SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
S.99-34
• ?
DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES
H
Memorandum
r
?
enc
TO: ?
Alison J. Watt ?
FROM: Bruce P. Cla3Qan
Secretary, Senate ?
Dean of Graduate Studies
SUBJECT:
History Calendar Revision
?
DATE: February 17, 1999
At its January 11 meeting, Senate referred back to the Senate Graduate Studies Committee
(SGSC) the History Calendar revision. Accordingly, the SGSC reviewed the proposed changes
and passed a revised version at its meeting on January 18.
Subsequent to that meeting, I was contacted by the SFSS and asked for the opportunity to present
their position to the SGSC on this matter and the Report of the Graduate Student Survey
Implementation Task Force. I was pleased to comply and invited representatives to the next
SGSC meeting. This was held on February 15; the SFSS presentation and subsequent discussion
occupied most of the time in the hour and a half meeting.
In the event, there was no motion made to reconsider the previous decision of the Committee, so
that decision stands and the SGSC recommends to Senate the following motion for an addition to
the History entry in the graduate calendar:
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rmorr'f'tcj
"Full-time M.A. thesis-option students a
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cprh±ti
complete their degree
requirements in five semesters and project-option students in three semesters. Part-
time thesis-option students
a
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.Ji
1
complete their requirements in eight
semesters and part-time project-options students in six semesters."
.
0
mfel7wat.doc 17-Feb-99
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
?
S.99
OFFICE OF THE DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES?
Memorandum
TO:
Senate ?
FROM: Bruce P. Clayman
Dean of Graduate Studies
SUBJECT:
Calendar Revision - History
?
DATE: December 22, 1998
At its meeting of September 14,1998, Senate tabled the motion contained in paper S98-69 to ap-
prove calendar revisions for the department of History, that had been approved by the Senate
Graduate Studies Committee and SCAP, pending delivery of the report of the Graduate Student
Survey Implementation Task Force. That report has now been received and is available to all in
the community at: http://www.sfu.calvpacademic/planning/gssitf7index.html
My reading of the report reveals no recommendation that specifically relates to expectations of
time for degree completion. However, the following quotations from the section of the report de-
scribing an "ideal department" are highly germane and support the adoption of the proposed cal-
endar revision:
"Prior to accepting an offer of admission the student is made fully aware of expected
times of completion, planned course offerings in the next year, and of funding and other
resources (office, supplies etc.) that will be made available to them during their time in
the program."
"Program requirements The unit has developed clear descriptions of precisely what is re-
quired to graduate including the expectations of each requirement (e.g., of courses, pro-
jects, theses, seminar presentations, oral examinations, and depth, field and comprehen-
sive examinations) which are made available to the graduate students."
As I have in the past, I support very strongly making available to students and prospective stu-
dents a clear statement of the expectations of the department. Our graduate regulations require
that the academic progress of every student be evaluated annually and, if progress is found to be
unsatisfactory, require remedial action or withdrawal. A clear statement of what constitutes satis-
factory progress is extremely helpful to both students and departments when making this deter-
mination. The calendar language proposed by History comprises part of that clear statement and
should I believe be approved by Senate. I also continue to encourage other departments to con-
sider similar statements of expectations for inclusion in the calendar.
Motion:
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors as set forth in
S.99-12 and amended by SCAR, the following addition to the Calendar entry for
Graduate Studies in the Department of History:
Full-time M.A. thesis-option students are expected to complete their degree re-
quirements in a maximum of five semesters, and project-option students in a
maximum of three semesters. Part-time thesis-option students are expected to
Macintosh HD:[AJison]:WORD:SENATESCARSCAR 1998:BPC Hist cur. 22dec98 22-Dec-98
Page 2
complete their degree requirements in a maximum of eight semesters and part-
time project-ption students in a maximum of six semesters."
I shall be pleased to address this matter when it is placed on Senate's agenda and ask that Dr.
Jack Little, whose memorandum of April 7, 1998 is appended to paper S98-69, be invited to par-
ticipate in the discussion.
c. J. Little
BPC Hist cur. 22dec98 22-Dec-98
-
S
SIMON
FRASER
UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT
OF
HISTORY
MEMORANDUM
DATE:
April
7, 1998
TO:
?
Roger
Blackman,
Associate
Dean
of Arts
FROM: Jack Little, Chair History GPC
RE:
?
Addition to Calendar Text
CC:
1 _^ 7
With the
support
of the Dean of
Graduate Studies,
a number of
years ago
the History
Department
stipulated
that the expected MA completion
time
was
five semesters for full-time
thesis students,
and three semesters
for full-time project-option students.
Part-time
students
can take
an extra year.
These
requirements appear in the department's
Graduate Brochure, but we now wish to add them to the Calendar. The
rationale
for having
such a
time limit is quite
simply to encourage
students
to complete their degrees within a
reasonable
amount
of time. Though the policy
has
not been rigorously enforced,
our
completion times have
improved dramatically
since it was
introduced.
The reason we wish to
add this
policy to the
calendar
is to ensure
that
students
and
supervisors realize that it
has
the
university's sanction.
The exact wording of the
calendar
text which we
wish
to
add is as
follows:
"Full-time thesis-option students
are expected
to complete
their
degree
requirements
in a
maximum
of
five semesters, and
project-option
students
in
three. Part-time students
may
take
one
additional year
fojmpletion."
9.9 1
E
