DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SENATE OF SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY HELD
. ?
ON MONDAY, MAY 14, 1990 KLAUS RIECKHOFF HALL, 7:00 P.M.
OPEN SESSION
Present:
?
Saywell, W.G., Chair
Barrow, R.
Absent: ?
Addison, G.
Blackman, R.
Bedford, B.
Blaney, ?
J.
D'Auria, ?
J.
Bowman, M.
Dickinson, ?
J.
Brown, R.
Faith, K.
Carlson, R.
Falcon, K.
Cercone, N.
George, D.
Clayman, B.
Gill, J.
Cleveland, W.
Green, C.
Covell, M.
Hendrickson, ?
T.
Dahl, H.
Kazepides, A.C.
Delgrande,
?
J.
Nielsen, ?
V.
Dill, L.
Partridge, ?
J.
Djwa, S.
Rudrum, A.
Dobb, T.
Sicking, ?
C.
Freedman, ?
A.
Giffen, K.
Gray, P.
Hoechsmann, ?
M.
In ?
attendance:
Hoegg, J.L.
Oehlschlager, ?
C.
Jones, C.
W ?
Luk, W. S.
Munro, D.
Palmer, E.
Palmer, ?
L.
Pinfield,
?
L.
Rae, B.
Reilly,
?
N.
Rieckhoff, ?
K.
Salter, ?
L.
Saunders, ?
R.
Shannon,
?
D.
Shapiro, ?
S.
Stewart,
?
M.L.
Swartz, N.
Tjosvold, D.
Tuinman,
?
J.
Verdun-Jones, ?
S.
Vining, ?
A.
Wade, S.
Warsh, M.
Winne, P.
Wotherspoon, ?
A.
Heath, W.R., Secretary
Grant, B., Recording Secretary
S.M. 14/05/90
Page 2
1.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The Agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE OPEN SESSION OF APRIL 2. 1990
Reference was made to the discussion on page 2 concerning the issue
campus patrol service. Opinion was expressed that R. Yeomans had in fact
covert operation wherein students would be working undercover and since
mentioned in the Minutes they did not accurately reflect the discussion.
of Senate was requested to check into the issue and report back at the next
Following this discussion, the Minutes were approved.
0
of a student
referred to a
this was not
The Secretary
meeting.
Note from Secretar
y
of Senate: After reading through the transcript of the meeting of
Monday, April 2nd, the Minutes should be revised in the following way. In Item 3.i),
Paper S.90-24 - Report - Security Issues - For Information, paragraph three, add "It is not
suggested that the campus student patrol services would be a strictly covert operation
but it was acknowledged that for certain functions some students might be working as
plain clothes security people on campus."
3.
BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
There was no business arising from the Minutes.
4.
.REPORT OF THE CHAIR
i)
On behalf of Senate, the Chair offered congratulations to re-elected Senators,
welcomed
?
the
newly
elected ?
members,
?
and ?
extended ?
thanks
and ?
appreciation ?
to
retiring
?
Senators. ?
A
summary of election results is appended
to the Minutes.
ii)
?
The Chair was
sad to
report the death of Professor Abe Unrau
and, on behalf of the
University, ?
he expressed ?
deep ?
sorrow ?
to ?
his ?
family ?
and
appreciation ?
for
?
the
contributions ?
he
made
as a member of Simon Fraser University.
iii)
Senate was informed of the recent appointment of Dr. Tom Calvert to the
Presidency of the B.C. Science Council. The Chair indicated that T. Calvert has
taken a leave of absence from the University in order to accept the appointment.
iv)
Senate was informed that the University had received an increase of
6.53%
to the
recurring operating budget, approximately four million dollars in Access
funding, and approximately forty-one million dollars in capital funding which
will allow the construction of several new buildings.
v)
The Chair informed Senate that he had recently represented Western Canada at
the Council meeting of the Association of the Commonwealth Universities and he
had found it remarkably revealing to see the diversity of problems and
opportunities being encountered by colleagues in other Commonwealth nations.
With the exception of Hong Kong, he found the post-secondary situation in Canada
to be much more positive than any other Commonwealth country. He went on to
explain that the Government in Hong Kong has committed funding to increase the
post-secondary educational system by some 30% over the next five years and the
universities in Hong Kong expect to recruit a considerable number of new faculty
members over the next four or five years.
vi)
The Chair was pleased to report that thirteen new faculty appointments were
recommended to the Board of Governors at its last meeting.
?
Six of the thirteen
?
were women and he felt this was a significant step forward in terms of the
portion of women faculty appointments that have been made.
?
As a result of
.
S.M. 14/05/90
Page 3
fundraising and other
• ?
was able to acquire
otherwise have been
thirteen appointments,
school or coming into
activities the University now has some endowments and
some extraordinary senior appointments that would not
available. He was very impressed with the quality of the
across the board, whether they were just Out of graduate
endowed chairs.
rnmv
a)
?
Paper S.90-32 - External Review - Department of Chemistry
C. Oehlschlager, Chair of the Department of Chemistry, was in attendance as a
resource person.
C. Oehlschlager explained that the Department had initially conducted an internal
review of itself which was then followed by an external review and from those
two exercises a five-year plan had resulted. He briefly provided some background
information on the Department and pointed out that although the reports had
criticized the low numbers of students, the Department produces top
undergraduate students. He went on to say that enrolments are increasing as are
the research grants being awarded to faculty members in the Department. He felt
the Department had responded positively to the report and that it had been a good
exercise.
Reference was made to page 47 wherein it was suggested that foreign graduate
students with poor English language skills would be placed in duties other than
teaching. Concern was expressed that a second level of English language
proficiency testing was being applied and inquiry was made as to how this
decision is made.
?
C. Oehlschlager explained that all foreign students are required
to obtain a specific score on TOEFL.
?
In their first semester they have a short
?
interview with the Departmental Assistant and/or Chair of the Department and if
no problems are detected they will be exposed to undergraduate teaching. All
teaching personnel in the Department are evaluated by their students and if a
communication problem is detected in the evaluations that individual would then
be moved into an alternative teaching experience such as grading or
development of new laboratory experiments, etc.
One Senator expressed his surprise that there was no mention in the report of the
joint program with Physics and Chemical Physics. C. Oehlschlager confirmed that
the program is very important and he was sure the report referred to it. Since he
could not find the reference immediately, he undertook to locate it for future
reference.
Following this discussion, the External Review Report of the Department of
Chemistry was received for information.
b) ?
Paper S.90-33 - Guidelines for Implementation of External Reviews '
1
&e
&4s;4?I
v\ ffil v%
ø4ne4tQ
Moved by L. Salter, seconded by D. Shannon
"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors, the proposed guidelines for implementation of
external reviews, as outlined in S.90-33"
L. Salter briefly introduced the paper by providing background information on
the review procedure. The existing policy on reviews is part of a general policy
S.M. 14/05/90
Page 4
on program approvals and, while it sets out some general criteria against which
the successes or problems of various academic units should be measured, it does
not outline how the reviews should be conducted.
?
The proposed guidelines, if
approved, will be appended to the policy. They set Out the general, normal
processes under which a review will be conducted, and deviation from the
guidelines would be accompanied by an explanation for the revised procedure.
She further explained that an attempt had been made to draw a line between
being too specific and leaving some discretion to the reviewers. The sample
letter, attached as part of the guidelines, suggests a format for the communication
between the University and the external reviewers establishing the normal
practice. ?
She pointed out that the proposed guidelines add to the existing process
the responses to the external review from the Department and the Dean. The
acceptance of the review and all of the documents, including the self-study
document, provides a framework for future planning by Senate and Senate
committees.
Referring to the sample letter, inquiry was made as to what efforts are underway
at Simon Fraser University to assess and improve the quality of teaching. L. Salter
replied that there is currently a Task FOrce on the quality of teaching working
over the summer to collect feedback from the community with the intent to make
recommendations in the Fall.
Referring ?
to
?
guideline number six,
concern
was expressed ?
that it
does
not
?
actually
say ?
that
?
the ?
report ?
in ?
its ?
entirety
will be
made available to the
unit
involved and
suggestion ?
was made that this be
included.
L.
?
Salter explained
that
the ?
intent ?
of
this
?
particular
?
guidelines
?
was ?
to
ensure
firstly,
?
that ?
all ?
individual
rights ?
were
protected ?
and ?
secondly, ?
that ?
there was no
editing ?
of ?
a
?
report at ?
any
level. ?
The
suggestion ?
was ?
accepted ?
as
?
a friendly ?
amendment.
Opinion was expressed that the sample letter need not be part of the actual
guidelines being approved by Senate as it. was felt that the Vice-President should
have the discretion to write whatever letter seems appropriate to a department at
a particular time without having to obtain Senate's approval for changes to the
letter. L. Salter noted that the sample letter could be changed editorially without
requiring permission from Senate, provided the revisions did not deviate from the
general spirit of the guidelines. At the same time, she noted that in some
particular cases there may be good reason to follow a different pattern, and in
these instances, an explanation for the changes would be expected.
Senate's ?
attention ?
was
drawn to point three and a suggestion was made to add
the
phrase
?
"in consultation
with the Department" at the end
of point three.
?
It was
felt
that even though the
Department was asked to submit
a
?
list
?
of ?
suitable ?
reviewers,
names ?
could ?
be ?
added
to
?
the ?
list ?
by ?
the ?
Dean
?
and
Vice-President ?
that
the
Department does not
consider
?
suitable. ?
L.
?
Salter ?
stressed
?
that ?
the ?
spirit ?
of
the
document as a whole
was ?
to ?
foster consultation ?
with
the ?
unit
?
involved ?
since
the
whole ?
purpose ?
of ?
the ?
exercise ?
is
?
for ?
the ?
unit
?
to
identify ?
its
?
strengths
and
weaknesses ?
and ?
to ?
develop
a plan of implementation.
The suggestion to add
'in
consultation
?
with ?
the
Department' at the end of point
was ?
accepted, as ?
a
?
friendly
amendment ?
consistent
with
?
the ?
spirit ?
of the
?
document.
Referring to point
two where it refers to members
of the unit ?
assessing
itself ?
in ?
a
period ?
of ?
self-study, ?
concern ?
was ?
expressed
that
provision ?
should ?
be
made ?
to
include
?
students
in
?
that
?
process. ?
L.
?
Salter
pointed ?
out ?
that
?
it ?
was purposely
written ?
that
?
way
in ?
order ?
to
?
be ?
inclusive ?
of
all
integral members of
the ?
unit
?
-
faculty, ?
students,
staff,
?
laboratory ?
instructors,
and
others.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
S.M. 14/05/90
Page
5
• ?
c) ?
Paper S.90-34 - Annual Report - Senate Committee on Academic Planning - For
Information
The Annual Report of the Senate Committee on Academic Planning was received
by Senate for information.
ii)
?
Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules
a)
?
Paper S.90-35 - Membership and Terms of Reference - Search Committee for Vice-
President. Research and Information Systems
At the request of the Chair, Item 3 in the Terms of Reference was deleted.
Moved by L. Salter, seconded by K. Rieckhoff
"that Senate approve, and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors, the membership and terms of reference for the
Search Committee for the Vice-President Research and
Information Systems, as set out in
S.90-35"
In explanation for the deletion of Item 3 from the terms of reference, the Chair
advised that, under the University Act, the President of a University is
responsible for recommending all academic appointments to the Board of
Governors. Currently the terms of reference for all senior academic
administrative search committees at SFU (with the exception of the Provost and
Academic Vice-President) specifically state that the committee is advisory to the
. ?
President. The Chair pointed out that, in practice, recommendations are arrived at
through a consensual process and Item 3 had been included in this spirit and
consistent with normal practice. ?
However, concerns have been expressed about
?
the statement being explicitly set out so the Chair recommended that it be deleted.
Opinion was expressed that since both the Library and Computing Services, both
very large and important constituencies, directly reported to the Vice President
Research and Information Systems they ought to be represented on the search
committee.
Amendment moved by M. Bowman, seconded by J. Tuinman
"that the membership be changed to include the University
Librarian, or designate; and the Director of Computing Services,
or designate"
Discussion followed with regard to possible changes to the portfolio of the Vice-
President Research and Information Systems, the need to give prominence to the
research portion of the portfolio, and the efficiency of committees when they
reach a certain size.
It was pointed out that in matters requiring both Board and Senate approval, the
Board usually established the procedures and then forward these to Senate for
approval. Concern was expressed that the process appeared to be reversed in this
instance. ?
The Chair indicated that it was extremely important for the search to
. get underway and in order to expedite matters he saw nothing wrong with
bringing the issue to Senate in the first instance and then immediately
forwarding it to the Board for consideration and approval.
It was noted that while the position of University Librarian was an academic
S.M. 14/05/90
Page 6
administrator, subject. to the same search procedures as other senior academic
administrators, the Director of Computing Services was an administrative
management position and concern was expressed about how the ratio between
faculty, student and administrative positions on the committee would be affected
by this increase in membership. It was suggested that perhaps these two
positions be ex-officio non-voting participants so that they would be included in
the consultative process but not necessarily directly influence the final
recommendation.
Question was called on the amendment,
and a vote taken. ?
. ?
AMENDMENT CARRIED
In the course of the previous discussion D. Shannon had suggested the
membership be amended to include the Director of Alumni Relations but she
indicated she would not pursue the question at this time. However, on behalf of
the Alumni Association, J. Blaney informed Senate that he had received numerous
requests from them to be represented on the appointments of senior
administrators. He went on to say that they felt that could bring, as former
students and members of the community, a different kind of perspective to the
committee. ?
They also felt that over the past four or five years they have ?
demonstrated an earnest, strong commitment to the University and ought to be
part of the consultative process of managing the University. In the spirit in
which the suggested amendment was offered, the Chair gave assurance that he
would consult and see that the views of the Alumni Association are expressed.
It was noted that for the selection of members to the Vice-President Academic
Search Committee students had been elected rather than selected and opinion was
expressed that Item E should remain the same as in the previous committee.
Amendment moved by K. Giffen, seconded by K. Rieckhoff
"that Item E be changed to parallel the election of students to the
Vice-President Academic Search Committee - one undergraduate
student elected by and from the undergraduate student body; and
one graduate student elected by and from the graduate student
body"
Concerns were raised about time constraints, holding an election during the
summer semester, and the costs associated with a campus-wide election.
Considerable discussion followed wherein it was pointed out that the student
election could be held in the same time frame as the faculty election; that students
are placed on search committees in a variety of ways depending on the position
that the search committee has been established for; that Faculties such as
Education have a large number of students who are only on campus during the
Summer semester; and student elections are conducted by on-campus voting
rather than a mail out ballot.
Question was called on the amendment,
and a vote taken. ?
AMENDMENT CARRIED
In reply to an inquiry as to why Items F and G have stipulated designates, the
Chair indicated it was simply a mechanism to allow the search to proceed with
representation from these constituencies in the event that either individual was
not available or had a potential conflict of interest.
Question was called on the main motion as amended,
and a vote taken. ?
MOTION AS AMENDED CARRIED
S.M. 14/05/90
Page 7
In
?
order ?
to
?
expedite ?
matters,
immediately ?
with
?
a ?
call
?
for
the ?
Chair ?
indicated ?
his ?
intention
?
to ?
proceed
nominations
?
for ?
those
positions
?
elected ?
to
?
the
committee.
Governors.
It
The
was
?
also
call
his
would
intention
be ?
contingent
to suggest
?
in
upon
the
?
Call
approval
?
that
?
anyone
by
?
the
?
not
Board
able
?
to
of
meet ?
intensively
during
June, July ?
or ?
August
?
not ?
allow ?
their
?
name
?
to
?
stand.
Senate had
no objection
to ?
this
procedure.
6.
?
OTHER BUSINESS
i)
?
Paper S.90-31 - Notice of Motion - C. Green
Since C. Green was not in attendance and since no supporting documentation or
rationale had been received, the Notice of Motion was lost.
8.
NOTICES OF MOTION
There were no notices of motion.
9.
INFORMATION
The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday, June 4, 1990.
Following a brief recess, the Assembly moved into Closed Session at 8:40 p.m.
W. R. Heath
Secretary of Senate
.
$
RESULTS OF ELECTIONS TO SENATE AND BOARD OF GOVERNORS
?
MAY1990
1. FACULTY ELECTIONS TO SENATE
i) ?
Joint Faculty to Senate
Five full-time faculty members to be elected to Senate (one of
whom must be from the Faculty of Education) to replace J.
Dickinson, A.C. Kazepides, A. Rudrum, M.L. Stewart, and K.
Rieckhoff for terms of office from June 1, 1990 to May 31,
1993.
Five nominations were received.
acclamation:
Robert Walker
Katherine Heinrich
William Leiss
Klaus E. Rieckhoff
Mary Lynn Stewart
The following were elected by
Faculty
of Education
Faculty
of Science
Faculty
of
Applied Sciences
Faculty
of Science
Faculty
of Arts
ii) ?
Faculty of Applied Sciences
. ?
One full-time faculty. member to be elected
, to
-
Senate to replace
J. Deigrande for term of office from June 1, 1990 to May 31,
1993.
Candidates: ?
J. Deigrande
W. Richards
Re-Elected: ?
J. Deigrande ?
School of Computing Science
ii)
Faculty of Arts
One full time faculty member to be elected to Senate to replace
W. Cleveland for term of office from June 1, 1990 to May 31,
1993.
Elected by acclamation:
Len, Evenden
?
Department of Geography
iii)
Faculty of Business Administration
One full time faculty member to be elected to Senate to replace
A. Vining for term of office from June 1, 1990 to May 31, 1993.
Elected by acclamation:
?
Gary Mauser
iv) Faculty of Education
One full time faculty member to be elected to Senate to 'replace
R. Barrow for term of office from June 1, 1990 to May 31, 1993.
Re-Elected by acclamation: '•
?
Robin Barrow
v)
?
Faculty of' Science'
One full time faculty member to be elected to Senate to replace
A. Freedman for term of office from June 1, 1990 to May 31,
1993.
Candidates: '
?
B. Alspach
P. Percival
Elected:
?
Paul Percival
?
Department. of Chemistry
2.
FACULTY ELECTION TO BOARD OF GOVERNORS
i)
?
Joint Faculty to Board of Governors
Two full-time faculty members to be elected to the Board of
Governors to replace J.L; Bërggren and K. Rieckhoff for terms of
office from June 1, 1990 to May 31, 1993.
Candidates: ?
N. Cercone'
S. Djwa
K. Rieckhoff
M. Roberts
J. Webster
Elected: ' ?
Sandra Djwa
?
Department of English
Re-Elected:
?
Klaus Riéckhoff Department of Physics
3.
STUDENT ELECTION TO SENATE
Election of fourteen students to Senate (with at least one
student elected from each Faculty)' to replace G. Addison, B.
Bedford, H. Dahl, K. Falcon, K. Giffen, J. Gill, P. Gray, C. Green, T.
Hendrickson, M. Hoechsmann, D. Munro, C. Sicking,. J. Partridge,
S. Wade for terms of office from June 1, 1990 to May 31, 1991.
.
Ten nominations were received.
acclamation:
Scott Bukovac
The following are elected by
Faculty of Science
.
Angelina A.
Di Fonzo
Neil Gibbons
Kenneth Giffen
Phil Gray
Chris Green
Tekla Hendrickson
Tobie Myers
Michael Radii
Shawn Wade
Faculty
of
Arts
Faculty of
Arts
Faculty
of
Applied Sciences
Faculty of
Arts
Faculty of Arts
Faculty of
Arts
Faculty of Arts
Faculty of Arts
Faculty of Arts
,
5.
STUDENT ELECTION TO BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Election of two students to the Board of Governors to replace P.
Mendes and T. Wahl for terms of office from June 1, 1990 to
May 31, 1991.
Candidates:
?
S. Bukovac
D. Kask
D. Mayzes
R. Zanatta
Elected:
?
D. Kask ?
Faculty of Arts
S
?
R. Zanatta
?
Faculty of Arts
6.
EMPLOYEE TO BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Election of one employee (who is not a faculty member) to the
Board of Governors to replace H. Michaels for term of office
from June 1, 1990 to May 31, 1993.
Candidates: H. Michaels
L. Roussinos
I. Williams
Elected: ?
Lou Roussinos Facilities Management
7.
CONVOCATION ELECTIONS
i) ?
Chancellor
Barbara Rae was re-elected by acclamation to the position of
Chancellor of Simon Fraser University for term of office from
June 1990 to June 1993.
0
S
Convocation Senators
Election of four Convocation Senators to Senate to replace V.
Nielsen, D. Shannon, M. Warsh, and A. Wotherspoon for terms
of office from June 1, 1990 to May
.
31, 1993.
Candidates: ?
S.
Duguid
R.
Fowler
V.
Nielsen
D.
Shannon
M.
Warsh
A.
Wotherspoon
Elected:
?
Stephen Duguid
Re-Elected: Valerie Nielsen
Michael Warsh
Deborah Shannon
I ?
-
.
S
