For Information

Senate Committee on University Teaching

Learning (SCUTL)

Report of Activities

2001-02 Academic Year

April 24, 2002

Background

S.02-30

The membership and Terms of Reference of SCUTL are available at

http://www.reg.sfu.ca!senate/SenateComms/SCUTL.html.This report

is being submitted

by Dr. Tom Grieve (Acting Chair), with assistance from Dr. David Kaufman (Director,

LIDC), on behalf

of Dr. Cheryl Amundsen (Chair), who is on short-term leave from SFU

at this time.

Meetings

This committee met for

90 minutes each month from September, 2001 to April, 2002,

and has meetings planned for May and June, 2002.

Guests

The committee welcomed several guests to its meetings for an exchange

of views,

including:

Discussion

of Report of the Ad Hoc Senate Committee to Review and Develop

the Undergraduate

Curricula

Dr. Dennis Krebs, Chair

Dr. Michael Wortis, Member

Discussion

of Report on Undergraduate Grading and Grading Practices at Simon

Fraser University

Ms. Laurine Harrison, Student

Ombudsperson, SFU (May, 2002 meeting)

Major Activities

1. Provided advice and guidance on program initiatives to the newly appointed

(July 1, 2001) Director of The Learning

Instructional Development Centre (LIDC).

2. Provided input into the naming of the new Centre (LIDC).

3. Provided input into the design

of the new (2001-02) Certificate Program in Teaching

Learning for SFU Graduate Students.

4. Two members

ofSCUTL (SFU Teaching Award Winners Tom Grieve and

Martin Laba) presented a 2.5-hour session on "Exemplary Teachers at

SFU" to the

Certificate Program students in April, 2002 (see 3 above).

5. Developed a questionnaire to survey faculty and sessional instructors about matters

related to teaching at

SFU.

is planned to administer this survey in collaboration

with the Director, Academic Relations (Sue Roppel) in the near future.

6. Agreed to serve as an Academic Review Group for LIDC academic programs leading

to university recognition, e.g., Certificate Programs.

Several new initiatives will be

reviewed and discussed at the May,

2002 meeting.

7. Discussed extensively the role and use of teaching evaluations at SFU, and agreed to

address issues in this area in the future.

Conclusions

Several factors have led to a revitalization of SCUTL, including:

1. A new Chair (Dr. Cheryl Amundsen) with expertise in higher education and prior

experience in the teaching and learning centre at McGill University.

2. Several new members appointed to the committee, each

of whom have a strong

commitment to and energy for enhancing teaching at

SFU.

3. Appointment of a dynamic new Director of the LIDC, who is making extensive use of

the expertise on the committee to help shape LIDe initiatives.

On behalf of its members, I am pleased to report that SCUTL is alive, thriving, and

increasing its influence on teaching and learning at

SFU.

Respectfully submitted on April 24, 2002

Dr. Tom Grieve, Acting Chair, SCUTL

English Department, SFU