DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE
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Minutes of a Meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on ?
Monday, July 7, 2008 at 5:30 pm in Room 3210 WMC
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Open Session
Present: Stevenson, Michael, President and Chair of Senate
Agnes, George (representing J. Driver)
Arsenault-Antolick, Haida
Bains, Aman
Bart, Brad
Bocking, Natalie
Brennand, Tracy
Chapman, Glenn
Collinge, Joan
Copeland, Lynn
Dawkins, Heather (representing L. Cormack)
Dow, Greg
Fergusson, Andrew
Fizzell, Maureen
Golnaraghi, Faiid
Hannah, David
Harding, Kevin
Joifres, Michel
Krane, Bill
Laba, Martin
Lee, Benjamin
Letourneau, Michael
Lewis, Brian
Leznoff, Daniel
Liljedahl, Peter
MacDonald, Camille
O'Neil, John
Paling, Joseph
Patel, Ravi
Percival, Cohn
Peters, Joseph
Pinto, Mario
Plischke, Michael
Popadiuk, Natalee
Shaker, Paul
Shapiro, Daniel
Shermer, Thomas
Tapia, Earl Von
Thompson, Steve
Tiny, Evan
Van Baarsen, Amanda
van der Wey, Dolores
Wakkary, Ron
Warner, D'Arcy
Ross, Kate, Registrar & Senior Director Student Enrolment
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Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat
Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary
Absent:
Easton, Stephen
Francis, June
Gençay, Ramo
Gordon, Robert
Hayes, Michael
Janes, Craig
Louie, Brandt
McArthur, James
Percival, Paul
Russell, Robert
Vaid, Bhuvinder
Williams, Tony
In attendance:
Donelan, Max
Kiai, Mehran
Lee, Jacy
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S.M. 7 July 2008
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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 June 2. 2008
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
5.
Question Period
Senate was advised that questions submitted by M. Letoumeau for Question Period dealt
with the same issue which the Chair intended to report on so agenda items 4 and 5 would
be dealt with together.
The submission for Question Period involved a set of related questions concerning the
"Government Letter of Expectations" recently issued to the University by the Ministry of
Advanced Education. In response to Question 1 as to whether the Letter of Expectations
had been signed, the Chair reported that the Chair of the Board of Governors had not
signed the document nor was her signature being recommended. In response to Question
2 concerning the impact on the relationship between Senate and the Board of Governors
with respect to decision-making authority for the University, the Chair stated that the
Letter of Expectations raised difficult questions about the relationship between Senate and
the Board in respect of university governance and for that reason could not be signed as
presented. In response to Questions 3 and 4 regarding the impact on Senate's ability to set
academic policy for the University and the impact on the independence granted to the
University under Section 48 of the University Act, the Chair explained that since the
Letter of Expectations touched on matters that are under the statutory authority of Senate
such as the kinds of programs that would need to be developed at SPU, signature by the
Chair of the Board of Governors would be
ultra vires.
These and other jurisdictional issues
were at issue and would be included in the University's response to the Letter of
Expectations. In response to the final question, Question 5, concerning how the
University intended to address these concerns, the Chair indicated that the Government
would be alerted to the potential conflicts posed by the proposed Letter of Expectation
and reminded that since this is a matter of common interest to BC research universities,
the Presidents and Board Chairs will be meeting to ensure that all institutions are acting in
concert on this matter.
6.
Reports of Committees
A) ?
Senate Committee on University Priorities
i)
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Paper S.08-85 - Name Change from School of Kinesiologv to Department of
Biomedical Ph ysiolog
y
and Kinesiology
Moved by B. Krane, seconded by B. Lewis ?
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S.M. 7 July 2008
Page 3
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, the
name change for the School of Kinesiology to the Department of
Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, effective April 1, 2009"
M. Donelan, School of Kinesiology was in attendance in order to respond to questions.
Question was called, and a vote taken. ?
MOTION CARRIED
ii) ?
Paper S.08-86 - Facult y
of Education: Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Counselling
and Human Development
Moved by B. Krane, seconded by N. Popadiuk
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, the full
program proposal for a Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Counselling and
Human Development in the Faculty of Education"
N. Popadiuk, Senator, Faculty of Education was available to respond to questions.
In response to questions about the primary audience and the relationship of the Post
Baccalaureate Diploma [PBD] to the Minor program in the same area, Senate was advised
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that the primary audience would be persons already working in the field who were
interested in moving into a counselling program to obtain a Master's degree, and that the
Minor would be taken by students during their Bachelor program, while the PBD would
be taken by students who already have a Bachelor's degree in a different area. Students
who have completed the Minor in Counselling and Human Development as part of their
Bachelor's program would not be able to, nor be interested in, taking the PBD.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
iii)
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Paper S.08-87 - Name for new Faculty: Faculty of Communication. Art and?
Technolog y (FCAT)
Moved by B. Krane, seconded by B. Lewis
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the name for
the new Faculty as Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology (FCAT)"
B. Lewis, Senator and Dean of Applied Sciences was available to respond to questions.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
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S.M. 7 July 2008
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B) ?
Senate Committee on Under g raduate Studies
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i)
Paper S.08-88 - Curriculum Changes. Facult
y
of Applied Sciences (For
Information): Interactive Arts and Technology
. Engineering Science, and
Kinesiologv
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting.
under delegated authority, approved course deletions, new courses and program changes
in the following areas: Interactive Arts and Technology, Engineering Science, and
Kinesiology.
ii)
Paper S.08-89 - Curriculum Changes. Facukv of Arts and Social Sciences (For
Information): English
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting
under delegated authority, approved new courses in the Department of English.
iii)
Pater S.08-90 - Curriculum Chanaes, Facult
y of ucatioiiiFodnformatioth
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting
under delegated authority, approved program changes and changes to existing courses in
the Faculty of Education.
iv)
Paper S.08-91 - Curriculum Changes. Faculty of Science (For Information):
Molecular Biology and Biochemistr
y.
Physics
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting
under delegated authority, approved changes to existing courses in Molecular Biology and
Biochemistry and Physics.
v)
Paper S.08-92 - Curriculum changes. Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue (For
Information)
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting
under delegated authority, approved course deletions in the Undergraduate Semester in
Dialogue program.
vi)
Paper S.08-93 - BC 12 Provincial Exam Requirements
Moved by B. Krane, seconded by K. Harding
"that Senate approve that BC 12 students not be required to write optional
BC Provincial Grade 12 examinations for admission other than those
required for graduation. If written, grades from the optional provincial
examinations would be used only if they increase a student's admission
average."
K. Ross, Registrar, M. Kiai, Director, Enrolment Services, andJ. Lee, Director,
Institutional Research and Planning were available to respond to questions.
S.M. 7 July 2008
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A member of SPCSAB advised that the issue of requiring or not requiring provincial
exams for scholarship assessment has been discussed on many occasions. In order to clarify
Senate's position and provide direction to the SPCSAB on this issue, the following
amendment was made.
Amendment moved by C. Percival, seconded by R. Patel
"that the words 'or entrance scholarships' be added to the motion
following the word 'admission' in the first sentence'
Senate was advised that the intent was to have the same process concerning provincial
exams apply to admission and to scholarship assessment. Reference to the second part of
the motion was made and a brief discussion followed in which the Registrar explained
how the process would work with respect to scholarship assignments. It was also noted
that UBC was treating scholarship assessments in the same way and it was suggested that
consistency across the university system would be helpful.
Question was called on the amendment and a vote taken.
AMENDMENT CARRIED
In response to an inquiry with regard to the admission requirement for students to have a
specific number of Government examinable courses for direct entrance from high school,
Senate was advised that the motion before Senate does not change that criteria.
Several members expressed support for the motion for pragmatic reasons but felt that it
was an unfortunate course of action which was necessary but may result in general grade
inflation and differential grade inflation from the high schools. Discussion ensued about
the effect this would have on the admission process, and Senate was advised that the
Registrar's Office would carefully monitor and evaluate the situation.
Inquiries were made about whether there was any data to show how many students were
choosing other institutions over SFU. Although specific figures are available, Senate was
advised that when recent provincial data was reviewed in relation to BC's Passport to
Education incentive, the number of students going to universities outside BC had
increased. An opinion was expressed that the debate appeared to be structured in terms of
principle reasons versus pragmatic reasons. Before principles were sacrificed it might be
worthwhile to determine whether this was an opportunity for SFU to take a stand for a
pedagogical principle, but delaying a decision in order to collect further data might
significantly jeopardize SFU's recruiting efforts for 2009.
It was noted that UVic had decided some months ago to drop the provincial exam
requirement and this change would take effect for their September 2008 intake. An
inquiry was made as to whether it was possible to delay the motion for a short period of
time to get a better sense of how admissions at UVic were affected. The Registrar advised
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that since the SFU change was proposed for implementation in Fall 2009, admission
materials needed to be printed immediately for recruitment so timeliness was crucial.
S.M. 7 July 2008
Page 6
The motion, as amended, was reiterated prior to a vote being taken: ?
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"that Senate approve that BC 12 students not be required to write optional
BC Provincial Grade 12 examinations for admission or entrance
scholarships other than those required for graduation. If written, grades
from the optional provincial examinations would be used only if they
increase a student's admission average."
Question was called, and a vote taken.
C) ?
Senate Graduate Studies Committee
MOTION (AS AMENDED) CARRIED
i)
Paper S.08-94 - Curriculum Changes. Facult
y
of Applied Sciences (For
Information): Communication, Interactive Arts and Technolog y . Kinesiologv,
Engineering Science
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under
delegated authority, approved new courses and changes to existing courses in the
following areas: Communication, Interactive Arts and Technology, Kinesiology, and
Engineering Science.
ii)
Paper S.08-95 - Curriculum Changes. Faculty of Business Administration (For
Information)
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under
delegated authority, approved program changes and changes to existing courses in the
Faculty of Business Administration.
iii)
Paper S.08-96 - Curriculum Changes. Faculty of Education (For Information)
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under
delegated authority, approved changes to programs in the Faculty of Education.
iv)
Paper S.08-97 - Curriculum Changes. Faculty of Science (For Information):
Biological Sciences. Mathematics, Physics
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under
delegated authority, approved course deletions and changes to existing courses in the
following areas: Biological Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.
D) ?
Senate Nominating Committee
i) ?
Paper S.08-98 Revised -Elections
Senate's attention was drawn to Senate Paper S.08-98 Revised which was distributed at
the meeting and showed all positions which were elected by acclamation and those
positions which required balloting. Senators were reminded that voting would take place
on-line. Senators would receive an email with information and links to both the ballot and
the candidate statements that are on-line. A copy of S.08-98 Revised would also be -
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S.M. 7 July 2008
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attached to the email so Senators have complete electoral information. Voting on-line
would be accessible for approximately two days and all Senators were encouraged to vote.
Names of candidates elected by acclamation can be found on Senate Paper S.08-98
Revised. Outstanding vacancies will be carried forward. The results of on-line voting are
as follows:
Senate Committee on International Activities (SCLA)
One Student (Alternate) for term of office to May 31, 2010
Elected: ?
Robert Lutener
7.
Other Business
There was no other business.
8.
Information
The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday, September 15,
2008.
Since this was their last meeting of Senate in their capacity as Deans, the Chair wished to
recognize P. Shaker, Dean of Education and B. Lewis, Dean of Applied Sciences. On
behalf of Senate and the University, the Chair extended thanks and appreciation to the
Deans for their service and contributions to Senate and the University.
The Open Session adjourned at 6:20 pm, and Senate moved directly into Closed Session.
Alison Watt
Director, University Secretariat
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