DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE

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

Monday, January 8, 2007 at 5:30 pm in Room 3210 WMC

Open Session

Present:

Schellenberg, Betty, Vice-Chair of Senate

Breden, Felix

Copeland, Lynn

Corbett, Kitty

Dagenais, Diane

Dickinson, Peter

Driver, Jon

Dunnet, Margo

Easton, Steve

Fizzell, Maureen

Fox, Graham

Gencay, Ramo

Gordon, Irene

Gordon, Robert

Gregory, Titus

Haunerland, Norbert

Hayes, Michael

Javed, Waseem

Joifres, Michel

Jones, John (representing B. Lewis)

Krane, Bill

LaBrie, John

Lewis, Glyn

MacKenzie, Christine

MacLean, David

Percival, Cohn

Percival, Paul

Peters, Joseph

Pierce, John

Pinto, Mario

Plischke, Michael

Russell, Robert

Schellenberg, Betty

Shaker, Paul

Shermer, Thomas

Smart, Carolyne

Vaid, Bhuvinder

van Baarsen, Amanda

Warner, D'Arcy

Waterhouse, John

Weeks, Daniel

Williams, Peter

Wong, Josephine

Absent:

Black, Sam

Brennand, Tracy

Caufield, Sarah

Delgrande, James

Ester, Martin

Francis, June

Halpern, Erica

Harder, Derrick

Honda, Barry

Kelly, Vanessa

Li, Wei

Liljedahl, Peter

Louie, Brandt

McArthur, James

Rebman, Rachelle

Smith, Don

Stevenson, Michael

Zandvliet, David

In attendance:

Godyn, Luis

Hinchliffe, Jo

MacAhister, David

MacLeod, Richard

Williams, Tony

Angerilli, Nello, Associate Vice-President, Students/International, and Acting Registrar

Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat

Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary

S.M. 8 January 2007

Page 2

Approval of the Agenda

The Agenda was approved as distributed.

Approval of the Minutes of the O

en Session of December

2006

The Minutes were approved as distributed.

Business Arisin g

from the Minutes

In follow-up to questions raised at the last meeting relating to information contained in

the Annual Report of the Diverse Qualifications Adjudication Committee, Senate was

provided with the following information. With regard to the inconsistency in the report

concerning a particular group of students -

50%

of whom had completed at least 30

credits with a particular GPA versus a later statement that indicated 71% of the group had

graduated with a degree, Senate was informed that the last statement actually had a

footnote that clarified that the population of students for these two statements were

different. One analysis was based on ten years of data, the other analysis, which focused

on graduating rates, was based on six years of data. A further statement in the report

indicated that almost 40% of students admitted to SFU in the timeframe covered by the

report went on academic probation within two years of their admission. Senate received

clarification that 40% of students

with an admission GPA of 3.0 or less

went on academic

probation within the first two years, and approximately

25%

of students

with an

admission GPA over 3.0

went on academic probation. Even with this clarification, the

Associate Vice-President, Academic noted that further review of this issue was required.

Report of the Chair

There was no report from the Chair.

Ouestion Period

A reference was made to the recent news report that the Chinese Ministry of Education

was advising students not to attend private colleges in Canada, and a question arose as to

what impact that might have on SFU and plans to increase international student

recruitment through the use of a private college. Senate was advised that the University

had not yet had an opportunity to fully explore the potential impact but has been working

with the Canadian Embassy in Beijing in an attempt to clarify the situation.

Reports of Committees

Paper S.07-1 - Annual R

ort on Student Disci pline

(For Information)

D. MacAlister, Co-ordinator of the University Board on Student Discipline (UBSD), R.

MacLeod, Secretary of the Senate Committee on Disciplinary Appeals (SCODA), N.

Angerilli, Acting Registrar, and J. Hinchliffe, Student Services were in attendance in

order to respond to questions.

A brief discussion took place about the case that had been reported to the Registrar

involving 117 students in one course; (this case had not been handled by either UBSD or

SCODA). Concern was expressed that an environment existed that would allow this to

happen and it was hoped that steps were being taken so that the situation could not be

repeated. Senate was advised that student discipline procedures, both academic and non-

academic, were under review with an aim to devising a policy to minimize the

opportunity for such large scale cheating, and to create a central tracking system, likely

S.M. 8 January 2007

Page

•

within the Registrar's Office, to identify and deal with repeat offenders or offenders in

multiple departments. Senator R. Gordon, Chair of the Senate Committee on Academic

Integrity and Student Learning and Evaluation (SCAISLE), reported that the Committee

will be coming forward with a number of initiatives this year, including a revision to the

policy and reporting system, which should result in significant improvements.

Following discussion, the report was received by Senate.

Senate Committee on University

Priorities

Paper S.07-2 - External Review - De

partment of Biolo

gical

Sciences

Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by M. Hayes

"that Senate approve the recommendations of the Senate Committee on

University Priorities concerning advice to the Department of Biological

Sciences and the Dean of the Faculty of Science on priority items

resulting from the external review"

T. Williams, Chair, Department of Biological Sciences, was in attendance in order to

respond to questions.

A concern was expressed about the perceived difference in support for Ph.D. students at

UBC as compared to SFU, and hope was expressed that this issue would be addressed.

Senate was advised that, subject to existing financial constraints, active steps will be

taken through the Dean of Graduate Studies to deal with this issue.

It was noted that the Dean of Science took issue with the Review Committee's comments

that the environmental science program appeared to be sound in curricular design, and

clarification of this issue was requested. Senate was advised by the Dean of Science that

in his opinion the program had been languishing for several years. Under a separate

special process, an internal review of the program took place and that review concurred

that the program's curriculum should be completely redesigned, and this was in progress.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii)

Paper S.07-3 - External Review - De

partment

of Mathematics

Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by S. Easton

"that Senate approve the recommendations of the Senate Committee on

University Priorities concerning advice to the Department of

Mathematics and the Dean of the Faculty of Science on priority items

resulting from the external review"

L. Godyn, representing the Chair of the Department of Mathematics, was in attendance.

Referring to the second bullet under Section 1 dealing with the representation of female

faculty in the Department, Senate was advised that upon investigation and comparison to

math departments in other universities, it was found that the small number of female

S.M. 8 January 2007

Page 4

faculty members in mathematics was not unique to SFU but in fact was a global issue.

The following change in wording was accepted as a revision:

From: Address the under representation of female faculty in the Department.

To: To attempt to increase the representation of female faculty in the Department.

It was noted that one of the recommendations in the External Review was to consolidate

existing courses in order to increase the scheduling of some courses. A question was

raised about whether any courses could be consolidated without reducing material

coverage. Senate was advised that this had already been done in some algebra courses,

and the Department was considering options in other areas.

A Student Senator commended SCUP and the review for advocating for more student

common space on campus and was pleased to see the value placed on the importance of

student common rooms within the university community.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

iii)

Pa p

er S.07-4 - External Review - Facult y

of Business Administration

Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by D. Weeks

"that Senate approve the recommendations from the Senate Committee

on University Priorities concerning advice to the Faculty of Business

Administration on priority items resulting from the external review"

An issue raised in the External Review touched on overload teaching to which C. Smart

replied that this had been a concern several years ago, but this was not now the case.

Similarly, the reviewers reported on a concern with the tenure process, and M. Fizzell

indicated that this could have been raised in a private discussion with the reviewers

concerning a situation which occurred more than a decade ago, and this was not a current

issue.

Reference was made to a statement at the top of page 24 indicating friction with the Dean

of Graduate Studies office, and clarification was requested. Senate was advised that some

difficulties perceived by the Dean of Graduate Studies with the administration of some of

the graduate programs in the Faculty were brought to the attention of the reviewers.

Contrary to the recommendation of the reviewers that the graduate programs in Business

be removed from the rest of the university and treated differently, the Dean's office and

the Faculty were successfully working together to implement a better communication

process in order to achieve a smoother administrative structure.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Senate Committee on Under

graduate Studies

Paper

S.07-5 -

Revision - BC and Yukon Colle

e Admissions

Prior to moving the motion, B. Krane made a minor revision to the wording from "BC

and Yukon College... "to "BC and Yukon

Community

and University Colleges"

Motion 1

Moved by B. Krane, seconded by A. van Baarsen

S.M. 8 January 2007

Page

"that Senate approve changes to the criteria for Admissions from B.C.

and Yukon Community and University Colleges to read: 'Applicants

who met the University's admission requirements after completing grade

12 may be admitted on the basis of those requirements, provided that

they have attempted fewer than 24 semester hours of transfer credit'"

A brief discussion took place on how this would affect a student who had attempted 24

credit hours but had successfully completed 23 credit hours and Senate was advised that

such a student would not be eligible for admission.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Prior to moving the next motion, B. Krane made an editorial change to insert the words

'at least' prior to 24 credit hours.

Motion 2

Moved by B. Krane, seconded by A. van Baarsen

"that Senate approve B.C. College students be guaranteed admission to

all Faculties at SFU (except Business Administration) on completion of

at least 24 credit hours of transferable work with a minimum grade point

average of 2.5"

In response to an inquiry as to why Business Administration was exempt, Senate was

advised that the admission GPA for Business Administration was 3.0 and the Faculty did

not have the resources to teach more students.

It was noted that the motion, as currently worded, implied that students from the Yukon

were not eligible for this guaranteed admission. Senate was informed that this was not the

intent and that the wording should be further revised as follows:

"that Senate approve B.C. and Yukon Community and University

College students be guaranteed admission to all Faculties at SFU (except

Business Administration) on completion of at least 24 credit hours of

transferable work with a minimum grade point average of 2.5"

It was noted that the Fraser International College web site guaranteed students admission

to SFU with a 2.4 GPA, and inquiry was made as to why there was difference from other

colleges. The Associate Vice-President, Academic was not aware that there was a

discrepancy and indicated that he would look into this issue.

Question-was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION (AS AMENDED) CARRIED

ii)

Paper S.07-6 - Curriculum Revisions - Faculty

of Applied Sciences (For

Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting

under delegated authority, approved the deletion of courses, new courses, and minor

changes to existing programs and courses in the following areas: Interactive Arts and

Technology, Engineering Science, Kinesiology, and Computing Science. Senate also

S.M. 8 January 2007

Page 6

received information that SCUS approved, under delegated authority, a list of Writing

designations for courses within the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

iii)

Paper S.07-7 - Curriculum Revisions - Faculty

of Arts and Social Sciences (For

Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting

under delegated authority, approved a list of WQB designations for courses within the

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, minor changes to the Certificate in Explorations in

Arts and Social Sciences, a change to the course abbreviation for International Studies,

and new courses in World Literature.

iv)

Paper S.07-8 - Curriculum Revisions - Facul

of Education (For Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting

under delegated authority, approved new courses and minor changes to existing courses

and Minor programs in French Education and Learning Disabilities.

Senate Committee on Continuin

Studies

Paper S.07-9 - Annual Rep

ort (For Information)

The 2005/2006 Annual Report of the Senate Committee on Continuing Studies was

received by Senate for information.

Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules

Paper S.07-10 - Chan

es to the Senate Committee on International Activities

(For Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules approved

the following revisions as editorial changes to SCIA: a return to the original membership

with regard to positions held by the President (or designate) as Chair, the VP Academic

(or designate), and the Director, SFU International (or designate), and the removal of

item 3 under Procedures.

ii)

Paper S.07-11 - Chan

es to University

Polic y

35:

Named Reco g nition of

Buildin g

s. Academic Endowments and Academic Units

Moved by J. Waterhouse, seconded by S. Easton

"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the

revision of GP

which substitutes the Senate Committee on University

Priorities for the Senate Committee on University Honours in section 4.2

of the policy"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Senate Nominatin

Committee

Paper S.07-12 - Elections

Senate was advised that no further nominations had been received. Jason Chan was

therefore elected by acclamation as the Undergraduate Student Alternate (dual position)

on the Senate Library Committee and the Library Penalties Appeal Committee, and as an

S.M. 8 January 2007

Page 7

Undergraduate Student representative on the Senate Committee on University Teaching

and Learning. The remaining vacancies will be carried forward to the next meeting.

Other Business

Paper S.07-13 - Academic Amnesty

Motion

Reference was made to the wording of a previous motion dealing with this issue in 2003,

and M. Dunnet stated that since this seemed to be a preferable wording, she would like to

substitute the wording of the motion before Senate

Moved by M. Dunnet, seconded by P. Percival

"Senate requests that instructors do not penalize students academically

for their participation in the February 7, 2007 National 'Day of Action',

and

Senate requests that faculty make every effort to accommodate those

students who wish to participate in the February 7, 2007 National 'Day

of Action'"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii)

Senate was advised that this was the last meeting for N. Angerilli as Acting

Registrar. The Chair, on behalf of Senate and the University, expressed appreciation and

•

thanked Dr. Angerilli for his service.

Information

The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday, February

2007.

The Open Session adjourned at 6:15 pm and Senate moved directly into Closed Session.

Alison Watt

Director, University Secretariat