DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE
Minutes of a Meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on
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Monday, October 6, 2008 at 5:30 pm in Room 3210 WMC
Open Session
Present: Stevenson, Michael, President and Chair of Senate
S
S
Arsenault-Antolick, Haida
Bart, Brad
Bocking, Natalie
Brennand, Tracy
Collinge, Joan
Copeland, Lynn
Cormack, Lesley
de Castell, Suzanne
Dow, Greg
Driver, Jon
Easton, Stephen
Fairey, Elaine (representing L. Copeland)
Francis, June
Gibson, Eli
Golnaraghi, Farid
Gordon, Irene (representing D. Shapiro)
Gordon, Robert
Hannah, David
Harding, Kevin
Hayes, Michael
Janes, Craig
Joes, Michel
Jones, John (representing C. Jones)
Krane, Bill
Laba, Martin
Lee, Benjamin
Letourneau, Michael
Leznoff, Daniel
MacDonald, Camille
O'Neil, John
Paling, Joseph
Parkhouse, Wade
Patel, Ravi
Percival, Cohn
Percival, Paul
Peters, Joseph
Pinto, Mario
Pliscbke, Michael
Popadiuk, Natalee
Seal, Brent
Tapia, Earl Von
Thompson, Steve
Wakkary, Ron
Warner, D'Arcy
Williams, Tony
Ross, Kate, Registrar & Senior Director Student Enrolment
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Watt, Alison, Director, University Secretariat
Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary
Absent:
Bains, Aman
Chapman, Glenn
Fergusson, Andrew
Fizzell, Maureen
Gencay, Ramo
Liljedahl, Peter
Louie, Brandt
McArthur, James
Pavsek, Christopher
Russell, Robert
Shermer, Thomas
Tiffany, Evan
Vaid, Bhuvinder
van der Wey, Dolores
In attendance:
Harriss, John
Verdun-Jones, Simon
Weinberg, Hal
S.M 6 October 2008
Page 2
1.
Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of September 15, 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
On behalf of Senate, the Chair welcomed and thanked the newly elected Student Senators
Eli Gibson and Brent Seal and thanked them for undertaking service to the University.
The Chair noted that a former Senator and very distinguished member of the University
community, John F. Ellis died on September 15, 2008. Dr. Ellis was a Charter Faculty
Member and Founding member of the Faculty of Education. He served in many positions
during his tenure at SFU including Acting President, Dean of Education, and member of
the Board of Governors. He also instigated many changes in the teacher education system
and established essential connections with school districts,
all
of which remain in use in the
teacher education program in the Faculty of Education. He produced, in consultation
with an Advisory Committee, a comprehensive admissions and standing policy for the
University at a critical point in SFU's development. Dr. Ellis was also on the founding
board of Capilano College, the first principal of the Open Learning Institute, the lead
author in the planning that led to the creation of the University of Northern British
Columbia, and was involved in important international educational developments in
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Norway, Cambodia and Thailand. SFU mourns his passing and,
on behalf of the University, the Chair has conveyed sincere condolences to his wife
Gladys and their family.
5.
Question Period
There were no questions.
6.
Reports of Committees
A) ?
Research Ethics Board
i) ?
Paper S.08-104 - Annual Report (For Information)
S. Verdun-Jones, Chair, Research Ethics Board and H. Weinberg, Director of Research
Ethics were in attendance in order to respond to questions.
A question arose with respect to the secondary use of data and the principle of
proportionate review. Concern was expressed about how long it took for applications to
be approved and the reluctance of agencies to release data. Senate was provided with an
explanation and rationale for the process of proportionate review and was provided with
S.M 6 October 2008
Page 3
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information on the internal policy for the secondary use of data. Brief discussion also
occurred with respect to the definition of anonymous data.
It was noted that
all
applications noted in the report had received approval, and an inquiry
was made as to whether any applications were rejected. Senate was advised that extensive
consultation and meetings with researchers occur leading up to the point of approval so
that by the time an application was submitted any concerns were already dealt with.
The Chair of the REB was asked to convey Senate's thanks and appreciation to the
members of the Research Ethics Board for all of the very complicated work they do on
behalf of the academic community.
B)
Senate Committee on Universit
y
Priorities
i) ?
Paper S.08-105 - New Program: Master of Arts in International Studies
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by S. Easton
"that Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, the full
program proposal for a Master of Arts in International Studies in the
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences"
J .
Harriss, School of International Studies, was in attendance to respond to questions.
In response to an inquiry as to whether the program was contingent on the appointment
of two faculty members as noted on page 13, Senate was advised that the program has
been offered for a number of years as a Special Arrangements Program so the addition of
two faculty members was not necessary but would certainly strengthen the program if they
were appointed.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
C)
Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies
i) ?
Paper S.08-106 - Change in Allowable Transfer Credits for the BGS Degree,
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Moved by B. Krane, seconded by C. MacDonald
"that Senate approve the change in program requirements for the Bachelor
of General Studies degree in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences"
An opinion was expressed that there were insafficient grounds to change the structure of
the degree. Many students who take a BGS degree do not want to specialize, want to
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move through their studies quickly, and the current structure allows them to do so.
Reference was made to preliminary discussions about the creation of a BA in
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Interdisciplinary Studies and it was suggested that this revision appeared to be a transitional
move towards that new degree.
Senate was advised that requiring 60 internal units of work was a standard practice at most
universities, and giving an SFU degree for 30 credits of work at SFU was an anomaly that
needed to be changed regardless of whether there was a move to a BA in Interdisciplinary
Studies. It was also noted that it was almost impossible for students to meet the W
requirements for the BGS if they only have 30 units at SFU.
The following suggestion by K. Harding was accepted as an amendment to the underlined
sentence on page 4 under the 'To' section: Students admitted into the BGS degree in the
Fall of 2009 or later may receive
use up
to 60 units of transfer credit
towards their SFU
degree.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION CARRIED
ii)
Paper S.08-107 - New Calendar language for Second BA Degree. Faculty of
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Arts
and Social Sciences
Moved by B. Krane, seconded by R. Patel
"that Senate approve the new calendar language for Second BA Degrees in
the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
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MOTION CARRIED
iii)
Paper S.08-108 - New Calendar language for Concurrent Degrees. Faculty
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of Arts
and Social Sciences
Moved by B. Krane, seconded by C. MacDonald
"that Senate approve the new calendar language for Concurrent Degrees in
the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences"
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION CARRIED
iv)
Paper S.08
.
-109 —Revision to Transfer Credit for International Baccalaureate
Diploma
Moved by B. Krane, seconded by K. Harding
"that Senate approve the transfer credit awarded to students who have
completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma be changed to a
maximum of 30 units for all standard level and higher level subjects that are
passed with a grade of 4 or higher. If assigned credits are less than 30 units,
general elective credit will be assigned to bring the total to 30."
S.M 6 October 2008
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5
i
sBrief discussion ensued regarding the use of grade level 4 for entry. Although the historical
reasons for using this level were unknown, it was pointed out that the data on page 3
suggested that students entering from the lB program appear to be better than average so it
appeared that this was not at issue.
Question was called, and a vote taken.
?
MOTION CARRIED
V)
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Paper S.08-11O - Curriculum Revisions - Facult
y
of Arts and Social Sciences
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting
under delegated authority, approved new courses, deletion of courses, changes to program
requirements, and minor revisions to existing courses in the following areas: Archaeology,
Canadian Studies, Contemporary Arts, Criminology, Economics, English, French Cohort
Program, Geography, International Studies, Latin American Studies, Linguistics,
Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology, Women's Studies, History,
Psychology, First Nations Studies, Italian Studies, and Integrated Studies Program. Senate
also received information concerning WQB course designations.
vi) ?
Paper S.08-111 - Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of Business Administration
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting
under delegated authority, approved a change to the Management Information Systems
concentration, and minor revisions to existing courses in the Faculty of Business
Administration.
D) ?
Senate Nominating Committee
i) ?
Paper S.08-112 Revised — Elections
Senate's attention was drawn to Senate Paper S.08-112 Revised which was distributed at
the meeting and showed those positions which had been elected by acclamation. Names
of candidates elected by acclamation can be found on Senate Paper S.08-112 Revised.
Two outstanding vacancies will be carried forward.
7.
Other Business
There was no other business.
8.
Information
The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday, November 3,
2008.
The Open Session adjourned at 5:55 pm, and Senate moved directly into Closed Session.
S
Alison Watt
Director, University Secretariat