DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE

Minutes of a meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on

Monday, February 5, 2001 at 5:30 pm in Room 3210 WMC

Open Session

Present: ?

Stevenson, Michael, Chair and President

Absent:

England, William

Andrews, Ian (representing R. Barrow)

Gerson, Carole

Atkins, Stella

Hill, Ross

Bawa, Parveen

Jones, John

Budra, Paul

Livadiotakis, Georgia

Chan, Albert

McArthur, James

Clayman, Bruce

McInnes, Dina

Cooper,

D, Auria,

Kait

John

,- ?

Naef, Barbara

Ogloff, James

Davidson, Willie

Paterson, David

Deigrande, James

Peters, Joseph

Dill, Larry

Sanghera, Balwant

Driver, Jon

Smith, Michael

Dunsterville, Valerie

Warsh, Michael

Finley, David

Wessel, Sylvia

Giffen, Ken

Wong, Milton

Gill, Alison

Grimmett, Peter

Gupte, Jaideep

Hold, Angela

Jackson, Margaret

•

Klymson, Sarah

LaRocque, Linda

Love, Ernie

Marteniuk, Ron

Mauser, Gary

McFetridge, Paul

Miralles-Sanchez, Veronika

Osborne, Judith

Percival, Paul

Pierce, John

Runyowa, Mac

Russell, Robert

Steinbach, Christopher

Stewart, Ryan

Waterhouse, John

Weldon, Larry

Wortis, Michael

Yau, David

Yerbury, Cohn

Zaichkowsky, Judith

Zazkis, Rina

Heath, Ron, Dean of Student Services and Registrar

• ?

Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat

Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary

S.M. 5 February 2001

Page 2

Approval of the Agenda

The Agenda was approved as distributed.

Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of January 8, 2001

The Minutes were approved as distributed.

Business Arising from the Minutes

Senate was advised that the Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules had

appointed Geoffrey Rosen as the undergraduate student on the Ad hoc Senate

Committee to Review and Develop the Undergraduate Curricula.

Report of the Chair

Paper S.01-12 - Response to Senator Finley's Questions

Question 1

As a follow-up to the preliminary response summarized in the minutes of the

last meeting, and following consultation with SCAR, the Chair reiterated his

position that questions having to do with employment histories or other privacy

protected matters were not appropriate issues for Senate. Nevertheless, in order

to avoid possible concerns that these issues were being avoided on procedural

technicalities, the Chair indicated that he wished to elaborate on his previous

remarks. With respect to question 1(a) concerning mechanisms available to

faculty and staff who wish to bring grievances against administrators, the Chair

reiterated that the matter was covered by grievance and dispute procedures in

negotiated agreements with employee groups. With respect to question 1(b)

concerning the accountability of administrators, the Chair noted that there was

no requirement to respond to allegations by themselves except through normal

mechanisms which have been approved to investigate such complaints. He

further noted that administrators were not accountable to the public or to

possible victims of allegations. They were accountable to their immediate

supervisors and ultimately to the Board of Governors. If on investigation an

administrator was found to have acted inappropriately, the Board or their

immediate supervisor would take appropriate action if required.

Question 2

With respect to question 2 which concerned issues about the Donnelly case, the

Chair advised that he was unable to answer the questions in full because they

involved privacy protected matters. However, as a general comment, the Chair

expressed his view that this was a tragic episode in the history of the university

and had resulted in a very detailed investigation and complicated legal

resolution. The case had exposed defects in the harassment procedure and as a

result the harassment policy had been revised. A mandated review of the new

policy following three years of operation would be initiated this Spring. The

Chair stressed that there had been a great deal of public information but that

details of private, personal matters and the legal agreements that settled the case

must remain private. He concluded by stating that he considered the matter

closed as he hoped Senate and the wider university community would consider

S.M. 5 February 2001

Page 3

• ?

it closed, and that the University should move on from this unfortunate incident

of the past.

Question Period

A question relating to costs associated with an arbitrated dispute between the

Student Society and the University over maintenance costs on the rental

agreement for the Maggie Benston Centre had been received. The Chair reported

that the University's cost with respect to the arbitration process was

approximately $20,000 and the total cost in previous years as the dispute

developed would not have exceeded $5,000. In response to an inquiry as to

whether the issue was finalized, the Chair noted that the University believed that

the determination by the arbitrator was final and binding on both parties but it

was his understanding that the Student Society had served notice of its intent to

appeal the arbitrator's decision to the British Columbia Supreme Court so the

University would be required to answer to that process.

A question relating to the five year capital plan and the robotic book storage

system for the library was received from A. Chan. The University Librarian

provided background information with respect to plans for library expansion

and indicated that this issue had received detailed investigation over the past

several years. While the preference would be to expand by building

conventional library space which would allow users to browse shelves, the most

feasible option at this time was still the robotic storage facility.

The Chair suggested A. Chan consider whether all the matters had been covered

in response to the questions he had submitted, and indicated that additional

response would be provided if necessary.

Reports of Committees

A) ?

Senate Nominating Committee

Paper S.01-13 - Elections to Senate Committees

The following are the results of elections to Senate committees. There were

insufficient nominations to fill all positions; vacancies will be carried over and

brought forward to the next meeting of Senate.

Senate Committee on Continuing Studies (SCCS)

One Student Senator for term of office to May 31, 2002.

No nominations received

Senate Committee on Disciplinary Appeals (SCODA)

One Student Alternate (at-large) for term of office to May 31, 2001.

No nominations received

Senate Committee on University Honours (SCUH)

One Senator (at-large) for term of office to May 31, 2001.

Elected by acclamation:

Albert Chan

S.M. 5 February 2001

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Other Business

There was no other business.

Information

The next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday, March 5, 2001.

Open Session adjourned at 5:55 pm. Following a brief recess, Senate moved into Closed

Session.

Alison Watt

Director, University Secretariat