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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

S.00-30

For Information

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Senate Graduate Studies Committee

1999

REPORT TO SENATE

The Dean of Graduate Studies is responsible for the general supervision of graduate work at the

University. This report outlines the position of graduate studies at Simon Fraser University and

describes some changes made in 1999. It is very clear that the future will not merely be an ex-

trapolation of the past. Reductions in funding put serious pressure on all the University's pro-

grams. In addition, the three-year planning process and the government's increased emphasis on

accountability has prompted critical examination of all we are doing.

In January 1994, the combination of the positions of Dean of Graduate Studies and Vice-

President, Research was formalized by the President and Board of Governors and re-established

the position of Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. The Associate Dean has primary responsibil-

ity for matters related to individual student and individual programs, and chairs the Senate Gradu-

ate Awards Adjudication Committee and the Assessment Committee for New Graduate Pro-

grams. The Dean is responsible for policy matters and external relations, sits on Senate and chairs

the Senate Graduate Studies Committee. In fall 1998, Dr. Stephen Hart of the Department of Psy-

chology was appointed to a two-year term as Associate Dean, on my recommendation.

In mid-1999, following a review of Vice-Presidential portfolios, it was decided to separate the

positions of Dean of Graduate Studies and Vice President, Research. At the time of writing, the

search process for a new Dean of Graduate Studies is underway; the incumbent will continue in

his position as Vice-President, Research. After the new Dean assumes the Deanship, the position

of Associate Dean will be eliminated.

The 1999 edition of the S.F.U. Graduate Studies Fact Book describes, in quantitative terms, the

graduate student body in Fall 1998 and provides some retrospective data on completion rates. It is

designed to complement information in the SFU Fact Book, from the Office of Analytical Studies.

Copies are available on the Dean of Graduate Studies Web site at

http://www.sfu.caldean-gradstudies/

. We have moved to biennial production due to budget

shortfalls, workload pressures and the fact that the cumulative data change rather slowly.

I. Enrolments and Degrees

The Graduate Studies Fact Book shows the recent history of graduate enrolments and degrees

granted; a concise, updated version is Appendix A. The FTE enrolment figures should be treated

with some caution. Starting in the Fall 1989, a clear definition of Part-Time status was adopted;

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this was primarily responsible for the change in the (Head Count)IFTE ratio between 88/89 and

89/90. The official recognition of Part-Time status and the introduction of a reduced semester

24-Jan-00 SENAT-2000doc

1999 S.G.S.C. Report to Senate ?

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tuition fee for Part-Time students were major advances in improving the accessibility of our

graduate programs. Programs approved for Part-Time study are listed in Appendix B.

Degree Completion/Withdrawal

Degree completion times are presented in the Graduate Studies Fact Book. It should be noted that

these data do not take into account the possibility that a student may have been enrolled Part-

Time for all or part of the program and thus overstate completion times, especially for programs

with large numbers of Part-Time students.

Although a trend to longer completion times has been arrested and Master's degree completion

times reduced, I remain concerned by what appear in many cases to be excessive times for degree

completion. When resources are limited, it is especially important that they be used effectively and

efficiently. I am actively encouraging departments to ensure both that their degree requirements

are realistic and that their students make satisfactory progress, as required by Senate regulations,

toward meeting those requirements. I am also pressing for timely appointment of supervisory

committees. In establishing the Graduate Studies Database, I encountered many students who had

been here for several years, yet apparently had no supervisory committees. This situation has

largely been remedied; regularly, reminders about 'delinquent' students are sent to departments by

my office; a minor flood of committee recommendations typically follows. Information on super-

vision is forwarded to the Office of the Vice-President, Academic for inclusion in the annual CV

update process.

The Graduate Studies Handbook, first published in 1991 and updated annually through 1999,

contains guidelines for supervisors and students that (if followed) should improve prospects for

expeditious degree completion. I have provided Graduate Program Chairs with samples of forms

used at SFU and elsewhere for reporting on student progress. The Handbook is now available on

SFU' s Web site http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/gradhandbk/.

Withdrawal rates are also presented in the Graduate Studies Fact Book. There are tremendous

variations in rates between programs. The overall rates for the University as a whole are in line

with the results of similar studies performed in the U.S. and with a similar study performed by the

Canadian Association for Graduate Studies at my initiative.

Nonetheless, I am very concerned about low completion rates in some of our graduate programs.

Withdrawal may be due to any one of or a combination of factors including: lack of ability, lack of

motivation, lack of financial resources, health problems, and deficiencies in the graduate programs

and/or their implementation. As of January 1, 1993, I have instituted an exit questionnaire to

gather information about many aspects of our graduate programs from students who successfully

complete their degrees and from those who withdraw. Because of the need for confidentiality, the

results are analyzed only statistically, once enough students respond; analysis of the second data-

set is now underway, as is data obtained from similar questionnaires sent to students who with-

drew from their programs without completing the degree. Unfortunately, return rates from stu-

dents who withdrew were very low. Delivery methods other than mail were explored but ulti-

mately it was decided that it would be impossible to achieve acceptable response rates without

spending inappropriate amounts of money and time.

Another serious concern is the 'climate' that graduate students experience at SFU. To learn more

and to attempt to identify the most pressing problems, I instituted a major study. This was based

1999 S.G.S.C. Report to Senate

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in part on the study recently completed in 1995 at UBC. A task force, under the leadership of Dr.

Ellen Gee, with representation from the SFSS/GIC and TSSU, completed the survey last spring

and a report is available on the web at http://www.sfu.caldean-gradstudies/survey/index.htm

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was pleased with the overall results of the survey; despite some problem areas, most students in

most departments rated their supervisors and their general environment highly.

Upon receipt of the report, I formed an implementation task force to consider the results of the

survey and recommendations of the survey task force, under the able leadership of Dr. Katherine

Heinrich. Their report was completed in November 1998 and is available at

http://www.sfu.calvpacademic/planning/gssitl7index.html

. The recommendations are now being

considered by the units within the university to whom they were addressed. These include aca-

demic Departments, Faculties, Deans, the Registrar, Vice-Presidents and me. I have completed a

survey of graduate programs concerning the degree to which their units conform to the descrip-

tion of an 'ideal department' as described in the report of the implementation task force. Results

will be published shortly.

ifi.

Grades

The Graduate Studies Fact Book gives information on the S.F.U. graduate grades of the end of

the Summer 1998 semester; it excludes students who had not yet taken an S.F.U. graduate

course. Data were taken from the Registrar's data files and incorporated into and processed within

the Graduate Studies Database system.

• There is a tremendous range in the grade distributions among departments that may stem from

two causes: (1) differences in grading practices and (2) differences in the abilities of students. I

believe that, most likely, it is a mixture of these with the former a larger contributor than the lat-

ter. This range is one of the reasons that I moved away from interdepartmental comparisons of

CGPA in the ranking of applicants for S.F.U. graduate scholarships.

IV. Special Arrangements

The Senate Graduate Studies Committee serves as the Graduate Program Conmiittee of students

enrolled under Special Arrangements. Special Arrangements provide opportunities for students

who are 'exceptionally able' to pursue graduate programs of their own design, outside the exist-

ing departmental boundaries. Dr. Hart and I have given special attention to these students. With

the goal of ensuring their satisfactory progress, we have brought all their supervisory committees

into compliance with Senate's regulations and require up-to-date progress reports as a condition

of registration. The response of students and supervisors has been excellent.

I am pleased to report that the defences of theses completed under Special Arrangements, which

Dr. Hart normally chairs, have all been quite successful. Historically, Special Arrangements has

been a high risk area; students typically either succeed or fail spectacularly. The number of stu-

dents enrolled have remained roughly constant in the range 20 - 30. Degree completion has been

variable; see the table below (degrees completed in each calendar year):

1981 4

1984

1987

1990 2

1993 3

1996 3

1999 2

1982 2

1985 2

1988

1991 6

1994 3

1997 2

1983 1

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998 4

Some other students have dropped out and others encountered health problems. By the steps out-

lined above and by continued rigorous adherence to the criteria for entrance into Special Ar-

1999 S.G.S.C. Report to Senate

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rangements, we hope to improve the success rate. We have also moved to an annual admission

cycle and have decided to reject incomplete applications, which has reduced the very heavy

workload presented by these applications. A cohort-based Special Arrangements option was ap-

proved by Senate and the first such program is under final consideration at the time of writing.

Administration

In September 1993, a graduate application fee was introduced. The fee is currently $55. Revenues

are directed to General University Revenues and to my office in the proportion of 30:70. Most of

the funds directed to my office are transferred to departments to assist in meeting the costs of re-

cruiting, processing of the applications, and student travel for research and conference attendance.

I have just completed a survey of the use of these funds by Departments; the results will be pub-

lished shortly.

In view of current and anticipated financial difficulties, it will be essential to make the most effec-

tive use of our limited resources. To this end, I have instituted a review of administrative proce-

dures, in both the academic and scholarships areas, with the goal of eliminating approvals and

other administrative actions that may have been of value at one point in the history of the univer-

sity, but are no longer necessary. Examples may be the approval of examining committees by Fac-

ulty Graduate Studies Committees and the provision of official transcripts with all applications for

scholarships. We have also introduced web-based forms for the making of recommendations of

supervisory and examining committees and for graduate scholarships. It has been necessary to re-

duce the number and cost of in-person examinations of doctoral theses by making

in absentia

ex-

amination the preferred option.

VI. S.G.S.C. Motions

A summary of the motions passed by the S.G.S.C. in 1999, prepared by the Office of the Regis-

trar, is presented in Appendix C.

VII. The Future

I remain optimistic about the future of graduate studies at SFU. Over the last several years, we

introduced a number of new programs which are in the process of implementation. Other exciting

new program initiatives are presently in the planning/approval process. It will be essential to en-

sure that sufficient resources are allocated to support present and future programs, while main-

taining high quality. Under consideration is the setting of enrolment targets at the Faculty level.

New programs should be mounted only if there is demonstrated demand and adequate resources

provided; this may imply the discontinuation of other, less successful programs. This is consistent

with the recommendations of the Graduate Student Survey Implementation Task Force and the

three-year plan of the Vice-President, Academic. The current three-year planning process will be

helpful in determining the priorities that should be assigned by departments and by the University

to each of our graduate programs.

The quality of most of our existing programs is high, as is the quality of most of the thesis de-

fences which I have attended. With rare exception, applicants recommended by departments for

entry into Ph.D. programs have been very strong. Through aggressive recruiting of excellent ap-

plicants with the aid of entrance scholarships and enhanced support packages, rigorous enforce-

ment of the requirements for satisfactory progress, improved financial aid and careful monitoring

1999 S.G.S.C. Report to Senate

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of student supervision, it should be possible to improve further the quality of our graduate pro-

grams, reduce withdrawal rates and decrease degree completion times.

Dean of Graduate Studies

1999 S.G.S.C. Report to Senate ?

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Appendix A

Annualized Graduate Enrolments for Fiscal Years:

85/86

86/87 87/88 88/89 89/90 90/91 91/92 92/93 93/94

94/95

95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 *99/00

Head Count 1,377 1,366 1,426 1,444 1,486 1,623 1,864 2,008 2,071 2,128 2,225 2,282 2,254 2,201 2,196

FTE ?

1,125 1,084 1,147 1,169 1,256 1,404 1,594 1,720 1,779 1,844 1,914 1,972 1,997 1,938 1,959

.-.-

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Degrees Awarded in Fiscal Years:

85/86 86/87 87/88 88/89 89/90 90/91 91/92 92/93 93/94

245

219 285 315 308 425 444 466 477

455

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1999 S.G.S.C. Report to Senate

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Appendix B

Programs approved for part-time study, as of December 1999:

Archaeology (M.A., Ph.D.)

Biological Sciences (MPM)

Business Administration (Exec MBA)

Communication (M.A., Ph.D.)

Economics (M.A., Ph.D.)

Education (M.A., M.Sc., M.Ed.)

Engineering Science (M.Eng.)

English (M.A., Ph.D.)

French (M.A.)

History (M.A., Ph.D.)

Liberal Studies (M.A.)

Mathematics and Statistics (M.Sc., Ph.D.)

Physics (M.Sc., Ph.D.)

Political Science (M.A.)

Publishing (M.Publ)

Resource and Environment Management (REM)

Latin American Studies (M.A.)

Special Arrangements (M.A., Ph.D.)

Women's Studies (M.A.)

1999 S.G.S.C. Report to Senate

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Appendix C

Report to Senate of the Activities of the Senate Graduate Studies Committee from January 1,

1999 to December 31, 1999.

Number of Meetings - 6

Approved

EMBA Cohort Option for Master's Degree under Special Arrangements.

Discussed

Graduate Student Survey Implementation Task Force Report.

Approved

Graduate Diploma in Education.

Considered

five recommendations for admission under Special Arrangements. Three ap-

proved, one denied, one tabled.

Approved

Graduate Curriculum Changes in Education, Gerontology, Political Science,

Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology, Women's Studies, Resource and Environmental

Management, Economics, French, Geography, Linguistics, Business Administration,

Biological Sciences, Physics, and Mathematics and Statistics