DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE

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

Monday, May 10, 2004 at 5:30 pm in Room 3210 WMC

Open Session

Present: Stevenson, Michael

President and Chair of Senate

Absent:

Beynon, Peter

Apaak, Clement

Brennand, Tracy,'

Atkins, Stella

Budd, James

Clayman, Bruce

Cameron, Rob (representing B. Lewis)

Dunsterville, Valerie

Collinge, Joan (representing C. Yerbury)

Fung, Edward

Copeland, Lynn

Gordon, Robert

da Silva, Gisele

Grimmett, Peter

D'Auria, John

Gupta, Kamal

Dickinson, John

Heaney, John

Driver, Jon

Higgins, Anne

Fizzell, Maureen

Kaila, Pam

Giacomantonio, Chris

Kalanj, Tiffany

. ? Gill, Alison

Krane, Bill

Gillies, Mary Ann (representing

Pierce)

Love, Ernie

Gregory, Titus

Mauser, Gary

Haunerland, Norbert

McArthur, James

Hira, Andy

Scott, Jamie

Honda, Barry

Shaker, Paul

Horvath, Adam

Smith, Don

Li, Zi-Nian

Van Aalst, Jan

McFetridge, Paul

Wong, Milton

Percival, Paul

Yoo, Rick

Peters, Joseph

Plischke, Michael

Rozell, Sara ?

attendance:

Sears, Camilla

Dinning, Mike

Tombe, Trevor

Hanlan, Lee

Waterhouse, John

Krebs, Dennis

Weeks, Daniel

Wessel, Silvia

Wong, Josephine

Woodbury, Rob

Heath, Ron, Dean of Student Services/Registrar

Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat

Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary

S.M. 10 May 2004

Page 2

Approval of the Agenda

The Agenda was approved as distributed.

Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of April

5, 2004

The Minutes were approved as distributed.

Business Arising from the Minutes

There was no business arising from the Minutes.

Report of the Chair

There was no report from the Chair.

Question Period

There were no questions submitted.

Reports of Committees

Senate Appeals Board

i) ?

Paper S.04-36 - Annual Report (For Information)

L. Hanlan, SAB Chair, and M. Dinning, SAB Secretary, were in attendance in order

to respond to questions.

There were no questions, and the Annual Report of the Senate Appeals Board was

received by Senate for information.

Senate Committee on University Priorities

i) ?

Paper S.04-37 -

Undergraduate Curriculum Implementation Task Force

Recommendations

D. Krebs, Chair of the Task Force and several members of the Task Force and the

Support Groups were in attendance in order to respond to questions.

By way of introduction, Senate was advised that the report and recommendations

currently before Senate provide details with respect to the implementation of

writing, quantitative and breadth requirements previously approved in principle by

Senate.

S.M. 10 May

2004

•

Page 3

Recommendation 1

Moved by

Waterhouse, seconded by M. Fizzell

"that University-wide WQB graduation requirements be implemented

for students admitted to SFU for the Fall

2006

semester as outlined in

the memorandum dated April

27, 2004

from D. Krebs"

Senate was informed that the following notation which was inadvertently omitted

needed to be added to the information under Recommendation 1 in the above-

noted memorandum: Students

must obtain a grade of C- or better in all of the

courses in question.

A motion to divide the question so that the WQB requirements could be voted on

separately was ruled out of order by the Chair because the intention of the original

motion as approved by Senate in-principle was to legislate these requirements as a

package.

The ruling of the Chair was challenged and the following motion was moved by P.

Percival, seconded by

D'Auria

0 ?

"that the ruling of the Chair be over turned"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION FAILED

Request was made by a Student Senator to consider Recommendation 4 prior to

Recommendation 1. Student Senators felt it was important to have assurances that

adequate support and resources would be put in place to assist students before

actually passing any of the new requirements. There was no objection to the

request, and the motion with respect to Recommendation 1 was set aside in order

to deal with Recommendation

Recommendation

Moved by C. Giacomantonio, seconded by

Waterhouse

"that a Task Force or equivalent body be created to explore the

establishment of a Student Learning Centre"

Amendment moved by S. Rozell, seconded by

Wong

"that the following statement be added to the end of the existing

•

motion: and

to ensure that adequate resources are put in place to

support the

continuation and graduation requirements, and the

foundational

skills courses"

S.M.lO May 2004

Page 4

The Vice-President, Academic advised that every effort would be made to put in

place the support mechanisms needed to enable students to succeed but he could

not guarantee an open ended commitment to provide resources. The Task Force

had already extensively considered the question of resources and the intent of the

Vice President Academic was to receive advice from the existing task force as well

as advice from the new task force with respect to appropriate resources.

The following concerns were expressed with regard to the wording of the

amendment:

• consideration of resources was largely

ultra vires

to Senate legislation;

• no clear meaning as to what was meant by 'adequate resources' and therefore

no way to measure success/failure;

• the word 'ensure' concerned several Senators. Alternative suggestions were

made;

• the purpose of the Student Learning Centre was not defined and if aims/goals

were stated, the questions of resources and the Centre's success/failure could

be more easily measured.

Senate was advised that the intent of the amendment was to leave the definition of

'adequate resources' to the discretion of the task force. It was hoped that the task

force would consider more than just the creation of a Student Learning Centre and

take into account the needs of the University's various campuses when determining

the adequate resources needed to support these new requirements.

Concern was expressed that there was too much micromanagement and too much

detailed instruction in the motion as amended. It was noted that under the original

motion the task force would look at and receive input with respect to all of the

issues raised and there was no need to have so much detail at this point.

Question was called on the amendment,

and a vote taken.

AMENDMENT FAILED

In response to an inquiry on the main motion, Senate was advised that the Vice

President Academic would be responsible for the establishment of membership and

terms of reference of the task force.

Concern was expressed that the documentation made no reference to the

recommendations of the task force coming back to Senate, and opinion was

expressed that as senior academic body, Senate should have input in the

establishment and operation of a Student Learning Centre. Senate was advised that

the task force will make recommendations to the Vice-President, Academic and

that the Vice President Academic will take the necessary recommendations to

SCUP and, as required, to Senate. Suggestion was made to include reference to

this process in the motion. However Senate was assured that any recommendation

S.M. 10 May 2004

Page 5

respecting the Student Learning Centre would come back to Senate and this

understanding would be recorded in the Minutes.

Question was called on the main motion,

and a vote taken.

MOTION (RECOMMENDATION 4) CARRIED

Recommendation 1

Discussion returned to Recommendation 1 which had already been moved and

seconded.

Moved by P. Percival, seconded by

D'Auria

"that B be removed from the expression WQB"

One Senator expressed doubt that general breadth requirements could be

mandated across Faculties, and concern was expressed with the formula proposed

by the Task Force. Senators were reminded that this question was fully debated

when Senate approved this issue in principle and subsequent consultations by the

Task Force across the University found significant support for legislated breadth

requirements.

L-1

Question was called on the amendment,

and a vote taken.

AMENDMENT FAILED

Amendment moved by P. Percival, seconded by J. D'Auria

"that third bullet under Recommendation 1 in the Krebs memo dated

April 27, 2004 be changed to "all undergraduate major and honors

programs include a minimum of 24 credits of breadth but the details

of the breadth requirements be left up to Faculties"

The following comments/opinions were expressed with respect to the above-noted

amendment:

• Programs in various departments and Faculties were quite varied and giving

flexibility to each Faculty would result in positive changes;

• Earlier attempts to deal with breadth simply characterized breadth in terms of

taking courses outside one's own discipline or Faculty and did not provide

much benefit to the students. The current proposal, without the amendment,

was a significant improvement since all designated breadth courses had to meet

certain criteria so students were exposed to different modes of thought which

was more beneficial than just taking courses outside their own discipline and

Faculty;

• Concern was expressed, especially with respect to Science courses, that

students would not have the required background/prerequisites needed to take

the courses that would expose them to a true mode of scientific thought and

therefore these details should be left up to individual Faculties.

S.M. 10 May

2004

Page

Question was called on the amendment,

and a vote taken.

AMENDMENT FAILED

Opinion was expressed that the

2006

deadline seemed rather short. Senate was

advised that the development of breadth courses had already begun and that

writing intensive courses would be offered this Fall to approximately

2,000

students. The Task Force was aware of existing courses and how many new

courses had to be created and felt that the

2006

deadline was realistic.

In response to an inquiry about resources for new courses, Senate was advised that

some resources have already been made available and expectations were that the

additional funds required would be allocated.

The issue of disqualifying courses with specific prerequisites was raised and Senate

was advised that the underlying spirit was to provide intellectually accessible and

appropriate courses to students outside the discipline who do not have

background, but students majoring in the discipline could fill the requirements by

taking appropriate courses that have prerequisites.

Reference was made to the writing classes which would be offered in the Fall, and

inquiry was made about class size. Senate was advised that class sizes differ

considerably and different courses employ different models to teach writing, but in

all cases, relatively small groups of students would be given very close attention by

providing additional TA assistance.

Question was called on Motion 1,

and a vote taken. ?

MOTION CARRIED

Recommendation 2

Moved by

Waterhouse, seconded by M.A. Gillies

"that applicants to SFU be required to demonstrate their competence

in English language skills, to be in effect in the Fall

2006

semester as

outlined in the memorandum dated April

27, 2004

from D. Krebs"

Senate was informed that on page 3 regarding Recommendations

reference to

the required grade should be changed to a

minimum grade point average of C-.

Brief discussion occurred with respect to the language requirements between SFU

and other local universities.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

S.M. 10 May 2004

Recommendation 3

Page 7 ?

Moved by

Waterhouse, seconded by M. Plischke

"that admission standards pertaining to quantitative skills be in effect

in the Fall 2006 semester as outlined in the memorandum dated April

27, 2004 from D. Krebs"

Senate was informed that a reference to

obtaining a grade of

C-

was inadvertently

omitted on page 4 and had to be added to the information under Recommendation

2 in the above-noted memorandum.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

It was noted that there was no mention of timeline and reference to the

memorandum dated April 27, 2004 from D. Krebs was missing from both

Recommendations 5 and 6. Senate was advised the implementation timeline for

all recommendations was Fall 2006 and the reference to the memorandum had

inadvertently been omitted. Inclusion of both these items was accepted as a

friendly amendment to both motions.

Recommendation 5

Moved by

Waterhouse, seconded by M.A. Gillies

"that new Foundational Writing Skills courses be developed for

students admitted to SFU with low grades in English and/or low

scores on a language proficiency test as outlined in the memorandum

dated April 27, 2004 from D. Krebs, effective Fall 2006"

Brief discussion ensued about the impact of new courses on space, teaching, and

financial resources.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION (AS AMENDED) CARRIED

Recommendation 6

Moved by

Waterhouse, seconded by M. Fizzell

"that the new Foundational Quantitative Skills courses be developed

for students with low grades in Mathematics, as outlined in the

memorandum dated April 27, 2004 from D. Krebs, effective Fall

2006"

Question was called, and a vote taken. ?

MOTION (AS AMENDED) CARRIED

S.M.lO May 2004

Page 8

On behalf of Senate, the Chair thanked members of the Task Force for all of their

hard work.

ii) ?

Paper S.04-38 - Annual Report (For Information)

The Annual Report of the Senate Committee on University Priorities was received

by Senate for information.

C) ?

Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies

Paper S.04-39 - Curriculum Revisions - Criminology

Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies,

acting under delegated authority, approved the reinstatement of Crim 440 from

temporarily withdrawn status.

Other Business

On behalf of Senate, the Chair conveyed thanks and appreciation to the following

Senators whose terms of office end on May 31, 2004: John D'Auria, Alison Gill,

Titus Gregory, John Heaney, Andy Hira, Pam Kaila, Tiffany Kalanj, Joseph Peters,

Jan Van Aalst, Rick Yoo. Certificates to thank and recognize service on Senate

were presented.

Information

The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate will take place on

Monday, June 7, 2004.

Open Session adjourned at 6:45 pm, and Senate moved directly into Closed Session.

Alison Watt

Director, University Secretariat