DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED BY SENATE

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

Monday, December 7, 2009 at 7:00 pm in Room 3210 WMC

Open Session

Absent

Brennand, Tracy

Easton, Stephen

Godson, Ali

Golnaraghi, Farid

Harding, Kevin

Lee, Shara

Lewis, Cynthia

Li, Fiona

Lowe, Brandt

McArthur, James

Myers, Gordon

Nadison, Ada

Noble, Cameron

Patel, Ravi

Pavsek, Christopher

Percival, Paul

Ruben, Peter

Russell, Robert

Sahinalp, Cenk

Scott, Jamie

Tiffany, Evan

van der Wey, Dolores

Woodbury, Rob

Present

Stevenson, Michael, President and Chair of Senate

Beale, Alison (representing C. Geisler)

Bezglasnyy, Anton

Chapman, Glenn

Chiu, Christina

Copeland, Lynn

Cormack, Lesley

Dow, Greg

Driver, Jon

Fizzell, Maureen

Francis, June

Funt, Elliot

Gibson, Eli

Gordon, Robert

Hannah, David

Haunerland, Norbert (representing M. Pinto)

Hiscocks, Graham

Janes, Craig

Joffies, Michel

Krane, Bill

Laba, Martin

Leznoff, Daniel

MacGrotty, Alysia

Magnusson, Kris

Moubarak, Cristel

Nesbit, Tom

O'Neil, John

Parkhouse, Wade

Paterson, David

Percival, Colin

Peters, Joseph

Pierce, John

Plischke, Michael

Rajapakse, Nimal

Shapiro, Daniel

Thompson, Steve

Wakkary, Ron

Warner, D'Arcy

Williams, Tony

Zelezny, Joseph

Ross, Kate, Registrar and Secretary of Senate

Grant, Bobbie, Recording Secretary

In attendance:

Collins, Colleen

Hinchliffe, Jo

Murray, Catherine

Verdun-Jones, Simon

Weinberg, Hal

S.M. 7 December 2009

Page 2

Approval of the Agenda

The Agenda was approved as distributed.

Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of November 2. 2009

Referring to his remarks under Item 4 on page 2, the Chair clarified that it was not his

intention to proceed in a way that overlooked highly successful and productive programs

nor did he believe that had been the case in the past.

Following the above-noted clarification, the Minutes were approved.

Business Arising from the Minutes

The Vice-President, Academic reported the following changes that have been made as a

result of the discussion at Senate about the recommendations of the Task Force on

Teaching and Learning. The University Council on Teaching and Learning will not be

formed at this time. Instead, a short-term advisory committee consisting of faculty, staff,

and students, will be established with the purpose of providing advice to the Vice

President, Academic on what action to take with respect to the final recommendations of

the Task Force. When the final report on teaching and learning is complete, the report

will be released to the entire University community for comment and will be brought to

Senate for discussion and advice. Senate's comments will be forwarded to the advisory

committee for consideration. J

Driver reconfirmed his statement from last meeting that

no changes affecting the academic activities of the University would be implemented

without action from the appropriate Senate committee. Senate was advised that the

appointment of University Teaching Fellows had gone ahead. The purpose of these

appointments was to encourage debate about the best practices in teaching and learning in

each Faculty and liaise with faculty and staff but Fellows have no mandate to evaluate

teaching or to interfere with the professional judgment of any faculty member about the

way a course should be offered.

Report of the Chair

2009 Gold Award for Public-Sector Leadership in Education

The Chair was pleased to report that the University won the 2009 gold award for public-

sector leadership and innovation in Education from the Institute of Public Administration

of Canada. SFU was recognized for establishing its campuses in downtown Vancouver and

Surrey.

ii) Maclean's Ranking

It was noted that Maclean's has ranked Simon Fraser University the best of Canada's

comprehensive universities and the Chair wished to acknowledge the contributions of

faculty, staff and students whose energy and creativity contribute to the success of the

university.

S.M. 7 December 2009

Page 3

5. ?

Question Period

i) ?

Paper S.09-131 - Response to Question: Impact of new scheduling policy

The Associate Vice-President, Academic noted that the document before Senate provided

the results of a comparison done by the Office of Institutional Research and Planning of

the Fall semester prior to the introduction of the new scheduling policy and the Fall

semester immediately after its implementation. A brief explanation was provided for the

various graphs and Senate was informed that although the results were not as dramatic as

expected, they were moving in the right direction but it will be important to continue to

monitor the effect of the policy.

Reports of Committees

A) ?

Research Ethics Board

i) ?

Paper S.09-132 - Annual Report (For Information)

S. Verdun-Jones, Chair, Research Ethics Board, and H. Weinberg, Director of the Office

of Research Ethics, were in attendance in order to respond to questions. Senate received

the 2008/2009 Annual Report for information.

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B) ?

Senate Committee on University Priorities

i) ?

Paper S.09-133 - New Program: Joint Major in Latin American Studies and

International Studies

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by L. Cormack

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

program proposal for a Joint Major in Latin American Studies and

International Studies in the Latin American Studies Program and the

School for the International Studies within the Faculty of Arts and Social

Studies"

An inquiry was raised about the language requirement and whether there were concerns

that SFU offered only one year of Portuguese and whether two years of Spanish language

training was sufficient. A suggestion was made that one more course at the 3' year level of

Spanish should be required. Senate was advised that the equivalence in Portuguese was

added to accommodate students with Portuguese coming from other institutions so they

would not be required to take Spanish. Adding another Spanish course would

unnecessarily restrict students because not all Spanish courses were offered every year at

the senior level so it would be difficult to ensure access to required courses. It was noted

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that one of the requirements of the program was to spend a term abroad and if students

spent this time in a Spanish-speaking country they would likely acquire sufficient language

skills.

S.M. 7 December 2009

Page 4

There was reference to the Caribbean in the program but it was noted that there did not

appear to be any courses offered at SFU specifically dealing with this region. Senate was

advised that there were no faculty members within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

with the Caribbean as their primary research focus, but that some of the LAS courses

included the Caribbean. It was better to include the Caribbean because it allowed for

fliture expansion in that area.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii)

Paper S.09-134 - New Program: Certificate in Social Justice

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by A. Mc Grotty

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

program proposal for a Certificate in Social Justice in the Department of

Sociology and Anthropology within the Faculty of Arts and Social

Sciences"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

iii)

Paper S.09-135 - Department of Women's Studies - External Review and

resulting Action Plan

The Vice-President, Academic advised Senate that this was the new format for

recommendations concerning external reviews. The process was developed in response to

concerns raised about the vagueness of the recommendations that have come to Senate in

the past.

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by L. Cormack

"that Senate approve the recommendation from the Senate Committee on

University Priorities to implement the Action Plan for the Department of

Women's Studies that resulted from its External Review"

C. Murray, Chair of the Department of Women's Studies, was in attendance in order to

respond to questions.

Question was called, and a vote taken. ?

MOTION CARRIED

iv)

Paper S.09-136 - Department of Women's Studies Name Change to Department

of Gender. Sexualit y,

and Women's Studies

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by A. Beale

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

change of the Department of Women's Studies to the Department of

Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies"

S.M. 7 December 2009

Page 5

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C. Murray, Chair of the Department of Women's Studies, was in attendance in order to

respond to questions.

In response to an inquiry as to the reason for the name change, Senate was informed that

the external reviewers strongly advised that the name be amended to include the

department's minor in gender studies and a broader set of debates evolving in the field.

The new name was seen to be more inclusive and would provoke interdisciplinary

research within and across a number of departments and Faculties.

Since gender was now included in the new title, a question was posed as to whether it was

still necessary to retain the reference to women. Senate was advised that this issue was

extremely important to some of the more established faculty members in the Department,

and since the Department felt there was sufficient interest to sustain women's studies, the

new name would be relevant for quite some time. It was also noted that women's studies

was an area of interdisciplinary research that has growing support in many countries of the

world, especially in developing countries, and it was very important politically and

strategically therefore to retain this reference.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Paper S.09-137 - Creation of the Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Business

Studies

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Moved by J. Driver, seconded by M. Fizzell

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

proposal for the creation of the Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Studies

as a Schedule A Centre based in the Faculty of Business Administration"

It was noted that other than one very short reference to India, the only country

mentioned in the document was China, and a question was raised as to whether the

Centre was meant to only focus on China. Senate was advised that there was no intention

to restrict the activities of the Centre to China, that the focus would be on the entire Asia

Pacific region, and that the actual name of the Centre was the Jack Austin Centre for Asia

Pacific Business Studies.

The motion was amended as follows to correct the name of the Centre

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

proposal for the creation of the Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Business

Studies as a Schedule A Centre based in the Faculty of Business

Administration"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION (AS AMENDED) CARRIED

S.M. 7 December 2009

Page 6

vi)

Paper S.09-138 - Centres and Institutes Report 2008/2009 (For Information)

The Associate Vice-President, Research advised Senate that the two Centres who had

failed to submit annual reports, have now done so. Following this clarification, the Report

was received by Senate for information.

Paper S.09-139 - Revision of Policy R40.01 Research Centres and Institutes

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by N. Haunerland

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

revisions of Policy R 40.01 - Research Centres and Institutes"

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

C) ?

Calendar Committee

i) ?

Paper S.09-140 - Web-based Calendar (For Information)

J .

Hincbliffe, Assistant Registrar and Secretary of the Calendar Committee, was in

attendance in order to respond to questions.

Although having an online Calendar was favourably received, the following

concerns/issues/suggestions were raised:

- An annual Calendar needs to be maintained; having a new Calendar every semester

would considerably increase the workload of advising staff and staff reviewing

credentials for graduation as staff would have to be aware of three different Calendars

every year instead ofjust one. Senate was advised that having a semesterly Calendar

was advantageous to students since they would have access to a newer program earlier.

The increase in workload was acknowledged. A final decision on this issue would not

be made until after the Curricunet system was implemented and the concerns would

be taken under advisement.

- Upon admission to the University and/or into programs, students are governed by the

Calendar in effect at that time so a historical database needed to be readily readable so

that faculty and staff can determine the relevant program at the time of a student's

admittance. Senate was advised that historical Calendars will be archived online.

- Recommendation was made to rephrase wording in the memo to clarify that the

official Calendar version is that which appears online, and to delete the word 'solely'

from the third paragraph in order to allow more flexibility and options in case there

was a desire/need to print a Calendar for limited circulation to a specific audience.

- Having the entire Calendar in a single searchable file online would make it easier to

search and find whatever is needed rather than having to download the complete

Calendar. Senate was advised that the Calendar would be a single, searchable file with

sections of the Calendar printer friendly so users would be able to print out what they

need and put together a catalogue for their use.

S.M. 7 December 2009

Page 7

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J. Hinchliffe stated that the concerns, suggestions, and recommendations made by Senate

would be taken under advisement by the Committee.

D) ?

Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies

i.a) ?

Paper S.09-141 - Revision of Admission Requirements for Entrance to Business

Administration

Prior to moving the motion, the Associate Vice-President, Academic advised Senate of

the following corrections to the motion/paper:

- the motion should read 'effective for the Fall 2011 term' rather than Fall 2010

- on page 1, the second sentence should read 'Revision of Admission Requirements for

the 2011/2012 calendar' rather than the 2010/2011 calendar

- section (c) should be deleted since this issue is already covered under a different

admission regulation

Moved by B. Krane, seconded by J. Francis

"that Senate approve the revision of admission requirements for entrance to

the Faculty of Business Administration effective for the Fall 2011 term"

C. Collins, Associate Dean, Faculty of Business Administration, was in attendance in order

to respond to questions.

In response to an inquiry related to the rationale for Section A, Senate was advised that the

focus of Item A was on the maximum of two repeated courses within the nine required

courses. Since this was now delayed to 2011/2012 anyone planning to transfer would be

grandiathered and would be fully aware of the change.

A question was posed about the omission from the new Calendar wording of the number

of students granted entry to the Faculty per academic year. Senate was advised that the

Faculty felt that specific numbers were no longer appropriate since admission intakes are

managed through other processes such as SCEMP targets and budget constraints.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

i.b) ?

Paper S.09-142 - Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of Business Administration (For

Information)

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

under delegated authority, approved minor revisions to existing courses and program

requirements in the Faculty of Business Administration.

S.M. 7 December 2009

Page 8

ii)

Paper S.09-143 - Curriculum Revisions - Facult y

of Applied Sciences (For

Information)

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

under delegated authority, approved a course deletion in the School of Computing

Science.

iii)

Paper S.09-144 - Curriculum Revisions - Facult y

of Arts and Social Sciences (For

Information)

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

under delegated authority, approved course deletions in Archaeology, French, and

History; Temporarily Withdrew courses in Archaeology, Criminology, Economics,

Humanities, International Studies, Greek, Language, and Linguistics; Reinstated a course

from TW status in Archaeology, and approved new courses in Women's Studies.

iv.a) Paper S.09-145 - Revision to Faculty Requirements for admission to the

TechOne Program

Moved by B. Krane, seconded by C. Moubarak

"that Senate approve a change in the Faculty requirements for admission to

the TechOne Program"

It was pointed out that there were students who took the TechOne program and then

transferred into other Faculties. Concern was expressed that the needs of these students

would not be served if the program now became a more focused program serving only

FCAT students. Senate was advised that the TechOne program was indeed being

restructured to meet the needs of FCAT students but there were plans underway to create

separate equivalent programs in Applied Sciences and Business Administration to service

the needs of their students.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

iv.b) Paper S.09-146 - Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of Communication. Art &

Technolog y

(For Information)

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

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

requirements in the School of Communication and the TechOne program.

Paper S.09-147 - Faculty of Education - Curriculum Revisions (For Information)

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

under delegated authority, approved one new course and course deletions in the Faculty

of Education.

S.M. 7 December 2009

Page 9

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vi) ?

Paper S.09-148 - Facult

of Science - Curriculum Revisions (For Information)

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

under delegated authority, approved minor revisions to existing courses and program

requirements in Earth Sciences and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry.

E) ?

Senate Graduate Studies Committee

Paper S.09-149 - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences - Curriculum Revisions (For

Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under

delegated authority, approved course deletions, new courses, and minor revisions to

existing courses and program requirements in Criminology, Economics, English,

International Studies, Liberal Studies, Political Science, and Psychology.

ii)

Paper S.09-150 - Faculty of Business Administration

- Curriculum Revisions (For

Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under

delegated authority, approved revisions to existing courses in Business Administration.

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iii) ?

Paper S.09-151 - Facult

of Environment - Curriculum Revisions (For

Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under

delegated authority, approved a new course in the Faculty of Environment.

iv)

Paper S.09-152 - Faculty of Health Sciences - Curriculum Revisions (For

Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under

delegated authority, approved new courses, course deletions, and minor revisions to

existing courses and program requirements in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Paper S.09-153 - Faculty of Science - Curriculum Revisions (For Information)

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under

delegated authority, approved new courses in the Department of Biological Sciences.

F) ?

Senate Committee on Continuing Studies

i) ?

Paper S.09-154 - Annual Report (For Information)

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Senate's attention was drawn to the third paragraph on page 4 which dealt with an

agreement reached with Thompson Rivers University to ladder non-credit courses into a

credit management and professional program at TRU. A concern was expressed about

how these non-credit courses would be handled if a student transferred back to SFU. If

S.M. 7 December 2009

Page 10

these non-credit courses were given the equivalency of credit courses, this would be

problematic for Business Administration because of its accreditation status and the

accreditation review process by an external body. The Chair directed the Dean of

Continuing Studies to take this concern under advisement for future considerations of this

sort.

Senate Nominating Committee

i) ?

Paper S.09-155 - Elections

The Secretary reported that no nominations had been received and that outstanding

vacancies would be carried forward. The Senate Nominating Committee hoped to

undertake an active recruitment process to try and fill these vacancies and Senators were

encouraged to submit recommendations for nominations to J

Hincbliffe, Secretary of the

Senate Nominating Committee.

Other Business

i) ?

Paper S.09-156 - Revision of Deans Search Committee Policy - A13.05

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by C. Moubarak

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

revision of A13.05, the policy regulating the search committees for Deans"

A suggestion to include a comma after the word University in the new wording under

stage 1, stage 2, terms of reference for the Dean, and number D was accepted as a friendly

amendment.

Question was called, and a vote taken.

? MOTION CARRIED

Information

The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday, January 11, 2010.

The Open Session adjourned at 7:55 pm, and Senate moved directly into Closed Session.

Kate Ross

Registrar and Secretary of Senate