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S.00-89

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Memorandum

To: ?

Senate

From:

Date:

Sarah Dench

Secretary, SCUS

September 14, 2000

^ -

t ^

)q a 

Subject:

Motion on Proposed New BC Grade 12 Admissions Requirements,

SCUS .00-28

Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies at a meeting held

September 12, 2000 gives rise to the following motion:

"that Senate approve the new BC Grade 12 admissions requirements as set forth

1^1

?

in S.00-89

Rationale

See attached documentation.

SCUS 00-28

Revised

. ?

Proposed changes to the admission requirements to Simon Fraser

University from British Columbia Grade 12

Contents

• Summary

• Proposal General requirements for all programs and faculties

Course requirements - Grade 11

Course requirements - Grade 12

Course requirements for other faculties/programs

• Rationale for changes

Features of this proposal

Notes on the Grade 11 requirements used for admission

Notes on Grade 12 courses used for admission

Observations

Other issues

• Consultation

• Feedback on the proposal

• Implementation

• Appendix 1 - Graduation requirements

• Appendix 2 - Typical (minimal) program

• Appendix 3 - AP/113 course equivalents

Summary

This is a proposal to expand the Grade 11 and Grade 12 required courses to include a broader

range of disciplines, including fine and performing arts courses. It adds a fifth Grade 12 course to

the set used to calculate the admission average. The courses are grouped to encourage breadth,

but a student's ability to specialize remains unaffected.

This proposal has been under consideration for over two years. During this time, broad

consultation occurred. The proposal received support from within the University and from

educators in the school system.

The earliest acceptable implementation date is Spring semester 2002.

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

General requirements for all programs and faculties

(changes in bold face)

Current ?

Proposed

Secondary school graduation

167% (C+) minimum average

Average calculated on English 12 and best

three 'academic' Grade 12 courses as listed

Approved Programme Cadre and French

Immersion courses equal to the above are

acceptable, except that Francais premiere

langue is not accepted in place of English12.

Locally developed courses are not accepted

Secondary school graduation

67% (C+) minimum average ?

Average calculated on

either English 12

or Français premiere langue 12 and

best four Grade 12 courses that

satisfy the general entrance

requirement

Approved Programme Cadre and French

Immersion courses equal to the above are

acceptable,

and Français premiere

langue is acceptable in place of

Englishi 2.

Locally developed courses are not accepted

Course requirements - Grade 11

General requirements currently give entry to most disciplines and programs in the Faculty of Arts

and to the Communication program in the Faculty of Applied Sciences. Entry requirements to

other faculties and programs are set as additions to the general requirements. They are given

later in this document.

Certain courses have Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) near-

equivalents which are also acceptable. To simplify the course listings, the acceptable AP and lB

equivalencies are given separately in Appendix 3.

Current ?

Proposed

English 11

language 11 or introductory language 11

principles of mathematics 11

science 11 from:

applications of physics 11 & 12

biology 11

chemistry 11

earth science 11

principles of physics 11

English 11

language 11 or introductory language 11

principles of mathematics 11

applications of mathematics 11 &12

science 11 from:

applications of physics 11 &12

biology 11 ?

chemistry 11 ?

earth science 11 ?

forests 11 ?

lB environmental systemsi 1

principles of physics 11

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

Course requirements -

Grade 12

(changes in

bold face)

Current ?

Proposed

English 12

Three courses from:

AP art studio drawing 12

AP art studio general 12

AP calculus AB (or BC)

AP comparative government & politics 12

AP computer science A/AB

AP economics 12

AP environmental science 12

AP psychology 12

AP statistics 12

AP US government & politics 12

biology 12

chemistry 12

comparative civilizations 12

English literature 12

lB comp Science/Studies 12

lB further mathematics 12

lB theory of knowledge (philosophy) 12

Japanese 12

Latin 12

Mandarin 12

principles of mathematics 12

principles of physics 12

Punjabi 12

Spanish

writing 12

From List 1 one course (4 credits)

List I

English 12

or Français premiere langue 12]

i-rom list

two courses (8 credits)

List 2

AP calculus AB (or BC)

AP computer science A/AB

AP environmental science 12

AP statistics 12

biology 12

chemistry 12

English literature 12

geography 12

geology 12

history 12

lB comp science/studies 12

lB further mathematics 12

principles of mathematics 12

principles of physics 12

Two additional courses from List 2 or

List 3 (8 credits). If both courses are

chosen from List 3, they must be from

luI =1=11L ?

List 3

Fine and Performing Arts

Group

acting 12

AP music theory 12

art 12

dance choreography 12

dance performance 12

directing and scriptwriting 12

drama film

TV 12

AP art studio general/drawing 12

lB art

design 12

lB music composition 12

lB theatre arts 12

music composition 12

music composition & technology 12

stagecraft 12

visual arts 2D 12

visual arts 3D 12

visual arts media arts 12

writing 12

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

List 3 Continued

Humanities Group

comparative civilizations 12

lB theory of knowledge (philosophy) 12

Upper St'at'imcets 12

Sciences Group

AP environmental science 12

forests 12

lB environmental systems 12

lB information technology in a global

society 12

information technology

Social

Sciences Group

AP comparative government & politics 12

AP economics 12

AP psychology 12

AP US government & politics 12

economics 12

lB business

organization 12

lB economics 12

lB psychology 12

lB social anthropology 12

journalism/media 12

law 12

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

• ?

Course requirements for other faculties/programs

(changes in bold face)

Current ?

Proposed

Business Administration

General requirement but must include

principles of mathematics 12

Engineering Science

General requirement but must include

principles of mathematics 12, chemistry 12

and principles of physics 12 (and both

chemistry 11 and principles of physics 11)

computing Science

General requirement but must include

principles of mathematics 12; one of

biology 12, chemistry 12, principles of

physics 12; one further course from biology

12, chemistry 12, APcomputer science 12,

lB computing science 12, geology 12, AP

environmental science 12; one of

comparative civilizations 12, geographyl 2,

history 12, AP comparative gov't & politics

12, AP economics 12, AP psychology 12, lB

psychology 12

Kinesiology

General requirement but must include

principles of mathematics 12, biology 12

and either chemistry 12 or principles of

physics 12

Science

General requirement but must - include

principles of mathematics 12; two of

biology 12, chemistry 12, geography 12,

geology 12; principles of physics 12 (and

both chemistry 11 and principles of physics

11)

Business Administration

General requirement but must include

principles of mathematics 12 in list 2

Engineering Science

General requirement but must include

principles of mathematics 12, chemistry 12

and principles of physics 12 in list 2 (and

both chemistry 11 and principles of physics

11)

uomputing science

General requirement except that principles

of mathematics and one of biology,

chemistry, principles of physics must be

included from list 2; one additional science

course must be chosen from list 2 or list 3;

and one further course must be chosen

from either list 2 or list 3 as follows:

• geography, history

•

a course in the social sciences

group from list 3

•

a course in the humanities group,

except for a language course, from

list 3

Kinesiology

General requirement but must include

principles of mathematics12, biology 12

and either chemistry 12 or principles of

physics 12, from list

2 (under review)

Science

General requirement but must include

principles of mathematics 12; two of

biology 12, chemistry 12, geography 12,

geology 12, principles of physics 12 from

list 2 (and both chemistry 11 and principles

of physics 11)

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

Rationale for changes

A good admission policy should:

• complement graduation requirements in terms of literacy and knowledge (scientific, humanistic

and mathematical;

• complement SFU's course offerings, encouraging gifted/talented students to pursue their

talents interests;

• ensure Grade 12 course content sufficient for first year university courses to be taught at an

appropriate level;

• encourage breadth in secondary school program and allow for electives;

• encourage high academic standards and heavier-than-minimum course loads;

• be flexible enough to suit both large and small schools;

• fit within the graduation program without forcing excess course loads or scheduling problems;

• minimize overlap between subject matter learned in secondary school and in university.

However, our current admission policy:

• does not reflect the breadth of SFU's program, especially in Fine and Performing Arts but also

in social sciences, mathematics, statistics and computer science (except through the AP and

lB programs which are not available in most schools);

• in conjunction with the graduation requirements, succeeds in encouraging some breadth at

Grade 11, but does little to encourage breadth at Grade 12;

• places heavy emphasis on only about half of the of Grade 12 credits of most students;

• discourages worthy additions to the academic subject list because our admission average is

calculated on few courses, such that displacement of existing courses is an inevitable, but

unwanted consequence;

• does not fully recognize graduation from the francophone program unless English 12 is taken

in addition to Francais Premiere Langue 12;

• does not encourage students to take full advantage of the secondary education program by

taking a full course load - graduation requires 52 (13 courses) of a potential 64 or more

credits (16 courses) in a full schedule, or even more credits if external credits are granted;

(external courses are routinely given credit towards graduation

these include a wide range of

courses and exams related to music theory, arts and performance (e.g. Royal Conservatory of

Music Grade 7 and up), sports involvement as athlete, coach or official, youth development

(e.g. Air Cadets Level 4 and up, Guides Canada Cord and up), first aid and lifesaving

certification, driver education and private aircraft pilot's license and commercial computer

certification).

• lacks a regular Grade 11 or Grade 12 computer/information technology course, except for AP.

or lB courses which are offered in a small number of schools. As far as is known, in all other

jurisdictions in N. America, major universities recognize and encourage students to take high

school computer science.

Features of this proposal

• increases the course requirements by one course (4 credits);

• allows a wider range of courses to be considered;

• allows Programme Cadre graduates to qualify for admission.

• allows a choice between the 'principles' and 'applied' streams in mathematics;

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

• allows Forests 11 as a science (primarily for non-science students);

• allows lB Environmental Systems 11 as a science (primarily for non-science students).

Advantages

• gives recognition to fine and performing arts and social studies courses;

• brings Information Technology 12 to recognized status, encouraging computer education;

• sets a more complete admission/graduation program, yet does not lengthen it;

• average is over 5 courses, broadening base and reducing effect of any individual course;

• sets SFU's admission policy as independent and well-considered;

• requirements become more similar to other Canadian universities.

Disadvantages

• requirements will be less similar to UBC and UVIC

(but at UBC there are indications that a broader-based admission policy is contemplated).

Observations

The minimum credit or course requirement can be increased without imposing excessive workloads

and without adversely affecting either depth or breadth.

The actual preparation, qualifications and skills of SF1.) students vary considerably, depending on

whether they enter as secondary school graduates, transfer students or on some other basis, such

as Mature Students. Probably, only about half to two-thirds of our students have fulfilled the

depth and breadth requirements stipulated in our entrance requirements from secondary school.

The University's admission requirements for direct entry from secondary school have more effect

on the secondary schools than they have on this University. University entrance requirements

have had a major effect on the popularity of some secondary school courses. Consequently, a

large number of teaching jobs in some disciplines (e.g. French) depend on the entrance

requirements of the provincial universities.

Other Issues

Many issues were raised in discussing this proposal, including:

• second language 11 - is it necessary when the many new admits entering under other bases of

admission are not required to have it?

SCUS members favour keeping it for BC Grade 12 graduates.

• should the second language, mathematics and English requirements be applied universally

rather than only to applicants from BC Grade 12?

SCUS members think this is impractical.

• Information Technology 11 and 12 - are these courses equivalent in standard to courses in

other disciplines and should we encourage students to take them?

SCUS members consider that IT1 1 should not be a requirement for entry but favour using 1T12 as

an 'academic' course (see List 3 below).

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

• is it feasible to develop criteria or required characteristics for those Grade 12 courses we use

for university admission?

SCUS members believe that this is unnecessary. Each course can be considered on its merits.

• is there sufficient confidence that assessment standards are comparable among the wide

range of secondary school courses?

SCUS members have no way to determine this.

Notes on the Grade 11 requirements used for admission

• English 11

Required prerequisite for English 12. This course has both a writing and literature component.

• Principles of Mathematics 11

Mathematical (algebraic) principles - necessary knowledge for science disciplines which require

Principles of Mathematics 12 and subsequently Calculus and for social sciences where statistics

are part of the curriculum. Generally accepted to be a good academic predictor and good training

in abstract reasoning. Some believe that Applications of Mathematics 11 and 12 are more suitable

math courses for students who will not proceed to take Calculus.

• a Language 11 or beginners Language 11

This requirement is peculiar to the largest three BC universities and arises historically directly out

of UBC's Faculty of Arts degree requirements. A second language is compulsory from Grade 5 to

8. Ontario has a minimum French requirement for graduation but this is mostly completed by

Grade 10 and no Ontario university has compulsory French or other language requirement. The

prevailing view at SFU favours retaining this language requirement to promote humanistic values

and to encourage national unity (applies only to French), retention of First Nations' languages

(applies to First Nations' languages) and internationalization (applies to French and other foreign

languages).

• a science 11 from chemistry, physics, earth science, biology.

These make up the experimental sciences and it has been suggested that they are present to

ensure that a student has exposure to scientific method.

Notes on Grade 12 courses used for admission

• Grade 12 'Academic' Courses

Our policies for admitting students from secondary school give special status to certain courses

(which we loosely call the 'academic' courses). Some of these courses are required and some are

used to determine the admission average. A few courses are important prerequisites for SFU

courses. The only criteria for selecting these courses, is that they are 'Ministry-authorized' rather

than 'locally developed'. 'Ministry-authorized' courses have a published curriculum that applies

Province-wide. 'Locally-developed' courses are designed at a school or school district level to

satisfy local needs.

• AP and lB courses

Those AP and lB courses which had already been assessed and for which transfer credit is granted,

but for which there is no equivalent BC Grade 12 'academic' course (e.g. AP Environmental

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

Science 12), were accepted in 1999 as 'academic' Grade 12 courses. Previously, these courses

were not used to determine admission.

• Provincial exams

Some 'academic' courses and a few other Grade 12 courses have provincial exams. The provincial

exam is worth 40% of the final grade and aggregate results are public, so there is additional

accountability for grading standards in examined courses. When the provincial exams were

established, they were mostly set for the more prestigious 'academic' courses. However, in

general, there is no link between the quality or content of a course and its examination status. It is

worth mention that in the early 1990s, UBC's Senate decided that acceptable Grade 12

'academic' courses must have a provincial exam. The reason given was to promote a 'level playing

field'

i.e. more consistent grading standards, hence more fairness in the ranking of applicants.

Controversy arose when the Ministry of Education introduced Mandarin 12 without an exam.

Following pressure from community groups, Mandarin 12 now has a provincial exam but,

subsequently, the Ministry dropped the exam in Latin 12 and has hinted about doing the same for

other courses, in an effort to control costs. At SFU, we have not linked the presence or absence

of a provincial examination to the list status of any course.

• Changes approved to Computing Science direct entry

In anticipation of these changes, the Faculty of Applied Sciences already initiated broader

admission requirements for direct entry to Computing Science. These changes were approved by

Senate 2000 01 10 and come into effect in Fall semester 2001.

• Changes contemplated for direct entry to other programs

Other direct entry programs (e.g. Kinesiology) have reviewed or are reviewing their requirements

for direct entry and will likely propose further minor adjustments, if the general entry

requirements are changed as a result of this proposal.

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

Consultation

SCUS first received this proposal as a discussion paper sctjs 98-19 in summer 1998 and

considered it on 1999 10 19. It was circulated to faculties for comment, returning to the SCUS

agenda on 1999 05 28. Comment from faculties was positive, except that the Faculty of Arts

was strongly in favour of retaining the Grade 11 language requirement without allowing students

an option to substitute another course in a discipline such as Information Technology. However,

the Faculty of Arts appeared not to favour requiring all SFU new students to have a second

language at the Grade 11 level (i.e. college transfers, degree holders, university transfers, grade

12 graduates from other provinces etc).. It was then tabled for almost a year while we held

informal discussions with UBC on the possibility of developing a common admission policy. Those

discussions were inconclusive, so the proposal was revised and updated. SCUS felt that wide

consultation was necessary so the draft proposal was posted on the SFU web site, starting Spring

2000. Attention was drawn to it through widespread e-mails to the SFU community, the BC

Principals' and Vice-Principals' Association , the BC School Counsellors' Association, BC

Federation of Independent Schools and both related ministries. Paper copies were made available

to those who did not have web access.

Feedback received on the proposal

17 written responses were received from SFU faculty, SFU staff, school principals, school

counsellors, and from a representative of the Ministry of Education. ScUS reviewed their

comments, which were mostly positive and encouraging. They are available on request.

Implementation

The proposal liberalizes rather than restricts students' choices. Hence rapid implementation was

suggested. However, schools responded that they were apprehensive about rapid implementation

because many students might seek mid-year course changes, disrupting traditional enrolment

patterns and playing havoc with course advising that had already been concluded.

The earliest acceptable implementation date is therefore Spring semester 2002.

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

Appendix 1 -

Graduation Requirements

For BC applicants, the graduation requirements are currently:

Students must earn a minimum of 52 credits (i.e. 13 full courses worth 4 credits each), including

Foundation Studies and Selected Studies.

Foundation Studies - students must earn a minimum of 28 credits in the following subject areas:

(each course is normally worth 4 credits)

• Language Arts 11 (4 credits)

communications 11

English 11

• Language Arts 12 (4 credits)

communications 12

English 12

• Social Studies (4 credits)

social studies 11

• Mathematics (4 credits)

accounting 11

introductory mathematics 11

applications of mathematics 11

• Science (4 credits)

science and technology 11

• Fine Arts (2 credits)

art 11

visual art 2D 11

visual art 3D 11

visual art 11: multimedia & technology

acting 11

stagecraft 11

drama 11: film and television

band 11

• Applied Skills (2 credits)

accounting 11

data processing 11

information management 11

keyboarding 11

marketing 11

speed writing 11

Clothing and Textiles 11

Cook Training 11

Family Management 11

Foods & Nutrition 11

Francais Langue Premièrel 1

Français Langue Premiere 12

technical and prof. communications 12

first nations studies 12

principles of mathematics 11

information technology 11

choral music 11

music composition 11

strings 11

music 11: composition and technology

dance 11: performance

dance 11: choreography

fine arts 11

intro, clothing & textiles 11

intro, foods/nutrition 11

textile arts and crafts 11

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

technology 11

physical education 11

welding 11

information technology 11

• Career and Personal Planning (4 credits)

career and personal planning 11 (2 Cr.)

career and personal planning 12 (2 Cr.)

• Work Experience

In either Grade 11 or 12, students must earn one credit (30 hours) of work experience.

• Selected Studies - students must earn a minimum of 24 credits. Students select courses of

varying credit value to support their career plans (e.g., apprenticeship, vocational, technical,

university or college studies, entry to workforce).

Of the minimum 24 credits:

- 10 credits must be in Ministry-approved Grade 12 courses.

- up to 8 credits can be in locally-developed courses, unless part of an approved Career Program.

Accounting 11 may satisfy the mathematics or applied skills requirement, but not both.

Information Technology 11 may satisfy the science or applied skills requirement, but not both.

Technology 11 may satisfy the science or applied skills requirement, but not both.

The vast majority of BC graduates complete the English language program but a small minority

graduate under a parallel francophone version "Programme Cadre

- not to be confused with

French Immersion.

The Secondary School Graduation Program has a number of breadth requirements (see above).

These are currently modified by SFU's own requirements:

* Language Arts 11 is restricted to English 11;

* Mathematics 11 is restricted to Principles of Mathematics 11;

* Language 11 or Introductory Language 11 - a language course is not required to graduate but

a minimum number of 4 years of language instruction is part of the pre-graduation program. In

addition to this minimum, SFU requires a grade 11 language or introductory language - for most

student this amounts to 6 years of language education;

• Science 11 - is restricted to one of: Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science or Physics;

• For certain SFU programs and faculties, there are additional Grade 11 requirements:

Science - at least one further Gr 11 science course

Engineering Science - must include Chemistry 11 and Physics 11

Kinesiology - must include Biology 11 and either Chemistry 11 or Physics 11

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

Appendix 2 - Typical (minimal) program under current regulations

e.g. an intending Business Administration major might take:

Foundation Studies - minimum of 28 credits:

Language Arts 11 (4 credits)

Language Arts 12 (4 credits)

Social Studies (4 credits)

Mathematics (4 credits)

Science (4 credits)

Fine Arts (2 credits)

Applied Skills (2 credits)

Career and Personal Planning (4 credits)

Selected Studies - (24 credits)

principles of mathematics 11

earth science 11

band 11

marketing 11

career and personal planning 11

career and personal planning 12

principles of mathematics 12 (4 credits)

geography 12 (4 credits)

history 12 (4 credits)

French 11 (4 credits)

foods & nutrition 11 (4 Cr.)

physical education 11 (4 credits)

This student has 'room' for 3 more courses (12 credits). S/he could readily

take an additional 'academic' Grade 12 course, and most applicants already

do so.

Proposed changes to BC 12 admission requirements

October 2000

Appendix 3 - AP and lB course equivalents

A number of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses may be used in place

of equivalent provincially-approved BC Grade 12 courses. Here are the BC Grade 12 courses suitable for

calculatinci y our admission averaaR. ainnn

with th p ir AP and IR priiiivIpnt

BC Grade 12 course

- AP course ?

(or equivalent to BC 12)

lB course (or equivalent to BC

12)

Art Studio

(gen'I or drawing portfolio)

Comparative Civilizations

History of Art

Western Civilization

Comparative Gov't & Politics

Computer Science A (or AB)

English Literature and

Composition

English Literature

Environmental Science

French or Francais Langue

French Language or Literature

French Language A or B

History (European, US or World)

History (Asian or European)

Vergil (Latin) I or II

Classical Language

Mandarin

Principles of Mathematics

Further Math or Mathematical

Methods

Principles of Physics

Spanish (Language or Literature)