DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE
S
Minutes of a Meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on
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Monday, December
5,
2005 at 7:00 pm in Room 3210 WMC
Open Session
Absent:
Apaak, Clement
Breden, Felix
Dickinson, John
Dickinson, Peter
Ester, Martin
Grimmett, Peter
Honda, Barry
Javed, Waseem
Johansen, Elinor
LaBrie, John
Louie, Brandt
Love, Ernie
McArthur, James
Scott, Jamie
Tilley, Kevin
Weeks, Daniel
Woodbury, Robert
Zandvhiet, David
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Present:
Stevenson, Michael, President and Chair of Senate
Brennand, Tracy
Budd, James
Caufield, Sarah
Copeland, Lynn
Corbett, Kitty
Delgrande, James
Driver, Jon
Easton, Stephen
Fizzell, Maureen
Fleming-Saraceno, David
Francis, June
Gordon, Irene
Gordon, Robert
Halpern, Erica
Harder, Derrick
Haunerland, Norbert
Hayes, Michael
Horvath, Adam
Hunsdale, Shawn
Joffres, Michel
Jones, John (representing B. Lewis)
Krane, Bill
MacKenzie, Christine
MacLean, David
Magee, Sean
Percival, Cohn
Percival, Paul
Pierce, John
Pinto, Mario
Plischke, Michael
Schellenberg, Betty
Shaker, Paul
Smith, Don
Uhlmann, Sasha
Van Baarsen, Amanda
Warner, D'Arcy
Waterhouse, John
Williams, Peter
Wong, Josephine
Heath, Ron, Registrar
Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat
Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary
In attendance:
Amundsen, Cheryl
Davidson, Allan
Hinchhiffe, Jo
MacLeod, Richard
McAllister, David
O'Neill, Kevin
Rahilly, Tim
Trottier, Howard
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1.
Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of November 7. 2005
The Minutes were approved as distributed.
3.
Business Arising from the Minutes
There was no business arising from the minutes.
4.
Report of the Chair
There was no report from the Chair.
5 ?
Question Period
A question was raised by D. Harder with respect to an international student recruitment
proposal that was being considered by the Senate Committee on University Priorities at
its next meeting. It was noted that the intent was to forward a recommendation on the
proposal to the February meeting of the Board of Governors, and a concern was
expressed that this short timeline did not allow adequate time for a broad discussion of
this matter by the university community.
As part of background information that was provided to Senate, it was pointed out that
Senate had previously approved an internationalization strategy for the University. One
of the components of the strategy related to attracting international undergraduate
students to SFU, and a target of 10% of the undergraduate student population was
approved for the admission of undergraduate international students. Recruiting
undergraduate international students involves partnerships with international recruiting
companies or agents, and the proposal before SCUP involves engaging a private
company for the purpose of the recruitment of international undergraduate students. The
company in question has offered SFU the possibility of partnering with them but has
given a fairly firm deadline of February
15th
for the University's response. The intent is to
have a full consultation and to put as much information as possible before the
community. It is hoped that in spite of the fairly tight timeline a decision can be reached.
If it turns out that there are important issues or significant concerns that cannot be
resolved, then either the offer must be rejected or an extension sought.
6. ?
Reports of Committees
A) ?
Paper S.05-121 - Annual Report on Student Discipline Matters 2004/2005
The following persons were in attendance in order to respond to questions: H. Trottier,
Past Co-ordinator and D. MacAlister, current Co-ordinator of the University Board on
Student Discipline; R. MacLeod, Secretary, Senate Committee on Disciplinary Appeals;
and R. Heath, Registrar.
Discussion took place with respect to UBSD cases 04-9 and
05-4
and Senate was
provided with a brief explanation as to why the sanctions were different in these similar
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cases, and why there was no reference to action taken against other parties involved in
these offences.
Reference was made to the increase in numbers of non-academic discipline as outlined on
page 6 and an inquiry was made as to the reason. Senate was advised that part of the
reason was due to having a greater population of students on campus all of the time and
the increase seems to be coincident with the opening of the new residences last year. It
was also suggested that the increase represents more diligence on the part of the
Bookstore with regard to loss prevention.
R. Gordon, Chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Integrity in Student Learning
and Evaluation, advised Senate that the Committee will be looking at policies and
processes with respect to final examinations, as well as issues and concerns such as those
indicated on page 4 of the report from SCODA.
The Chair, on behalf of Senate, thanked everyone involved for the report and for their
involvement in this very important part of university life.
B)
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Senate Committee on University Priorities
i) ?
Paper S.05-122 - MEd. MA an PhD in Educational Technology and Learning
Design
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by P. Shaker
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, the
proposal for the MEd, MA, and PhD in Educational Technology and
Learning Design in the Faculty of Education, including the following new
courses: EDUC 890,891,892,893,894,930,931,932"
C. Amundsen and K. O'Neill both from the Faculty of Education were available in order
to respond to questions.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
ii) ?
Paper S.05-123 - Bachelor of Arts in Health Sciences
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by D. MacLean
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the
proposal for a Bachelor of Arts in Health Sciences (Major, Honors, and
Minor in Health Sciences) offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences"
D. MacLean, Senator and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, N. Haunerland,
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Senator and Undergraduate Curriculum Chair in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and A.
Davidson, Faculty of Health Sciences were available in order to respond to questions.
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course
Reference
outlines,
was made
Senate
to the
was
list
informed
of courses
that
on
the
page
Senate
10. In
Committee
response
on
to an
Undergraduate
inquiry about
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Studies reviewed detailed course outlines for each course and had considerable
discussion that resulted in revisions being made and brought back to SCUS prior to
approval and presentation of the new courses to Senate.
Discussion ensued with respect to the amount of Science required for some of the
proposed courses and concern was expressed about the development of these courses in
advance of having the faculty in place to teach them. Senate was advised that the
program will be phased in and that the program of courses to some extent will define
future faculty hiring. Specific reference was made to HSCI 210, 211 and 212 and a
concern was expressed about an apparent lack of biology requirements as prerequisites to
these courses. Senate was advised that students would have some introductory
background through required courses in the first year but it was stressed that since these
courses were intended to be interdisciplinary it was unlikely that any student would have
a strong background in all areas covered by the courses.
Brief discussion followed with respect to funding for teaching assistants, the relationship
of the IHRE to the Faculty of Health Sciences, and priorities for the hiring of new faculty
members.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
iii) ?
Paper S.05-124
-
Masters of Science in Population and Public Health
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by D. MacLean
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, the
proposal for a Masters of Science in Population and Public Health in the
Faculty of Health Sciences"
D. MacLean, Senator and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, N. Haunerland,
Senator and Undergraduate Curriculum Chair in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and A.
Davidson, Faculty of Health Sciences, R. Lockhart, Statistics and Actuarial Science were
in attendance in order to respond to questions.
Reference was made to the first paragraph on page 44. The information about programs
in Geography was misleading as graduate students in the social sciences program receive
MA credentials not MSc credentials.
A discussion followed with respect to completion time and the frequency of course
elective offerings.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
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Paper S.05-125 - Simons Foundation International Endowment Fund - Terms of
Reference
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iv)
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by J. Pierce
"that Senate approve the terms of reference for the Simons Foundation
International Endowment Fund"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
C) ?
Senate Policy Committee on Scholarships. Awards and Bursaries
i) ?
Paper S.05-126 - Annual Report (For Information)
S. Easton, Senator and Chair of the Senate Policy Committee on Scholarships, Awards
and Bursaries, and T. Rahilly, Student Services were available in order to respond to
questions.
Reference was made to pages 6 and 7 with respect to the disbursement of the Dean's
Scholarship in Science and the Tadeusz Specht Memorial Science scholarship. Both
scholarships appear to have a disappointing rate of acceptance. Senate was advised that
the low acceptance rates appear to follow the general trend in terms of acceptances to
. offers of admission that are also lower for the Faculty of Science than the rest of the
university. By way of explanation for the low acceptance rate, it was reported that there
was a widespread assumption that students interested in medicine or other science related
professional schools feel they have an advantage taking their undergraduate studies at a
school that offers those particular programs. Another factor appears to be the
attractiveness of the Science One program at UBC despite the short supply of spaces in
that program. It is important to raise the profile of the Sciences at SFU and it is hoped
that the University will be able to fashion attractive recruitment initiatives to increase the
acceptance rate of Science students to offers from SFU.
A concern relating to the lack of an academic component in athletic and recreation
awards was raised. While academic achievement was not a requirement for these awards,
it was noted that awards were only given to students in good academic standing, and the
ethos of the SFU athletic programs is to ensure that the academic and the athletic sides of
a student's career are well balanced.
Following discussion, the report was received for information.
C) ?
Calendar Committee
i) ?
Paper S.05-127 - Schedule of Dates 2006-2009
Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by M. Fizzell
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December 2005
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"that Senate approve the proposed academic calendar schedule of dates for
2006-3 to 2009-2"
J. Hinchliffe, Secretary, Calendar Committee was in attendance in order to respond to
questions.
A Student Senator expressed concern over the lack of a reading break in Spring 2007
semester and inquired if any alternatives, such as extending classes by a week, were
considered. Senate was reminded of the Senate approved policy with regard to Easter. In
Spring 2007 because of when Easter falls, it is not feasible to schedule a reading break. It
was also pointed out that because SFU operates on a trimester system, any change of
schedule in the Spring semester subsequently affects the summer and fall semesters and if
classes were extended in the Spring by one week, students would not get any break at all
at the end of the summer semester.
A Senator made reference to the notation about the possibility of scheduling exams on
Sundays and inquired about the impact of this practice on unionized employees. Senate
was reminded that the course scheduling policy recently approved by Senate included the
option of scheduling classes on Sunday and it was pointed out that the occasional exam
had already been held on a Sunday.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
E)
Senate Committee on Academic Integrity in Student Learning and Evaluation
i) ?
Paper S.05-128 - Annual Report (For Information)
R. Gordon, Senator and Chair of the Committee was available to respond to questions.
The Annual Report was received for information without discussion.
F)
Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies
i) ?
Paper S.05-129 -Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Moved by C. MacKenzie, seconded by I. Gordon
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, the
deletion of the Certificate in Women's Studies"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting
under delegated authority, deleted four courses, approved sixteen new courses and minor
changes to existing courses and program requirements in Psychology, Women's Studies,
Sociology/Anthropology, Criminology, Linguistics, and Humanities.
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G) ?
Senate Nominating Committee
i)
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Paper S.05-130 - Elections
Senate was advised that no further nominations had been received, M. Rekkas was
therefore elected by acclamation to the Senate Appeals Board (SAB) and M. Joffres was
elected by acclamation to the Senate Committee on University Priorities (SCUP).
The Open Session adjourned at
7:50
pm. Senate moved directly into Closed Session.
Alison Watt
Director, University Secretariat
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