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To ...................... SENATE ....................................... ....................... ...... ............ ........ . 

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From

........... ACADEMIC 

..PLANN.ING....COMMIT.TEE 

DIVISION OF GENERAL STUDIES - 

Subject ............. REV.I.S.LON ... OF...SECT.ION... 3(a)....O,F...........................Date............JARY9, 

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191

PAPER 5.424 - S.71-32 

MOTION: 

"That Section 3(a) of Senate Paper S.424 be 

revised as outlined in Paper 5.71-32." 

Note: Paper S.424 as revised and approved by Senate at its 

meeting of November 9, 1970 is attached for information. 

SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

S. 7/

MEMORANDUM

From

ACADEMIC PLANNING COMMITTEE 

To ? 

MEMBERS OF SENATE ? 

.

DIVISION OF GENERAL STUDIES - 

Subject

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

.

REVISION.. OF...SECT.ION..3(a) OF............ 

PAPER S.424 

Date. ?

FEBRUARY 9, 1971 

RECOMMENDATION 

That the following replace Section 3(a) of Senate Paper S.424: 

3. OPERATIONAL DETAILS 

(a) For each Inter- and Multi-Disciplinary Program: 

(i)

The Dean of the Division of General Studies shall 

report as a dean of faculty to the Vice-President Academic. 

(ii) 

The teaching faculty of such a program shall be identified 

by the Dean of the Division of General Studies in consulta- 

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tion with the Coordinator/Director. 

(iii) 

Such faculty shall annually elect from among themselves a 

steering committee. 

(iv) 

The steering committee with the Dean of Division of General 

Studies shall constitute an Appointments Committee for 

purpose of selection and recommendation for appointment of 

.a Coordinator/Director. The Coordinator/Director shall 

report to the Dean of the Division of General Studies. 

(v)

The responsibilities of the Coordinator/Director, in 

consultation with the steering committee and other program 

faculty, shall in general include recommendations for 

appointments, budgets and the submission of names of 

candidates who have completed the requirements of the 

program. The Coordinator/Director shall discuss the 

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faculty requirements of his program with the relevant 

departments. More specifically: 

Recommendations for contract positions solely within 

the Division shall be forwarded by the Coordinator! 

Director to the Dean of the Division of General Studies. 

An annual budget reflecting the administrative and 

teaching needs of the program shall be prepared by the 

Coordinator/Director in consultation with the steering 

committee and/or program faculty, and submitted directly 

to the Dean of the Division of General Studies. 

The Coordinator/Director will report to the Dean of 

the Division regarding fulfillment of the requirements 

of the program by students. 

(vi) 

The steering committee plus two or more students shall 

constitute a curriculum committee for each program. 

Students shall be appointed to each curriculum committee 

with the approval of the Dean of the Division on the 

recommendation of the Simon Fraser Student Society. 

(vii) Comments on the performance of faculty members participating 

in programs in the Division shall be conveyed by the 

Dean of the Division. to appropriate Departmental Chairmen 

for inclusion in the overall evaluations of faculty by 

Departmental Tenure Committees. 

Comments on the performance of individuals on contract 

within the Division shall be conveyed by the Coordinator! 

Directoisof the programs to the Dean of the Division. 

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(viii)Not later than three years after date of inception, each 

new program will be reviewed by the Academic Planning 

Committee and a recommendation made to Senate either to 

continue or discontinue the program. If it is to be 

discontinued, the welfare of students involved shall 

be taken into account in phasing out the program. 

:33

S.4-24

(As revised and approved by? 

Senate, November 9, 1970) 

DIVISION OF GENERAL STUDIES 

RECOMMENDATION: That a Division of General Studies be established with 

responsibility for administering such multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary 

and experimental courses and programs as Senate and the Board of Governors 

may from time to time place within the jurisdiction of the Division of 

General Studies. 

REASONS FOR THIS RECOMMENDATION: 

1.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: 

The Academic Planning Committee has before it for consideration 

a number of specific proposals for new courses and programs. The list 

comprises: 

the Arts Program 

the Computing Science Program 

the Bio-Chemistry Program 

the Canadian Studies Program 

the African/Middle East Studies Program 

the Master of Arts (Education) Program 

the Latin American Studies Program 

After approval by Senate of some or all of these proposals, it will then 

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fall to the Academic Planning Committee to recommend an order of priority 

for the programs so approved. 

Before making any such specific recommendations, however, the 

Academic Planning Committee has had to deliberate about some quite general 

questions of policy: questions about its criteria for assessment, questions 

about the current practicability of implementing any of the proposed pro- 

grams, and about the most desirable ways of doing so. Among the factors 

relevant to these deliberations were the following: 

2.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS: 

(a)

It is clear that if present estimates of the 1971/72 budget 

are correct (or even nearly so), then only a limited amount of money will 

be available for us to mount new programs in the near future. It becomes 

a matter of paramount importance, then, to determine how, if at all, the 

• ? 

• expected budgetary resources can be stretched to accommodate as many as 

possible of the programs whose implementation is recommended. 

(b)

One fairly obvious way of effecting the necessary cost-savings 

is to ensure that administrative costs are kept to a minimum. Now as it 

happens, each of the programs submitted to Senate for approval has origin- 

ated from quite different sources and - in the absence of any suggestions 

to the contrary - has proposed its own independent administrative organisa- 

tion. Consequently if implemented as they stand, these programs proposals 

would involve considerable duplication of administrative personnel and 

is

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facilities. Accommodating all new programs within a single organisational 

structure would solve at least this problem. 

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(c)

It would also provide a viable solution to another set of 

problems whichwould otherwise arise: those of establishing proper lines 

of communication and responsibility between persons responsible for new 

programs and the central University administration, of establishing uniform- 

ity of procedures within the new programs, and of ensuring some degree of 

rational and coherent overall planning for the programs to be implemented. 

(d) Placing inter- and multi-disciplinary programs under University- 

wide control would also do much to hasten the initiation and development of 

inter- and multi- disciplinary and experimental programs which reflect the 

diversity of student and faculty interest. 

(e) Finally, within a unified administrative framework of the kind 

proposed it is easier to envisage procedures being established for the re- 

cruitment of faculty in some of those non-standard categories which the new 

programs call for: faculty to be employed on a part-time basis only, and, 

in certain cases, faculty appointed on a contract basis. (The last-mentioned 

category is plainly called for in the case of experimental courses which - if 

they are found not to be viable after a certain time - may need to be phased 

out in order to free University resources for other new programs and experi- 

mental courses.) 

For the above reasons the Academic Planning Committee recommends 

• ? the establishment of: 

A DIVISION OF GENERAL STUDIES 

as provided for hereunder. 

1.. ? 

DEAN OF THE DIVISION 

The Division should have as its head a Dean with responsibility to 

the Academic Vice-President and responsibility for the administration of all 

inter- and multi-disciplinary programs and experimental courses and programs. 

2.

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GENERAL STUDIES FACULTY 

Normally, faculty participating in General Studies program would 

fall under one or other of the following headings: 

(a)

Faculty holding appointments within existing departments and 

who, with departmental approval, are seconded to teach in either a full-time 

or a part-time capacity within the General Studies Division. 

(b)

Newly appointed faculty who may be recruited to positions of 

the following kinds: 

(i) To an existing department with appropriate 

arrangements for secondment to the General 

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Studies Division as in (a). Here normal 

appointments procedures would be followed 

except that both the department concerned 

and faculty associated with the General 

Studies program concerned would meet jointly 

to approve of the candidate's appointment. 

(ii) 

To a non-departmental position describable as 

a 'University Professorship within the General 

Studies Division- ', 

Such positions might carry 

all the prerequisites and responsibilities of 

ordinary faculty except for right to tenure. 

By way of compensation such faculty might be 

paid a somewhat higher salary. 

(iii) 

To a contract position for a restricted period of 

time, e.g. one or two years. Such positions could 

be filled either on a full-time or on a part-time 

basis, and would be particularly appropriate for 

persons from outside the University who have special 

expertise in the relevant program area. 

3.

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OPERATIONAL DETAILS 

(a)

For Inter- and Multi-disciplinary Programs. 

It is recommended that any such program should, for purposes of 

its academic operation, be guided by a duly elected Steering Committee and 

Chairman. 

The responsibilities of the Steering Committee, in consultation 

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with program faculty, would include: 

admission of students; 

curriculum development; 

appointment recommendations (in conjuncture with the relevant 

department if any); 

budget recommendations; 

submission of names of candidates for degrees. 

The Chairman of the program would report to the Dean of the 

Division and be responsible for (among other things) submitting an annual 

budget reflecting the needs of his program. 

(b) For Experimental Activities. 

It is recommended that such activities be guided by a Board serving 

in the advisory capacity to the Dean of the Division and consisting of six 

members, three faculty, one from each of the three Faculties in the University, 

and three students to be selected by the Student Society. 

The responsibilities of the Board will include recommendations to 

the Dean on the following: 

policy determination; 

establishment of administrative procedures; 

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recommendations to Senate for approval of courses or 

programs on an experimental basis and the requisites 

for these courses or programs; 

recommendations on certification of non-departmental 

credit for the degree offerings of the University. 

Departmental credit toward the major will, of course, 

require express approval of the Department, the Faculty 

and Senate. 

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In addition, the Board will function with the Dean of the Division to 

actively stimulate, promote and publicize the development of inter- 

and multi-disciplinary and experimental courses and programs within 

the University. 