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77
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778.782.5876
DATE
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PAGES
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S.10-132
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Dudra
S
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SCUP 10-76
OFFICE OF THE ASSOCIATE V1CE-PRESIDENT, ACADEtvlIC AND
ASSOCIATE PROVOST
8888 University Drive,
Burnaby,
Be
Canada VSA IS6
TEL: 778.782.4636
FAX: 778.782.5876
www.sfu.ca/vpacademic
MEMORANDUM
AnENTION
Senate Committee on University
DATE
September 16,2010
Priorities
FROM
Bill I<tane, Chair
PAGES
1/1
Senate Committee on
Undergraduate Studies
RE:
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (SCUS lO-40j REVISED)
Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies at its meeting of
September 16, 2010, gives rise to the following recommendation:
Motion:
That
SCUP approve that admission to the Integrated Studies Program, within the
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, be halted effective Fall 201 0 and;
that the Integrated Studies Program be discontinued upon the current cohort's
completion anticipated in 2013.
The relevant documentation for review
by
SCUP is attached.
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
THINKING OF THE WORLD
MEMO
Office of the Dean
STREET ADDRESS
Academic
Quadrang1e
Room 6168
MAILING ADDRESS
8888 University Drive
Burnaby
Be
Canada
V5A 186
604-291-4414 (Tel)
www.sfu.calarts (Web)
SFU
SCUS 10-40j (REVISED)
FACULTY OF
ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
lTO: Bill Krane, Assoc. VP Academic
I
FROM John Craig, Dean FASS
I
RE Integrated Studies Program
L.
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n c
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iff e '. Sa r a hOe n c h
I
DATE September 10,
20~1_0
________________________ __
We are recommending that admissions to the Integrated Studies Program be halted as of fall 20 I 0
and, over the next three years,
the
program be discontinued. The reasons for closing the program
are twofold.
First, the Faculty of Business will no longer be offering courses in the ISP. The mature and
working students in the ISP are largely drawn to the program because of those courses and student
representatives have made it clear that without
a
Business component the program would not be .
viable.
Second, SFU plans to be accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
Part of the NWCCU '5 temlS state that credits for prior experientialleaming
be
limited to a
maximum of25% of the credits needed for a degree. The ISP gives 50% of the credits needed for a
degree and that is granted on the basis of an essay, an interview, and a writing exercise. Even if the
entrance requirements for the ISP were brought into line with the NWCCU's regulations, F ASS
cannot spare the faculty members it would take to evaluate the students properly .
. The last cohort ofISP students begin courses this week. They will take three years to complete the
program. As students are only admitted into the program once a year, in the fall, if admissions are
halted immediately, there will be well over two semesters notice of closure.
Many thanks. If you have any questions, p1ease direct them to Paul Budra (budra@sfu.ca).
\
----- ..
John Craig
3
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1. The termination of the Integrated Studies Program (ISP) will mean the elimination of a
premium-fee Bachelor
of General Studies. This will not impact on the BGS as a whole
or on any other degrees or certificates.
2. The program is located in F ASS but administered through Continuing Studies. There
have been cohorts
of students in the program at Harbour Centre, Surrey, Kamloops, and
Kitimat. Currently there are cohorts at Harbour Centre and Surrey. One final cohort will
begin this September at Harbour Centre.
3. The degree is offered by FASS.
4. The program will dissolve when the last cohort has finished the program: at the end of the
summer of2013.
5. The program is being terminated for several reasons:
a. After conSUlting with the Deans of Arts and Social Sciences and Continuing
Studies, Business communicated their intention to withdraw from participation in
the program. Business offered a number of courses in the program over the years
but the ISP was not considered a Business degree. However, changes in the
AACSB accreditation standards that mandate the percentage of business courses
in Business
School programs meant that the ISP
had
to be considered a Business
program. The
AACSB requires that programs with more than 25% business
content or
"Business" in the program name be included in their accreditation
evaluation.
Over time the business content in the ISP has risen as high as 39% of
course offerings.
Program coherence was also a problem: over time the course
offerings changed
to the point that they no longer met our Business faculty
standards for even a partial business program offered at
SFU. Further, courses in
the ISP were not taught by regular Business faculty due to severe shortages of
faculty to teach in the core.
h. SFU plans to be accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and
Universities. Part of the NWCCU's tenns state that credits for prior experiential
learning be limited
to a maximum of 25% of the credits needed for a degree, that
they only be awarded for documented student achievement equivalent to expected
learning achievement
for courses within the institution's regular curricular
offerings, and that they only be granted on the recommendation
of appropriately
qualified teaching faculty. Further, the credits
granted for prior experiential
learning luust be
so identified on the students' transcripts. The ISP gives 50% of
the credits needed for a degree and that
is granted on the basis of an essay, an
interview, and a writing exercise. Even if the entrance requirements for the ISP
were brought into line with the NWCCU's regulations, F ASS cannot spare the
faculty members it would take to evaluate the students properly.
6. Plans for termination:
a. Students have been told through their cohort representatives and the ISP website
now states that
no new applications will be accepted.
b. Instructors, the ISP steering committee, the dean of Continuing Studies, the
Program Director of the ISP, ISP staff, and the SFU Senate have all been told of
the need to close the pro gram.
c. The program is run on a cost-recovery basis so there should be no resources to
reallocate when it is dissolved.
d. The departments in F ASS were consulted at a F ASS Curriculum Committee
meeting on July 15,2010. Business has already declared its intention to stop
offering courses tlrrough the program.
e. There will be no impact on departments or faculties. All but two of the courses in
the ISP are taught by sessional or limited-tenn instructors. The two full-time
faculty members can teach courses in their respective departments.
f.
Timeline: the final cohort will begin classes in September. Over the next three
years existing cohorts will graduate until the final one completed at the end of the
summer of 2013.
7. For more information please contact Paul Budra, Associate Dean and Academic Director
of the ISP program: budra@sfu.ca; 778-782-4416.
