DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE

Minutes of a meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University

held on

Monday, January 5, 1998 at 7:00 pm in Room 3210 WMC

Open Session

Present: ?

Blaney, Jack, President

pro tern

and Chair

Barrow, Robin ?

Absent:

Baert, Jessica

Bawa, Parveen

Blazenko, George

Beattie, Suzan

Coleman, Peter

Berggren, J. Len

Dunsterville, Valerie

Boland, Larry

Giffen, Ken

Bowman, Marilyn

Hassan, Nany

Chan, Albert

Marteniuk, Ron

Clayman, Bruce

Morris, Joy

Cleveland, William

Nip, Harry

D'Auria, John

Osborne, Judith

Dobb, Ted

Parmar, Neelam

Emmott, Alan

Sanghera, Balwant

Etherington, Lois

Segal, Joseph

Gagan, David

Warsh, Michael

Gillies, Mary Ann

Whitbread, Katherine

Jones, Cohn

Wickstrom, Norman

Jones, John

Kanevsky, Lannie

•

Kirczenow, George

Lewis, Brian ?

In attendance:

Mathewes, Rolf

Hansen, Joey

Mauser, Gary

Heath, Nick

McInnes, Dina

Munro, J.M.

Naef, Barbara

Ogloff, James

Overington, Jennifer

Percival, Paul

Peterson, Louis

Pierce, John

Reed, Clyde

Russell, Robert

Selman, Mark

Tam, Lawrence

Waterhouse, John

Winne, Phil

Wong, Tim

Wortis, Michael

Yagi, Ian

Watt, Alison, Director, Secretariat Services

Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary

S.M. 05/01/98

Page 2

1. ?

Approval of the Agenda

The Agenda was approved as distributed.

2. ?

Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of December 1, 1997

The Minutes were approved as distributed.

Secretary's Note: The references to SGSC on pages 4 and 5 with respect to

Senate papers S.97-86 and S.97-87 should be changed to SCUS.

4. ?

Report of the Chair

There was no report from the Chair.

3. ?

Business Arising from the Minutes

S.98-1 - Ad Hoc Committee to Review the Role of Senate regardin

I Jnivcrcifv PnIirie - Fnr

Infnrmtinn

The Chair reported that SCAR had revised the membership and terms of

reference to reflect the wishes of Senate as expressed at the last meeting. The

membership of the Committee was reported to Senate as follows:

Two Faculty Senators, selected by SCAR: Marilyn Bowman and Michael Wortis

One Student Senator, selected by SCAR: Neelam Parmar

One Dean, selected by the Deans: Robin Barrow

One Vice-President, selected by the Vice-Presidents: David Gagan

Director, Secretariat Services: Alison Watt

Secretary of Senate (Chair): Ron Heath

It is hoped that the Committee will report back to SCAR by the April meeting.

5. ?

Reports of Committees

Senate Nominating Committee

i) ?

Paper S.98-2 - Elections

Senate was advised that no nominations were received for the positions noted on

Senate paper S.98-2 and the vacancies will be carried forward.

Senate Committee on Academic Planning/Senate Committee on

Undergraduate Studies

Paper S.98-3 - Grade 12 courses for University admission

Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by P. Bawa

"that Senate approve, as set forth in S.98-3, the following motions:

1. Information Technology 12 shall not be included in the list of

acceptable courses which may count in the student's average for

admission to Simon Fraser University. Students who complete

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

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INT 12 in 97/98 only may count this course towards general

admission, at the discretion of the Director of Admissions.

2. Effective immediately, Advanced Placement Computer Science

12 A or AB (APCSC 12A or APSC 12) shall be added to the list

of acceptable non-science courses, provided that the candidate

takes the AP examination and scores a grade of 3 or better"

Nick Heath, Director of Admissions, was in attendance in order to respond to

questions.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii)

Paper S.98-4 - Faculty of Applied Sciences

- Minor Program in Computer and Electronics Design

Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by P. Bawa

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors as set forth in S.984, the proposed Minor Program in

Computer and Electronics Design"

Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by

Pierce

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors, as set forth in S.98-5, the deletion of the Latin American

Studies Major Program"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Senate received information that SCUS, acting under delegated authority

approved minor curriculum revisions to existing programs/joint programs in Latin

American Studies.

iv)

Paper S.98-6 - Faculty of Education

- Deletion of Joint Minor in French and Education

- Undergraduate Curriculum Revisions (For Information)

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Page 4

Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by R. Barrow

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors as set forth in 5.98-6, the deletion of the Joint Minor in

French and Education"

Question was called, and a vote taken. ?

MOTION CARRIED

Senate received information that SCUS, acting under delegated authority,

approved minor curriculum revisions to an existing program and course within the

Faculty of Education.

Paper S.98-7 - Deletion of courses not offered

Senate regulation provides that any courses not offered within a six semester

period be deleted from the Calendar unless adequate justification for retaining

the course is presented. Senate received information that SCUS, acting under

delegated authority, approved the deletion of the following courses under this

regulation: CMNS 401, KIN 280, FREN 298, LING 440, POL 412, PSYC 304,

EDUC 280, MATH 426.

Senate Committee on Academic Plan nin

JSenate Graduate Studies

Committee

i) ?

Paper S.98-8 - Graduate Diploma Programs and resulting changes to

Graduate Regulation 1.3.1 and new Graduate Regulations 1.3.2 and 1.7.2.

Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by B. Clayman

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors, the establishment of Graduate Diploma Programs and

the resulting changes to Regulation 1.3.1, the new Regulation 1.3.2

and the new Regulation 1.7.2 as set forth in S.98-8"

In response to an inquiry as to why this proposed diploma was necessary when

Post Baccalaureate Diplomas were available, Senate was advised that the

Graduate Diploma was primarily a graduate level offering while PBD's were

almost always completely comprised of undergraduate courses.

Reference was made to the possibility of charging higher than standard fees for

graduate diploma programs. Senate was advised that a higher than standard fee

may be charged depending on the program and the students' willingness to pay.

The current Executive MBA program was noted as an example of such a program.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

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Page 5

ions

Senate received information that the SGSC, acting under delegated authority,

approved minor curriculum revisions to existing graduate courses in the Faculty of

Education.

iii)

Paper 5.98-10 - Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Program - Change of

administrative authority

Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by B. Clayman

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors, as set forth in S.98-10, that the full administrative

authority for the Graduate Program in Molecular Biology and

Biochemistry (MBB) be transferred to the Biochemistry Program

from the Departments of Chemistry and Biological Sciences. For

the purpose of assignment of Teaching Assistantships, graduate

students qualified to teach in, but not registered in, a departmental

program and supervised by a member of the department will be

given preference over external graduate students, undergraduate

students, and candidates for appointments as External Teaching

Assistants"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Senate received information that the SGSC, acting under delegated authority,

approved a change to the Calendar entry for the MBB program to reflect the

administrative authority as approved by the above motion.

iv) ?

Pa p er S.98-11 - Facult

of Science - Graduate Curriculum Revisions (F

Senate received information that the SGSC, acting under delegated authority,

approved minor curriculum revisions to existing graduate courses in the Faculty of

Science in Biological Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, Marine Science and

Earth Sciences.

At this point of the meeting, N. Heath replaced A. Watt as Secretary of Senate.

d) ?

Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules

i) ?

Paper S.98-12 - Harassment Policy - Proposed Revision - For Discussion

J. Munro, Chair, Harassment Policy Revision Task Force, together with

Hansen

and A. Watt, members of the Task Force were in attendance in order to respond

to questions. The other member of the Task Force, K. Heinrich, was out of town

and unable to attend the meeting. R. Coe, President of the Faculty Association

was also in attendance as a resource person.

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Prior to the start of the meeting, the following materials relating to this issue were

distributed to members of Senate: Letter to Senate dated 2 Jan 1998 from Rick is

Coe, President, Faculty Association; and a letter to Senate dated 24 Dec 1997

from the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.

In order to allow less formal and more open discussion, the following motion was

put forward.

Moved by L. Boland, seconded by W. Cleveland

"that this item be discussed as if we are in Committee of the Whole"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

The Chair reminded Senators that while this item is open for discussion of all

issues related to this policy, Senate has an advisory role only and will not approve

the document as policy. Senate may make motions representing views that they

wish conveyed to the Board of Governors or motions recommending

amendments but specific amendments will not be entered into. The substance

of Senate's debate, together with any motions passed, will then be forwarded to

the Board of Governors, and all discussion and motions, if any, will be given

consideration by the Task Force prior to their final submission to the Board of

Governors.

A full discussion of various elements of the draft Harassment Policy took place.

Moved by M. Wortis, seconded by M.A. Gillies

"It is the sense of Senate that the Harassment Policy should include

a provision stating that the Human Rights Coordinator shall prepare

each year a public document containing a summary (including

findings and reasoning) of all completed cases which will have

reached the investigative stage with names and other identifiers

deleted wherever necessary so as to be consistent with the practices

of the B.C. Human Rights Commission"

Question was called, and a vote taken

MOTION CARRIED

Moved by M. Words, seconded by L. Etherington

That the term "Human Rights" be replaced by "Harassment

Prevention" at appropriate points throughout the draft policy.

Question was called, and a vote taken

MOTION CARRIED

The following additional comments or suggestions were made by one or more

members of Senate.

1. ?

Add definitions of "faculty" and "student" to clarify who is eligible to be

appointed to the Board or to search committees.

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Page 7

It was suggested that the Policy be written to anticipate a possible change in

the persons responsible for non-academic student misconduct matters

under existing policy (Ti 0.03).

A potential conflict was noted in that the Policy appeared to authorize two

responsible officers to make a decision on the investigator's report.

Senators recommended changing frivolous, vexatious or malicious

complaints of harassment may be grounds for discipline" to stronger

language.

It was suggested that the Policy should specify more clearly the criteria for

selection of the Human Rights Co-ordinator, the Chair and members of the

Human Rights Policy Board, members of search committees, and the Vice

President, Academic's choice of designate.

The Policy should avoid an obvious concentration of power by either having

the search committees chaired by someone other than the Vice President,

Academic, or having the Vice President, Academic make a

recommendation for appointment to the President.

It was suggested that the time limit (12 months) for the initial filing of a

• ?

complaint was too long.

The investigator's lack of power to subpoena, compel participation, or take

evidence under oath and the lack of opportunity for cross examination was

of concern.

It was suggested that information about the cost of administering the Policy,

including the costs of investigations and redress, should be a part of the

annual report.

10.

The Policy does not appear to be congruent with the "United Nations

Universal Declaration of Human Rights".

11.

Preference was expressed for an arbitration process as part of the Harassment

Policy, rather than the investigation and administrative decision process.

12.

There was discussion on various aspects of the University's right to take the

role of the complainant.

13.

The issue of whether the Human Rights Commission would recognize the

University's policy and procedures was raised.

14.

A respondent's prior criminal record, if any, could be accessible and be used

in determining the severity of the penalty.

5 ? -.

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Page

15.

When the responsible officer takes the role of the complainant and has

access to legal advice, the respondent may be at a disadvantage.

16. The publication of the names of those found to have violated the Policy,

similar to the publication of penalties by the B.C. College of Teachers, was

suggested.

17.

It was suggested that an annual report would delay the publication of

decisions and so detract from the educational goals of the Policy.

On report from the Chair that there were no further speakers, and that two

motions had been approved, the committee of the whole was dissolved.

The Chair expressed thanks to Senate and to the Faculty Association for the high

quality of criticism and helpful and constructive comments over the past four

months with respect to revisions to the harassment policy.

The Chair expressed thanks and appreciation to the members of the Task Force

and, on behalf of Senate and the University, the Chair commended them for

completing a task that he hoped will serve the University well in future.

A. Watt resumed her role as Secretary of Senate.

Other Business

There was no other business.

Information

The next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate will take place on Monday,

February 2, 1998.

The Open Session adjourned at

9:15

pm and moved directly into Closed Session.

Alison Watt

Director, Secretariat Services