DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE
Minutes of a meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on
?
Monday, December 7, 1998 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 3210 WMC
Open Session
.
Present: ?
Blaney, Jack, President and Chair
Berggren, Len
Boland, Larry
Bowman, Marilyn
Burton, Lynn Elen
Chan, Albert
Cheng, Winnie
Clayman, Bruce
Coleman, Peter
Copeland, Lynn
D'Auria, John
Dunsterville, Valerie
Emerson, Joseph
Emmott, Alan
Finley, David
Fletcher, James
Gagan, David
Heaney, John
Jones, Cohn
Jones, John
Kirczenow, George
Marteniuk, Ron
Mathewes, Rolf
Morris, Joy
Osborne, Judith
Percival, Paul
Perry, Thomas (representing J. Pierce)
Peters, Joseph
Peterson, Louis
Reader, Jason
Russell, Maya
Russell, Robert
Waterhouse, John
Wortis, Norman
Absent:
Akins, Kathleen
Beattie, Suzan
Dhillon, Khushwant
Giffen, Ken
Gillies, Mary Ann
Harris, Robert
Kanevsky, Lannie
Lewis, Brian
Mauser, Gary
McInnes, Dina
Naef, Barbara
Ogloff, James
Overington, Jennifer
Sanghera, Balwant
Segal, Joseph
Veerkamp, Mark
Warsh, Michael
Weeks, Daniel
Wickstrom, Norman
Zazkis, Rina
Heath, Ron, Dean of Student Services and Registrar
Watt, Alison, Director, Secretariat Services
Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary
41
S.M.7/12/98
Page
Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of November 2, 1998
The Minutes were approved as distributed.
3.
Business Arising from the Minutes
Reference was made to the previous meeting's consideration of the Burnaby
Mountain Community Corporation, and Senate was advised that Board of
Governors has now approved the constitution and membership of the Board and
the Advisory Committee.
4.
Report of the Chair
The Chair was happy to report that Simon Fraser University had again placed
number one in the Maclean's ranking for the third year in a row. Although there
was some skepticism with respect to the criteria used by Maclean's, the Chair
stressed the importance in the ranking of such factors (as measures of excellence)
as student achievement, faculty productivity, faculty receipt of national prizes, and
the general reputation of SFU in the community. The Chair was also delighted to
have cosponsored with the Student Society an event in the Pub last Thursday to
celebrating this honour.
The Chair reported that Gail Anderson, Biological Sciences and Criminology, was a
speaker at the Vancouver Institute on 5 December. She spoke to a full house and
gave an outstanding lecture.
5.
Reports of Committees
i)
?
Senate Committee on Academic Planning
I) ?
Paper S.98-95 - Diverse Qualifications Admission Policy -
Recommendation for extension
Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by
J.
Osborne
"that Senate approve as set forth in S.98-95, that the Diverse
Qualifications Admission Policy be extended by five years to Fall
semester 2004, with a review to occur in 2003"
When the policy was initially approved, concern was raised about how much staff
and faculty time would be required to administer the policy. It was noted that the
documentation before Senate indicated that because the numbers were so low,
there was insufficient data to draw firm conclusion about the success of the policy,
and inquiry was made as to whether there was any quantitative measure of the time
involved to process the applications. The processing procedure was briefly
explained and a total of approximately 24 hours per semesterly consideration of
applications was estimated although it was pointed out that it varied by semester.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
S.M. 7/12/98
Page 3
is
?
ii) ?
Paper S.98-96 - Faculty of Science - Centre for Environmental Biology
Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by C. Jones
"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors, as set forth in S.98-96, the proposed Centre for
Environmental Biology within the Department of Biological Sciences"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
b) ?
Senate Committee on Academic Planning/Senate Undergraduate Studies
Committee
i) ?
Paper S.98-97 - Undergraduate Calendar Revisions - Faculty of Applied
Sciences
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies,
acting under delegated authority, approved curriculum revisions in the following
Schools:
a)
School of Computing Science: Deletion of CMPT 103, 112, 402, 468, 493;
Enrolment Limitations - addition of a statement regarding not awarding
credit for missing prerequisites; Changes to Upper/Lower Division
. requirements; Changes to the Certificate Program and the Specialist Program
in Multimedia Computing; Changes due to the course deletions; and minor
changes to existing courses.
b)
School of Kinesiology: Change of admission requirements; Deletion of KIN
141; New courses: KIN 381, 444, 445; and minor changes to -existing
courses.
ii) ?
Paper S.98-98 - Undergraduate Calendar Revisions - Faculty of Arts
Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by
J.
Reader
"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors, as set forth in S.98-98, the proposed Certificate Program
in Community Economic Development"
In response to an inquiry as to why an additional administrator was required,
Senate was advised that while the proposed Certificate complemented the current
program it would have separate sets of regulations thus requiring separate sets of
advising and processing. The Centre for Community Economic Development was
very small and did not have the flexibility to absorb new tasks. However, any
additional administrative costs would be absorbed within the Faculty's current
budget.
Brief discussion ensued with respect to the replacement of a 400-level seminar
course with courses involving a lecture, tutorial and distance education and inquiry
was made as to who would be teaching these courses. Senate was advised that
CED had a very small core of CFL faculty and depended on sessional and limited
term appointments. It was noted that this practice was consistent with many other
S.M. 7/12/98
Page 4
Certificate and PBD programs across Faculties. Reference was made to the
Maclean's
about the introduction
ranking with
of
regard
new courses
to courses
whose
taught
offering
by Faculty
would
and
depend
concern
on
was
sessional
raised
?
Is
appointments.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION CARRIED
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies,
acting under delegated authority, approved curriculum revisions in the following
Departments/Schools/Programs:
a)
Department of Archaeology: Change of requirements - Minor program and
Joint Major in Anthropology and Archaeology; New course - ARCH 226;
and minor revisions to existing courses.
b)
Asia Canada Program: Minor program - change to optional courses, upper
division and language requirements; Certificate in Chinese Studies - change
of description and program requirements; Change to Chinese and Japanese
language course placement regulations; New course - ASC 205; and minor
revisions to existing Asia Canada, Chinese, and Japanese courses.
c)
Canadian Studies Program: Changes to course list for Canadian Studies
program and Certificate in French Canadian Studies; New courses - CNS
392, 481; and minor revisions-to existing courses.
d)
Community Economic Development: Course deletion - CED 400; New
courses - CED 201, 301; Change of description - PBD program; and minor
revisions to existing courses.
e)
School for the Contemporary Arts: Course deletions - FPA 141, 216, 228,
242, 258, 264, 314, 315, 382, 384, 423, 424, 429, 439, 448, 449, 458,
459, 469; New courses - FPA 226, 357; Change of requirements to Major,
Minor, Joint Major and Extended Minor programs; minor revisions to
existing courses.
0 School of Criminology: Course deletions - CRIM 100, 102, 415; New
course - CRIM 315; Change of requirements - Major program; Editorial
changes to the General Certificate in Criminology and Joint Major in
Criminology and Sociology/Anthropology; and minor revisions to existing
courses.
g)
Department of Economics: Program changes to Major, Joint Major, Honors
and Joint Honors programs; Calendar statement re Exchange and Visiting
Students; New course - ECON 325; and minor revisions to existing courses.
h)
Family Studies Certificate: Addition to courses on Optional List
i)
Department of Geography: Change to Section B and C list - Geography BA
Major Program; Addition of Environmental Science and Resource and
Environmental Management to list of Departments from which Faculty of
Arts breadth requirements may be selected; and minor revisions to existing
courses.
j)
Gerontology Program: Minor revisions to existing courses
k)
Department of History: New courses - HIST 215, 308, 309, 365, 382, 384,
409, 421, 422; Course deletions - HIST 314, 380, 381, 383, 408; and minor
revisions to existing courses
I) ?
Humanities Program: Course deletion - HUM 376; Change to Calendar
description of the Minor program; and minor revisions to existing courses
m)
Integrated Studies Program: New courses - GS 420-429
?
1191
n)
Latin American Studies Program: Co-operative Education option - Calendar
statement; minor revisions to existing SLAS and LAS courses
S.M. 7/12/98
Page 5
o)
Department of Philosophy: Minor revision to an existing course
p)
Department of Political Science: New courses - POL 327, 356, 436; Course
deletion - POL 425; and minor revisions to existing courses
q)
Department of Sociology/Anthropology: Change of requirements - Major,
Minor, PBD in Ethnic and Intercultural Relations, and Joint Major in
Criminology and S/A programs; and minor revisions to existing courses
r)
Department of Women's Studies: New courses - WS 207, 208
c) ?
Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules
i)
?
Paper S.98-99 - 1999/2000 Schedule of Dates
Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by J. Osborne
"that Senate adopt the Schedule of Dates for 1999/2000 as set out in
Schedule 2"
Opinion was expressed that the reading days should be scheduled later than Week
7, perhaps Week 9 or 10, because a much greater amount of material would have
been covered by then and students would have a better opportunity to prepare for
their final exam.
It was noted that the proposed reading break had been scheduled as a result of
.
?
consultations with the Student Society following a referendum on the issue in their
electoral process.
Amendment moved by J. Morris, seconded by
J.
Reader
"that Schedule 2 be deleted and replaced with Schedule 1"
Opinion was expressed that Schedule 2 added a fair amount of extra time to the
process which was felt to be unjustified since not a lot was accomplished on the
last day of classes, and therefore preference was expressed for Schedule 1.
It was pointed out that although the extra class day may not be as important to
classes that meet several times a week, it was crucial for courses that meet on
Monday only once a week, because the loss of that one day resulted in the loss of
one week's worth of work.
It was pointed out that both Schedules benefited only some students and in order to
benefit the majority of the student body, a reading break should be a week in
length.
Question was called on the amendment,
and a vote taken.
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AMENDMENT FAILED
Question was called on the main motion,
and a vote taken.
?
MAIN MOTION CARRIED
S.M. 7/12/98
Page
ii)
Paper 5.98-100 - Calendar Committee - Membership and Terms of
Reference
Moved by D. Gagan, seconded by J. Morris
"that Senate approve the membership and the terms of reference -
Calendar Committee - as set out in S.98-1 00"
Amendment moved by J. D'Auria, seconded by A. Chan
"that at least one member of the Committee be a member of Senate"
Opinion was expressed that there should be good communication between this
committee and Senate and having a Senator on the committee would serve this
purpose. It was pointed out that the Registrar was a member of Senate and could
keep Senate informed of the committee's activities. It was noted that the
amendment might create some logistical difficulties in that there may be no Senate
members on either SCUS or the SGSC. Clarification of the amendment was
requested and brief discussion took place.
Moved by
J.
Reader, seconded by L. Bo and
"that the issue be referred back to the Senate Committee on Agenda
and Rules for reconsideration"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION TO REFER CARRIED
Discussion ensued and the following concerns were raised. The Chair indicated
that the comments would be forwarded to SCAR for consideration.
- Concern was raised as to the autonomy of the committee and suggestion
was made that the under Item 2 of the Terms of Reference the words 'if
appropriate' and 'information, advice or' be struck so that the sentence
would read "To consider potential changes to established practice, and refer
to Senate for approval recommendations relating to content or
presentation."
- Reference was made to item 3 of the Terms of Reference, and suggestion
was made that Senate should approve the calendar of dates rather than just
the principles on which it was established
iii)
Paper S.98-1 01 - Working Group - Policy 1 10.1 0 (For Information)
Senate was advised that Tina Loo was not available to serve on the Committee and
that the membership issue would go back to SCAR for resolution by the next
meeting of Senate.
d) ?
Senate Library Committee and Library Penalties Appeal Committee
i) ?
Paper S.98-102 - Annual Report (For Information)
In response to an inquiry about the Collections budget, Senate was advised that
although additional funds had been received from the University, the increase in
the cost of journals had been greater and the Library was forced, on two occasions,
- /
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S.M. 7/12/98
Page 7
to cut back on purchases. It was noted that this situation was not unique to SFU. It
- ?
had become a tremendous problem for university libraries world wide.
Brief discussion followed with respect to the size of the cuts and the process
followed to determine which journals would be cut. With respect to the overall
university-wide budget allocations, the Chair indicated that the same process as last
year would be followed which included consultation with departments and areas
concerned.
6. ?
Other Business
Senate was advised that undergraduate students were experiencing difficulties in
registering for lower level courses in certain programs because these programs were
restricting registration at the lower levels in order to give preference to their own
majors. Specific reference was made to Computing Science 150 and
201
which
had turned away non-Computing majors even though the courses were not yet full
because the spaces left had been designated for majors in Computing Science.
Until now, preferential registration for Majors only applied to upper level courses
and concern was expressed about the practice at the lower levels. It was noted that
the University now admitted students directly from Grade
12
as majors and course
spaces needed to be available for them. It was pointed out that programs like
Computing Science are inundated with applications and just the demand from
students who wish to be majors, irrespective of the demand for service teaching,
could not be accommodated. Senate was advised that additional funds had been
• provided to Computing Science to provide course spaces in high demand courses
like Computing 150 and
201
so that students from all Faculties would have an
opportunity to enrol in those courses. The registration statistics provided for
Computing Science 150 and
201
were disputed by
J.
Peters from Computing
Science and he indicated he would check on the numbers and report back to
Senate. Concern was expressed that Senate may not have been fully aware of this
particular consequence of the direct admission policy at the time the policy was
approved.
Opinion was expressed that the direct admission policy in Applied Sciences
resulted in very high quality students and allowed departments like Computing
Science to compete with UBC for the best students. Even if the policy were not in
place, Computing Science and other high demand programs would still have
difficulty fulfilling the demand for their courses. It was noted that programs like
Computing Science could double or triple in size at this time but because
additional access funds were not available to create extra spaces, there would
always be a percentage of students who would not have access to certain courses,
even prerequisite courses.
Opinion was expressed that priority registration in lower level courses appeared to
circumvent the University's policy on the registration priority number system, and
although there may be good arguments to restrict registration in lower level
courses, the principle should be debated by Senate.
. The Chair suggested that the Registrar, together with the Dean of Applied Sciences,
report back to Senate in terms of whether or not the direct admission policy
provided for priority registration and whether departments, in general, were
conforming to policy with respect to registration priority.
S.M. 7/12/98
Page 8
7. ?
Information
The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate has been rescheduled
from January 4, 1999 to Monday, January 11, 1999.
The Open Session adjourned at 8:00 pm. Following a brief recess, the Assembly moved
into Closed Session.
Alison Watt
Director, Secretariat Services
.
.