DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE

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

Monday, November 5, 2001 in Room 3120 WMC

Open Session

Present: Stevenson, Michael, President and Chair

Aloi, Santa

Absent:

Barrow, Robin

Atkins, Stella

Budra, Paul

Bawa, Parveen

Chang, Jack

Chan, Albert

Deigrande, James

Clayman, Bruce

Dempster, Peter

Collins-Dodd, Colleen

Gupte, Jaideep

Copeland, Lynn

Haunerland, Norbert

D'Auria, John

Heaney, John

Driver, Jon

Hill, Ross

Dunsterville, Valerie

Jensen, Britta

Gerson, Carole

Jones, John

Gill, Alison

Klymson, Sarah

Grimmett, Peter

Mauser, Gary

Jackson, Margaret

McArthur, James

Krane, Bill

McInnes, Dina

Lewis, Brian

Naef, Barbara

Mathewes, Rolf (representing W. Davidson)

Paterson, David

McFetridge, Paul

Sirri, Odai

Muirhead, Leah

Smith, Michael

Percival, Paul

Thandi, Ranbir

Peters, Joseph

Warren, Joel

Pierce, John

Wong, Milton

Reich, Blaize (representing E. Love)

Russell, Robert

Sekhon, Devinder

In attendance:

Steinbach, Christopher

Khan Hemani, Rummana

Ste p

henson, Brock

Winston, Mark

Tansey, Caralyn

Van Aalst, Jan

Waterhouse, John

Weldon, Larry

Wessel, Sylvia

Words, Michael

Yerbury, Cohn

Heath, Ron, Dean of Student Services and Registrar

Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat

Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary

S.M. 5 Nov 01

Page 2

On behalf of Senate, the Chair welcomed the following new student members to

Senate: Christopher Steinbach and Brock Stephenson.

Approval of the Agenda

The Agenda was approved as distributed.

Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of September 17, 2001

The Minutes were approved as distributed.

Business Arising from the Minutes

In response to a question raised at the last meeting with respect to declining

scholarship funding, Senate was advised that the budget for scholarships,

awards and bursaries had increased regularly except for a two year period 1998-

2000 when it remained the same. The fluctuation in the report reflected an

overspending at the graduate level in one year and a reduction in the subsequent

year to compensate for the over expenditure. It was pointed out that the budget

was based on the fiscal year whereas scholarships, awards and bursaries were

handed out on the academic year. Therefore, it was difficult to reconcile the two

budgets. In addition, there is one award which is available to every graduate

student and since students may accept the award at any time during their

studies, there was no way to accurately determine how much would be spent in

any given year.

An update on the status of the process with respect to the Woodsworth Chair

was requested. Senate was informed that a recommendation from the

Department of Humanities had been submitted to the Dean of Arts. The Dean

forwarded the recommendation together with comments to the Office of the Vice

President Academic who in turn added comments and forwarded the file to the

University Appointments Committee. The UAC was scheduled to meet shortly

to consider the case.

Report of the Chair

Following up on his report from the last meeting with respect to Government

relations and the impact of the New Era document, the Chair reported that a

budget preparation framework was announced by the Minister of Finance which

favoured Health and Education in that their budgets would remain the same for

three years while other Ministries faced very major cuts. The Chair stressed that

this still caused serious operational difficulties for universities since zero percent

increases did not take into account the annual rate of inflation and compensation

commitments already made with employee groups under a mandate set up by

the previous Government. Another serious issue for the universities was

research infrastructure costs that needed to be covered on an ongoing basis.

Senate's attention was drawn to two possible ways of accommodating these

pressures - draconian cuts within the Ministry itself and within the University

system in areas deemed not to be financially sustainable, and increased tuition

fees. However, there had been no indication from the Ministry as to how they

intend to address these issues.

S.M. 5 Nov 01

Page 3

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5. ?

Question Period

A question was submitted by P. Percival about specifying meeting times in the

call for nominations for the University Tenure Committee and Search Committee

for the Associate Vice President Academic. He noted that the Friday time

automatically excluded a significant number of faculty members, especially from

the Faculty of Science, who had classes on Fridays. It was pointed out that

departments in the Faculty of Science have a structured sequence of course

offerings with no flexibility to readjust teaching times.

Senate was advised that the practice dated back to 1995/96 and was necessary,

particularly in the case of the University Tenure Committee, to complete its

schedule of activities on time according to policy, and in the case of large search

committees, to reduce the amount of administrative time necessary to schedule

meeting times for such a large group of people. Fridays was believed to be the

lightest day for scheduled classes and would therefore exclude the least number

of faculty members.

The Vice President Academic stated that he was prepared to review the

frequency of class commitments by half days during the week and if a day was

found to better accommodate the teaching schedules of more faculty members,

he would be prepared to take a look at it. Opinion was expressed that the

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original wording of the statement was less severe than current wording. Senate

was informed that the wording had likely been changed to provide clarification.

Further questions were posed about tuition fees. The Chair answered that SFU

had not considered a task force to deal with the budget prediction. Furthermore,

the University had not explicitly advocated for tuition increases.

Reports of Committees

A) Senate Nominating Committee

i) ?

Paper S.01-61 (Revised) - Elections

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.

International Student Exchange Committee (ISEC)

One student to replace W. Gerwel for term of office to May 31, 2002.

Candidates: M. Esmail, R. She

Elected: ?

Rong She

Research Ethics Board (REB)

Three Faculty or Staff members for the period to May 31, 2004.

9 ?

Elected by acclamation: Adrienne Drobnies

S.M. 5 Nov 01

Page 4

Candidates:

One Student

for

Gibbons,

the period

Perry

May 31, 2003.

Elected: ?

Wendy Gibbons

Senate Ap

eals Board (SAB)

One (at-large) Faculty Member (Alternate) to replace M. Hahn for term of office

to May 31, 2002.

Elected by acclamation: John Bechhoefer

Senate Committee on Disciplinary Appeals (SCODA)

One Student (Alternate) to replace W. Gerwel for term of office to May 31, 2002.

Candidates: M. Marchand, R. Peters, H. Yang

Elected:

Randy Peters

Senate Graduate Awards Adjudication Committee (SGAAC)

One (at-large) Faculty Member to replace C. Kenny for term of office to August

31, 2002.

Elected by acclamation: Cohn Jones

Senate Librar y

Committee (SLC) and Librar y

Penalties A

eal Committee

(LPAC)

One Graduate Student (Alternate) for term of office to May 31, 2002.

Elected by acclamation: Jennifer Perry

Senate also received information that the October elections to Senate Committees

proceeded along the announced timelines despite the cancellation of the October

Senate meeting. All candidates were declared elected by acclamation on October

1, 2001 as shown in Senate paper S.01-61 Revised.

B) ?

Senate Policy Committee on Scholarships. Awards and Bursaries

i) ?

Paper S.01-62 - Annual Report (For Information)

Rummana Khan Hemani, Acting Director, Student Academic Resources, was in

attendance in order to respond to questions.

Concern was expressed that SFU students appeared to be amongst the highest

users of financial assistance programs even though SFU's tuition fees were

amongst the lowest in the country. Opinion was expressed that financial

demand increased when students were unable to find employment so this might

be a reflection of the local economic situation.

A question about increases in scholarship funding led to the clarification that

there had been a gradual increase reflecting the increase in enrolments but more

funding was required, especially for bursaries.

Reference was made to graphs on pages 7 and 8, and questions posed as to

whether non-university contributions in financial aid were included. Senate was

S.M. 5 Nov 01

Page 5

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informed that the information reflected the operating budget and did not include

endowments.

C) ?

Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies

1) ?

Paper S.01-63 - Morris T. Wosk Centre for Dialogue Undergraduate

Semester

Moved by J

Waterhouse, seconded by J

Pierce

"that Senate approve the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue

Undergraduate Semester program on a pilot basis for a two-year

period"

Mark Winston, Department of Biological Sciences, was in attendance in order to

respond to questions.

Questions were raised about the day to day operation of the program. Senate

was advised that the program would follow the normal system of letter grades.

Since the program would likely be connected administratively to Continuing

Studies, students would have access to appeal mechanisms. The role of the

Advisory Board was primarily advisory but the Board may also be involved in

student selection and other matters.

Reference was made to the workload of the Director and concern was expressed

about the balance between teaching and fundraising responsibilities. It was

pointed out that the Director was scheduled to teach a course one semester a year

which would leave the other semesters free for fundraising activities.

Senate was reminded that this was a pilot program and many of the day to day

mechanics would be worked out over the trial period.

Opinion was expressed that the program, because it was designed for a small

elite group of students and faculty, would be very expensive in comparison to

other undergraduate programs. In view of the current financial situation,

concern was raised whether the cost was justifiable. Senate was informed that

the program was not narrowly focussed and would bring students with diverse

roles and interests from all Faculties together. The cost of the program in the

long term was not justified unless outside funding was found. The pilot stage

would provide opportunity to secure outside funding which was already being

aggressively pursued. To be offered beyond the pilot stage, the program must

become largely self sustaining. The two year pilot program received non-

recurring funding from the Strategic Initiatives Fund.

Reference was made to the course requiring students to prepare an article for

publication in a national magazine. It was suggested that most faculty and

• students were not familiar with this genre and a question was posed as to how

that writing component would be taught. Senate was advised that the

Publishing Program was closely involved with the Centre for Dialogue and there

S.M. 5 Nov 01

Page 6

was a strong component of skilled people in that program who would be

involved with the writing course. The intent was also to bring in a wide range of

skilled communicators to help students in this area. The focus on writing and

communication skills was suggested to be a very powerful asset for the program.

Questions arose with respect to expansion and offering of the program on the

Burnaby campus. Senate was advised that it was hoped that the program would

eventually expand and broaden thus becoming much more accessible to more

students. The program was not necessarily wedded to downtown and, as

additional courses were offered, some courses might be located on campus,

particularly during the summer, but it was very difficult to find space on

campus. In response to a question about the amount of credit hours, fifteen

credits was felt to be appropriate and reflect the fullness and intensity of the

program.

Question was called, and a vote taken. ?

MOTION CARRIED

ii) ?

Paper S.01-64 - Curriculum Revisions - Facult

of Arts (For Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate

Studies, acting under delegated authority, approved curriculum revisions in the

following departments/schools/programs: Archaeology, Contemporary Arts,

Criminology, Geography, Gerontology, Humanities, Sociology and

Anthropology/ Latin American Studies, Women's Studies, Asia-Canada

Program, Spanish Program, Economics, French, History, and Political Science.

Reference was made to the large number of Spanish courses that were being

dropped. Senate was advised that the deletions were the completion of a

restructuring plan with regard to Spanish and Latin American Studies which has

been ongoing for the past several years. The courses were slated for deletion

because of low student demand but were retained so existing students could

complete their programs.

Detailed information was requested with respect to the change of credit hour for

BUEC 333. It was noted that this course affected both Economics and Business

students and question was raised if the change would be the same for both

departments. Information was not at hand but the Dean of Arts indicated he

would report back to Senate at the next meeting.

Secretary's Note: Section m) iii should be amended to read: Change of

prerequisite for all 300 and 400 level History courses, excluding History 370, 375,

470, and 475.

D) ?

Senate Committee on International Activities

1) ?

Paper S.01-65 - Policy Revisions and Administrative Matters

Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by B. Clayman

S.M. 5 Nov 01

Page 7

. "that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors, the revised Policy on International Activities - GP 23

dated September 11, 2001 to take effect immediately upon

approval"

Concern was expressed about adding another administrator to the committee

and having both the President and the Vice President Academic as ex-officio

voting members. It was suggested that the President should not be a member of

the committee that developed proposals which he ultimately had responsibility

to approve/ disapprove. Senate was informed that the inclusion of the President

as Chair resulted from the recent reorganization in the area of International

Activities. The Committee itself felt that because such a large number of items

that it dealt with had direct academic/ program implications, that the Vice

President Academic should be involved in committee deliberations. The Chair

indicated that he would not chair the committee personally but intended to

appoint a designate from outside his office, likely a member of the senior

administration with strong international interests and experience. In the end it

was agreed that the committee membership would remain as presented (with

both the President and Vice President as members) and if experience suggested a

further revision, that would be done.

Clarification was requested with respect to quorum. Senate was advised that the

committee presently has nine voting members so the quorum would be five.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

E) ?

Senate Committee on University Priorities

Paper S.01-66 - Centre for Labour Studies

Moved by B. Clayman, seconded by J

Pierce

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors, the reclassification of the Centre for Labour Studies as a

Schedule A Centre under the direct authority of the Dean as

outlined in S.01-66"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii)

Moved by B. Reich, seconded by B. Clayman

"that Senate approve the Terms of Reference for the Dennis F.

Culver Executive MBA Alumni Professorship and the Terms of

Reference for the Weyerhaeuser Professorship in Change

Management as outlined in S.01-67"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

S.M. 5 Nov 01

Page 8

F) ?

Senate Graduate Studies Committee

Paper S.01-68 - Revisions - Graduate General Regulations

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by B. Clayman

"that Senate approve the revised Graduate General Regulations, as

set out in S.01-68, and that these regulations take effect 1"

September 2002"

Further information was requested with respect to the practice of withholding

theses. Senate was advised that the practice almost exclusively related to MBA

projects in the Faculty of Business Administration where research projects

involved the activities of a company and the company wanted the detailed

information to be withheld from public availability for one year. Such requests

were frequent and the Dean's office regularly signs such agreements. After one

year the information/ thesis was released.

Discussion turned to Section 1.11.3. Senate's attention was drawn to new

wording at the bottom of page 40 that implied that the results of research would

be made available freely to the public. This wording was added to ensure that

students discuss confidentiality issues with respective collaborators prior to

beginning their thesis, and it was hoped it would reduce the number of requests

for confidentiality and expedite the movement of theses to the Library. A

paragraph with respect to exceptional circumstances had also been added at the

end of the same section in order to deal with a problem in the current regulations

which required that theses be available to the university community prior to the

defence. The intent of this wording was to ensure that the most confidential

portions of the document would be withheld from public circulation. The

complete version of the thesis would go to the examining committee and that

copy would eventually be placed in the Library. The wording simply

regularized current practice.

Reference was made to Section 1.3.4 with respect to the GPA requirement for

admission to a doctoral program. Senate was advised that the policy established

a minimum requirement but graduate programs were able to impose more

stringent conditions if they wished.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii)

Paper S.01-69 - Curriculum Revisions - Graduate Diploma in Advanced

Professional Studies in Education (For Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting

under delegated authority, approved changes to the Graduate Diploma in

Advanced Professional Studies in Education and minor changes to a variety of

EDPR courses.

S.M. 5 Nov 01

Page 9

iii)

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting

under delegated authority, approved minor changes to EDUC 824 and 825.

G) Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules

Paper S.01-71 - Revision to GP 29 - Search Committees for Vice-Presidents

and Associate Vice-Presidents

Alison Gill, Vice-Chair of Senate, assumed the position of Chair.

Moved by M. Stevenson, seconded by J. Waterhouse

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors, the revision of policy GP 29 Search Committees for

Vice-Presidents and Associate Vice-Presidents, as set out in S.01-71,

and dated 16 October 2001"

Senate was advised that the revisions reflected the recent reorganization within

the administration, the need to revise the policy with respect to the addition of

new administrative positions, and to streamline the search committees for the

Vice President Academic and the Associate Vice President Academic.

. Clarification was requested with respect to the eligibility requirements for the

representative selected by TSSU. Question was raised as to whether a graduate

student ceased to be a member of TSSU when not teaching in a particular

semester. Following brief discussion, the following suggestion was accepted as a

friendly amendment and would be added as a footnote to the policy:

'Selected from current members of TSSU or from those who have held

TSSU appointments within the past year'

In order to clarify that Section 7 referred to two positions, an 's' was added to the

word 'committee' in the title.

Reference was made to Section 3 (b), and a Senator asked whether the three new

Associate Vice Presidents needed to be included. Senate was advised that an

academic appointment was not a requirement for those positions and therefore

did not need to be included. However, if an applicant for those positions had

academic qualifications and wanted a continuing academic appointment the

search committee would be free to pursue that issue.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Michael Stevenson resumed the position of Chair.

S.M. 5 Nov 01

Page 10

7. Other Business ?

i) ?

Paper S.01-72 - President's Agenda (For comment and discussion)

Senate received information with respect to the President's objectives and

priorities for the next year. Senate was advised that the document was required

under Board policies affecting the appointment and review of the President. The

President presented a brief overview of the document touching on academic

programming, internationalization, the need for recruitment and retention of the

best academic and non-academic staff, space and fundraising.

Information

The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, December 3, 2001.

Open Session adjourned at 8:50 pm. Following a brief recess, Senate moved into Closed

Session.

Alison Watt

Director, University Secretariat