S.00-67
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
?
Memorandum
To ?
Senate
From: ?
Alison Watt
Director, University Secretariat
Date: ?
June 27, 2000
Subject: ?
Revisions - Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies
MOTION
"that Senate approve the revisions to the Senate Committee on
Undergraduate Studies as outlined in S.00-67"
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• ?
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Memorandum
To: ?
Senate
From: ?
Allan MacKinnon, Chair
Senate Conirnittee on Undergraduate Studies
Subject: ?
Membership of SCUS
Date: ?
June 6, 2000
On May 4, 2000, SCUS discussed its draft terms of reference and proposed restructuring
with the Vice President, Academic, Jock Munro, and his assistant, Alison Watt.
The proposed restructuring of SCUS involves adding a second committee member from
each faculty to the committee. This will increase the size of our committee substantially,
making scheduling more complicated and meeting deliberations potentially more
cumbersome.
With respect, SCUS members questioned the rationale of Senate for changing the
composition of SCUS. The rationale provided was that, in light of the fact that SCUS
will no longer be reporting to SCAP but directly to Senate, there should be more people
scrutinizing SCUS discussions and decisions.
In particular, SCUS disagrees with the idea of adding to our committee another
representative from each faculty. We offer the following considerations:
• Undergraduate program matters may be more extensive than graduate programs, but
they are also more homogeneous. The same policies and standards apply to all of
them.
Currently, the Chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee of each faculty sits
on SCUS. When an undergraduate change is proposed it moves up through
department curriculum committees to faculty curriculum committees to SCUS.
Along the way faculty in departments are given an opportunity to see and comment
on the changes.
•
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... /
Membership of SCUS - page 2
• During the past years we have developed efficient means of communicating within
our faculties about SCUS matters through e-mail and internet and we are confident
that adequate consultations have occurred regarding our business. Frankly, we cannot
see how our confidence in consultation would increase with additional faculty
representation at our meetings and, though it is not our place, we worry about adding
further administrative demands on our professorate.
• The Chair of the Faculty Curriculum Committee represents the issues raised by the
faculty and departments along the way. Putting another faculty member from each
Faculty on SCUS will not add to the careful deliberations given by SCUS to proposed
changes. The extra faculty member will have to be a member of the Faculty UG
Curriculum Committee and will, therefore, do double duty by attending both the
Faculty Curriculum Committee and SCUS. It is not clear to the current members of
SCUS what additional input can be provided by this additional faculty member.
SCUS recommends that
"SCAR recommend to Senate that the additional
5
faculty representatives added
to SCUS on the recommendation of the Senate Review Committee be removed".
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.
.
Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies
Terms of Reference
1. ?
Taking into consideration the need for coordination and development of
undergraduate programs within the University, SCUS shall:
a)
review and make recommendations to Senate on curriculum changes of a
major nature and general matters affecting the curriculum;
b)
review and approve, where appropriate, all proposed new courses, course
deletions and program revisions of a minor nature. These changes shall be
reported in summary form to Senate.
2. ?
To recommend to Senate grading, examination, standing and continuance policies.
To recommend to Senate policies on undergraduate admissions, re-admissions, and
credit transfer and where necessary, to provide general direction to the Registrars
Office in the interpretation of such policies.
4.
To consider and decide on policy recommendations concerning undergraduate
course registration and course withdrawal procedures and on the administration of
undergraduate student records.
5.
To consider and recommend to Senate policy recommendations from the Committee
to Review University Admissions.
6.
To consider and recommend to Senate policy recommendations from the Diverse
Qualifications Adjudication Committee.
19 May, 2000
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