SiMON FRASE UNWERSITY

Paper S-90

From

Subject

...................................................... ................................................................ .Date .....

...... November

28,.:1967 ....................................................

At the June 5, 1967 Senate meeting the Ceneral Education Committee

presented a preliminary general education proposal entitled University

Network (paper S-13). At the instruction of Senate, the University Network

proposal was forwarded to the three faculties for discussion and comment.

These have been subsequently received from the three faculties, and the

statement below represents a synthesis of the general comments:

Three faculties support, .in principle, the University

Network proposal. This is interpreted to mean that there

is support for the concept of a general education program,

as outlined in the Network proposal.

The administrative structure suggesced

by the General

Education Committee in the preliminary proposal seemed

•.

to cause some

concerns

in each of the faculties. The notion

of an administrative body to oversee

general-...

education proams was found unacceptable.

There was strong concern expressed about the

financial

support required for forthcoming.general education

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programs. Many department heads indicated that if

funds were available, the development of other programs,

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such as graduate programs, should take priority.

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With faculty reactions in mind, the members of the General Education

Committee now suggest that the Senate move on the following recommendations:

That the Senate accept, in principle; the mounting of a

University General Education program.

That the amount of involvement in general education.

programs be determined by individual faculties.

Thatthe task of administering the general education

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programs fall under the aegis of the new academic

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Vice-President of the university

•. •

3.1 That until such time as the new vice-president

takes office, the new general education program

be administered by a 3-man committee, appointed

• .

• by

the Senate.

Senate

- 2 -

November 28, 1967

That large enrollment courses (described in paper 5-13 as

window "

courses) be mounted.

4.1 That these courses be 3 semester-hour courses.

4.2 That students enrolled in such courses receive

grades on a Pass-Fail basis.

That seminars, workshops and other related activits be mounted.

5.1 That these be derived from "window" courses

whenever possible.

5.2 That these be non-credit offerhgs.

That technical instruction courses be considered under the aegis

of general education.

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6.1

That these may be required or recommended for

individual students.

That non-prerequisite and/or interdisciplinary courses be mounted.

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7.1 *That these may carry credit at the discretion

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of the individual department.

7.2 That students taking these courses he graded on a

pass/fail basis (if not part of their required

Honors or Major program) if the

so desire.

7.3 That some of these courses be primarily for

upper division students.

7.4 That there he no prerequisitesfor interdisciplinary

courses.

In moving support of the general education program, the committee

would like to urge the following:

That immediate steps be taken to implement small portions of the

program at the outset.

That portions of the program be. implemented as early as the

Spring '68 semester.

• 3. That the above recommendations be seen as a basis for the

establishment of a general education program on this campus

4. That

a comprehensive Calendar entry describing the general -- -

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education program not be written until such time as specific

details are satisfactorily worked out.

• r

•

S-90

Senate

- 3 -

November 28, 1967

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Finally, the committee suggests that Senate examine and advise on the

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following questions, since no.over-all consensus was found in the 3 faculties:

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. 1. How many courses should be taken?

At what level should these courses be taken?

How many hours should be set aside each week free from

regular (academic) lectures/tutorials/laboratories?

It is expected that with the presentation of these final recommendations,

the General Education Committee will have discharged its present obligations to

Senate.

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:...,.. ,

..... ,-•••...•-

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- Selma Wassertnann

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Chairman

• SW:ms

-4..

Is, ho

S-90

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To: Senate

From: Registrar

28 November, 1967

S M

Subject: Report. of General Education Committee

dated November 28, 1967

The question of administrative difficulties invariably

arises in discussion of proposals such as put forward by the

Committee, so I would like to comment on these now.

Pass-Fail grading for internal use

This proposal does not present any insurmountable

problems. The courses designated for Pass-Fail grades

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could be identified by using the numbers from 001 - 099

and while full credit would be given for the course, the

grade received would not affect the semester grade point

average or the cumulative grade point average.

If the grading system for a course was to be optional

as is suggested in 7.2 of the Report, it would be assigned

two numbers, one below the 99 level and one above. The

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students electing Pass-Fail grades would register in the

former; those electing letter grades would register in the

latter. This would merely be a book-keeping entry - in

fact the students are "in" the same course.

Example

Course

Sem.Hrs.

Grade

Grade Points

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EconlOO

•

Engi101

...Ceog101

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Psych 101

Either Biol 086

( -

Biol

186

. (3

( 12

Biol

086 option

Biol

186 option

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Semester hours earned

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Total Grade Points

48 •

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Semester Grade Point

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Average

48 - 3.2

36 - 3.0

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15-3

I....

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M g/,/,g

S-90

-2-

Pass-Fail Grading for External Scholarships

1..

.JL4.

WAl £L

UIi 6

Ue eLUUL1tLeU is

over

B.C. Government Scholarships. At the present time students

must secure at least 15 semester hours credit and a certain

C.P.A. on the best 15 hours to be eligible; they must also

believe the Department of Education would be willing to consider

changing this to 12 semester hours plus 1 General Education

Pass-Fail course with the C.P.A. struck on the best 12 semester

hours of letter grade courses only. We would have no difficulty

in adjusting our scholarship programs to accommodate this

if the policy were changed.

Non-credit courses

The Committee has made no recommendations regarding

grades for these, courses, nor whether they should appear on

the transcript. This matter should be clarified if the

proposal is approved.

P.e

.116k

r's on

•

Registrar

DPR/md