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DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE

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

Monday, February 3,2003 at 5:30 pm in Room 3120 WMC

Open Session

Present: Stevenson, Michael

President and Chair of Senate

Absent:

Al-Natour, Sameh

Aloi, Santa

Andrews, Ian

Atkins, Stella

Bourke, Brynn

Chen, Danny

Clayman, Bruce

Copeland, Lynn.

Davidson, Willie

Driver, Jon

Dunsterville, Valerie

Garcia, Carlos

Gordon, Robert

Grimmett, Peter

Haunerland, Norbert

Higgins, Anne

Horvath, Adam

Jackson, Margaret

Jensen, Britta

Kemper, Michelle

Krane, Bill

Lewis, Brian

Love, Ernie

McArthur, James

McFetridge, Paul

Naef, Barbara

Percival, Paul

Peters, Joseph

Phipps, Kate

Pierce, John

Poirier, Guy

Russell, Robert

Smith, Don

Tyab, Azam

Vaisey, Jacques

Waterhouse, John

Weldon, Larry

Yerbury, Cohn

Zaichkowsky, Judith

Apaak, Clement

Beynon, Peter

Brokenshire, David

D'Auria, John

Gerson, Carole

Gupta, Kamal

Heaney, John

Hill, Ross

Jones, Cohn

Jones, John

Mauser, Gary

Poletz, Taira

Thandi, Ranbir

Van Aalst, Jan

Warren, Joel

Wessel, Silvia

Wong, Milton

In attendance:

Arifovic, Jasmina

Cameron, Rob

Kimball, Meredith

Little, Jack

Heath, Ron, Dean of Student Services/ Registrar

Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat

Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary

S.M. 3 February 2003

Page 2

Approval

The Agenda

was

the

approved

Agenda '

as distributed.

. Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of January

6, 2003

The Minutes were approved as distributed.

Business Arising from the Minutes

There was no business arising from the Minutes.

Report of the Chair

Referring to the recent press attention respecting an issue of academic dishonesty

at Simon Fraser University, the Chair advised that he wished to read into the

record of Senate the unedited text of a letter he addressed to the Vancouver Sun

which was published with some editorial licence on February 1, 2003:

I am writing to address a misunderstanding over Simon Fraser

University's response to a question of academic dishonesty.

As recently as last fall, the University gained national credit for

applying zero tolerance in a plagiarism case involving 44 students:

the facts were determined fairly, discipline (including lengthy

suspensions) was applied, and the University reported publicly on

the outcome. I believe our record in dealing with dishonesty is

second to none.

I am therefore very concerned that this record is being called into

question by confusion over a current case in which two students

turned in identical assignments. One student admitted to

submitting the work of another and subsequently accepted the

instructor's failing grade. This is a good example of the system

working to detect and respond to cheating. The second student

successfully appealed the failing grade, arguing authorship over

the work that the first student had plagiarized.

The exonerated student openly acknowledged employing a tutor.

This is common practice at all levels throughout the education

system and there is nothing dishonest about students attempting to

improve their understanding of a subject in this way. It is

fundamentally dishonest, however, if a student submits work done

by a tutor while claiming it to be their own. At the same time, it is

fundamentally unjust to penalize a student simply on the

assumption that plagiarism might be involved without first

establishing the facts of the matter. Because the consequences of

cheating are so significant for all concerned, zero tolerance for

academic dishonesty must be accompanied by fair and rigorous

examination.

The instructor was directed to re-evaluate the assignment and has

chosen not to do so. It nevertheless remains for the University to

conduct an objective and impartial re-examination of the student's

S.M. 3 February 2003

Page 3

work. If the student's claim to authorship is substantiated, an

appropriate mark will be awarded. If it is found that the work was

indeed plagiarized, appropriate consequences will result.

While the facts in this case remain to be established, important

questions can be raised about the role of tutors and about academic

honesty in the Internet Age where instant access to commercial

"paper mills" is available. These are difficult issues. The University

has responded by 'purchasing software that aids in identifying

plagiarism and by striking a Task Force on Academic Honesty to

explore these matters in depth. I expect the results will provide

clear assurances to students, faculty and the public that academic

honesty will remain a defining characteristic of academic life at

Simon Fraser University.

Yours sincerely.

The. Chair expressed concern that generalized and distorted readings of

complicated matters, especially when covered by the press, do considerable

harm to the University. If faculty, staff or students have major problems with

any matter, there are policies that allow recourse to action, or any member of the

senior administration could be asked to review a matter.

Question Period

In response to a question as to whether the proposed budget for 2003/2004

would come before Senate, Senate was advised that SCUP had been asked to

provide advice to the President on the proposed budget model. SCUP discussed

this item at its last meeting and a draft set of comments will be reviewed at the

next meeting of SCUP. Senate was advised that neither the budget nor SCUP's

comments would be forwarded to Senate.

Reports of Committees

A) ?

Senate Nominating Committee

i) ?

Paper S.03-18 - Elections

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

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

next meeting of Senate.

Committee to Review University Admissions (CRUA)

One Graduate Student Alternate to replace Felix Tang for term of office to May

31, 2004.

Candidates: P. Liljedahl, G. Placonouris, B. Waldern, S. Wu

Elected:

Peter Liljedahl

Senate Committee on International Activities (SCIA)

One Undergraduate Student Senator to fill an existing vacancy for term of office

to May 31, 2003. ?

No nominations received

S.M. 3 February 2003

Page 4

One Faculty Senator to replace Paul McFetridge for term of office to May 31,

2003.

Elected by acclamation:

Judith Zaichkowsky

Undergraduate Curriculum Implementation Task Force

One Undergraduate Student for one year term of office.

Elected by acclamation: ?

Michelle Kemper

Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (SCUS)

One Undergraduate Student (at-large) to replace D. Chen for balance term of

office to May 31, 2003.

Elected by acclamation:

Adam Picotte

Senate Committee on University Priorities (SCUP)

One Student Senator Alternate for term of office to May 31, 2003.

Elected by acclamation ?

Michelle Kemper

Senate Committee on University Priorities

Paper S.03-19 - External Review - Department of Women's Studies

Moved by J

Waterhouse, seconded by J. Pierce

"that Senate concur with the recommendations from the Senate

Committee on University Priorities concerning advice to the

Department of Women's Studies on priority items resulting from

the external review as outlined in S.03-19"

M. Kimball, Chair of the Department, was in attendance in order to respond to

questions.

The question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii) ?

Paper S.03-20 - External Review - Department of History

Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by J

Pierce

"that Senate concur with the recommendations from the Senate

Committee on University Priorities concerning the advice to the

Department of History on priority items resulting from the external

review as outlined in S.03-20"

J .

Little, Chair of the Department, was in attendance in order to respond to

questions.

The question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

S.M. 3 February 2003

Page 5

iii)

Moved by J

Pierce, seconded by B. Clayman

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors the establishment of the Centre for Research on

Adaptive Behaviour in Economics as outlined in S.03-21"

J. Arifovic, Department of Economics, was in attendance in order to respond to

questions.

The question was called, and a vote taken. ?

MOTION CARRIED

Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies

Paper S.03-22 - Faculty of Science - Undergraduate Curriculum Revisions

Motion 1

Moved by W. Davidson, seconded by J

Waterhouse

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors the deletion of the Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in

Environmental Toxicology, as set forth in S.03-22, effective 2003-3"

The question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Motion 2

Moved by W. Davidson, seconded by J

Waterhouse

"that Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of

Governors the deletion of the Minor in Quaternary Studies, as set

forth in S.03-22, effective 2003-3"

The question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate

Studies, acting under delegated authority, approved the new course MBB 323 in

the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. SCUS also approved a

two semester time lag waiver for early offering of the course.

ii)

Paper S.03-23 - Undergraduate Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of

Business Administration

Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate

Studies, acting under delegated authority, approved two new courses BUS 417

and BUS 419 and a change of prerequisite for all 400-level Business courses.

S.M. 3 February 2003

Page 6

A question arose about whether BUS 360 would be required as a prerequisite for

Management and System Science students as it was noted that it was not is

generally part of their required courses. Senate was advised that several joint

major programs do not require BUS 360 and it was believed that Management

and Systems Science was one of those programs. In response to an inquiry as to

whether BUS 360 could be taken as a co-requisite, Senate was advised that the

information currently before Senate changed BUS 360 from a co-requisite to a

prerequisite so that students complete BUS 360 before they take any 400-level

course.

iii)

Paper S.03-24 - Undergraduate Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of

Applied Sciences

Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate

Studies, acting under delegated authority, approved a reorganization of the first

year coursework in the Applied Sciences One Program; restructuring and

changes to program requirements in Computing Science, minor revisions to

existing courses in Computing Science and Communication, and the deletion of

two courses in the School of Communication, CMNS 205 and CMNS 224.

D) ?

Senate Graduate Studies Committee

Paper S.03-25 - Change of credit hours - Special Arrangement Courses

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting

under delegated authority, approved a change in credit hours for four Special

Arrangement courses.

ii)

Paper S.03-26 - Graduate Curriculum Revisions -

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting

under delegated authority, approved a change to course requirements and

number of credit hours required for the PhD program in Computing Science, and

minor revisions to existing courses in the School of Resource and Environmental

Management.

7. ?

Other Business

There was no other business.

The Open Session adjourned at 5:55 pm and Senate moved directly into Closed Session.

Alison Watt

Director, University Secretariat