For Information
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Simon Fraser University
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S.02-26
Senate Graduate Studies Committee?
Annual Report to Senate for 2001?
February 2002
Submitted by Dr. Jon Driver, Dean of Graduate Studies
Comoosition and Mandate of the Committee
The current membership of SGSC is the Dean (chair), Registrar (or designate), Librarian
(or designate), chairs of the five faculty graduate programme committees, one other
faculty member from each of the five graduate programme committees, two graduate
students, the Graduate Issues Officer of SFSS, and the Assistant Director Graduate
Records (non-voting).
SGSC has established a regular monthly meeting schedule, in an attempt to spread the
workload of the committee more evenly over the year. A list of meetings and activities
for 2001 is attached as Appendix A.
SGSC is responsible to Senate for admissions (delegated to the Registrar and the Dean),
maintenance of academic standards, changes to existing programmes, evaluation of new
programmes, and administration of the graduate general regulations. SGSC approves
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admissions under Special Arrangements, and may act as an appeal body for student
progress reviews.
Graduate Studies at Simon Fraser Universit
Masters programmes are offered in each faculty, doctoral programmes in all but Business
Administration, and graduate diploma programmes in Business Administration and
Education. (The Graduate Diploma in Urban Studies will commence in the Faculty of
Arts in 2002). In addition, the Dean of Graduate Studies office administers the Special
Arrangements Programme, which provides a home for students with individual
interdisciplinary programmes of study and research. Summary statistics on enrollments
and award of degrees are available from the Analytical Studies web site and from the
biannual Graduate Factbook (see Appendix B of this report for data on enrollments and
credentials awarded). A list of programmes that permit part-time study is available in the
Calendar.
During the year 2001 a number of new graduate programmes were proposed. These
include the Graduate Diploma in Urban Studies (approved by Senate), the Masters in
Public Policy and Management (external reviews complete, and final proposal in
preparation), and a Ph.D. programme in Women's Studies (preliminary approval from the
Ministry, with full proposal currently going for external review). 2001 was the last year
in which departments were required to submit a letter of intent for preliminary approval
by the Ministry for new programme proposals. Under recently announced revisions only
the final full proposal will go to the Ministry for approval.
The other major change in graduate programmes is the division of the Department of
Mathematics and Statistics into separate departments during 2001.
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In 2001 the Dean participated in a number of external reviews of SFU's academic
programmes. Generally there have been positive assessments of graduate programmes.
Perhaps the most common concern (other than funding of graduate students) has been the
difficulty of offering stand-alone graduate courses in smaller departments and
programmes.
Enrollment and Graduation
Graduate enrollments in degree programmes increased steadily from the late 1980's to the
mid-1990's, and have remained relatively stable since then (see Appendix B). This
stability is the result of a number of factors. There were relatively few new graduate
programmes approved in the late 1990's, and the number of faculty members available
for graduate supervision did not increase significantly in the mid to late nineties.
Furthermore, funding levels for graduate students have increased slowly, while
employment opportunities outside the university were relatively good.
There was a significant increase in graduate enrollment in 2001, as measured by graduate
headcount in 2001-3. This is because of the development of graduate diploma
programmes in Education and Business Administration. Enrollment in Masters and
Doctoral programmes has also seen an increase over the previous year, probably
reflecting the hiring of new faculty.
Data on credentials awarded are presented in the second table in Appendix B. There has
been no clear trend in the number of degrees awarded, but there will be an increase in the
future as the current enrollment increase has an impact on graduation. It should be noted
that the proportion of doctoral to masters students remains relatively low (less than 20%).
SFU figures are consistent with the national average (15% based on 1998 data). The SFU
figures are comparable to Victoria, Calgary, and Saskatchewan, while UBC, Alberta,
Toronto, Waterloo, McMaster and Guelph have slightly higher percentages of Ph.D.
graduates.
Major SGSC activities in 2001
SGSC regularly deals with changes to graduate programmes. Minor changes are reported
to Senate. Major changes are brought to Senate for approval. A summary is presented in
Appendix A. A major task for Senate Graduate Studies Committee in 2001 was to
complete the review of Graduate General Regulations. The proposed changes were
approved by Senate, and will be implemented in September 2002.
Assessment Committee for New Graduate Programmes
This committee is a sub-committee of SGSC.
In 2000 the ACNGP met twice, and recommended approval of the MBA(MOT). This
programme was approved by SGSC and Senate in 2001.
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In 2001 the ACNGP met once, to review a proposal for a Masters in Public Policy
Management (Faculty of Arts). This proposal has been sent for external review, and a
final proposal is being prepared for Senate approval and submission to the Ministry..
Funding for graduate students
Financial support for graduate students continues to be a concern, particularly as we have
to compete for students with universities in provinces that provide a provincial
scholarship plan. However, there have been few increases to the financial support we are
able to offer graduate students. For recruitment purposes we now offer top-up
scholarships to entering students with NSERC PGS-A and PGS-B scholarships or
SSHRC doctoral fellowships. The number of these available per department is limited. In
addition, we have been able to create travel awards for students in NSERC-funded
disciplines. These awards are funded by fall-out money from the NSERC scholarship
programme, and are available only for direct travel costs of students attending major
conferences. A comparable programme is planned for SSHRC-funded disciplines, but we
are waiting for an announcement on funding.
At the national level there is some reason for optimism. The federal government and its
agencies clearly recognise the need to fund graduate students. It is likely that we will see
new and enhanced scholarship programmes developing over the next few years, provided
that the economy remains stable. The granting councils have stressed the importance of
graduate training as a component of faculty research grants, and one way to increase
graduate support at SFU is to encourage faculty members to apply for research grants and
to include graduate student support in their budgets.
At the provincial level, there has been relatively little support of graduate students for
many years. Increases in graduate student enrollment have not been matched by increases
to the operating grant, even though it can be shown that the provincial economy benefits
from holders of advanced degrees. Furthermore, British Columbia lacks a comprehensive
scholarship plan for graduate study.
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Appendix A Senate Graduate Studies Committee, Activities 2001
Meetings were held in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, September,
October and November.
Graduate curriculum changes were approved in Archaeology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences,
Education, English, French, Geography, IVIBB, Philosophy, Political Science,
Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology, and Women's Studies
Approved MBA in Management of Technology
Approved Graduate Diploma in Urban Studies
Approved policy for the temporary and permanent withdrawal of courses
Revised the Graduate General Regulations
Received four applications for admission to the Special Arrangements programme; three
were approved.
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Appendix B. Graduate Enrollment and Credentials Awarded
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Note: figures refer to headcounts;
no allowance is made for full-time, part-time
and on-
leave status
Faculty
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Fall 1997 Fall 1998 Fall 1999 Fall 2000 Fall 2001
Change
97 to 01
Applied Sciences
443
446
466
452
476
7.5%
Arts
751
777
752
730
769
2.4%
Business Administration
301
270
296
344
416
38.2%
(GDBA only)
0
0
(57)
(60)
(103)
Education
532
468
451
641
1124
111.3%
(GDE only)
0
0
0
(155)
(608)
Science
375
377
393
393
432
15.8%
Total headcount *
2402
2338
2358
2560
3217
33.9%
%change
-2.7
0.9
8.6
25.7
Total degree program
2402
2338
2301
2345
2506
4.3%
headcount **
%change
-2.7
-1.6
1.9
6.9
*total of all graduate students, including those enrolled in diploma programmes
* * total of all graduate students enrolled in masters and doctoral programmes
Notes:
a.
if diploma enrollments are excluded, the %change from 1997 to 2001 in the Faculty
of Business Administration is 4%
b.
if diploma enrollments are excluded, the %change from 1997 to 2001 in the Faculty
of Education is —3%
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Credentials awarded by academic year
(NB
the Graduate Diploma in Education will be
awarded for the first time in the 2001/2002 academic year)
Faculty/credential
96/97 ?
97/98
98/99
99/00
00/01
Applied Sciences
Masters
59
74
56
66
68
Ph.D.
14
20
15
16
22
Arts
Masters
103
122
104
138
134
Ph.D.
29
40
26
38
24
Business
Administration
GDBA
0
0
0
26
27
MBA
99
126
113
132
119
Ph.D.(SAR)
1
Education
GDE
0
0
0
0
0
M.Ed.
91
116
151
121
94
Other Masters
38
33
48
22
21
Doctoral
3
8
13
13
7
Science
Masters
48
55
57
49
51
Ph.D.
25
33
21
41
26
Total degrees
510
627
604
636
566
Total masters
438
526
529
528
487
Total Ph.D.
72
101
75
108
79
%
Ph.D.
14.1
16.1
12.4
17.0
14.0
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