DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE
Minutes of a Meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on
Monday, September 15, 2008 at 5:30 pm in Room 3210 WMC
Open Session
Present: Stevenson, Michael, President and Chair of Senate
.
Arsenault-Antolick, Haida
Absent:
Bait, Brad
Bocking, Natalie
Bains, Aman
Chapman, Glenn
Brennand, Tracy
Collinge, Joan
Fizzell, Maureen
Copeland, Lynn
Gordon, Robert
Cormack, Lesley
Harding, Kevin
de Castell, Suzanne
Hayes, Michael
Dow, Greg
Janes, Craig
Driver, Jon
Joes, Michel
Easton, Stephen
Louie, Brandt
Fergusson, Andrew
McArthur, James
Francis, June
O'Neil, John
Gençay, Ramo
Shermer, Thomas
Golnaraghi, Famid
Tiffany, Evan
Hannah, David
Vaid, Bhuvinder
Jones, John (representing C. Jones)
Wakkary, Ron
Krane, Bill
Warner, D'Arcy
Laba, Martin
Lee, Benjamin
Letourneau, Michael
Leznoff, Daniel
In attendance:
Liljedahl, Peter
Guthrie, Larry
MacDonald, Camille
Hibbitts, Pat
Paling, Joseph
Pochurko, Martin
Parkhouse, Wade
Roitberg, Bernie
Patel, Ravi
Pavsek, Christopher
Percival, Cohn
Percival, Paul
Peters, Joseph
Pinto, Mario
Phischke, Michael
Popadiuk, Natalee
Russell, Robert
Shapiro, Daniel
Tapia, Earl Von
Thompson, Steve
van Baarsen, Amanda
van der Wey, Dolores
Williams, Tony
Ross, Kate, Registrar & Senior Director Student Enrolment
Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat
Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary
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S.M. 15 September 2008
Page 2
1.
Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of 1& 7. 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
The Chair explained that a number of ex-officio members of Senate have changed and on
behalf of Senate, the Chair welcomed the following members in their new capacities: Jon
Driver, Vice-President, Academic; Cohn Jones, Interim Dean of Applied Sciences;
Suzanne de Castell, Interim Dean of Education, Joan Collinge, Interim Dean of
Continuing Studies, and Wade Parkhouse, Dean of Graduate Studies.
The Chair reported that intense efforts are being pursued, not only by SFU but also by
The University Presidents' Council (TUPC), with the Government in order to have the
funding which was withdrawn last year replaced so that the base budget is shored up.
Efforts are also being made to improve graduate funding, especially with respect to
unfunded graduate enrolments, and to achieve funding for the climate change agenda
which otherwise will impose a heavy burden and financial cost on public sector
institutions. Considerable efforts are being made at all levels of Government to stress the
consequences of cuts and lack of commitments by Government. Referring to a recent
notice sent out to the University community, the Chair reiterated that consultations about
budget will start in October and documentation which will be presented at the public
sessions outlines the gravity of the situation and the difficulties of accommodating the
shortfall of forecast expenses against the so far announced revenue picture.
Referring to references at the last meeting around the Government's Letter of
Expectations, the Chair reported that the Ministry of Advanced Educations significantly
changed the content of the Letter of Expectation for research universities. There was
general agreement by Board Chairs and TTJPC that the while the document was not ideal,
the truly serious problems of interference in Senate jurisdiction and other issues of concern
to universities were removed. The Chair reported that he will continue to seek
opportunities to discuss improvements both to the process and to the content of future
letters with the Ministry.
At the request of the Chair, the Vice-President Academic presented a brief report on
enrolment for the Fall 2008 term. Undergraduate enrolment for the Fall was above the
targets originally set by Senate, both for domestic and international students. Brief
discussion followed with respect to specific enrolment figures. In response to an inquiry as
to whether some of the increased tuition revenue would go to address the budget shortfall
in the scholarships, awards and bursaries budget, Senate was advised that this area would
likely be given priority.
.
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S.M. 15 September 2008
Page 3
0
i)
Paper S.08-99 - SFU Financial Statements March 31. 2008 (For Information)
P. Hibbitts, Vice-President Finance and Administration, M. Porchuko, Associate Vice-
President Finance, and L. Guthrie, Director, Accounting Services were in attendance in
order to respond to questions.
Brief introductory remarks with particular reference to pages 18 (last year's revenue
compared to this year's revenue) and 27 (reduction of reserves), were made by the Vice-
President Finance and Administration. Following a very brief discussion, the Statement
was received by Senate.
5.
Question Period
There were no questions.
6.
Reports of Committees
A)
Senate Committee on Universit
y
Priorities
i)
Paper S.08-100 - Behavioural Ecolog y
Research Group name change to
Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecolog
y
Research Group
Moved by J
.
Driver, seconded by R. Patel
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, the
research group name change from Behavioural Ecology Research Group to
Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology Research Group"
B. Roitberg, Department of Biological Sciences, was in attendance to respond to
questions.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
B)
Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules
i)
Paper S.08-101 - Annual Report (For Information)
The Annual Report of the Senate Committee on Agenda and Rules covering the period
June 2007 to May 2008 was received by Senate for information.
C)
Senate Nominating Committee
i)
Paper S.08-102 Revised - Elections
Senate's attention was drawn to Senate Paper S.08-102 Revised which was distributed at
the meeting and showed those positions which had been 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.08-102Revised woullso be
,-.
S.M. 15 September 2008
Page 4
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.08-102
Revised. Outstanding vacancies will be carried forward. The results of on-line voting are
as follows:
International Student Exchange Committee (ISEQ
One Student (Alternate) for term of office to May 31, 2009
Elected:
Ashley Pullman
Senate Committee on Universit
y
Honours (SCUH)
One Student for term of office from September 2008 to December 31, 2008
Elected:
Benjamin Lee
7.
Other Business
i)
Paper S.08-103 - Academic Amnesty Motion
Senate was advised that the motion concerning a protest on October 1
1t
has been
withdrawn because of the announcement of the Federal election.
8.
Information
The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday, October 6, 2008.
The Open Session adjourned at 5:50 pm, and Senate moved directly into Closed Session.
Alison Watt
Director, University Secretariat
LI
