mix of courses

being described in this proposal. There are more students interested in moving in these

directions than can be accommodated by existing programs and the best students want

something few existing programs offer - that mix of disciplinary backgrounds, that

fusion between theory and practice - which are outlined in this proposal. Some of the

students are coming through traditional undergraduate majors but have hit a set of walls

in their thinking which can only be shattered by entering a new kind of intellectual

environment. Some of them have worked in the private sector and discovered that they

want to understand the big picture of media change and want to understand the social and

aesthetic possibilities of the new media environment. The proposed program is ideally

situated to meet their needs.

The courses as outlined are on the cutting edge of thinking about new media. They map a

range of different methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives within the field

- diverse yet complimentary, inclusive yet with a strong sense of direction. It is clear to

see some of the strengths of this proposed curriculum - the things I wish I could offer my

students at MIT and they include solid work in artificial intelligence, performance,

• ?

design, cognition, and pedagogy, which can inform the production practices of students

working in this area. It is clear as well that the strengths of this innovative and well-

structured curriculum are well matched by the qualifications of your accomplished

faculty. And perhaps what is most important, there seems to be a spirit of collaboration

and mutual respect between the various parties who will need to work together to

accomplish what is proposed here.

Your questions asked me to consider job prospects for graduates of the proposed

program. Again, I would see Simon Frasier as well situated. Vancouver is one of the new

digital cities - a center for media production of all kinds and seemingly in a position to

grow and expand its influence in the coming decade. One should not be thrown by the

dotcom bust into thinking the expansion of digital industries has slowed or stopped. All

signs are that there will be continued growth in the future, especially in those spaces

where old and new media meet - the games industry, for example.

Having said all of that, I return to my point about flexibility. It would seem that the

Simon Frasier faculty have the right approach, the right faculty, and the right location to

emerge as a leading new program in this area. I think they will live up to their potential.

But, it is very unlikely that they have got it all right the first time or that the right mix

today will be the right mix tomorrow. What

must be avoided at

all cost is rigidification.

There must be room for everyone - faculty, students, administrators, and research

collaborators - to explore and to grow. Even a center for innovation like the MIT Media

c?6.

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PAGE 84 

Lab can occasionally run, aground when it does not allow younger faculty the chance to

help redefine the core

vision

and mission.

I am looking forward to having another sibling program in this area. I hope we can find

opportunities to collaborate. We are already discussing ways of leveraging our mutual

interests in games and education.

Yours,

Henry Jenki

Director, Comparative Media Studies Program

MIT

27.

EXTERNAL REVIEW FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN INTERACTIVE

ARTS

TECHNOLOGY

Dr.

Janet H. Murray?

School of Literature, Communication & Culture ?

Georgia Institute of Technology ?

686 Cherry Street, Skiles 335B

Atlanta, GA 30332-0165 U. S. A.

EXT-COV 09/10/04

Prof. Jonathan C. Driver

Dean of Graduate Studies

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby BC

Canada V5A 1S6

Georgia

Tech

July 1, 2004

U\7Dfl UU®Bfl

School of Literature, Communication, and Culture

Dear Professor Driver:

I have reviewed the materials you sent to me on June 17 relating to the Proposal for a Graduate

Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology, including cover letters, the

proposal itself, graduate course outlines, and cvs of the Research Faculty. As the Director of

Graduate Studies for Georgia Tech's School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, which

offers an MS in Information Design and Technology (since 1993), an MS in Human Computer

Interaction (since 1997) and a PhD in Digital Media (starting Fall 2004), I am quite familiar with

the area and with the process of proposing new programs. I have therefore read your materials

with much interest. I have grouped my responses under headings responding to your own specific

requests.

Academic merit and structural integrity of the Program

The program is inherently interdisciplinary and it is in the process of establishing a core of senior

faculty. In addition it is one of the first in an emerging field. Given these facts, it is likely that the

current curriculum will be revised over the coming years. As it stands this curriculum is as a fine

first cut, particularly strong in the computational area. The general research methods course will

perhaps prove challenging to teach, but it should be useful in reinforcing the ties among the

faculty. The core computation course is a key component, and will provide an advantage for your

students over programs that do not require computational proficiency of all their students. The

choice of Al as a "core" subject is unusual but promising, and will presumably feed the research

agenda of the program. The emphasis on cognition and knowledge representation is a good idea.

The titles of the two humanities-oriented core courses are much more general, and the course

content very likely varies with individual instructors. The reading lists reflect a sophisticated

knowledge of the field. It might be a good idea to establish one or two solid anthologies as the

focus of these courses, and then let individual instructors diverge from a common base. The

elective courses hit many key areas for applications and research in this growing field. The areas

of laboratory research are also very impressive.

The computational and writing entrance requirement should help to keep standards high, and the

flexibility of two MS degrees, one in Arts and one in Sciences, should ensure that you get a good

mix of students for the team-centered learning that you are encouraging. In our graduate program

we find that considerable learning takes place at the peer-to-peer level.

Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0165 U.S.A.

PHONE 404•8942730

FAX 404•894•1287

o2 ct.

A Unit of the University System of Georgia

An Equal Education and Employment Opportunity Institution

The number of courses required for the Masters degrees is considerably less than for our MS in

Information Design and Technology, and is also less than MIT's Computational Media Degree.

However, you may be requiring more research work, and you seem to be expecting the students

to take two years to finish, so the amount of study may be the same. The masters thesis

requirement is very appropriate and should allow students to pull together the perhaps disparate

threads of their coursework. It should also allow Masters students to leave with appropriate

portfolio pieces.

The PhD program is already large and is no doubt rooted in the extensive funded research you

refer to. It is described somewhat generally: it would be good to see some examples of subject

areas and reading lists.

The detailing of administrative structure for the program is very sound, with appropriate

explicitness in the procedures for meeting degree requirements. Having visited the TechBC

campus before the merger, I am happy to see that promising program absorbed into Simon

Fraser's solid and mature structure.

Adequacy of faculty and other resources for achieving program goals

The existence of four funded research lab and a graduate student lab is a very positive sign, as are

the references to faculty research projects. The need to acquire many new senior faculty members

in a short period of time is somewhat worrisome, but given the growth of this area and core

strengths of the University you should be able to attract the right faculty. The current faculty

includes many without PhDs, and they may be among the most accomplished and appropriate

members of the group. It may be necessary to establish clear procedures for advancement of non-

traditional academics. The resources of the university at large, including the library and wider

choice of courses, provide important support for the program. It will be important to keep up the

labs with regular renewal of equipment and software and to establish an active acquisition

program for the library. It would be useful to have a repository of digital artifacts (such as games)

as well, and access to a film library.

Demand for the program among prospective students

The program is already larger than established programs at CMU, MIT, and Georgia Tech, and

the demand is growing by your own account. I would expect it to continue to grow because of the

growth in the games industry, in digital media in general, and the location and growing reputation

of the program. We have had steady demand for our MS program, and very heavy demand for our

barely-announced PhD. We have just announced a new BS program in Computational Media and

we expect that to be very popular as well. Clearly this is a need that will grow and that other

institutions are not as well situated to meet.

Demand for graduates of the proposed program

Given the growth in digital media which pervades all fields of communication, commerce,

service, production, and research graduates of these programs will continue to be in demand. PhD

graduates are particularly needed to staff the growing undergraduate and graduate programs in the

field. Our own research indicated that English departments, Film, and Communication

. ?

departments among others have all been advertising for openings in this field, many of them

citing overenrolled new undergraduate programs. Industry is also in need of researchers who can

combine knowledge of media traditions with computational sophistication.

Potential Problems

The main problems the program may face are the standard problems of the pioneer: how to

establish a stable curriculum; how to attract faculty in a field that almost no one has yet been

grduated in; how to integrate the disciplinary strengths of a diverse faculty. In addition there are

pitfalls specific to this new field: how to distinguish between applications development and

research; how to educate students in the underlying principles while still keeping them up to date

on specific technologies; how to achieve gender balance; how to encourage technical, artistic, and

analytical excellence without letting one develop at the expense of the others; how to integrate

theory and practice within particular courses and across the curriculum. These are the challenges

of a new field, which also brings with it the promise and excitement of bringing new

technological power to bear on human aspirations and human needs. The proposal gives ample

evidence that your faculty are already grappling with these issues and finding their own solutions.

The proposal does not explicitly address the funding of graduate students. Does the research

program generate enough stipends? Are students expected to teach? Perhaps Canadian students

are less pressed for support than those in the U.S.

The proposal also does not address the question of faculty availability. Will it be a problem to get

enough teaching and supervision time from faculty who have their home in other units?

Interdisciplinary programs can be difficult to administer because of the overburdening of faculty.

Is this not addressed because it is not an issue at Simon Fraser?

Other

In general

Comments

I find this

to be a promising proposal in a crucial area of education and research. I

judge it to be well worthy of approval, I wish you the best of luck with it, and I look forward to

working together to advance the emerging field of interactive digital media.

Sincerely,

danZe

Murray

ofessor and Director of Graduate Studies

3/.

Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

IProposal for a Graduate Program

within the

School of Interactive Arts and Technology

Proposed to Simon Fraser University

by the graduate program faculty of the

School of Interactive Arts and Technology

Approved Internally by SFU/Surrey faculty on 13 December 2002

Edited in response to comments from SCUP (Feb 2002)

Reconfirmed by SlAT graduate program faculty on 1 October 2003

Edited in response to comments from SCUP (Oct 2003)

Reconfirmed by the Graduate Program Committee of SlAT on 21 November 2003

Approved by the FAS Graduate Chairs Committee on 9 December 2003

Reconfirmed by the Graduate Program Committee of SlAT on 9 January 2004

Edited to add optional Co-operative Education component in response to student needs

on 26 April 2004.?

Edited in response to the ACNGP External Review on 29 September 2004.

Reconfirmed by the Graduate Program Committee of SlAT on 1 October 2004

Approved by the ACNGP on

October 2004

Edited in response to the ACNGP on 27 October 2004.

Reconfirmed by the Graduate Program Committee of SlAT on 28 October 2004

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document follows from the approvals granted the preliminary proposal for a

permanent graduate program in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon

Fraser University. We describe here the strength of human and material resources

necessary to sustain high quality Master's and doctoral programs in the School of

Interactive Arts and Technology, the advantages of this addition to Simon Fraser

University and the regional need for its graduates.

Presently, the school operates a graduate Master's program and has a limited group of

PhD students, a structure that has carried over from our institution's former life as The

Technical University of British Columbia. The program's size currently stands at 65

Master's students and 15 PhD students. In our design below, we have substantially

revised this model to fit the opportunities, needs and facilities of a comprehensive

university.

The proposed program has two goals. The first is to explore, understand and critically

evaluate the interplay between technology and society in the broadest terms, and in

27 October 2004

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

particular, between technology and our social and cultural environments. The second is

to foster the development and design of new technologies to benefit society in existing

and future contexts.

The program is explicitly interdisciplinary; it brings together faculty and students from a

variety of disciplines to the study of technology. In so doing, we have several objectives:

first, research in technology and its contexts of use, particularly the computational

technologies that drive much current innovation; second, development and use of

research methodologies for interdisciplinary collaboration and the development of new

technologies; third, research into the acts of inventing, designing, making, managing and

learning about technology; and fourth, application of new technologies in society and

industry.

The program is research-based with a dominant thesis or dissertation component.

Students' theses research will be supported by four new CFI funded labs with a total

capital funding of about 4 million dollars and a graduate student lab funded internally to

the program. The labs' research includes information and networking, computer graphics

and animation, computational design, immersive collaborative environments (CAVE),

interactivity, human computer interaction, visualization, learning and technology

evaluation. All labs are supported by interdisciplinary groups of faculty ready to provide

students with cross-disciplinary perspectives. Many faculty bring considerable research

funding, signal of their expertise and national recognition. Ties with regional high

technology industries, and existing SFU units offer additional synergies for graduate-

level development.

The proposed program develops both Master's and doctoral level work as these were

anticipated in the structure and staffing of TechBC and are essential to retain the quality

of faculty and research the new school has attained to date. Available resources such as

specialized labs, faculty skill and experience, key collateral programs at SFU-Burnaby

and SFU-Harbour Centre, library holdings and high societal demand for graduates argue

in favour of this proposal.

A hallmark of the program is its emphasis on interdisciplinarity, team endeavour,

combining of concept and practice, and use of technologies as a vital instructional base.

All graduate students take a mandatory course in Research Methods and Strategies,

which critically evaluates research philosophies and techniques for collaboration among

disciplinary experts. Students learn in an environment that employs traditional

coursework, one-on-one mentoring, teamwork, and technology-enhanced learning. In

short, students are immersed in an environment that is both technology rich and

structured for interdisciplinary cooperation.

The graduate course offerings outlined provide a core of five courses spanning the

school's disciplinary facets (information technology, the arts, social science, design and

pedagogy). An initial offering of ten electives gives greater depth in specialties such as

the sociology of networked communities, spatial computing and games. A hallmark of

each is that a traditional disciplinary specialty is eschewed in favour of productive

synergies from related disciplines, such as technologies for enhancing theatrical

performance. Special topics courses and directed readings provide for introduction of

new material and constructive pressure to "retire" offerings that are no longer serving the

program's needs. We believe many of these courses - particularly the elective offerings

- will be of considerable interest to other programs and departments at SFU.

27 October 2004 ?

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33.

Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

Of the approximately 40 faculty members total in the School of Interactive Arts and

Technology, seven hold tenurable positions, one is an Emeritus Professor and some 16

hold positions as limited-term faculty at the rank of Assistant Professor and above and

are thus eligible to supervise graduate students. The School is currently in the process

of hiring a comparable number of tenurable faculty members, through open competition.

By Fall 2005, plans are that, in addition to the eight senior faculty members, an

additional 10 members holding tenurable positions (Associate Professors and

Professors) will be in place. Additional hiring will occur after this group has been

appointed.

All current faculty have been carefully chosen for their interdisciplinary strengths, the

inventiveness of their research interests, their skills and the experience they bring to our

collective work. Eighteen hold earned doctorates in their specialties from internationally

recognized institutions. Two are advanced candidates in doctoral programs. All but

newly granted doctorates have accumulated strong research records based in peer-

reviewed publication, international fora and judged exhibitions. Several have

distinguished international and national academic leadership profiles. They have as a

common denominator interdisciplinary work in technology, design and computer-based

media.

The program is unique in Canadian higher education. While most universities have

depth in computer science, social science, communication, education and the arts, very

few host the mix being built in the new school. At the same time, such combinations are

widely sought by students and regional employers. TechBC's original design was to

provide cross disciplinary scholarship built on regional development needs. This design

•

has been redefined here to reflect the significant advantages afforded by SFU. Parallels

might be found in elements of the MIT Media Lab and the broad interests of New York

University's program in Communication Arts or the comprehensive communications

programs at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School. There are few

parallels north of the US boundary and none in Western Canada.

The union with Simon Fraser provided solutions to many of the problems faced by the

nascent TechBC: an adequate research library; supporting and distinguished

complementary programs in the liberal arts and applied sciences; and an adequate

physical plant. SFU allows our expansion as a program to remain fully based in its

specialization - without having to provide all the antecedent and support courses that

would have been needed with solo operation as TechBC.

We are confident that this plan provides a program of strength and excellence that builds

upon the solid institutional base afforded by Simon Fraser University. We believe it fits

well as a partner with many standing programs on campus, offering a synergy and

interdisciplinarity that has few, if any, equals in Canada.

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

......................................................................................

TABLEOF CONTENTS

.......................................................................................

CURRICULUM......................................................................................................

LEARNING METHODOLOGIES

........................................................................

FACULTY

...........................................................................................................

PROGRAM CONSULTATIONS AND EVALUATION

.........................................

ADMISSION

.......................................................................................................

OTHER

RATIONALEAND

PROGRAM

DEMAND

INFORMATION................................................................................................................................................

APPENDIX A - INCLUSIVE LIST OF RELATED PROGRAMS IN CANADA .... 31

APPENDIX B: PHD COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATIONS

................................

APPENDIX C: COURSE PROPOSALS AND OUTLINES

.................................

APPENDIX D: CALENDAR ENTRY

...................................................................

APPENDIX E: LIBRARY ASSESSMENT

...........................................................

APPENDIX F: GRADUATE PROGRAM FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF

INTERACTIVE ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY

......................................................

APPENDIX G: CURRICULA VITAE OF SlAT FACULTY

..................................

* Details available for review by calling Bobbie Grant, Senate Assistant 

6,04 291-3168 or email bgrant@sfu.ca 

?

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3-.

Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

CURRICULUM

Learning Outcomes

The program will offer Master of Arts, Master of Science and PhD degrees and is

structured so that graduates will have the research knowledge and skill required to be

effective creators of new knowledge.

The curriculum has six components: (1)

Foundations of Computational Art and Design (1

required course), (2)

Research Methods and Strategies (1

required course), (3)

core

courses (2-3 courses of 5 required), (4)

elective courses

(2-3 courses to be taken), (5)

MA Thesis, MSc Thesis or PhD Dissertation (

the PhD also has a

comprehensive

examination and dissertation proposal)

and

(6) Research Colloquium.

In completing a degree, graduates will have developed depth in their chosen research

area, breadth in understanding technology in context, ability to work in interdisciplinary

teams and scholarly skills for sustained intellectual productivity. These are general

qualities of a research degree and each has special significance in the context of the

proposed program. Table

(below) summarizes the curriculum structure and identifies

components corresponding to each of these four main objectives.

Depth of

study. The proposed curriculum is dominated by its thesis/dissertation

component, which is the primary vehicle for developing depth in a particular topic. To

. ?

assist students in achieving depth the curriculum has both core and elective courses.

The core courses cover areas of broad concern in the program. The elective courses

provide in-depth and specialized study. They may be selected from within the program,

from other SFU graduate programs or elsewhere. The elective courses particularly are

intended to assist students in progressing towards their thesis or dissertation.

Breadth of knowledge.

The Foundations of Computational Art and Design course is

intended to assure that all students have knowledge of and skill in applying computation

appropriate for an advanced degree holder in our disciplinary areas. The Research

Methods and Strategies course introduces students not only to the intellectual structure

of research but also to the methods available for conducting research across the broad

areas with which the program is concerned. The core courses (of which Master's

students take two and PhD students take either two or three) aim to expose students to

research issues and results beyond any single topic area.

Interdisciplinarity.

The Foundations of Computational Art and Design course will draw

its examples from a wide range of specialties within the program. The Research

Methods and Strategies course has components on interdisciplinary work. In the core

courses students will work in groups whose members have differing disciplinary foci.

Scholarly skills.

The Research Methods and Strategies course has required

components on writing scholarly articles, on library research techniques and on scholarly

presentation. The core courses require that students meet standards of scholarly

production in assessable work. One elective course is required to be a research

methods course appropriate to a student's course of study (the particular course will be

approved by the student's supervisory committee and the graduate program committee).

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

The PhD comprehensive examination has components that test for achievement of

scholarly skill sufficient for producing a successful dissertation.

Program Requirements

The degree requirements minimally are five (5) courses of at least three (3) credits each

(nominally 15 credit hours) of coursework for the Master of Arts and Master of Science

and six (6) courses of at least three (3) credits each (nominally 18 credit hours) of

coursework for the PhD. In addition there is a single course, Foundations of

Computational Art and Design, that offers necessary basic concepts and skills for further

study in the program and will not count towards the above coursework requirements. All

students will be required to take Foundations of Computational Art and Design or

demonstrate sufficient knowledge for it to be waived. We anticipate that students with

strong technical backgrounds will not need to take this course.

PhD students who have completed a Master's degree within the program will have an

option to apply to the program's Graduate Program Committee for a reduction in

coursework aimed at breadth and scholarly skill. Such reduction shall not reduce course

requirements below those specified in the PhD (from MA or MSc within the program)

option in the table below.

Master's students will be admitted to study for either the MA or MSc degree. Students

may articulate between the MA and MSc degrees by meeting the admission and

program requirements of the degree to which they articulate and with the approval of the

Graduate Program Committee. A student may make one application for articulation.

The degrees to be awarded

Students who complete the Master's program will be awarded a Master of Arts or Master

of Science. The distinction between the two degrees will be based on the coursework

taken towards the degree (see the table on page 14). The decision as to degree

designation will be taken at the time of admission: Master's students will be admitted to

either the Master of Arts or Master of Science. Admission to a program will depend upon

prior academic preparation and intended focus of study (see admission requirements on

page 24).

Students who complete the doctoral program will be awarded a PhD.

Time required for the degree

Under normal circumstances, degree requirements for the MA or MSc should be

completed within six semesters and should not require longer than eight semesters.

Under normal circumstances, degree requirements for the PhD should be completed

within 12 semesters and should not require longer than 15 semesters.

Students, both Master's and PhD, will be encouraged to complete their thesis work in a

timely manner.

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

MA and MSc

PhD

PhD (from MA

or MSc with

the

program)

IAT 803-3 Foundations of

credits

Computational Art and

(possibly

Design

waived)

tAT 801-3 Research

credits

Methods and Strategiest

Core

2 courses

2 or 3 courses*

1 course

credits

or 9 credits

credits

Electives

2 courses

2 or 3

courses*

3 courses

credits

or 9 credits

9 credits

Special Topics

Directed Readings

Total

Coursework

courses

6 courses

4 courses

credits

18 credits

credits

Co-operative Education

Optional

Research Seminar

Attendance

Attendance requirement +

requirement +

2 presentations

I presentation

Master's Thesis

required

PhD Comprehensive

required

Examination

PhD Proposal

required

PhD Dissertations

required

Table

Curriculum Structure. Both courses and credits are listed. For determining

degree requirements in core, elective, special topics and directed readings

categories the number of courses of at least three credits each shall be used.

#phD students are required to take at least two (2) core courses and at least

two (2) courses from electives, special topics or directed readings. PhD

students must complete six (6) courses (18 credits) of coursework in addition to

Foundations of Computational Art and Design.

Depth of study -

primarily through the thesis/dissertation and electives.

Breadth of knowledge -

Foundations of Computational Art and Design

course, Research Methods course and core courses.

Interdisciplinarity -

Mandatory parts of the program provide a range of

perspectives, tools for working with other areas, and practice in communicating

in an interdisciplinary cohort.

Scholarly skills

are developed and assessed in the Research Methods

course, and core courses. One elective must be an appropriate research

methods course. The PhD comprehensive examination tests for scholarly skill.

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

IAT 800-3

Foundations of Computational Art and Design

is an introduction to

computing as a research and professional tool in art and design. Its intended audience

includes those who have not had substantial experience in the computational aspects of

art and design. This is a mandatory course for all students in the program, but may be

waived for those students having had sufficient formal educational background in art and

design computation.

IAT 801-3

Research Methods and Strategies

is an introduction to the research

enterprise. It covers structures of research that are prevalent across fields, introduces

research methodologies and tools, teaches methods for interdisciplinary work and

fosters a critical discourse around the fundamental differences among research in

different areas. This is a mandatory course for all students in the program.

There will be five

core courses,

each offering the bases for research in an area in which

a large group of faculty is involved. These courses will be team-designed and taught by

the faculty in the particular areas. MA and MSc students will be required to take two core

courses. PhD students will be required to take either two or three core courses.

MA and MSc students will be required to take two courses from the pool of

electives,

special topics

and

directed readings.

PhD students will be required to take either two

or three courses from this pool. Subject to Supervisory Committee approval and

Graduate Program Committee approval, students in the program may fulfill part of these

requirements through other appropriate graduate courses at SFU or elsewhere (the

latter subject to SFU rules on external courses). Normally, all students must take at least

one course towards these requirements as either an elective or special topics offered

within the program. One elective is required to have a focus on research methods

appropriate to the student's thesis/dissertation topic. In this interdisciplinary program

appropriate research methodologies will vary widely. For example, quantitative empirical

work requires a background in statistics; process-based social research requires

qualitative methods; and computational work may require proofs and formal languages.

There will be ten

electives,

with five offered alternately each year. These courses will

provide in-depth coverage of areas or concepts particularly relevant to the program and

based on faculty expertise. Courses have been selected and developed based upon four

criteria: the contribution to the program internally; for some courses, their focus on

research methods; their appeal to other programs at SFU; and their provision of a

unique offering at SFU.

The

special topics

courses serve several agendas. They provide the needed flexibility

to quickly adapt to new contexts and to serve the curiosity-driven inquiry that is essential

to our research and graduate program. They will be an incubator for new electives and

are the normal way that new elective courses are proposed and refined before they are

formally considered for addition to the program. They also provide the program with a

means to take best instructional advantage of visiting faculty with skills new to our

program.

Directed readings

will play the normal function of such courses at SFU. They will be

seminar or tutorial experiences that develop special research interests in depth and with

faculty supervision. Students should not expect to take a directed readings course where

there is a substantively comparable course offered at SFU. Directed readings should be

distinct from the work to be undertaken towards the MA Thesis, MSc Thesis or PhD

Dissertation. Normally, directed readings should not be taken under the supervision of a

27 October 2004

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3c7.

Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

student's Senior Supervisor. We anticipate that we will use directed readings sparingly

but strategically in the program. Normally MA and MSc students may take at most one

directed readings course for credit towards the degree. Normally PhD students may take

at most two directed readings courses for credit towards the degree. Students may take

at most one directed readings course with a given professor.

On an optional basis and with approval of the Graduate Program Committee, MA, MSc

and PhD students may participate in

co-operative education

by placement in a

government or private research agency to gain practical experience in their thesis or

dissertation area. The co-operative education option is separate from coursework in the

program and serves as an adjunct to the thesis/dissertation process.

The PhD degree will require a

comprehensive examination

aimed at testing for

achievement in interdisciplinarity, breadth of knowledge, depth of knowledge, topic focus

and scholarly skill.

The PhD degree will require a

dissertation proposal

aimed at collegial review of the

proposed work, development of research formulation and presentation skills and

approval of the dissertation work by the Supervisory Committee and the Graduate

Program Chair. The approval of the Graduate Program Chair is largely for oversight

issues, for example, required ethics clearances. The dissertation proposal has two

components: a research prospectus and a public event with timely notification given to

the campus community.

The MA

Thesis, MSc Thesis

and

PhD Dissertation

will be the formal vehicles by which

students make the contribution to knowledge that is the hallmark of a research degree.

. ?

The

Research Colloquium

is an important part of the scholarly life of the program.

During their studies PhD students are required to present their research work in at least

two seminars as part of this series. MA and MSc students are required to present in one

seminar. There is an expectation of continuous participation. All students are expected

to attend two-thirds of the seminars in the series while they are taking coursework in the

program.

Course proposals

The program structure has been described in Table I above. This section provides brief

details of the courses to be offered.

Course descriptions and outlines are included in

Appendix B.

Foundation

IAT 800-3 Foundations of Computational Art and Design (3 credits)

This course aims at a robust understanding of models for art and design and

representations of these models as symbol systems. It meets these aims through a set

of case studies that demonstrate how computational thinking can affect professional

and research outcomes. Its outcomes are preparedness for further relevant study and

skill development in using computers to support research and professional work in art

and design.

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Ails and Technology

Research Methods

IAT 801-3 Research Methods and Strategies (3 credits)

This course maps key methods and strategies of building reliable knowledge across

diverse specializations within the graduate program. It is meant not so much to build

specific expertise in a given set of techniques as to recognize issues underlying most

all research and to appraise critically methods of observation, test and organization of

findings.

The course provides a common basis for discussion and criticism of research. The

goal is a broad reading literacy across a spectrum of research, an essential step to knit

collaboration and scholarly community.

Core Courses

IAT 810-3 New Media (3 credits)

This course examines theory, history and current research in the field of new media.

Its methods are the interweaving of design, social/cultural, learning and aesthetic

theories. Historical views of the field are provided through an analysis of the histories

of technology, moments of media emergence, social and cultural movements, design

and aesthetics. The outcomes for the course are exploration, analysis and

development of applied methods in order to better understand, design, create and

assess new media and future "newer media" developments.

811-3 Computational Poetics (3 credits)

This course provides students the opportunity to engage in critical, creative thinking

and practice in the discovery of the emergent overlying principles and concepts that

enable one to describe, analyze, evaluate and design interactive multi-mediated

experience. The structure of the course will centre on art in the age of information,

virtuality, compositional design and practice.

IAT 812-3 Cognition, Learning and Collaboration (3 credits)

The aim of this course is to address what it means to know something, how people

gain and use knowledge and complex skills, how to determine what an individual

knows, how humans learn, how humans solve complex problems, how knowledge is

created within a social and group context, and how to model human capabilities and

performance. We will select and study theoretical perspectives that inform the design

of computer-based mediated environments, products and experiences.

813-3 Artificial intelligence in Computational Art and Design (3 credits)

Working through a set of motivating examples from domains such as generative

design, dance simulation, social interaction, adaptive user interface design and

knowledge sharing in e-learning the course provides insights on how Al techniques

can be used to address important problems in art and design. The topics are

presented in a comparative manner to clearly highlight advantages and disadvantages

of each method providing students with ability to weight benefits of a particular

approach when facing a concrete problem in their research area.

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

IAT 814-3 Knowledge Visualization and Communication (3 credits)

The course provides a cognitive and computational framework for understanding and

designing graphical and visual representations. We investigate several psychological

and computational models of diagram processing, and explore diverse interactive

graphical systems.

Elective Courses

IA T 830-3 Learning Design and Media (3 credits)

Students will gain an understanding of instructional design as an evolving set of

theories and practices based on learning research. They will develop detailed

knowledge of design strategies for interactive learning media and will be able to

explain how they relate to cognitive theories of learning. As an overarching goal,

students will develop the knowledge and skills to conduct basic research projects

relating to the design of learning media.

831-3 Encoding Media Practice (3 credits)

This course undertakes a study of conceptual, aesthetic, and computational issues

and techniques involved in the encoding of interactive media objects. It includes study

of theoretical and poetical backgrounds in computer-human interaction (Bush, Dinkla,

De Landa, Grosz, Deleuze, Manovich, Murray, Laske, Harriman, Ascott, Penny, Kahn),

basic tenets of programming for the arts (media representations, practical machine

perception, algorithmic processes, database strategies, display techniques), and

practical exercises in programming interactive computer art that may include

interactive cinema, audio and narrative.

IA T 832-3 Exploring Interactivity (3 credits)

Over the past few years technological innovation has created a host of exciting new

opportunities in the field of interaction design. As the outgrowths of smaller faster

wireless computing reshape our human experience, new questions need to be asked

about how we analyse, design and prototype more effective and more appropriate

products and systems to support interactivity. The socio-cultural and technical

considerations that stem from the research questions are complicated by the fact that

we have few precedents. In particular, the socio-cultural implications are not well

understood. This course will examine these issues through an iterative modeling

process.

IA T 833-3 Embodiment and Electronic Performance (3 credits)

This course is a combination of theoretical and practical explorations of physicality and

live performance in technologically mediated environments. It offers an introduction to

phenomenology as a methodology for analyzing and elaborating new physical and

technological hybrids. Students are asked to devise a performance experiment, while

simultaneously exploring critical discourses around embodiment, virtuality, gender, and

communication. This course is designated as a research methods course.

IA T 840-3 Models of Networked Practice (3 credits)

The course examines several social frameworks for describing mutual activity in work

and learning particularly in computer supported networked environments. The

frameworks are used to describe, analyse and design the tools and approaches for

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

new communities of practice. This course is designated as a research methods

course.

IAT 842-3 Theoiy and Design of Games (3 credits)

Thanks to the success of computer games, games have become a major part of our

culture, rivalling the popularity of movies. Drawing on a wide variety of examples and

disciplines, this course examines theories and techniques for the analysis of existing

games and the design of new ones. It studies game design, and will provide students

with the conceptual and technical tools necessary to critique and design games of all

kinds.

IA T 844-3 Spatial Computing (3 credits)

This course covers the concepts, algorithms and design principles underlying modern

3D computer animation and visualization from a user interface perspective. Research

topics include 3D user interface constructs; information, data and knowledge

visualization; 3D graphics and animation; spatial perception; and virtual and immersive

environments.

845-3 Methods for Research into Technological Systems (3 credits)

Key models of research into technological systems are analysed and compared.

Together, they frame diverse methodologies for art, social science, business,

engineering and information technology. Focus will vary by instructor and disciplinary

combination being examined. In contrast to the Research Methods and Strategies

Course, this offering considers specialized, discipline specific research tools taken in

combination. These may be qualitative, quantitative, laboratory-based, field based (as

in survey research), actively experimental or based on secondary analysis of archival

data. This course is designated as a research methods course.

Special Topics

By its very nature the content of a special topics course will vary. Eight such courses

are proposed, so that course numbers will recur only every two years. Thus students

are unlikely to register for a single special topics course more than once. Special

topics courses offered in the program will be approved by the Graduate Program

Committee to essentially the same criteria required for approval of a new elective. At

the time of approval, each special topics course will be evaluated for suitability for

study towards the MSc degree and the results of such evaluation will be noted in the

course approval and course outline. At the time of approval, each special topics course

will be evaluated for suitability for fulfilling the program's research methods

requirement and the results of such evaluation will be noted in the course approval and

course outline.

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

881-3 Special Topics 1(3 credits)

IA T 882-3 Special Topics II (3 credits)

IA T 883-3 Special Topics III (3 credits)

IA 884-3 Special Topics IV (3 credits)

IA T 885-3 Special Topics V (3 credits)

IA T 886-3 Special Topics VI (3 credits)

IA T 887-3 Special Topics VII (3 credits)

IA T 888-3 Special Topics VIII (3 credits)

Directed Readings

Normally a student would take at most one (MA or MSc) or two (PhD) directed

readings course during their degree. We have included three such courses: this should

accommodate almost all registrarial circumstances. Directed readings offered within

the program will be approved by the Graduate Program Committee to essentially the

same criteria required for approval of a new elective. As the time of approval, a

directed readings course may be approved for study towards the MSc degree. At the

time of approval, a directed readings course may be approved as fulfilling the

program's research methods requirement.

IAT 871-3 Directed Reading 1(3 credits)

1A 872-3 Directed Reading 11(3 credits)

IAT 873-3 Directed Reading III (3 credits)

Co-operative Education

Co-operative education is intended to provide opportunities for MA, MSc and PhD

students to gain practical research experience in settings external to the program.

Enrolment in co-operative education requires successful completion of at least two

courses within the program, good academic standing, no deferred grades and

approval of the Graduate Program Committee.

The co-operative education option is separate from coursework in the program and

serves as an adjunct to the thesis/dissertation process. Students wishing to participate

in this program are responsible for making all arrangements external to the program.

Students participating in co-operative education will be eligible for the

co-op

registration fee

as listed in the Graduate Fee Schedule of the Graduate Regulations.

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

1A 861-0 Practicum 1(0 credits)

1A 862-0 Practicum 11(0 credits)

MA Thesis, MSc Thesis and PhD Dissertation

1AT897-6MA Thesis

Students

who are working on their Master of Arts thesis register in this course. This

course will not count towards the coursework requirements.

IA T 898-6 MSc Thesis

Students who are working on their Master of Science thesis register in this course.

This course will not count towards the coursework requirements.

IAT 899-6 PhD Dissertation

Students who are working on their PhD dissertation register in this course. This course

will not count towards the coursework requirements. PhD candidate status is neither

required for nor implied by registration in this course.

MSc Requirements

The MSc is distinguished from the MA by additional constraints on coursework

requirements. In addition to the program requirements in Table 1 above, MSc students

must fulfill coursework by taking courses from those specified in Table 2 below.

Core Courses

Electives, Special Topics and Directed Readings

The two required Core

At least one course shall be taken from the following

Courses shall be selected

pool.

from the following pool.

IAT 840-3 Models of Networked Practice

Visualization

814-3 Knowledge

and

IAT 842-3 Theory and Design of Games

Communication

IAT 844-3 Spatial Computing

812-3 Cognition,

1A 845-3 Methods for Research into Technological

Learning and Collaboration

Systems

1A 813-3 Artificial

special topics

course approved by the Graduate

Intelligence in

Program Committee for study towards the MSc degree.

Computational Art and

directed readings

course approved by the Graduate

Design

Program Committee for study towards the MSc degree.

A graduate course in a Faculty of Applied Sciences

graduate program approved by the Graduate Program

Committee for study towards the MSc degree. Such

course approval will be on a case-by-case basis.

Table

2: MSc coursework requirements

P-.^ 

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Supervision

Student supervision will comply with

Section 1.6 Supervision of

the Graduate General

Regulations. Students entering the program will be assigned an interim advisor. In some

cases a senior supervisor may be decided upon admission. The interim advisor has two

main tasks: advising the student on issues related to study within the program and

assisting the student in identifying and approaching potential senior supervisors. There

is no requirement that the interim advisor has a role in supervision once the senior

supervisor is approved.

The normal size of MA and MSc supervisory committees is two. The normal size of a

PhD supervisory committee is two or three.

Comprehensive Examination

We attach as

Appendix B

our policy document governing the PhD Comprehensive

Examination, of which the following is a summary.

The PhD degree will require a comprehensive examination aimed at testing for

achievement in four areas: breadth of knowledge, depth of knowledge, topic focus and

scholarly skill. We must ensure that our doctoral graduates will be prepared for careers

of university teaching and research, in addition to a range of other work available in

industry, government and NGOs. Part of this qualification is a mastery of disciplinary

work to a high professional calibre. The comprehensive examination in the

interdisciplinary milieu of the School of Interactive Arts and Technology must of

• ?

necessity adapt in form to students' skills and topics, but have a common evaluative

baseline in terms of sufficient mastery shown.

With the consent of their supervisory committees and the Graduate Program Chair,

doctoral students may elect to take the comprehensive examination following completion

of course work, but normally within 18 months of starting the program and no later than

the beginning of the third semester of the second year of full-time study (or equivalent).

Upon passing, the student will be admitted to full degree candidacy. The comprehensive

examination may be retaken once and a second failure will require that that student

withdraw from the program.

The Graduate Program Committee is responsible for oversight and administration of the

comprehensive examination. It will ensure that the examination tests for each of the four

criteria; that the examinations in a given year are fair in comparison; and that each

examination is appropriate for the student being tested. The committee thus seeks a

balance between examination content that is common across students and that which is

specific to a student's course of study. With the wide disciplinary range found among our

program's students and faculty, it will be normal for each student's Supervisory

Committee to have a significant role in designing the examination for a given individual.

The Graduate Program Chair is charged with assuring that the test meets high

institutional standards for comprehensiveness and of evaluation. The test will have

written or recorded qualities that allow its prompt review in case of contested outcomes.

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The MA Thesis, MSc Thesis and PhD Dissertation

The

MA thesis, MSc thesis and PhD dissertation are

the key means through which

students make their contribution to knowledge, the hallmark of an advanced research

degree.

Doctoral candidates complete and defend a dissertation by showing an original

contribution to their field. The standard of work expected is that of peer-reviewed work

by accomplished scholars in their specialization. Candidates are encouraged to consider

the professional and career implications of this major scholarly work.

The standards of scholarship - quality of work - set for the MA and MSc are no less

than those for the doctorate, except the scale, scope and originality of the thesis may be

less. Commonly, the Master's thesis shows refinement of a developed scholarly

specialization, a useful replication of established note and in some cases a pre-testing or

prototype of supporting ideas for eventual PhD research.

Research Expectations and Implications

All degrees (MA, MSc and PhD) are research degrees. As part of degree requirements

students will write a thesis or dissertation that presents a contribution to the field of

study.

All degrees, MA, MSc and PhD, shall entail work the program is able to support through

its faculty. The program will be supported by its laboratories, funded faculty research, the

SFU library system and other research resources at SFU or related institutions.

P_.^ 

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

LEARNING METHODOLOGIES

The pedagogy of the School of Interactive Arts and Technology reflects the goals of the

program. We blend the innovative with the traditional, trusting that appropriate use of

technology for learning in advanced degree work can work effectively and serve as a

valuable extension of SlAT's instructional expertise in undergraduate curricula. We

combine some of the former TechBC's methods of instructional delivery in balance with

teaching methods of several established SFU schools, providing a vigorous hybrid of

convention and innovation. The program's instructional methods show several

distinguishing characteristics:

Experiential learning.

The involvement of students swiftly into the activity of on-going

research teams and purpose-built labs makes for a distinct combination of the

conceptual and applied.

Distributed learning.

The foundation work in the graduate program is - where

appropriate - taught by computer mediation. A hallmark of the program though is its

residential character - the major portion of advanced degree work will normally be taken

on campus, both for the vitality of our academic culture and the immediacy and

inspiration of face-to-face interaction. Use of other electronic means of connection

between instructor and student, for example, through teleconferencing, team discussion

and email, expand our ability to teach, advise and mentor, both locally and at distance.

Interdisciplinary structure.

As mentioned previously, the program finds its strengths in

• the synergies among established disciplines in the arts, social, sciences and applied

sciences. This intention pervades our selection of students, the research facilities we

control and our core courses.

Practical focus.

Our graduate courses demand considerable conceptual and theoretical

skills, but we also seek practical, workable outcomes to research. We have a practical

focus directed towards social, computational, pedagogical and aesthetic issues. We

believe that a tight linkage of concept to practice better equips our graduates for

employment and future distinction.

FACULTY

A crucial feature of our program is that every faculty member is accomplished in a

discipline "external" to the school. For example, our current faculty comprises computer

scientists, design scientists, learning scientists, engineers, social scientists, cognitive

psychologists, educational psychologists, a philosopher, business theorists, cultural

theorists, dancers, academic artists, and designers. What unites faculty is their focus on

technology in its diverse contexts. In this way, the program inverts the usual pattern of

small groups of technologically-oriented faculty each housed in a "home" department.

The record shows that such small, isolated groups often cannot address the wider

concerns that technology implies. The program presents Simon Fraser University with a

novel way to address the issues raised by technology and its rapid change.

Following is a list of the current tenurable and emeritus faculty in the program. Listed

with each faculty member are the areas in which he or she conducts research.

Appendix F

contains a list of all members of the SlAT graduate program faculty at the

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time the proposal was written. For the record, this is the group that originated the

program proposal.

SlAT is presently in the process of hiring its tenurable faculty. The planned hiring pattern

is consistent with the proposed program.

John Bowes (Professor & SlAT Director) AB (Hamilton College), MSc (Syr), PhD (Mich

State) -

• Digital media and telecommunications policy

• Computer mediated communication and online commerce

• Technology transfer

• Minorities and media

• History of technology

Jim Budd MVA (Alta) (Associate Professor) -

• Collaborative product development

• Interface design & navigation

• Interactive products

• Visualization: virtual & physical

• ?

Digital literacy

• Electronic conferencing

Tom Calvert (Emeritus Professor) BSc(Eng) (Lond), MSEE (Wayne), PhD (Carnegie

Tech), PEng -

• Computer systems for the animation and choreography of human figures

• Networked multimedia systems for learning

• The design and evaluation of human-computer interfaces for complex systems

• Computer graphics

Brian Fisher (Associate Professor)

• Cognitive science

• Interactive systems design

• Entrepreneurship and innovation

Susan Kozel (Associate Professor) BComm (McG), MA, PhD (Essex) -

• Live performance in mediated environments

• Philosophies of embodiment

• Motion capture and motion tracking systems

• Artificial life: discourses and practices

• Wearables: performance and design

• Interactive installation

Thecla Schiphorst (Associate Professor) BGS, MA (S Fraser) -

• Authoring methodologies

• Human computer interaction

• Wearable technology

• Multi-modal interaction

Ron Wakkary (Associate Professor) BFA (Nova Scotia Art & Des), MFA (NY State) -

• Interaction design - multi-user interaction

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

• Design methods in interaction and games

• Collaborative authorship

• Digital culture & online content

• Online learning

Rob Woodbury (Professor & Graduate Chair) BArch (Car), MS, PhD (Carnegie Mellon) -

• Design space exploration

• Ontological systems

• Online interpretations: repositories and galleries

• Parametric design

• Play in learning and practice

PROGRAM CONSULTATIONS AND EVALUATION

External

The programs at the former TechBC underwent formal approval by the Degree Program

Review Committee of the Ministry of Advanced Education. As part of that approval

several forms of consultation and evaluation occurred.

• Program Advisory Committees comprising a majority of external members met

monthly during the early stages of the TechBC graduate programs.

• The TechBC Academic Programs Working Committee collected and evaluated

• ?

considerable information on external programs as part of the program

development process.

• During the Fall of 1998, a number of individuals from other institutions were

invited to visit TechBC to review and to provide input to the program

development process.

• During TechBC's existence, course evaluations were conducted on a regular

basis for all graduate courses.

The program has held discussions with related non-university institutions such as the BC

Advanced Systems Institute and the New Media Innovation Centre.

Internal to SFU

The proposed program has a number of natural links to existing SFU departments and

programs. Our course offerings have affinities with Contemporary Arts, Computing

Science, Engineering Science, Communication, Education and Business Administration.

Current graduate students enrolled in the cohort program are taking electives in

Contemporary Arts, Communication, Engineering Science and Computing Science. Co-

supervision and supervisory committee membership arrangements are growing and

currently include Contemporary Arts, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Education,

Communication, English, Computing Science and Engineering Science.

Faculty members have established research collaborations with research centres

including the GRUVI Lab, the MBB program, the Centre for Experimental and

Constructive Mathematics, and service units such as the eLearning Innovation Centre.

27 October 2004

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

Given the particular research interests of our faculty, we foresee research collaborations

possible with computing science, engineering science, communication, education,

business, mathematics, cognitive science, biology, sociology and philosophy.

Cognate Programs Elsewhere

There are several organizational patterns that have some parallels to our proposal. The

first is comprehensive and interdisciplinary, marked by a merging of technical or

engineering interests with those in art, education and the social sciences. The MIT

Media Lab (www.media.mit.edu

) established the first major related program with its

Master's and Doctoral programs in Media Arts and Sciences (MSc, MSc in Media Arts

and Sciences, MSc in Media Technology, PhD). It perhaps is closest in concept to our

proposal and past practice as TechBC but has historically had a more relentless focus

on digital media itself. A close second is the recently established CMU Center for

Entertainment Technology (http:!/www.etc.cmu.edu/curriculum.html)

(Master of

Entertainment Technology) with applied interests in the art and engineering of new

technology from games to film. Similarly, work of the National Film Board of Canada

(www.nfb.ca ) has for decades merged art and information science in pursuit of inventive

media expression. It remains an icon of interdisciplinary work in film and video

technology, but it is not a degree program or school as such.

The Comparative Media Studies program at MIT

(http:/Imit.edu/cmsl)

(MSc) examines

media technologies for their cultural, social, aesthetic, political, ethical, legal, and

economic implications. The CMS Program is situated in the Faculty of Humanities, and

leads to a Master of Science degree. While this program involves a broad range of the

humanities and social sciences, it does not host hands-on development and testing of

technologies

per Se.

Taken together, the MIT Media Lab

and

Comparative Media

Studies nearly duplicate the range of the School of Interactive Arts and Technology,

though it does not do so as a comprehensive degree program. Nevertheless, this duality

is our closest cognate.

Second, Toronto offers a collaborative graduate program through the Knowledge Media

Design Institute. The program offers "...a specialization for graduate students from a

variety of academic backgrounds to engage in the design, prototyping, evaluation, and

use of media intended to support and enhance the ability of individuals and groups to

think, communicate, learn, and create knowledge."

(www.kmdi.org ). Students are

admitted to graduate study in a home department (Architecture, Landscape, and Design;

Computer Science; Information Studies; Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; and

Sociology - degree designations vary by home department). Students must meet all the

requirements of their home department plus those of the KMDI program. The program

undertakes to work with supervisory committees to tailor individual student courses of

study. Overall the Toronto program seems to combine elements of our proposed

program with an organizational structure that is a hybrid between regular and special

arrangement studies. The program accepted its first students in the Fall of 2002 and

currently has 21 students (Master's and PhD) and 7 informally associated students. Over

50% of the current students are enrolled in Information Studies.

Third, there are existing programs in art or communications with newly expanded

mandates. Most currently, The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) has announced

formation of a graduate Department of Digital Media to offer a Master's degree (MFA)

(http://www.risd.edu/digital

media.cfm). It is unclear whether this is a research or

27 October 2004 ?

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Full Program Proposal fore Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

professional program, or of its involvement of related interests from business, media and

modern culture, literature and the humanities either from RISD or adjacent Brown

University. RISD has traditionally focused on specializations within art, not on broad

interdisciplinary ventures.

Fourth, there are schools of library science who have enlarged their scope from training

librarians to more interdisciplinary work at the graduate level. The University of

Michigan's School of Information

(http://www.si.umich.edu )

offers Master's and PhD

degrees (MSc in Information, PhD) in information systems and human-computer

interaction. While broadly inclusive of human considerations in information systems it

lacks the cultural focus of the proposed program. A similar focus exists at Syracuse

University and is also an outgrowth of the library sciences (http://istweb.syr.edu

) (MSc in

Library and Information Sciences, MSc in Telcommunications and Network

Management, MSc in Information Management, PhD in Information Transfer).

Similarly, the University of Washington rechristened its library school 7 years ago as The

Information School (http://www.ischool.washington.edu ) (Master of Library and

Information Science (MLIS), MLIS in Law Librarianship, Distance MLIS, MSc in

Information Management, PhD in Information Science). Despite the name change and

an enlarged concern with the social and legal consequences of an information economy,

the program lacks strong participation by the arts and social sciences. These broad

concerns are presently spread among 6 other programs as diverse as technology and

management (the business school) to medical informatics and telemedicine. Each of

these specializations is located in a separate department, often in a different college and

campus.

S ?

Fifth, communications programs, such as Simon Fraser's own justly well-regarded

program, offers some parallel interest to ours, as do those in other major Canadian

schools such as Concordia (http://artsandscience.concordia .ca/comm/masters

. html) (MA

in Media Studies). Much of their curriculum centres upon traditional media and its

industrial, cultural and training needs. Some other regional universities offer training in

journalism. The University of British Columbia and University of Victoria both offer this

training to undergraduates, but do not offer much crossover to technology, design and

art, particularly at the graduate level.

New York University's program in Cinema Studies (http://www.nyu.edu/tisch/cinema/)

(MA in Cinema Studies, MA in Moving Image Archiving and Preservation, PhD in

Cinema Studies) offers both distinction in certain specialties like film and a breadth of

programs in other media, media policy and criticism. It, with the Annenberg Schools at

USC and the University of Pennsylvania (http://ascweb.usc.edu/home.Ph

p ) (MA in

Communication, MA in Communication Management, MA in Global Communication,

PhD in Communication); (http://www.asc.upenn.edu/asc/)

(PhD), is considered among

the top such schools, continentally. The Annenberg Schools each have strong media

criticism, policy and social science emphases, both at the graduate and undergraduate

levels. Other programs are small and exclusive: journalism training at University of

California - Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia and Northwestern provides prestigious post-

baccalaureate training in media and journalism, but do not tie strongly to engineering or

information technologies,

per

Se. Michigan State University, University of Georgia,

University of Texas, Universities of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon and others offer a

breadth of instruction in Colleges of Communications Arts, with specialized departments

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spanning undergraduate training in journalism, broadcast, film, commercial art and the

social effects of media, but again have scant direct focus on technologies.

Finally, we know of notable programs more distant from these shores with

characteristics at some variance from North American offerings. In Sweden, new

programs have begun at the University of Malmo and the Chalmers University of

Technology (http://www.design.chal

mers.se/arttech/)

(Master in Art and Technology). In

Australia, Sydney University's Faculty of Architecture offers a Master's degree in Design

Science and a PhD (http://www.arch.su.edu.au/nwfa/research/index.html)

. Its ambitions

are broad but its scope is necessarily limited by its home in an architecture faculty (the

disciplinary walls between units are generally high in Australia). The Spatial Information

Architecture Laboratory at RMIT University in Melbourne Australia offers Master's and

PhD degrees (http://www.sial.rmit.edu.au

) (Master of Architecture by Research, PhD by

Research) through its hosting department (Architecture and Design). In comparison to

SFU, RMIT is a much more practically focused institution with fewer graduate-level

offerings. England's Open University's Design and Innovation Department

(http://technology.open.ac.uk/design/index.htmi)

affords some parallels as well, though

its graduate offerings are slim. Sheffield Polytechnic Institution offers strength in political

economy and critical studies of media as do many other U.K. institutions. Ireland's

Dublin City University has an extensive communications program

(http://www.comms.dcu.ie/),

with multiple graduate degrees (MA in Political

Communication, MS in Communication and Cultural Studies, MA in Film and Television

Studies, MA in Journalism, MSc in Multimedia, MSc in Science Communication). The

Interaction Design Institute in lvrea Italy offers a two year thesis-based Master's degree

in interaction design (Master in Interaction Design)

(http://www.

interaction-ivrea.it/en/).

The National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan has aggressively expanded its digital

design and media offerings through its graduate school of architecture

(http://www.arch.nctu.edu.tw/)

offering both Master's and PhD degrees. The program

there offers a blend of applied design, computational design and human-computer

interaction research. It is only one of several noteworthy rapidly growing programs in

Asia.

In this brief review, there are several clear distinctions between possible parallel

programs and what we propose. First, few place equal weight on technology in

distinction to social sciences and the arts. Most communication programs centre in the

applied social sciences or vocational training for media work. Second, programs we

reviewed exist largely at the undergraduate level. There are several prestigious

journalism programs at the graduate level, but most are designed to prepare talented

post-BA students for media careers. There are many programs - including SFU's own

communication program - with well-regarded Master's and doctoral degrees, but whose

focus is with the social, legal and aesthetic consequences of established media

industries. Third, very few competing programs consider centrally new or developing

media forms from the more established internet to dawning forms of wireless, wearable

or immersive media. Finally, few programs have as their common denominator

computation and design, a balance of art, technology and application to everyday life.

Together, these characteristics frame a unique and synergistic program that invites

participation from a wide spectrum of related programs within SFU. In comparison to

programs outside of SFU, our proposal has no direct regional competition and there is

very little internationally that approaches our unique configuration.

27 October 2004 ?

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Pull Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

We have included a comprehensive and inclusive list of related Canadian programs in

Appendix A.

ADMISSION

There will be annual admission into the program with the possibility of early or out-of-

cycle admissions in special cases. The annual deadline for applications is 15 January

with the possibility of late applications. By the end of April, the Graduate Studies

Committee will announce its decisions to applicants who have met the above deadline.

The minimum standards will be those of SFU, as described in the graduate general

regulations. The following guidelines will be applied to new admissions.

It is our aim to admit groups of students with diverse backgrounds, across the broad

areas in which our faculty have disciplinary expertise. The following admission

requirements are designed to encourage such diversity while setting minimum standards

for acceptance into the program.

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

Minimum Standard Entrance Requirements for MA and MSc Programs

An undergraduate degree in a field related to the proposed program of study. For

example:

BSc Computer Science, BASc Engineering (Electrical, Communications, Computer

Engineering) BA or BSc in Education, Management, Economics or Communications,

BFA in Art, Design or Performing Arts, BA in Art, Art History, Architecture,

Linguistics, Psychology or Philosophy, BArch, BLArch, BID).

An undergraduate degree in another, related discipline. Applicants under this

category are required to make the case for (1)the relationship between the discipline

in which they hold their previous degree or degrees and this program; and (2) how

they would benefit from this program.

For applicants to the MSc, a record of substantial university coursework in scientific

and/or technological areas.

Demonstrated ability in computing. Students not meeting this criterion may be

admitted conditionally subject to SFU regulations and successful completion of a

foundational course in computing (this course

will not

count towards graduation

requirements).

Demonstrated ability in academic writing. Students not meeting this criterion may be

admitted conditionally subject to SFU regulations and successful completion of selected

writing intensive courses within the program (such courses

will

count towards

graduation requirements). Applicants are to submit one sample of written work done as

part of their undergraduate studies.

A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better at a Canadian university, or equivalent,

for the undergraduate degree.

A suitable letter of intent explaining the applicant's motivation for selecting this degree

program; summarizing relevant skills, training and experience; describing proposed

research directions within the program and indicating how the course of study would

contribute to future intellectual or professional growth. All of the above four points should

be explicitly addressed in the letter of intent.

Three reference letters each from a suitably qualified person.

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Minimum Standard Entrance Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy

Program:

A graduate degree in a field related to the proposed program of study. For example:

MSc Computer Science, MASc Engineering (Electrical, Communications, Computer

Engineering) MA or MSc in Education, Management, or Economics,

Communications, MFA in Art, Design or Performing Arts, MA in Art, Art History,

Architecture, Linguistics, Psychology or Philosophy, MArch, MLArch).

A graduate degree in another, related discipline. Applicants under this category are

required to make the case for

(1)

the relationship between the discipline in which

they hold their previous degree or degrees and this program; and (2) how they would

benefit from this program.

An undergraduate degree in one of the two categories above. Applicants under this

category are required to demonstrate both high academic standing (GPA of 3.5 or

better at a Canadian university, or equivalent), for the undergraduate degree, and

evidence of research aptitude and accomplishment.

A record of accomplishment in computing. Students not meeting this criterion may be

admitted conditionally subject to SFU regulations and successful completion of a

•

foundational course in computing (this course

will not

count towards graduation

requirements).

A record of accomplishment in academic writing. Students not meeting this criterion

may be admitted conditionally subject to SFU regulations and successful completion of

selected writing intensive courses within the program (such courses will count towards

graduation requirements). Applicants should submit two samples of their scholarly

written work.

A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better at a Canadian university, or equivalent,

for the Master's degree.

A suitable letter of intent explaining the applicant's motivation for selecting this degree

program; summarizing relevant skills, training and experience; describing and critically

supporting proposed research directions within the program and indicating how the

course of study would contribute to future intellectual or professional growth. All of the

above four points should be explicitly addressed in the letter of intent.

Three reference letters each from a suitably qualified person.

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Additional Requirements for both Programs:

Demonstrated proficiency in the English language through one of the following means:

• A previous undergraduate or graduate degree completed at a university where

English is the applicant's primary language of instruction

• A minimum score of 570 on the paper-based TOEFL test with a minimum TWE score

of 5

• A minimum score of 230 on the computer-based TOEFL test with a minimum TWE

score of 5

2. Portfolio/Interview:

Candidates who are being considered for admission may be required to submit a

portfolio of their work and/or be required to attend a personal or telephone interview

during the latter stages of the admissions process.

OTHER PROGRAM INFORMATION

Tuition

Students will pay tuition fees based on SFU's standard fees for students in "per-

semester" research-oriented graduate programs.

All SFU regulations concerning tuition fees will apply. Refer to the SFU Calendar for

details of these regulations.

Administrative structure

The program will be housed in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SlAT) in

the Faculty of Applied Sciences. A Graduate Program Committee will be created,

consisting of faculty members from SlAT, and reporting to the Director of SlAT. The

committee members will undertake the normal tasks of a graduate program committee,

as outlined in SFU graduate general regulations.

The program committee, which will be known as the Graduate Program Committee, will

be chaired by one of its members, who will fulfill all the normal duties of a graduate

program chair, and will sit on the Faculty of Applied Sciences Graduate Studies

Committee.

Presently SlAT has seven tenurable and one emeritus faculty members at the Assistant

Professor level or above. SlAT is currently in a staged process of hiring its tenure-track

faculty, starting with a cohort of nine positions being filled in Fall 2004. Additional hiring

will occur after this group has been appointed. All newly-appointed faculty would be

expected to participate in the proposed program.

Equipment resources include our four CFI-funded labs (these are devoted respectively

to computing technology, interaction, virtual environments and usability), a computer

suite devoted solely to the graduate program, specialized media editing facilities, and

availability of the undergraduate labs in the program. The faculty currently have

27 October 2004 ?

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

significant funded research that would support research assistantships in the program.

The SFU library system has considerable relevant literature through its collections

relevant to Computer Science, Engineering Science, Contemporary Arts, Business,

Communication, Education, Mathematics and the Arts. During its brief existence the

former TechBC developed a small but significant collection of material relevant to the

program.

Linked to its Double the Opportunity Program, the Provincial Government has made a

substantial commitment to increasing graduate student numbers in the program that

develops from the former Tech BC (40 FTE in 2003/4, 50 FTE in 2004/5 and 60 FTE in

2005/6).

Students from the current Cohort Special Arrangements Program in Computing Arts and

Design Sciences would, at their option and by meeting program requirements, transfer to

the new program and no new admissions would be made to the Cohort Program. We

expect that most, if not all, Cohort PhD students will choose to transfer and that Cohort

MASc students will make a choice between completion by project within the Cohort

Program or completion by thesis in the new program. Some may wish to complete under

the existing project option while other may wish to do the extra work required to

complete a degree by thesis.

Attached are the names and curricula vitae of the members of the SlAT faculty eligible to

supervise graduate students.

Once students are enrolled in the program, all program regulations will apply. However,

there will be no retroactive application of the new program regulations to those students

who remain in the Cohort Special Arrangements Program in Computing Arts and Design

Sciences except by written election by the student involved.

RATIONALE AND DEMAND

The program will be housed in SlAT and thus its administering faculty is the Faculty of

Applied Sciences.

The first priority of the Faculty of Applied Sciences in its current Strategic Plan is

"to

expand its existing programs and to design and develop new programs in areas of high

demand."

We argue that the events of SFU's expansion into Surrey and its choice to

retain and redevelop the programs of the former TechBC is a de facto realization of this

first priority. Demand for the proposed graduate program we demonstrate in the form of

our recent admissions process into the Cohort Special Arrangements Program in

Computing Arts and Design Sciences, and in the large number of potential applicant

inquiries that we currently receive with neither advertisement nor marketing. We argue

appropriateness to the strategic goals of the Faculty of Applied Science by noting that

the work of our research faculty would open new and needed areas for this Faculty and,

more broadly, in society. We are simultaneously concerned with how technologies are

used, designed and implemented. The technological areas we currently work within

include systems for interactive performance, authoring systems, industrial design,

computer-aided design, visualization, learning systems, software, computer games,

buildings and policy. All of these are important areas that are currently being

transformed by technology. There are many examples among the Schools and faculty of

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Full Program Proposal for a Graduate Program within the School of Interactive Arts and Technology

FAS that share these goals, but no group that synthesizes and articulates these goals

into a locus of study and research.

The Three-Year Plan of the Vice President, Academic notes that the societal context in

which universities operate is changing in several ways. Among these is the transition to

a knowledge-based society. The proposed program represents one approach to

enabling people to achieve the aim of life

long learning, innovation and discovery

implied

by a knowledge-based society. It does this by making inquiry to the process of learning,

innovation and discovery an integral part of its educational offerings.

The VPA plan notes an important force in society that we argue is partly a consequence

of being knowledge-based.

.within the larger society there is an increasing demand for applied and professional

programs. By responding to this demand some are concerned that the integrity and support

for the arts and sciences will be compromised. Comprehensive universities have always

sought to secure balance among potentially competing areas. We are committed to

preserving the fundamental foundation of the

arts

and sciences while simultaneously building

on our excellence and strength in applied and professional programming. We view our

programming breadth as an opportunity for partnership to draw together interdisciplinary

programming, greater breadth in the educational experience for our students, and enrichment

for the community in which the university operates.

The proposed program provides a novel structure with which to address

interdisciplinarity, programming breadth and the technology in its societal contexts.

Potential applicants for program

Based on four rounds of admission to TechBC and the current Computing Arts and

Design Sciences program, applicants for the proposed program will likely come from

three populations.

The first contains people holding an undergraduate degree in a discipline unrelated to

computing and who have pursued aspects of computing either as part of their degree or

informally. Such people realize that computation has become an essential, increasingly

important tool for their discipline, and are frustrated by the difficulty of developing

discipline-based computational knowledge within conventional departmental structures.

They are attracted to the new program by the prospect of working with like-minded

people from their discipline and others and by the promise of hybrid vigour that such

interdisciplinary work can provide. The current program has a large representation of

people from the art, design and management areas. We expect that these areas will

continue to be well-represented and note that our most recent admissions round saw a

considerable broadening of the applicant field (we were very encouraged to see several

applicants with online learning backgrounds and aspirations, but were constrained by

current degree offerings from accepting some of these people into the present program).

Graduates of the new program originating in this pool will enrich their former disciplinary

knowledge by understanding how computation informs and is informed by other

disciplines.

People in the second group have a strong technical foundation in computer science,

engineering or mathematics. They wish to apply their knowledge to one or more of the

domains represented in the program. Their motivation is both practical and curiosity-

driven. They wish to apply their knowledge, but also see that application provides new

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opportunities for learning about computation and technology. Graduates originating in

this pool will know their technical discipline and how to translate it into application in the

field.

The third group of applicants is a special case of the first, is small, but important. Such

people want to develop deep expertise in computing and technology, but continue to

develop in their former fields of study. Their aspirations are high - they wish to do the

difficult work of becoming expert in more than one area. The evidence from other

programs known to us (CMU, MIT) is that successful graduates from this pool are

spectacular performers in their subsequent careers. It takes both a program such as the

one proposed located in a university with a good computer science or engineering

school to foster such people.

Demand for the proposed program appears to be strong. We received over 100

applications this spring with almost no advertising and an extremely limited application

period. Presently we continue to receive a large number of unsolicited yet informed

application inquiries. We propose to set enrolment limits at the reasonable limit of the

ability of faculty to supervise students in a research-based program: a ratio of three

students per eligible faculty member. With growth to 30 research faculty members in the

new school, we would anticipate having about 90 students in the program at any one

time.

Achieving a balance across genders is important to us. Our current gender balance is

that of 80 grad students, we have 29 female and 51 male, which is better balanced than

other technical programs at SFU. It needs to be improved. We anticipate a large

complement of women in our applicant pool (and past admissions support this claim).

. ?

Emphasizing recruitment of women graduate students will be important to our overall

development strategy. Our program includes a significant contextual, artistic and critical-

analytical approach to technology, which women applicants tend to favour over more

narrowly focused technological approaches.

The proposed program is unique in British Columbia. There are other programs and

parts of other programs that share some of its elements, but none can claim the degree

of focus on computing and technology in its contexts or the explicit inquiry into

interdisciplinarity that are the hallmarks of what we propose here.

Potential job market

Nationally and provincially, there has been demand for Canadians with advanced skills

and research ability in computing, communications and their intersect with arts and

entertainment as key components of a "smart" economy. Further, it is important that

these individuals are equipped to work in cross-disciplinary ways, finding invention and

new applications of technology with non-traditional instruction. Through team projects

our students are prepared to work with others who may have different perspectives.

Many government efforts from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to BC's "Double

the Opportunity" signal this kind of new economy and advanced skill set.

Our graduates are equipped do the important tasks in industry and government of

making computing and technology work for people and organizations. Graduates from

the program must have knowledge of two key areas (computing/technology and another

area such as the arts), with an emphasis on one of these. For example, a student may

combine the micro technology of positional sensors with dance. Another may better

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conceptualise the aesthetic contribution or audience impacts of high resolution television

imaging. The portability and video capabilities of cellular telephones may form the basis

of novel text "conversation" software implemented through the mobile telephone

network. In all these cases, our students span from art and design to technology in

important ways. They are both agents of discovery and of creating useful applications for

everyday use.

We expect that many of our graduates will progress to either further graduate study, to

academic careers or positions of influence in governments and NGOs. Every field is

feeling the effects of computation and technology and most universities and

governments have realized that their faculty must reflect this important and continuing

trend. Our graduates will be specially prepared for such positions. Additionally, the

growing symbiosis of the university with "smart" industries suggest the importance of

graduates able to energise such relationships, moving with ease between the

commercial and academic worlds of research and invention. As the Canadian economy

moves from its traditional resource base dependent on powerful neighbours to a position

of invention and high value-added information industries, our program and its advanced

students should play an important part.

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L -

-I

APPENDIX A - INCLUSIVE LIST OF RELATED PROGRAMS IN CANADA

Alberta, University of

Similar research themes are spread across four different schools:

• Art and Design - MA, MFA: History of Art, Design and Visual Culture

• Communications and Technology - MA: electronic and social networks,

organizational communications, electronic commerce

• Computer Science: Al, Computer graphics, Database and Multimedia Systems,

etc.

• Educational Psychology: Instructional Technology

British Columbia, University of

A similar program of study could be created by a student enrolled in Interdisciplinary

studies. For example, such a student could take courses in Fine Arts and Computer

Science, or Communications and Computer Science.

Two programs with related themes are:

• Master of Educational Technology program - MET: a joint, online program with

Tec de Monterrey (Mexico).

• Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture - some research links with

• ?

engineering and fine arts.

Calgary, University of

Similar themes are found in the following programs:

• Fine Arts - MFA: Offers a minor in lntermedia Arts and Technology (boundaries

between digital and traditional media). (The MFA is generally a terminal Master's

degree.)

• Computer Science - MSc, PhD: some courses in Computer Graphics, Computer

Vision, and Human-Computer Interaction.

Carleton University

Four programs at Carleton feature similar though more narrow research:

• Computer Science: Intelligent Systems: Expert systems, knowledge acquisition

tools, knowledge based assistants, connectionism and neural networks, natural

language understanding, learning and adaptability, robotics, pattern recognition.

• Computer Science: Object-Oriented Systems: Visual programming, filing

systems, databases, user interfaces, simulation, animation, software

engineering, office automation.

• Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture: Offers a PhD in

Literary Studies, Visual Culture, Musical Culture, New Technologies

• School of Industrial Design: does not offer a graduate program, but does have

some courses available for graduate students enrolled in Engineering or

Architecture.

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Concordia University

Three programs with some relationships to ours exist.

• Media Studies - MA: Cultural and social aspects of media and communication

• Educational Technology - MA, PhD: Focus of the program is on communication,

management theory and systems analysis.

• Open Media - MFA: This program includes art forms such as performance,

installation, and electronic art.

Guelph, University of

Computing and Information Science and Fine Arts have some cognate topics, however,

there are no specific programs listed with similar themes.

Manitoba, University of

Computer Science has some cognate topics, however, there are no specific programs

listed with similar themes.

McGill University

Art History and Communication Studies - MA, PhD: Focus is on interdisciplinary study of

art, culture and communications, and the technologies of information, image, and sound.

The program involves cultural and social aspects.

McMaster University

Computing and Software has some cognate topics, such as computational geometry.

However, there are no specific programs listed with similar themes.

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Computer Science has some similar themes and Sociology has one course focusing on

science and technology. There are no specific programs listed with similar themes.

Ryerson University

Communications and Culture - MA, PhD: Ryerson offers this joint program with York. It

focuses on contemporary issues and practices in communication and culture

Toronto, University of

Toronto offers a collaborative graduate program through the Knowledge Media Design

Institute. The program offers

.a specialization for graduate students from a variety of

academic backgrounds to engage in the design, prototyping, evaluation, and use of

media intended to support and enhance the ability of individuals and groups to think,

communicate, learn, and create knowledge." (www.kmdi.org

Students are admitted to

graduate study in a home department (Architecture, Landscape, and Design; Computer

Science; Information Studies; Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; and Sociology).

I—

L-1

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Students must meet all the requirements of their home department plus those of the

KMDI program.

Toronto offers a program in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology and

the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology. Topics include Communications in

History, Theory, Technology and Perspective and Design in the Twentieth Century. The

programs do not have an applied technology component.

Waterloo, University of

Somewhat surprisingly, Waterloo's offerings in this area remain spotty and dispersed.

• Fine Arts - MFA: Offers a concentration in computer imaging.

• School of Computer Science - Math, PhD: This department offers similar

research areas such as User Interfaces and Computer graphics.

Canadian Film Centre - Habitat Programme

Habitat

(http://www.cd

nfilmcentre.com/trainin g

/newmedia.html)

is centred on the

exploration, development and production of the interactive experience. Its goal is to

provide educational programming that combines the intellectual rigour of post-graduate

university environment with the results-driven orientation of a production studio

environment. Though not a degree granting program, Habitat plays an important national

role in the development of highly qualified new media personnel.

The Banff Centre - New Media Institute (BNMI)

BNMI (http://www.banffcentre.ab.ca/bnmU)

offers a series of summits, workshops, co-

productions, co-developed programs and production. Through these vehicles, BNMI

supports collaborative research, dialogue and networking, a laboratory for the

prototyping and co-production and research of new media works, and a place for career

development and training. Though not a degree granting program, BNMI plays an

important national role in the development of highly qualified new media personnel.

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APPENDIX B: PHD COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATIONS

This document states the guidelines PhD Comprehensive Examinations in the graduate

program in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology. It embodies five aims:

• To demonstrate breadth and depth of knowledge appropriate for the holder of a

PhD

• To test for preparedness to conduct PhD thesis research

• To test for preparedness to produce the PhD thesis

• To test for comparable standards of preparedness across candidates taking the

exam, to the extent possible in a diverse, interdisciplinary program.

• To align with SFU policies and practices

The Comprehensive Examination

With the consent of their Supervisory Committee, students may sit the Comprehensive

Examination following completion of required course work. Upon passing, the student

will be admitted to full degree candidacy. The examination may be retaken once.

As part of preparation to undertake the Comprehensive Examination, the student shall

submit, to his or her Supervisory Committee, a comprehensive annotated bibliography of

readings used throughout course work and readings related to their proposed thesis

topic. The student's Senior Supervisor will inform the Graduate Program Committee of

the Supervisory Committee's consent for the student to sit the examination and will

provide a copy of the annotated bibliography.

Upon receipt of the consent and annotated bibliography from the Senior Supervisor, the

Graduate Program Committee will strike an Examination Committee as described below.

The examination shall have three sections. The first will test for breadth of knowledge

within the student's course of study. The second will test for knowledge of the proposed

thesis topic. The third will test for knowledge of and skill with pertinent research

methodology. At least two of the sections shall have a required archival component. The

examination shall have an oral component that shall test for all three sections.

The examining committee shall refer to the bibliography in preparing the examination.

The examination process should not exceed one term in duration from the date of

notification to the Graduate Program Committee of the consent to sit for the examination.

This time may be longer should a student be required to retake the examination.

Specific guidelines for these examinations are available from the graduate program

assistant.

Examination Committee

The examination committee shall consist of the student's Supervisory Committee, the

Graduate Program Chair or designate, and one other member of faculty in the School

eligible to act as a Senior Supervisor. This last selection may be nominated by the

student's Supervisory Committee and shall be approved by the Graduate Program

Committee. More than one individual may be nominated by the Supervisory Committee,

from which the Graduate Program Committee shall make the final choice or require

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additional nominations. The Graduate Program Chair or designate shall chair the

Examination Committee.

Examination

Program Responsibilities

The Graduate Program Committee has responsibility to ensure that the comprehensive

examinations for a given cohort test for comparable standards of preparedness across

candidates taking the exam, to the extent possible in a diverse, interdisciplinary

program. Comparability, not equivalence, is the goal—a general test of preparedness,

difficulty and fairness should be met by comparison to other like instances, both within

the program and to other SFU PhD programs.

Bibliography

As part of the applying to site the examination, the student shall prepare a

comprehensive annotated bibliography designed to demonstrate the topic areas that

they have covered in their course of study.

The purpose of the bibliography is to inform the process of the focus and substance of

the student's work to date and to facilitate the faculty's task of preparing the

Comprehensive Examination. As such, it may well include substantial interpretive

material, but should be concise, clear and complete.

Preparation and Approval of the Examination

The Examination Committee shall use the bibliography to assist in preparing the exam

questions. The questions shall be approved by the Graduate Program Committee. The

Graduate Program Committee may require common questions across a cohort taking

the comprehensive examination or may otherwise advise on the proposed examination.

Form of Examination

The examination shall have three components, of which at least two must be submitted

in an archival form, consonant with SFU policies and practices on submission of the

thesis to the library.

Section

1 -

Breadth:

This section shall test for breadth of knowledge within the

student's course of study and across the general area in which study has been focused.

The student will be expected to demonstrate interdisciplinary aspects of his or her study.

Section 2 - Thesis Topic.

This section shall test the student's understanding of the

research issues around the proposed thesis topic. It shall test

inter a/ia

for social

justification, conceptual justification, and current research problems and issues.

Section 3 - Methodology:

This section shall test for knowledge of methodologies

appropriate to the research area, for ability to choose and design methodologies for

particular research tasks and for ability to apply methodology to the proposed thesis

topic.

Supplemental Material

If a section of the exam contains supplemental examples of the student's work, the

student must explain the example in the respective section. Supplemental examples

must be submitted in an archival form.

Supplemental material may describe, for example:

• video taped performance

• programming or design artifacts

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visual or written works

Decision of the Examination Committee

The Examination Committee shall make a recommendation of its findings to the

Graduate Program Committee. The Graduate Program Committee shall confirm the

recommendation upon satisfying itself that the examination has been conducted in

accordance with these guidelines.

On the first sitting of the examination the recommendation shall be one of the following:

• The student passes the examination.

• The student is required to retake the examination.

Should a second sitting of the examination be required due to the student not passing

the examination on the first sitting, the recommendation shall be one of the following:

The student passes the examination.

The student fails the examination and is required to withdraw from the program.

If a student is required to retake the examination, the Examining Committee may include

in its recommendation a set of required tasks for the student that may include additional

formal coursework.

A student may retake the comprehensive examination once. A second failure requires

withdrawal from the program.

The decision of the Examination Committee shall be by simple majority vote. The

Examination Committee Chair shall vote only in the case of a tied vote, and his or her

abstention from voting in this instance shall be taken as a vote to retake (first sitting) or

fail (second sitting) the examination.

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APPENDIX C: COURSE PROPOSALS AND OUTLINES

In the interests of saving trees, course proposals are not included here. Copies have

been provided to the Dean of Graduate Studies and these are available to all involved in

the review process.

No instructors are listed on the course proposals. Given that SlAT is in the midst of the

process of hiring its tenurable faculty (with seven tenurable and one emeritus currently

appointed), listing the faculty members who will normally teach is not practical at this

stage.

Each of the course proposals was prepared by a sub-group of the SlAT graduate

program faculty and approved by the entire SlAT graduate program faculty.

Detailed course proposal and outlines are available for review: 

by calling Bobbie Grant, Senate Assistant, 604 291-3168 or 

email bgrant@sfu.ca 

.

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APPENDIX D:

CALENDAR ENTRY

SCHOOL OF INTERACTIVE ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY GRADUATE PROGRAM

Surrey Campus, 2400 Central City, 10153 King George Highway. (604) 586-5225, Fax

(604) 586-5237, http://www.iat.sfu.ca/grad

Director

J. Bowes

AB (Hamilton College), MSc (Syr), PhD (Mich State)

Graduate Program Chair

R. Woodbury

BArch (Carleton), MS (Carnegie Mellon), PhD (Carnegie Mellon)

Faculty and Areas of Research

John Bowes AB (Hamilton College), MSc (Syr), PhD (Mich State) - digital media and

telecommunications policy; computer mediated communication and online commerce;

technology transfer; minorities and media; history of technology

Jim Budd MVA (Alta) - collaborative product development; interface design &

navigation; interactive products; visualization: virtual & physical; digital literacy;

electronic conferencing

Tom Calvert (Emeritus) BSc(Eng) (Lond), MSEE (Wayne), PhD (Carnegie Tech), PEng

- computer systems for the animation and choreography of human figures; networked

multimedia systems for learning; the design and evaluation of human-computer

interfaces for complex systems; computer graphics

Brian Fisher BA (Hiram College), PhD (UC Santa Cruz) - human perceptual, enactive,

and distributed cognition; individual differences; development of expertise; perceptually

rich interfaces; visual analytics; collaboration systems; media arts; technology

commercialization; open-source distribution models

Susan Kozel BComm (McG), MA, PhD (Essex) - Live performance in mediated

environments; philosophies of embodiment; motion capture and motion tracking

systems; artificial life: discourses and practices; wearables: performance and design;

interactive installation

Thecla Schiphorst BA (Hampshire), MFA (Calif Inst Arts) - authoring methodologies;

human computer interaction; wearable technology; multi-modal interaction

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Ron Wakkary BFA (Nova Scotia Art & Des), MFA (NY State) - interaction design - multi-

user interaction; design methods in interaction and games; collaborative authorship;

digital culture & online content; online learning

Rob Woodbury (Chair) BArch (Car), MS, PhD (Carnegie Mellon) - design space

exploration; ontological systems; online interpretations: repositories and galleries;

parametric design; play in learning and practice

Program Goals

The program has two goals. The first is to explore, understand and critically evaluate the

interplay between technology and society in the broadest terms, and in particular,

between technology and our social and cultural environments. The second is to foster

the development and design of new technologies to benefit us in existing contexts and to

elaborate, expand and create contexts for beneficial technological application.

The program brings together faculty and students from a variety of disciplines to the

study of technology both in and across the participating disciplines. The program has the

quadruple objectives of, first, research in technology in its contexts, particularly the

computation that drives much current technological development; second, inquiry into

and use of research methodologies that enable interdisciplinary collaboration and the

development of new technologies; third, research into the acts of designing, making,

managing and learning about technology; and fourth, demonstration of new technologies

in their contexts.

A hallmark of the program is its emphasis on interdisciplinarity, team endeavour,

. ?

combining of concept and practice, and use of technologies as a vital instructional base.

All graduate students take a mandatory course in Research Methods and Strategies,

which critically evaluates research philosophies and techniques for collaboration among

disciplinary experts. Students learn in an environment that employs traditional

coursework, one-on-one mentoring, teamwork, and technology-enhanced learning. In

short, students are immersed in an environment that is both technology rich and

structured for interdisciplinary cooperation.

Degrees Offered

The program offers courses of study leading to the MA, MSc and PhD. It provides

graduate study in diverse areas related to people, technology and society, especially the

areas of art, design, games and knowledge management.

Research Facilities

The school operates five research labs, supporting work in the broad areas of

information technology, virtual environments, interactivity and usability. One lab

comprising computers, display and output devices is for general graduate program use.

The other four labs provide specialized research facilities.

Shared Virtual Environment Lab

The particular focus of the lab is shared virtual environments where technology is used

to provide sensory cues of physical presence. The lab supports research into shared

spaces, developed to provide an immersive virtual reality environment in which users

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can interact with others in similar spaces in Canada and around the world. Its facilities

include a two-walled cave, graphics servers, software and desktop computers.

lnfoNet Media Lab

The lnfoNet Media Lab houses a computer-based environment that allows for the

creation, usage, and sharing of multi-modal information to support such areas as: signal

Processing for multimedia applications, image and video processing, computer graphics

and animation, multi-modal muman-computer interaction, bloinformatics. The goal of

utilizing the Info Net Media Lab is to define, investigate, and integrate advanced

multimedia and creative technologies, in order to dramatically transform the way an

individual communicates, works, teaches, learns, and plays. Its facilities include

visualization displays, instrumentation and prototyping equipment, software, and desktop

and laptop computers.

Interactivity Lab

The Interactivity Lab aims to extend our current range of digital interfaces and

interactivity solutions. The research in the Interactivity Lab supports existing and in-

development tools and solutions and develops new forms of interactivity and authoring

tool methods, from small numeric-pad driven interfaces to full body, multi-sensory

interaction. It facilities include a range of input, sensing and display and output devices,

rapid prototyping equipment, servers, software, and desktop and laptop computers.

Electronic Commerce, Educational Technology and Community Informatics

Usability Lab

The Electronic Commerce, Educational Technology and Community lnformâtics

Usability Lab (EC3 Usability Lab) examines the areas where the virtual world interfaces

with the physical world. It supports research in the human and user component of

technology development. The lab develops and evaluates applications that merge the

virtual and physical world and provide a platform for research in user interface, user•

response, and user requirements in areas such as electronic eommerce, educational

technology, computational design and community informatics. Its facilities include head

and eye tracking equipment, usability evaluation hardware and software, collaboration

systems, servers, terabyte storage arrays, software, and desktop and laptop computers.

Admissions

There will be annual admission into the program with the possibility of early or out-of-

cycle admissions in special cases.

The minimum standards will be those of SFU, as described in the graduate general

regulations, augmented bythe following specific requirements.

It is our aim to admit groups of students with diverse backgrounds, across the broad

areas in which our faculty have disciplinary expertise. The following admission

requirements are designed to encourage such diversity while setting minimum standards

for acceptance into the program.

Master's students will be admitted to study for either the MA or MSc degree. Students

may articulate between the MA and MSc degrees by meeting the admission and

program requirements of the degree to which they articulate and with the approval of the

Graduate Program Committee. A student may make one application for articulation.

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Minimum Standard Entrance Requirements for MA and MSc Programs

An undergraduate degree in a field related to the proposed program of study. For

example:

BSc Computer Science, BASc Engineering (Electrical, Communications, Computer

Engineering) BA or BSc in Education, Management, Economics or Communications,

BFA in Art, Design or Performing Arts, BA in Art, Art History, Architecture,

Linguistics, Psychology or Philosophy, BArch, BLArch, BID).

An undergraduate degree in another, related discipline. Applicants under this

category are required to make the case for (1)the relationship between the discipline

in which they hold their previous degree or degrees and this program; and (2) how

they would benefit from this program.

For applicants to the MSc, a record of substantial university coursework in scientific

and/or technological areas.

Demonstrated ability in computing. Students not meeting this criterion may be

admitted conditionally subject to SFU regulations and successful completion of a

foundational course in computing (this course

will not

count towards graduation

requirements).

Demonstrated ability in academic writing. Students not meeting this criterion may be

admitted conditionally subject to SFU regulations and successful completion of selected

writing intensive courses within the program (such courses

will

count towards

S ?

graduation requirements). Applicants are to submit one sample of written work done as

part of their undergraduate studies.

A minimum cumulative CPA of 3.0 or better at a Canadian university, or equivalent,

for the undergraduate degree.

A suitable letter of intent explaining the applicant's motivation for selecting this degree

program; summarizing relevant skills, training and experience; describing proposed

research directions within the program and indicating how the course of study would

contribute to future intellectual or professional growth. All of the above four points should

be explicitly addressed in the letter of intent.

Three reference letters each from a suitably qualified person.

Minimum Standard Entrance Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Program:

A graduate degree in a field related to the proposed program of study. For example:

MSc Computer Science, MASc Engineering (Electrical, Communications, Computer

Engineering) MA or MSc in Education, Management, or Economics,

Communications, MFA in Art, Design or Performing Arts, MA in Art, Art History,

Architecture, Linguistics, Psychology or Philosophy, MArch, MI-Arch).

A graduate degree in another, related discipline. Applicants under this category are

required to make the case for (1)the relationship between the discipline in which

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they hold their previous degree or degrees and this program; and (2) how they would

benefit from this program.

An undergraduate degree in one of the two categories above. Applicants under this

category are required to demonstrate both high academic standing (GPA of 3.5 or

better at a Canadian university, or equivalent), for the undergraduate degree, and

evidence of research aptitude and accomplishment.

A record of accomplishment in computing. Students not meeting this criterion may be

admitted conditionally subject to SFU regulations and successful completion of a

foundational course in computing (this course

will not

count towards graduation

requirements).

A record of accomplishment in academic writing. Students not meeting this criterion

may be admitted conditionally subject to SFU regulations and successful completion of

selected writing intensive courses within the program (such courses will count towards

graduation requirements). Applicants should submit two samples of their scholarly

written work.

A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better at a Canadian university, or equivalent,

for the Master's degree.

A suitable letter of intent explaining the applicant's motivation for selecting this degree

program; summarizing relevant skills, training and experience; describing and critically

supporting proposed research directions within the program and indicating how the

course of study would contribute to future intellectual or professional growth. All of the

above four points should be explicitly addressed in the letter of intent.

Three reference letters each from a suitably qualified person.

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Additional Admission Requirements for both Programs:

Demonstrated proficiency in the English language through one of the following means:

• A previous undergraduate or graduate degree completed at a university where

English is the applicants primary language of instruction

• A minimum score of 570 on the paper-based TOEFL test with a minimum TWE score

of 5

o A minimum score of 230 on the computer-based TOEFL test with a minimum TWE

score of 5

Portfolio/Interview:

Candidates who are being considered for admission may be required to submit a

portfolio of their work and/or be required to attend a personal or telephone interview

during the latter stages of the admissions process.

Advising and Supervision

Student supervision will comply with

Section 1.6 Supervision

of the Graduate General

Regulations. Students entering the program will be assigned an interim advisor. The

interim advisor has two main tasks: advising the student on issues related to study within

the program and assisting the student in identifying and approaching potential senior

supervisors. There is no requirement that the interim advisor has a role in supervision

S ?

once the Senior Supervisor is approved.

The normal size of MA and MSc Supervisory Committees is two. The normal size of a

PhD Supervisory Committee is two or three.

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Degree Requirements

Students fulfill the following requirements to complete their degree.

MA and MSc

PhD*

PhD (from

MAorMSc

with the

program)

IAT 800-3

3 credits

Foundations of

(possibly waived)

Computational Art and

Design

IAT 801-3

3 credits

Research Methods and

Strategies

Core

2 courses

2 or 3

courses*

I course

6 credits

6 or 9 credits

3 credits

Electives

2 courses

2 or 3

courses*

3 courses

6 credits

6 or 9 credits

9 credits

Special Topics

Directed Readings

Total Coursework

5 courses

6 courses

4 courses

15 credits

18 credits.

12 credits

Co-operative Education Optional

Optional

Research Seminar

Attendance

Attendance requirement +

requirement + 1

2 presentations

presentation

'I)

Master's Thesis

required

PhD Comprehensive

required

Examination

PhD Proposal

required

PhD Dissertation

required

Table

Curriculum Structure. Both courses and credits are listed. For determining

degree requirements in core, elective, special topics and directed readings

categories the number of courses of at least three credits each shall be used.

*PhD students are required to take at least two (2) core courses and at least

two (2) courses from electives, special topics or directed readings. PhD

students must complete six (6) courses (18 credits) of coursework in addition to

Foundations of Computational Art and Design..

§ At least one elective is required to be a research methods course appropriate

to the student's course of study.

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Coursework Requirements for all students

[AT 800-3

Foundations of Computational Art and Design

is an introduction to

computing as a research and professional tool in art and design. Its intended audience

includes those who have not had substantial experience in the computational aspects of

art and design. This is a mandatory course for all students in the program, but may be

waived for those students having had sufficient formal educational background in art and

design computation.

IAT 801-3

Research Methods and Strategies

is an introduction to the research

enterprise. It covers structures of research that are prevalent across fields, introduces

research methodologies and tools, teaches methods for interdisciplinary work and

fosters a critical discourse around the fundamental differences among research in

different areas. This is a mandatory course for all students in the program.

There are five core courses, each offering the bases for research in an area in which a

large group of faculty is involved. These courses are team-designed and taught by the

faculty in the particular areas. MA and MSc students will be required to take two core

courses. PhD students will be required to take either two or three core courses.

MA and MSc students are required to take two courses from the pool of electives,

special topics and directed readings. PhD students will be required to take either two or

three courses from this pool. Subject to Supervisory Committee approval and Graduate

Program Committee approval, students in the program may fulfill part of these

requirements through other appropriate graduate courses at SFU or elsewhere (the

•

latter subject to SFU rules on external courses). Normally, all students must take at least

one course towards these requirements as either an elective or special topics offered

within the program.

The

Research Colloquium

is an important part of the scholarly life of the program.

During their studies PhD students are required to present their research work in at least

two seminars as part of this series. MA and MSc students are required to present in one

seminar. All students are expected to attend a large majority of the seminars in the

series.

Co-operative Education

On an optional basis and with approval of the Graduate Program Committee, MA, MSc

and PhD students may participate in

co-operative education

by placement in a

government or private research agency to gain practical experience in their thesis or

dissertation area. The co-operative education option is separate from coursework in the

program and serves as an adjunct to the thesis/dissertation process.

Master's requirements

MA and MSc produce and defend a thesis as part of degree requirements. All SFU

regulations on thesis form and examination process apply. The standards of scholarship

- quality of work - set for the MSc are no less than those for the doctorate, except the

scale, scope and originality of the thesis may be less. Commonly, the Master's thesis

shows refinement of a developed scholarly specialization, a useful replication of

established note and in some cases a pretesting or prototype of supporting ideas for

eventual Ph.D research.

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MSc requirements

The MSc is distinguished from the MA by additional constraints on coursework

requirements. In addition to the program requirements in Table

above, MSc students

must fulfill coursework by taking courses from those specified in Table 2 below.

Core Courses

Electives, Special Topics and Directed Readings

The two required Core

At least one course shall be taken from the following

Courses shall be selected

pool.

from the following pool.

IAT

840-3

Models of Networked Practice

IAT

Visualization

814-3

Knowledge

and

IAT 842-3

Theory and Design of Games

Communication

[AT 844-3

Spatial Computing

IAT 812-3

Cognition,

IAT 845-3

Methods for Research into Technological

Learning and Collaboration

Systems

IAT 813-3

Artificial

special topics

course approved by the Graduate

Intelligence in

Program Committee for study towards the MSc degree.

Computational Art and

directed readings

course approved by the Graduate

Design

Program Committee for study towards the MSc degree.

Table 2:

MSc coursework requirements

PhD requirements

The PhD degree requires a comprehensive examination aimed at testing for

achievement in interdisciplinarity, breadth of knowledge, depth of knowledge, topic focus

and scholarly skill.

The PhD degree requires a dissertation proposal aimed at collegial review of the

proposed work, development of research formulation and presentation skills and

approval of the dissertation work by the Supervisory Committee and the Graduate

Program Chair. The approval of the Graduate Program Chair is largely for oversight

issues, for example, required ethics clearances. The dissertation proposal has two

components: a research prospectus and a public event with timely notification given to

the campus community.

PhD students produce and defend a thesis as part of degree requirements. All SFU

regulations on thesis form and examination process apply.

Ph D Comprehensive Examination

With the consent of their Supervisory Committee, students may sit the comprehensive

examination following completion of required course work. Upon passing, the student will

be admitted to full degree candidacy. The examination may be retaken once.

As part of preparation to undertake the comprehensive examination, the student shall

submit, to his or her supervisory committee, a comprehensive annotated bibliography of

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readings used throughout course work and readings related to their proposed thesis

topic. The student's senior supervisor will inform the Graduate Program Committee of

the supervisory committee's consent for the student to sit the examination and will

provide a copy of the annotated bibliography.

Upon receipt of the consent and annotated bibliography from the senior supervisor, the

Graduate Program Committee will strike an examination committee comprising the

student's Supervisory Committee, the Graduate Program Chair or designate, and one

other member of faculty in the School eligible to act as a Senior Supervisor. The

Graduate Program Chair or designate shall chair the Examination Committee.