SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

BURNAE3Y 2 ./ B.C.

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Text of an address to the university community by

Dr. Kenneth Strand, President of Simon Fraser

University, Monday, September 8, 1969.

First as a "new President" let me welcome all new students, new

staff and new faculty to Simon Fraser University. As an "ex-Acting

President" who has returned let me welcome all returning students,

faculty and staff.

At the outset, I wish to state that while I am willing to "come to

the Mall"

annually, it is not my intention to "report to the Mall" at any

time demanded. If the Mall serves any purpose, it is as a forum for the

immediate communication of ideas -- not for the solution of problems.

Last year when I spoke to the University community at this time, I

had served one month and nine days of a one-year term as Acting-President.

My expezience was limited, my time horizon short , and my address thin.

When I took office as Acting President the university was in a state of

crisis largely because many of the basic administrative policies which

should have been established in the early days of the university had not

been adopted. This legacy of inaction required that highest priority be

given to the basic policies dealing with faculty employment conditions

and to regularizing administrative techniques. Although new policies

have been adopted in such areas as promotion, dismissal, tenure,

pensions, and admissions, there is still much to be done in the area of

general administration. For example, the policy on sabbatical leave

is unfinished, and an adequate salary policy has yet to be devised. An

early task will be completion of these unexciting but necessary policies.

In addition, certain of the policies that have been adopted should be reviewed

and improved. I now intend to set priorities for the completion of basic

policies And a general review of those in operation.

A necessary review of educational policy was not initiated in the last

year, in part because time was short, but more importantly because it

could not or, in my judgement, should not be initiated by an Acting President.

As Acting President I felt obligated not to initiate certain policy changes that

would commit the President in areas where he should have freedom of action.

Now that the university has a permanent president and the nucleus of

an adequate administrative structure, we can focus on the broader question

of the educational philosophy of Sin-ion Fraser University. It is time for a

reaffirmation of the educational philosophy of-this university. As I see it, Sin-ion

Fraser's first commitment is to exciting; high qulity undergraduate education

areas of Arts. Science and Edic','

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J wish to comment on

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pressures that oppose this objective, the areas where the university

is falling short of this goal and the implications of this commitment.

One pressure that can work against this goal is .' over-emphasis

on graduate studies in departments

Let there be n(j misunderstanding,

graduate studies are necessary to the undergraduate program but in. the

proper balance We should not produce an overabundance of Ph. D's simply

for the sheer joy of teaching graduate students, particularly if this is done

at great expense to our undergraduate program.

Another pressure that can work against this goal is the notion that

the university can be all things to all people. This pressure and a

university's inability to make the choices necessary to set integrated

goals is what spawns a multi-versity. I wish to state cate.gorically

that I am opposed to a multi-ver.sity.

Several of the more important areas where the university is falling

short of the goal of high quality undergraduate education, if my observations

are correct, include a lack of balance between the professional emphasis

within disciplines and general education, between departmental autonomy

and general university welfare, between the university as a place of study

and evolution and the conception of the university as an instrument of .

social change or revolution.

In this context I do not use the words "professional emphasis" to mean

professional schools such as schools of medicine or law, but rather the

present orientation of some departments toward professional training with

insufficient attention given to general education. It is my observation,

perhaps incorrect, that as a by-product of the way this university was

founded the course structure of many departments is organized as if the

basic premise was that a first year student would emerge seven years

later with a Ph D. in that discipline

I call on departments to conduct an auto-critical,

review

of their course

offerings and to assess their relative emphasis between professional

training and general education, and to provide more choices for students

desiring a broad educational background.

I call on Departments and Faculties to move toward integration, in

areas where there is overlap of interests and disciplines, and on Senate

to develop a philosophy of purpose and procedures to accommodate the

necessary innovations and improvements to our acadmic programs

An implication of our goal is that we cannot afford secialiation to

the exclusion of broad human perspective -- whether it be in the social

or physical sciences Nor can we afford to be so international or eclectic

that we overlook the critical importance of careful study of Canadian -

culture and institutions.

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Can4da has its own particular culture and problems and these must

be distinguished from the problems that characterize the United States,

England or Europe As a scholar, it was the particular nature of the

Cänadianeconomy thatattracted me to this Canadian university. As

a teacher I was disturbed by the lack of scholarly studies in many

important areas. As a president of a Canadian university I encourage

individual scholars on this faculty to address themselves to Canadian

studies.

.1 hope within the next year to see a Canadian Studies program

ins tituted. Students and faculty will, 1 hope, support this program.

Another question we must re-examine is the implicit premise of

infinite expansion of SFU. Given the emphasis on high quality undergraduate

education there are naturallimits to size of the university. My own

prefererke is for a relatively small university -- not much larger than;.

it is at present. This raises the question of internal balance and

enrollmnt restrictions. I would like to avoid what is known as "the

edifice complex" and concentrate on the amenities that would make

• this an educational community rather than an educational way-station..

A reassessment of the tri-mester system is also called for. The

original objectives of the tri-mester system and the chief advantages

claimedfor it were:

1. Maximum flexibility for students in determining the pace

of their education.

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Maximum flexibility for faculty in utilization of their

research semester..

Maximum use of facilities over the calendar year.

The ideal pattern to achieve these. goals would consist of identical

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course offerings and enrollments in all three semesters; a condition

that has not and cannot be achieved.

The objective of maximum flexibility for students in determining the

pace of their education makes enrollments difficult to forecast. For

instance this fall 4100 students sent in cards stating they intended to

return whereas, to date, 3700 have returned, a difference of 400 . The

objective of maximum flexibility for faculty in utilization of their research

semester makes future course 'offerings difficult to schedule. These two

factors, plus a curriculum with a minimal number of required courses,

results

in a registration process of immense complexity. We will move

immediately to an effective system of pre-registration This will require

firm advance planning by departments and a firm commitment to future

course offerings in order that students may plan their schedules with

assurance that courses will be offered.

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Furthermore the hectic pace of the tri-mester system directs attention

mostly to immediate problems at the expense of reflection and longer term

considerations. This increases the likelihood of administrative problems.

Furthermore the constant turnover on faculty committees results in loss

of continuity, inaction, and frustration.

Another disadvantage of the

tri-mester system-as it operates at S. F. U.

is that it probably results in higher operating costs. As Acting-President

I authorized a study of costs which will isolate the additional cost of the trimester.

When this. is done every attempt will be made to obtain the necessary finances

to operate the tri-mester system. If this is not successful, then a hard look

at the advantage of the system relative 1

o its disadvantages must he made.

• I suggest that there are also some less obvious disadvantages to the

tri-tnestèr system. One is destruction of the sense of community that

results when one-third of the faculty is absent every semester. Another

disadvantage is the lost opportunity to utilize the summer semester for

less conventional approaches to education. Consider what might be possible

if the. summer semester was limited to a core of courses to be offered every

summer and if the freed time, space and resources were utilized for planned

experimentation, innovation and interaction with the community. . --

This brings me to the question of financed. University financing

essentially consists of two separate questions -- the amount of money

and predictability of the amount of money (capital and operating) that

will he available in the future. Our biggest financial handicap is lack of.

predictability. For instance, this year the total operating budget for the

three universities for the present year was known in February, but. the

share available to each university was not known until June. Mo.reover

even that share is not now firm; five per cent of the total grant is being

held back until November to be allocated on the basis of enrollments.

This uncertainty precludes orderly development of admissions, recruitment

and course scheduling and the implementation of new ideas and programs..

An immediate policy objective is to work with the other universities in

an attempt to obtain from the government a predictable method of university.

financing as well as more adequate financing.

Before leaving I would like to speak to the current controversy over

several tenure decisions and the CAUT visit. First, under the policy of

academic freedom and tenure adopted by the faculty last year, the role

of the President is de-limited. A democratically elected committee is

primarily responsible for the final recommendations that go to the Board.

In several of the widely publicized cases, the decisions are not yet final.

Opportunities for further consideration are still open. I am always

Willing to meet with any individual faculty member who feels aggrieved.

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Finally the visit by two officials froth CAUT was not an "investigation"

but rather an informal visit in conjunction with a regional convention

of Faculty Associations. Until internal procedires have been exhausted,

especially in cases where appeals are not yet complete, nor opportunities

for further consideration exhausted, neither the university or any individual

involvedbenefits from emotional reactioi or uninformed speculation.

In closing, let me state that I regard last year as the year when SFU

paused to regroup itself and the coming year as one whe.n it can begin

moving forward again.

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