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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC

MEMORANDUM

To: ?

Senate

From: ?

D. Gagan, Chair

Senate Committee on Academic Planning

Subject ?

Non-Credit Certificate Program:

Certificate in Leadership Learning

(SCAP Reference: SCAP 98-31)

Date: ?

June 15, 1998

Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Continuing Studies and the

Senate Committee on Academic Planning gives rise to the following motion:

Motion:

"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors

as set forth in S.98 - 64, the Non-Credit Certificate Program:

Certificate in Leadership Learning."

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SCAP 98 - 31

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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Memorandum

To:

Alison Watt, Secretary

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From:

Mark Selman, Chair

Senate Committee on Academic

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Senate Committee on

Planning ?

Continuing Studies

Re: Proposal for Consideration

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Date:

June 2, 1998

by SCAP

Enclosed is a proposal for a Non-Credit Certificate Program:

Certificate in

Leadership Learning.

The Senate Committee on Continuing Studies has

recommended that this proposal go forward to SCAP for consideration,

approval and forwarding to Senate. Please place this proposal on the agenda

for the June 10, 1998 meeting of the Senate Committee on Academic

Planning.

Please note that SCAP is being asked to consider the certificate proposal only.

The specific offering designed for ICBC is provided only as an example.

I would be pleased to serve as the resource person for this proposal at SCAP.

rk Selman

lend.

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Proposal for a

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Non-credit Certificate Program

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in

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Leadership Learning

Senate-approved, credit-free certificate programs have a series of

requirements designed to assure high quality in continuing education. These

include: the supervision of a department or academic steering committee, 120

contact hours of instruction and an explicit method of evaluating student

performance. Existing certificates offer coherent educational programs which

enhance the professional development of a wide range of participants.

Experience in creating non-credit educational programs directly for

employers suggests that the certificate designation can have a valid use in

recognizing high level, programmatic workplace education provided by

Simon Fraser University. This proposal recommends the creation of a new,

flexible certificate program that can be tailored to a variety of specific

educational needs. The key features of this proposal are:

a)

The Certificate will be offered for specifically designed, non-credit

workplace education programs constituting the equivalent of at least 120

hours of instruction.

b)

The Certificate will be interdisciplinary in its approaches, drawing

upon disciplines from across the University to offer the combination of

knowledge and skills development that is most appropriate for high level

learning needs in specific work situations.

c)

The Certificate will emphasize the integration of theory and practice,

through exercises, projects and methods of evaluation emphasizing the

application of classroom instruction. A central objective will be the

encouragement of continuous learning as a key attribute of organizational

leadership.

d)

The Certificate will permit flexibility in its modes of delivery.

Where appropriate to the educational purposes of the program, up to one-

third of the contact hour requirement may be met through non-traditional

means, including guided project work, electronic conferencing, specific

application exercises and other forms of learning enhancement.

e)

Individual offerings of the Certificate must be approved by the

Senate Committee on Continuing Studies and will be guided by an academic

steering committee, to include at least three regular SFU faculty from at least

two different departments and at least one Continuing Studies Program

Director, together with any appropriate community, corporate and student

representation. Evidence of appropriate consultation with

faculties /departments will be submitted at the time approval is sought.

f)

All direct and indirect costs of each offering of the Certificate will be

met through contractual arrangements.

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Rationale

There is substantial potential for the University to design high calibre

executive development programs for in-house delivery to major employers.

Organizations have a strong interest in helping their employees to broaden

their skills and perspectives in order to take on higher levels of responsibility,

and increasingly see directed educational programs from external providers as

an important means to this end. There is a particular interest in

interdisciplinary approaches that foster the broadly based technical and

human skills commonly identified under the rubric "leadership." The

impetus for such education often arises from specific organizational issues

which can best be addressed through in-house programs.

A major opportunity for the University in serving this need is to draw

upon a wide variety of university resources,

including

disciplines across the

faculties, existing non-credit programs and courses and expertise in program

design to provide the most appropriate combination of learning experiences

for specific leadership development situations. Both corporate clients and

their employees appreciate the University's involvement in education of this

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kind - its attention to quality, its variety of expert resources, its interest in

long-term program effectiveness, and its responsiveness in tailoring

programs for specific needs. Both clients and employees would also

appreciate the opportunity to have suitable programs of study recognized

through the awarding of a Senate-approved credit-free certificate. Students in

such programs are likely already to have at least an undergraduate degree, but

are still motivated by the programmatic focus and stipulated requirements of

a university certificate.

In addition to

increasing

the market opportunities for continuing

studies activities of the University, the establishment of a Leadership

Learning Certificate will have significant educational advantages. Many

Human Resource Development specialists within major organizations have

expressed frustration with "one-off' in-house training programs offered by

educational consultants. They see these as having only limited effectiveness

over the long term. In contrast, a university program that provides diverse

yet coherent educational modules, and then integrates the classroom learning

through the guided application to an actual work situation has a much better

chance of creating a pattern of sustained learning. The Leadership Learning

Certificate program will deliberately bring together formal and experiential

learning opportunities in order to maximize educational effectiveness and to

reinforce continuous

learning

as a key aspect of organizational leadership.

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This program will differ from other SFU non-credit programs for client

organizations in several respects. The Executive Management Development

Program, offered by the Faculty of Business Administration through the

offices of Continuing Studies, offers a series of intensive sessions on the core

areas of management education at Harbour Centre. It is a well-respected

program which draws together students from various organizations, but that

very design prevents the kind of specifically customized offering the

Certificate will provide. Furthermore, the EMDP has an established,

discipline-based curriculum, and therefore lacks the flexibility to draw from

other areas of University expertise. Similarly, professional certification

programs within Continuing Studies follow pre-determined curricula that

address established needs. Other non-credit programs, such as those offered

by Writing and Publishing, focus on specialized areas of training.

The very flexibility and adaptability of the Leadership Learning

Certificate means that each offering of the program will be somewhat

different. Under these circumstances, a senior level committee should

approve each instantiation of the program, as is now the case for Integrated

Studies Programs within the Bachelor of General Studies Degree, in order to

insure the continuing quality and integrity of the Certificate on behalf of

Senate. It is proposed that the appropriate committee in this case would be

the Senate Committee on Continuing Studies. A program outline should

come to the SCCS for approval in advance of any offering, detailing the

steering committee for that offering, as well as the curriculum, instructors,

methods of evaluation and any unusual pedagogical methods.

The attached outline for a specific offering of the Leadership Learning

Certificate follows extensive consultations with ICBC. SPU is under contract

to deliver the instructional modules, but has also thoroughly discussed with

ICBC the advantages of extending the series of modules into an educational

program that would deserve certification. The outline is presented here for

approval, but also as an informative example of the kind of program that the

Certificate is designed to make possible.

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SFU/ICBC Leadership Learning Certificate Program

Simon Fraser University has contracted with the Insurance

Corporation of British Columbia to offer an educational program to two pilot

groups of its managers over the coming eight months. The program is

designed to assist the Corporation in making a significant organizational

transition to "Community-Based Customer Units," (CBCU's) in order to

decentralize some of its services. The Leadership Learning Certificate

Program is specifically designed to further assist in this process by

encouraging an environment of continuous learning.

The move to CBCU's is going to present ICBC managers with many

new challenges and responsibilities. As this structural change brings the

Corporation and its managers closer to the community, one key challenge

will be to understand community process. ICBC's community based leaders

will need to develop their strategic thinking skills in order to effectively

interact with communities. They will need to clearly understand the

community and the Corporation's competitive position, in order to

effectively deliver products and services that are responsive to local needs.

And, they will need to develop their marketing skills in order to strengthen

the Corporation's competitive position and build its credibility. In addition,

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the move to regional business units will require an elevated understanding

of finance and financial processes, from managing day to day financial

responsibilities to understanding the broader implications of financial

partnerships with external agencies. As well, the more autonomous business

units will challenge managers to effectively set the direction for and lead cross

functional units.

The Leadership Learning Certificate Program will include five two-day

instructional modules, to be taught by a total of four SFIJ faculty and four

other instructional personnel regularly associated with SFU (see Attachment).

The topics of the five modules are: marketing, the political environment,

financial management, strategic planning and leadership, and community

partnering. The Program will also include a carefully planned educational

extension of this classroom sequence, involving the guided application of the

materials presented, a facilitated e-mail network, and monitored team or

individual project work.

The Steering Committee for the SFU/ICBC Leadership Learning

Certificate Program will include: Patrick Smith, Professor of Political Science;

Colleen Collins-Dodd, Assistant Professor (Marketing), Faculty

of Business

Administration; Evart Alderson, Associate Professor, School for the

Contemporary Arts; Mark Selman, Director of Extension Credit and Acting

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Dean of Continuing Studies; Charles Holmes, Continuing Studies; Hal Wake,

Leadership Comitium, SFLJ; and Chris Neep, Director of Training, ICBC.

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- I. The Modules:

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1.

Marketing -

taught by Prof. Collins-Dodd

The purpose of this module is to provide ICBC Managers with the

fundamentals of the marketing process. In addition to providing a strong

conceptual understanding of the field this module will help managers

develop greater insights into the complex area of marketing decision making.

Managers will have the opportunity to apply fundamental marketing

concepts and offer practical solutions to real-life marketing problems. They

will consider marketing issues relative to ICBC, such as: product

differentiation, buyer behavior, segmentation analysis, advertising, pricing,

and social marketing.

2.

Political Environment -

taught by Prof. Smith

The key focus of this module will be to further understand both how ICBC fits

within the broad B.C. political environment, and regional issues such as

understanding the challenges of local municipalities. This module will

provide a non-partisan, systematic analysis of the legislative process,

business-government relations, the role of the news media, and the pressures

on governments. It will enhance managers' sensitivity to the political and

social context within which the regional operations of ICBC take place.

3.

Financial Management -

taught by Beverly Trifonidis

The emphasis of this module will be to build on managers' diverse financial

knowledge base and expand overall financial literacy, as pertains to day to day

financial management as well as broader financial implications of

community based partnering. It will use financial materials directly related to

ICBC's operations.

4.

Leadership - taught

by Prof. Bukszar (Business Administration), Prof.

Alderson and Mr. Holmes.

Emphasis will be on the challenge of effectively leading and managing change

within, as well as leading beyond the walls of the Corporation through the

development of strategic partnerships in the community. The first day of the

module will focus on strategic planning the second day on the identification

and articulation of values, the assessment and management of change and

the development of teamwork.

5.

Community Partnering - taught

by Michael Fogel and Hal Wake

This module will explore issues and processes that directly affect the

development of mutually beneficial community partnerships. One day of this

module will include a moderated forum involving key community leaders.

There will also be an introduction to stakeholder process through the

principles of interest-based negotiation.

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R. Application

The remainder of the Certificate program is an extension of the work of

the modules focusing on the direct applications of classroom content and the

encouragement of continuous learning. Charles Holmes and Evan Alderson,

who will host and coordinate the delivery of the modules, will have primary

responsibility for guiding this aspect of the program.

Step 1:

At the beginning of the instructional program, students will select one

or more issues anticipated to be key challenges in managing a CBCU.

Step 2: Within two weeks of the delivery of each of the first four modules,

students will present a brief paper, summarizing possible applications of the

module content to the selected issue. An e-mail network will be established

through which submissions and comments can be shared with all Certificate

participants, and continuing dialogue around relevant issues be encouraged.

Step 3: At the conclusion of the five modules, certificate participants will

spend an additional classroom day discussing projects, forming teams where

appropriate and developing a plan of work for the final project.

Step 4:

Final projects will draw together the reflections on the individual

modules and the follow-up discussions to outline a preferred approach to the

selected key issue(s). In offering feedback on these projects the host

instructors may consult with the other program instructors or other

University experts. The Corporation may choose to arrange for the projects to

be presented internally.

Step 5: As requested by the Corporation, the host instructors and other

University personnel will be available for discussion and advice on each

participant's needs and opportunities for further learning.

The Application part of the Certificate, through its combination of brief

presentations, e-mail conferencing, an additional classroom day and final

project will be equivalent to a minimum of 40 instructional contact hours.

The modules will involve 80 contact hours.

May 26, 1998

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Attachment

ICBC/SFU LEADERSHIP LEARNING PROGRAM

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INSTRUCTORS

Marketing Module

Colleen

Collins-Dodd

Currently an Assistant Professor in Marketing in the Faculty of Business, Simon

Fraser University, with previous experience in the Office of the Premier and the

department of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Province of Alberta,

Colleen has been involved with teaching marketing at both the undergraduate and

graduate levels. Her interests lie in the areas of Brand Equity, Retailing, Service

Quality, Public Policy and Hi-tech marketing.

Political Environment Module

Patrick Smith is a professor and past chair of Political Science, and currently Director

of the Institute of Governance at Simon Fraser University. He has written

extensively on local/municipal government, intergovernmental relations, public

policy and a great diversity of other topics for political science journals and related

edited books/volumes. Patrick has taught in the UK, at the University of Victoria

(School of Public Administration), Acadia University, and Dalhousie University as

well as Simon Fraser University. He has been an advisor/ consultant to the BC

Government on regional governance and planning, and to the Government of

Canada on the local franchise and aboriginal self-government. His recent research

includes co-authoring a book analyzing the 1993 Canadian General Election and a

book on Justice Policy and Administration.

Finance Module

Beverly Trifonidis has recently been appointed to the University College of the

Fraser Valley's Faculty of Business Administration. She is a certified public

accountant and holds a master's degree in professional accounting. Her teaching

interests include the behavioural implications of financial and managerial

accounting, and accounting in the non-profit sector. She has conducted seminars

and workshops on financial management in both the profit and non-profit sectors.

Leadership Module

Ed Bukszar is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Management in the Faculty of

Business Administration at Simon Fraser University. His research and teaching

focus on Strategic Decision Making, Business Strategy and Behavioural Decision

Theory. Dr. Bukszar has supervised the strategic analyses of more than 50 local,

national and international firms, written articles in numerous publications and is

presently editing a casebook for use in the strategy courses. He is also winner of

the

Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching

award.

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Evan Alderson is an Associate Professor in the School for the Contemporary Arts at

SFU, currently on assignment developing continuing education programs for adult

learners. He has held numerous positions in academic administration at SF0,

among them founding Director of the School for the Contemporary Arts, founding

Director of the Graduate Liberal Studies Program and Dean of the Faculty of Arts

from 1992-97. Dr. Alderson has extensive experience teaching adults in the

Graduate Liberal Studies Program and in an innovative degree completion program

for corporate employees.

Charles Holmes is an experienced educational consultant and facilitator who has

worked at SF0 as Director of Business Programs for Continuing Studies and for

many years in private consulting. He has conducted numerous workshops and

short-courses for UBC, SF0 and private clients in such areas as cross-cultural

negotiation, strategic planning and leadership. He is currently employed by SF0 to

develop learning partnerships with major British Columbia employers.

Community Partnering Module

Instructor: Michael Fogel

Michael Fogel is a mediator, facilitator and conflict resolution educator in private.

practice. He has a Masters degree in counseling psychology from the University of

British Columbia and his career has focused primarily on conflict

resolution/management and mediation, organizational development and public

involvement processes. As a facilitator /consultant, Michael works with various

private and public organizations and government entities (municipal, provincial

and federal) facilitating restructuring and change, long-term planning and problem-

solving; as well as communities engaged in consensual decision-making with

respect to a range of community and public policy issues.

Moderator: Hal Wake

Hal Wake is a journalist with experience in radio, television, video documentary

and print, and a wide-ranging interest in public affairs and public policy. In a 17-year

career at the CBC, he helped develop and produce a number of radio programs

including seven years with Morningside and most recently was the host of the daily

current affairs program Early Edition. He was the co-host of Learning a Living, a 13-

part television series that examined the new world of work, and has reviewed books

for the Vancouver Sun. As a moderator, he has lead public forums for the

International Conference on Aids, Gambling Policy in BC, a National Conference on

Restorative Justice and on Ethics in Journalism for the Canadian Association of

Journalists. Before entering journalism he worked as a child care worker for

Carnarvon Out-of-School Care and the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa. Hal is

currently the moderator of the Leadership Comitium for Simon Fraser University.

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