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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

MEMORANDUM

To: Senate

From: Senate Committee on

Undergraduate Studies

Subject: Revisions to the Bachelor of

Date: October 6, 1986

General Studies Requirements

Action undertaken by the Senate- Committee on Undergraduate Studies at its

meeting of September 30, 1986 gives rise to the following motion:

MOTION:

"That Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors, as set forth in S.86-56, the proposed

Revisions to the Bachelor of General Studies requirements."

SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

MEMORANDUM ?

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To

..........ROSS 

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............................. 

CHAIRI 

IAN,SCUS 

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Subject

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GENERAL STUDIES REQUIREMENTS 

From ........

ALDERSON 

ACTING DEAN OF ARTS 

Date ........

S.PI ?

19S.6 ...........................

The attached revisions to tie Bachelor of General Studies have been 

approved by the Faculty of Arts Curriculum Committee, and the Faculty of 

Arts by referendum. Please place this item on the agenda of the next 

SCUS meeting. It is my understanding that this proposal should be con- - 

?

- -

sidered by S.U.A.B. also. Would you co-ordinate the approval by both 

these committees. 

£

Thank you. 

cc M.C. Roberts 

I R. Heath 

N. Heath 

EA/jds 

SIMON

FRASER UNIVERSITY 

MEMORANDUM

TO: ALL FACULTY 

?

FROM: R.C. BROWN 

FACULTY OF ARTS

DEAN, 

FACULTY

OF ARTS 

SUBJECT: REVISIONS TO THE 

?

DATE: SEPTEMBER 3, 1986 

BGS REQUIREMENTS 

As you may recall, the Faculty of Arts became the academic home of the 

Bachelor of General Studies degree last September. During this past year we 

have reviewed the requirements for this degree in order to ensure that the 

degree met the standards of the other degrees offered by the Faculty of Arts. 

The attached recommendations for changes grow 

Out of 

this review process and 

have been approved by the Faculty of Arts Curriculum Committee. The degree 

serves a wide range of commendable academic functions, as it permits a level 

of flexibility not found in the Bachelor of Arts degree, while maintaining a 

high level of academic integrity. The changes proposed will enhance the 

quality of the degree, while still allowing maximum flexibility and they come 

to you with my fullest support. 

C, bAljk,^^^ 

RCB/mc 

.

.

•

Revisions to the B.G.S. Devee

The attached proposal for revisions to the Bachelor of General Studies

degree program follows from a review of the program that was initiated

upon the transfer of the degree to the Faculty of Arts. The intention of the

proposals is to retain the present spirit of the B.G.S. while correcting some

problems in its administration. The degree regulations have proven quite

difficult to administer both strictly and fairly, and seem to require some

modification. Moreover, a few students appear to be using the degree in a

way it was never intended, as a way of avoiding the GPA requirements for

graduation within the Faculty of Arts.

This proposal has been delayed for some time pending consultation

with the Faculty of Education, whose students have frequently chosen this

degreeption: Alth6ugh the Faculty of Education is revising its program in

ways that may make the B.G.S. less attractive to students seeking teaching

certification, it now appears that they will not request changes to the

structure of the B.G.S. as part of that revision.

An Overview of the BGS De

g ree and Its Students:

. The B.G.S. degree, a non-specialized program for students who do not

choose to complete a major, was established in 1971. The program provides

students the opportunity to structure individual programs of study. It was

also established in part as a response to those B.C. students outside the

Lower Mainland of British Columbia who were not able to take courses at the

Burnaby campus of SFU. The degree allows students to take an additional

30 hours of transfer credit, beyond the normal maximum of 60, from the

universities in B.C. (UBC, OLI, and UVic). In 1984, 15% of the graduates

availed themselves of this opportunity.

In recent years, the majority of those applying for the degree have

been present or prospective B.C. school teachers, who comprised almost. 70%

of the graduates of 1984. These are better than average students, whose

mean G.P.A. was 3.00 at time of graduation. Collectively, B.G.S. students take

almost 50% of their courses from Education, the majority of which are at the

400 Division. They have a tendency to complete more Upper Division

courses than the usual SFU Arts graduate. Very frequently the last 60 hours

of course work, whether at SFU or at other institutions, are made up entirely

of Upper Division courses. These students have required more of the

advisors time than the average student: their inaccessibility to campus, and

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the pressure for them to complete degrees to meet the standards of their

profession, result in advisors having to communicate by letter and telephone

both with the student and the certification agencies of the province. With

the coming revisions in the Faculty of Education, it is likely that this group of

B.G.S. students will diminish in numbers substantially.

The remainder of the students have selected the B.G.S. degree for a

variety of reasons. The degree appears to serve heterogeneous students

needs. Some have an academic goal which requires diversity rather than

departmental specialization, such as preparing for specific multidisciplinary

graduate programs These students tend to be highly selective in choosing

courses to meet their particular goal. Frequently, they are excellent

students, with a clear sense of direction that is not appropriately served by

the more structured programs currently offered by

this

university. There

are also on-campus B.G.S. students whose diverse course selection does not

manifest any clear professional goal, but who plan a program around their

own perceived needs and who perform quite acceptably.

There are also a number of B.G.S. students who are not training for

teacher certification but who live out of town. The flexibility of the B.G.S.

requirements creates a readier path to degree completion in the face of

limited course availability through DISC or other means. There are also some

students whose personal circumstances force them to move from the

Vancouver area prior to completion of a degree, and who find the B.G.S. a

satisfactory form of degree completion.

There is a small group of students who take the B.G.S. degree because

they have failed to achieve high enough grades to complete a major degree.

In 1984 there were 12 students whose GPAs were below 2.20, about 9% of

the graduates. All of these students moved to the degree from a major

program in their final or penultimate semester at SFU. Only 4 of the 12 have

a GPA of over 2.00 in the Upper Division course work taken. Eleven of the

twelve originally had a goal of BUS/ECON, but were unable to graduate with

either degree. Apart from the possible overuse of the degree by education

students, this is the only student constituency for the degree which it seems

clearly desirable to minimize.

In summary, the majority of BGS students are highly motivated, better

than average performers, who may not have access to the university

campuses of Vancouver and Victoria. They show a strong tendency to take

Education courses, and complete more senior courses than required.

Although they take more courses at other institutions than the average SFU

student, only a small percentage take more than number of transfer hours

normally permitted. On the whole, the degree appears to meet a diversity of

legitimate, if unusual, degree completion needs.

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Revised Reauirements for a BGS. Degree

PROPOSED CALENDAR ENTRY

The Bachelor of General Studies degree is a non-specialist degree

program, administered within the Faculty of Arts. It is designed for students

whose educational goals are not met by the other, more structured,

undergraduate degree programs available in the university. Students may

complete a minor or minors (but no major) in any academic area(s) as part of

the B.G.S degree.

Requirements for

the degree are:

120 semester hours of credit, including at least 45 upper division

semester hour credits. The minimum requirement for graduation is a

Graduation GPA of 2.0 AND a cumulative GPA of 2.0 in all upper division

courses taken, except duplicate courses..

With the exception of EDUC 401-8, 402-7, 405-15 and 406-5, courses

taken from any of the faculties may be used to satisfy the requirements for

the degree, but students are cautioned that their admission to courses is

subject to the prerequisite requirements of the various departments.

Students who may be considering this program are strongly urged to

consult the program adviser before declaring the B.G.S. as their goal. The

faculty adviser will work with the student to develop a program of courses

to achieve the student's academic objectives. Students who declare a B.G.S.

will be asked to maintain a program plan in the office of the adviser, and to

consult regularly regarding course selection.

The B.G.S. program may not be used as a second or subsequent

bachelors degree, except by written approval of the Dean of Arts prior to

admission. Students who hold a first degree and who are interested in a

program of general studies may wish to consider an Extended Studies

Diploma Program.

Transfer:

Special transfer regulations for the B.G.S. degree provide broadened

opportunities for degree completion for students who may have difficulty in

availing themselves of courses at Simon Fraser:

In accordance with normal university regulations, 60 hours of transfer

and/or course challenge credit may count toward an SFU degree. In

addition, a further 30 hours of transferable credit from a degree granting

institution recognized and accepted by SFU may subsequently be credited

toward the B.G.S. degree, provided that the student also completes at least 30

of the required 45 hours of upper division credit in Simon Fraser University

courses.

Note that even within these special transfer regulations, students must

complete a total of 45 hours of upper division credit. Any minor program

undertaken within the B.G.S. must include at least seven hours of upper

division credit earned at Simon Fraser. Please refer to the General

Regulations governing Transfer credit.

MAJOR CHANGES AND RATIONALES

(Current Requirements appear on

67 of the 1986/87 Calendar)

I. Requirements: A 2.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average requirement

in upper division work has been added.

Rationale: The current regulations are silent regarding GPA criteria for

the degree, which means that only the general university regulations

regarding graduation GPA apply. This has consequences for the academic

standard of the degree. Because under the graduation GPA failed courses

have no negative bearing on academic standing provided students have

passed a sufficient number of hours, students with a cumulative GPA of

considerably less than 2.0 can qualify for a degree. In itself this problem, if

it is one, is a matter for the university as a whole and not just this degree

program, but it has a further and deleterious consequence specific to the

B.G.S. Because candidates for a B.A. degree within the Faculty of Arts are

additionally required to achieve a cumulative GPA of 2.0 in their major

subject, students who do not achieve this standing can sometimes use the

B.G.S. as a failback degree, one for which they qualify despite their

demonstrated inability to complete a major program within the Faculty of

Arts. Although such B.G.S. graduates do not form a large proportion of the

total, it seems desirable to discourage this practice as a misappropriation of

the degrees purposes and integrity. Although numerous remedies can be

imagined, the most straightforward and simplest to administer appears to be

the additional requirement of a 2.0 in upper division work.

•

This requirement has at least the following advantages: it places an

emphasis on work presumably taken largely after a student has defined his

or her academic goals, whether or not these are initially encompassed within

a major program. It does not unduly burden an otherwise competent

student with low grades attained early in that students academic career. It

makes the B.G.S. degree comparable to the Faculty of Arts degrees in that it

requires the maintenance of a satisfactory GPA on a defined body of work

undertaken, although in this case defined by level rather than by discipline.

It will not unreasonably limit the choice of the B.G.S. as an academic goal at

any point in a student's career, but at the same time it will make the degree

less readily accessible to those who have singlemindedly but unsuccessfully

pursued another degree goal. In relation to the liberal transfer regulations

for the B.G.S., and particularly under their proposed revision here, it insures

that the performance standard for the degree will be a Simon Fraser

standard, based primarily on upper division work at this university.

An analysis of 1984 B.G.S. graduands at the lower end of the GPA scale

reveals the kinds of differentiation among students this revision will cause.

In 1984 12 students, 8.8% of the total, received a B.G.S. degree with a

cumulative GPA of 2.2 or lower.

All

of these maintained an academic goal

other than a B.G.S. until very late in their undergraduate careers. Under the

new standard 4 of these marginal students would have graduated without

further work and 8 would not. The average cumulative GPA of those who

would have graduated was 2.12; their cumulative GPA in upper division

work would have ranged from 2.04 to 2.34. Among those who would not

have graduated under the new standard, the average cumulative GPA was

substantially lower, 2.04, and their cumulative GPA in upper division work

at the time they graduated ranged from 1.94 down to 1.741 Students with

such a low level of performance in upper division work would not be barred

from the possibility of receiving an SFU degree, but they would be required

first to demonstrate their ability to handle upper division work at an

average level that is a university-wide standard, either through the course

duplication mechanism or work in other fields.

2. Program advice: Prior faculty approval of program is

Rationale: It seems clearly desirable that students undertaking a

B.G.S. should receive detailed academic advice from faculty. However, the

regulations as currently stated are very difficult to apply uniformly to all

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students. Students who live at a distance from Vancouver or who declare a

B.G.S.late in their undergraduate studies cannot be expected to pursue a

program of study planned around the B.G.S.; students who do plan in

advance are, under the current regulations, inequitably required to seek

approval for any significant deviation from the approved plan. It seems

reasonable to state as requirements only those aspects of the program that

are actually enforceable and enforced.

Restriction of use: Stipulation that the B.G.S may not be used as a

second degree, except by prior permission of the Dean of Arts.

Rationale: One requirement of a second degree is that it must be in an

area of study other than the specialization of the first degree. This

requirement is difficult to correlate with the non-specialized nature of the

B.G.S. Second degree programs are normally and properly used by students

seeking to re-train or prepare themselves in a new field. For generalist

students an appropriate alternative exists in the extended studies diploma

program.

The

B.G.S. is only rarely used as a second degree, but most

frequently by former education students who sometimes take nothing but

education courses for the B.G.S., a practice that seems clearly to circumvent

the spirit of the second degree regulations. On the other hand, it is not

difficult to envision individual circumstances in which a prospective student

different

might wish

from

to undertake

his or her first

a coherent

degree

program

specialization

of study

and

demonstrably

for which there

is no

existing major certification. Such students should have an opportunity to

seek exceptional admission.

Transfer: Requirement of 30 upper division hours at SFU replaces

the limitations of additional transfer credit to B.C. universities, but additional

transfer hours must be obtained from degree granting institutions

recognized and accepted by SFU.

Rationale: The current regulations attempt to maintain academic

standards while liberalizing transfer arrangements by stipulating that the

additional transfer credits must be obtained from UBC, UVic, or OLI, and that

all 45 upper division hours must be taken from these or SFU. At the time

these regulations were written it was envisioned that the B.G.S. might be a

significant step toward a province-wide degree, toward which students

might use a major component of Distance Education courses from any of the

provincial sources. Whatever the earlier justification for these regulations,

they now seem both cumbersome and outmoded. Students who rely on

distance education are excluded from a wide range of available distance

education

consortium

courses

degree

from

now

institutions

exists in B. C.,

such

even

as Athabasca

though it is

and

apparently

Waterloo;

little

used

at present; students who are obliged to leave this Province shortly before

receiving a degree find the limitation of transfer credit to B.C. institutions

quite arbitrary. In practice, these regulations are extremely difficult to

administer, sometimes requiring complex recalculations when students

change their goal to a B.G.S.

The proposed revision is intended to preserve the spirit of the degree

while simplifying the regulations. It maintains the university wide

minimum of upper division work at SFU, but without requiring that this

must be completed within the last 60 hours. The revision also widens the

range of institutions from which students can transfer the additional 30

hours, but does not permit courses from the B.C. colleges or their equivalents

to count beyond the normally permitted 60 hours of transfer credit.