Subject

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

January 25, 1968

Date

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

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

- A

Paper S-97

•

Secretary of Senate

John Matthews

From..............

Dean of Faculty of Arts

In accordance with the decision of Senate at Its meeting of

January 8 and in accordance with Section 63 (b) of the Universities Act

the following resolutions of the Faculty of Arts are submitted for the

approval of Senate..

I. That the Dean of the Arts Faculty be elected by Faculty for a limited

term, the method of

S election to be

decided

by Faculty.

That the Dean be elected directly by the members.

That any member of faculty be eligible for the office of the Dean.

That the term of office be two years and that a retiring Dean has the

right to seek re-election.

In accordance with Section 46(d) of the Universities Act the

above resolutions of Faculty, Including the previous resolution passed

upon at the last meeting of Senate, will be submitted, subject to the

approval of Senate

as recommendations to the Board of Governors.

At a meeting of the Arts Faculty on January 25, $968, a

motINçegardIn9 the position of Associate Dean was tabled.

fli!

JM:els

cc. Chairman of Senate

SIMON

FRASER UNIVERSITY

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January of Arts

Office of the Dean

anuary 30, 968

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OPINION POLL--OFFICE OF THE DEAN

Preamble

The following Faculty resolutions have been submitted to Senate

for approval. These will be on the agenda for the Senate meeting of

February 5, 1968.

I. That the Dean of the Arts Faculty be elected by Faculty for a limited

term, the method of election to be decided by Faculty.

That the Dean be elected directly by the members.

That any member of Faculty be eligible for the office of the Dean.

That the term of office be two years and that a retiring Dean has

the right to seek re-election.

At the special meeting of Faculty called for 12:30 on January 25,

twenty-seven members being present, certain questions and reservations were

raised concerning the above resolutions. It was agreed that in order to aid

Senate's deliberations on the Faculty's resolutions, and to anticipate comments

that will be certain to arise there, a full canvass of Faculty should be

undertaken.

You are therefore invited to complete the attached questionnaire, some

explanation of which follows directly below.

This is not a referendum. It Is an expression of opinion only.

Completed forms should be returned in the envelope provided to the

Dean of the Faculty of Arts, AQ 5052, if possible not later than 12 noon on

Monday, February 5.

Some Comments on the Questions

I. Questions la, lb, Ic; on qualifications of the Dean. Several

ambiguities were seen to exist In the idea of the Dean being a "member of"

Faculty. Do these resolutions mean any member of Faculty, any tenured member,

or any member of Faculty of some particular rank?

The reasoning behind..the.Faculty resolution (No.3 above) was

that a bar by rank would be invidious, and was unnecessary since It was

extremely unlikely a junior member would be elected unless indeed he or she

were an exceptional person.

Opinion is fairly widespread that the Dean must be a person of

secure position within the Faculty In order to exercise effective power on

Its behalf. This Is so since, while his prime duty Is service to the Faculty,

at times the various roles of his office may conflict.

For example he should

have, if possible, the

He must give leadershi1

wishes. He must, with

university growth, yet

departments. He must,

them with distinction.

confidence of the President as well as of the Faculty.

, to the Faculty and at the same time comply with its

the other Deans, keep In mind principles of general

be able to secure resources judged necessary by Arts

In short, be able to balance many Interests and represent

These matters raise questions of the security of the Dean's position

(as reflected in tenure), his academic prestige (as reflected in rank) and his

acceptability to the persons and groups with which he must work most Intimately.

2. Questions 2a, 2b;

on origin of candidates. Whereas It is understood

that the Dean will be a member of Faculty, do these resolutions mean that

Faculty may not reach outside Itself and the University to select a Dean?

It has been observed that candidates for the Deanship are rare enough

at present, and may become vanishingly scarce. It may prove both necessary and

desirable to find the Dean outside our own ranks.

But if so, the selection

process becomes again a question.

Question 3; on term of office. The resolution states clearly that a

two-year term, with

—

re-election possible, shall be the Dean's term of office.

•

This matter Is Important because it could relate to the Dean's

effectiveness. A longer term of office could add both to his expertise visa

vis his dealings with other Faculties and the administration and to the

continuity of Faculty-'administration. The Duff-Berdahl report recommends a

five-year term.

Contrary opinion is that while a faculty member would find a two-

year term acceptable, it might be difficult to find someone willing to forego

his scholarly pursuits for longer than that. And, In any case, re-election Is

possible.

A proposal relevant to these matters (presently tabled before Faculty),

concerns the election by Faculty of a council of four to consult with and advise

the Dean. it is possl.ble that the idea of such a council might enable members

of Faculty more easily to define their opinions on certain of the more

difficult choices Involved In the structure of the Deanship Itself.

JM:ets

end.

FACULTY OF ARTS QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE DEANSHIP

[To be completed and returned in the enclosed envelope to the Office of the Dean

by. 12 noon Monday, February

1968,1f possible]

Check [it'] In square opposite your choice.

I. a. Should the Dean have tenure?

yes

Should nomination be open for: any member of Faculty

Assistant Professor and above

Associate Professor and above

Full Professor only

Before appointment, and provisions of the Universities Act notwfth-

standing, do you think that a candidate for the Deanship ought be

be formally accepted by one or more of the following:

Faculty members collectively

The

Heads

President

of Arts Departments collectively

Other parties (specify)____________________

2. a.

Should Faculty be able to reach outside Its own ranks for a Dean?

yes

•

b' if yes, what method of selection do you prefer?

Committee

Selection by

elected

Arts Heads

by Faculty

Selection

committee

representative

President

of the above three

Other (please

specify)__________________________

Should the Dean's term of service be: one year

two years

three years

four years

five years

unspecified term

Do you approve the Idea of a four-member advisory council to the Dean

elected by Faculty?

yes

E j

noEj