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Attachl11ents:

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---

*

External Review Team:

Leslie King, Ph.D., MCIP, Vancouver Island University

Buzz Holling, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, University of Florida

Peter Harrison, Ph.D. Director and Stauffer-Dunning Chair in Policy Studies, Queen's University

CC

John Pierce, Dean of Environment

Frank Gobas - Director,

School of Itesourcc and Environmental Management

2

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Memorandum

TO:

SCUP

FROM:

Jon Driver

Chair, SCUP and

Vice President, Academic

RE:

School of Resource and Environmental Mgt

DATE:

September 29,2010

As per the attached:

Motion:

That

SCUP

approves and recommends

to

Senate

the implementation

of

the

Action

Plan

for the

School

of

Resource

and

Environmental

Mgt

that

resulted

from its Extemal

Review

.

---

SFU School of Resource and Environmental Management Review

Report and Recommendations

April

30, 2010

Review Panel:

Leslie

King, Ph.D., MClP, Vancouver Island University

Buzz Holling, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, University of Florida

Peter Harrison,

Ph.D. Director and Stauffer-Dunning Chair in Policy Studies, Queen's University

Rolf Mathewes,

Ph.D. Associate Dean of Science, Simon Fraser University

School

of Resource and Environmental Management Review

Executive Summary: The review panel conducted a site visit

to the SFU School of Resources and

Environmental Management in the Faculty

of Environment during the week of March 8-13, 2010. After

reviewing in advance the extremely thorough and excellent self study and the planning and other

documents provided by the University, Faculty and School, we were prepared and made the most of our

very intensive visit. We interviewed current (and some graduated) students in the PhD and MRM

programs, staff, Faculty members

of different ranks, technicians, committee members and many

relevant university administrators particularly in the research and graduate studies offices. We attended

a

class and toured office, classroom, research institute and lab facilities. We are grateful for the

opportunity to meet and discuss the school in some depth. We were very impressed with the school and

with the commitment and dedication of all we met. As requested, the review panel assessed the

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for change and improvement and quality and effectiveness of the

program

as summarized below:

1. Strengths:

The primary strength

of the School is the high quality faculty and staff. The Masters (MRM)

Program

has an excellent reputation for high quality teaching, outstanding graduates and

effective professional preparation. The panel observed a high degree

of collegiality, positive and

productive relationships

within and outside the school and an environment conducive to

excellence in learning, service and scholarship. The School is unique in its successful inter-

disciplinary, applied, experiential and problem-focused education

at the graduate level. Other

strengths include a good record of scholarship by all faculty members in the schoo" as

evidenced by publications in a wide variety of academic and professional journals, as well as

research grants and funding. Faculty members engage in exemplary service - particularly

professional and community service and far-reaching networks of professional colleagues across

1

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the country. Many faculty members are active in academic leadership in Canada through service

on government and industry bodies and panels.

Graduates

of the school demonstrate the excellent outcomes and the impact the School has had

on environmental problem solving

in Canada. The school has a great deal of external influence

and

has a wide array of useful networks of professionals and graduates who fill position of

influence in the field and provide ongoing opportunities for current students. As a result, the

School has an outstanding reputation in BC and across Canada.

The academic programs in the school are highly relevant and skilfully interdisciplinary.

The MRM boasts high student satisfaction and a near perfect track record in student

employment in

the field.

The many and varied research institutes cover most of the important environmental and

resource

issues and are an excellent resource, academic support, and opportunity for research,

employment, funding, and thesis topics

for students. The school has a highly professional,

dedicated and skilful staff who, despite heavy workloads, provides a great deal

of support for

students and faculty members.

2. Weaknesses:

The school's focus on building on its strengths

has resulted in a reliance on one model of

professional education for all three levels- undergraduate, Masters and PhD. With the formation

of a new Faculty of the Environment, an opportunity has opened to develop a new

interdisciplinary focus

for an undergraduate program, and a focus for the Ph.D. program that is

different from the one in place now. Also, gaps in academic offerings (at the undergraduate

level) result

in a lack of integrated continuous educational opportunities from first year through

to Masters and PhD. Although not necessarily a weakness of the School, which has focused its

efforts on high quality graduate Masters programming, the limited and spotty undergraduate

programming

is a challenge for the University and the new Faculty who could take better

advantage

of the demand for environmental programs at all levels.

The

School has also identified problems with the Ph.D. program that Faculty are now taking

steps

to resolve. While we believe that the proposed changes will go a long way to resolving

problems

with the Ph.D., we also believe that more and different improvements could be made

to the PhD that will strengthen the School as a whole. There is also an imbalance in the school

between the highly popular and over-subscribed Master's program and the

PhD program which

has low enrolment. While we believe that enrolment in the PhD should not grow too quickly or

large, a better balance would be beneficial for research in the school as well as for the

reputation

and impact of the School and Faculty. It would also contribute to the University's

goals

of becoming more research intensive and would be part of an effort to increase

international visibility and activity.

Completion times in the Masters program, with many

students completing in three

or more years, (the median for the most recent period is 9

semesters

or 3 years, so half of the students complete in more than that) and to a lesser extent

in the PhD is another weakness that should be addressed.

2

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The goal of the Masters program is to be interdisciplinary. In contrast, the PhD program should

assume candidates have sufficient

multidisciplinary background, and instead focus on being

integrative. That may require only one required integrative course. (That course could

be open

to all graduate students on the campus, and be run as a workshop, with REM graduate students

playing the role

of the workshop staff.) No additional courses need be required though they may

be assigned as part of the advisory committees' decision. This flexible student-centred approach

based on the needs and background

of each individual student would allow the student's

committee

to design a program to reflect the needs, background, and learning style of each

student.

While the diversity

of research funding in the school is a strength, there also needs to be better

funding for both Masters and PhD students which can only occur if faculty (already successful in

attracting tri-council funding) develop longer-term research programs

that are capable of

funding Ph.D. students for the duration of their programs. The development of such long term

programs would also

be part of an effort to increase international visibility and activity.

Greater association

with international projects could facilitate interchange of PhD students with

universities

in different countries. As an example, the school has recently joined the Resilience

Alliance as a node, where interchange is a traditional mode of operation. In particular such

interchanges have been welcomed in institutes and universities

in Australia, Sweden, South

Africa, Indiana, Arizona and Wisconsin.

Another potential weakness

is the lack of visibility and prominence of the School in the

University, although

the creation of the new Faculty and the opportunity for leadership by the

School in the development of the Faculty should go a long way to solving that issue.

As always, faculty and administrative workload are challenges that threaten the capacity of the

School to expand and develop. This will also be exacerbated by the added academic and

administrative role

of the School in the new Faculty. Another challenge will be cooperation with

other units relevant to environment in the university. Since the new Faculty will be unable to

incorporate all relevant disciplines and units, it will be important for the new Faculty to reach

out to others in the university. With current heavy workloads this will be a challenge. A final

weakness

is failure to capitalize on the existence of Aboriginal opportunities in the School. Many

faculty and students are working

with Aboriginal people and the school needs to package and

promote these opportunities

for innovation in curriculum and research.

3

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3. Opportunities for change and or improvement:

The greatest opportunity for REM is the new Faculty and the opportunity for REM to playa

leadership role in its development. This could bring greater visibility and increased participation

in the University as a whole. That in turn would lead to new opportunities for partnerships and

collaboration across the university and beyond. These partnerships will

be crucial for the future

development and

success of both REM and the new Faculty. It could also lead to potential new

faculty members in relevant fields moving to the Faculty from other units in the university. The

move

of Archaeology into the Faculty is a wonderful opportunity that will add significantly to the

academic breadth and

quality of the Faculty and help balance the structure of the Faculty.

Another opportunity

for the School is to build on its strengths in both the undergraduate and

PhD programs. We believe that a great opportunity for both the school and the new Faculty is to

build on and promote its current Aboriginal content and perspectives in the curriculum,

research and service and

to attract aboriginal students and staff. In this waYI the School and the

Faculty could assist

the university in the fulfillment of the Aboriginal Strategic Plan. There are

few academic areas of more relevance and potential for building aboriginal demand than in the

field

of environment. This is relevant to the broader opportunity that exists for the School and

the Faculty

to diversify and internationalize the curriculum and research. Another opportunity

and strength

is the obvious visible support for REM and the new Faculty from the university and

senior administration.

As indicated above, other areas for change or improvement include MRM completion time and

the development

of the PhD. There is a great opportunity to further develop the PhD. (One

possible synergy is with the SFU Ed.D. in Environmental education).

If

the PhD is expanded

there will then

be an opportunity to use PhD students in roles currently undertaken by Master's

students

as support for Faculty research. That in turn, however,

will

require longer term better

funded research programs and increased diversity in funding sources

for research.

4.

Quality and effectiveness:

There is a great deal of evidence for the high quality and effectiveness of REM. The quality of

students in the graduate programs and the high level of satisfaction of current and past students

and

of employers of graduates are impressive. For example, one employer stated that MRM

graduates consistently could

hit the ground running with fIno assembly nor batteries required"!

External engagement is extremely high in the school and many enterprises outside the

university including governments,

NGOs and the private sector routinely call on faculty

members

for advice and problem solving. Faculty members are recipients of numerous awards

and honours and regularly serve on

International, Federal and Provincial expert panels,

roundtables, and advisory boards. (including

inter alia,

UN Energy Assessment, National

Roundtable on Environment and Economy (Jaccard),

Ocean Climate Change and Marine

Biodiversity Panel, Royal Society of Canada and DFO Stock Assessment Management Board

(Peterman)

DFO Stock Assessment Program (COX), Parks Canada Marine Protected Areas

4

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Working Group (Haider) Royal Canadian Geographical Society (Gill), International Institute for

Sustainable Cities(Roseland), Historic Sites of American Indians (Welch), Stavros Niarchos

Foundation and British

Columbia Biodiversity Strategy (Lerztman), Scientific Advisory Board for

Contaminated Sites in BC (Gobas), National Advisory Committee, Ocean Management Research

Network (Pinkerton) and many others

too numerous to mention. They are also consulted by our

own and other governments (notably, China) including Mark Jaccard's service as co-Chair of the

Task Force on Sustainable Coal and the Task Force on Energy Strategy and Technologies of the

China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. Many faculty

members work regularly

with First Nations and all faculty members are working in areas of great

relevance

to British Columbia, forestry, fisheries, climate, and land-use planning among Faculty

members and students contribute significantly

to policy and management in BC and Canada.

The development of active research institutes in areas of critical environmental importance

(Energy and Materials, Fisheries, Tourism Policy, Forest Ecology, Environment and Development,

Climate, Oceans, and Paleo-environments, Coastal Marine Ecology and Conservation,

Cooperative Resource Management, Co-management, Parks, Protected Areas and Recreation)

is

also evidence of effectiveness both for the outside world and for graduate education.

Faculty members have received many

of the honours available to academics, do an

extraordinary amount of external, government and public education, and also are effective in

obtaining a broad diversity

of research grants.

In summary, we found REM to be highly effective in terms of high quality teaching, impressive

and satisfied students, research contributions and

an astonishing level of service to professional

fields and communities.

In the categories of the review we provide below more specific observations and

recommendations.

a) Quality of Teaching -

(The quality of the unit's teaching programs is high and there are

measures in place

to

ensure their evaluation and revision.)

Panel members agree

that the quality of teaching in REM is extremely high as evidenced

by teaching awards, student satisfaction, comments and evaluation, and employer

satisfaction

with graduates.

The teaching in REM is consistent with and fulfills the goals of the University's academic

plan, particularly in the areas

of "High Quality Student Experience" and the "University's

Role in the Community". The School is well poised to "increase the number of First Nations

Students" and to "increase our International, First Nations, and Interdisciplinary exposure"

and should certainly take the opportunities that already exist in the School to do that. In

the teaching and learning theme, the School is actively engaged in new program

development in

the Environment and also are experienced and expert in integrated faculty

research into curriculum at both the graduate and under-graduate levels. The School is

5

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also contributing to "Research Intensity" through their faculty research, PhD and Masters

education and research, through

their engagement in collaborative, interdisciplinary

research and outstanding knowledge mobilization

to a variety of communities. In terms of

the University's Role in the Community", the School has forged excellent partnerships with

First Nations communities and with other communities, government, and non-

governmental agencies

to solve problems and provide guidance and advice.

Student endorsements included in the self study were glowing

as were the comments we

received while interviewing Masters and

PhD students and former students (many of

whom are now employers of REM students). The quality of the graduate students (both

entering and graduating)

is particularly impressive. They are committed, enthusiastic, and

laudatory about the graduate programs.

The School does a good job of tracking graduates

and maintaining connections

with employers of graduates. It appears that there is 100

%

employment of MRM graduates in the field, primarily in Provincial and Federal

Government but also in a variety

of other public and private organizations.

The graduate programs appear

to be evaluated and revised regularly. The PhD program

has recently been revised and the MRM was revised to incorporate the recommendations

of the last review. One impressive outcome of the graduate programs is significant

publications

by students, published in high quality professional and academic journals. The

coop program is highly sought after and demand for REM students out-strips supply. MRM

students are particularly successful in coop placement and are highly valued.

At a

If

town hall" meeting students particularly praised the accessibility of faculty members,

opportunities

for meeting one on one and in research groups and the open door policy of

faculty members and the Director.

b) Quality

of Research - (Quality of faculty research is high and faculty collaboration and

interaction provides a stimulating academic environment.)

All members

of Faculty are active researchers and the School does its part to fulfill the

objectives

of the strategic research plan. Of course the School's primary contribution to

the fulfillment of the University's Strategic Research Plan is in the major objectives

"facilitating collaborations across disciplinary and institutional

boundaries" "recruiting and

retaining outstanding students, research fellows and faculty", encour(aging) effective

communication and dissemination

of research results" and engage(ing) all our

6

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communities for the benefit of societyll and in the research theme area of "Environment,

Resources and Conservationll. In that research area, faculty members are actively

conducting research

in Itplanning, development, management and sustainability" (Gunton,

Williams, Roseland, Lertzman, Rutherford, Haider, Gill) "ecosystems and

resources"

(Salomon,

Gobas, Pinkerton, Lertzman, Peterman, Cox, Cooper), "climate change

solutions" (Kohfield, Jaccard, Lertzman), lI

alternative

energy technology" (Jaccard) and

IIAboriginal Communities and the environment" (Lertzman, Welch, Pinkerton). Faculty

members in the school are also contributing

to other research themes includingll

education for sustainable developmentll(Knowler), "biodiversity"(Peterman, Lertzman,

Salomon, Knowler, Rutherford Lertzman, Salomon, Knowler, Rutherford) urban

communities"(Roseland),

"public policy" (all) and others.

Faculty members

in the school are particularly effective at knowledge dissemination and

mobilization

in addition to knowledge creation.

This is consistent with the objectives of the School to focus on applied, relevant, and

problem focussed research. Researchers

in the School are actively engaged in working with

stakeholders

to solve critical environmental problems of communities and the country. All

faculty members engage students in their research and this provides particularly effective

learning environments, opportunities and professional development

for students. The self

study compares School funding levels very favourably

with other departments in the field

and this

is a very significant accomplishment for an interdisciplinary, largely applied area.

To support graduate students and in particular, PhD students, however, faculty members

will need

to build on their successes in developing longer term research programs with

consistent multi-year funding

for graduate students. The existence of research institutes

covering most

of the major environmental and resources areas is a great strength of the

school and contributes a great deal

to the education of graduate students and to faculty

development.

c) Administration, knowledge dissemination -

(School members participate in the

administration

of the unit and take an active role in the dissemination of knowledge.)

This

area is again a great strength of the school, particularly the knowledge dissemination and

mobilization. Faculty members are doing

excellent work in mobilizing knowledge for the

benefit of communities and the country. If anything, this could be better advertised so

the school could become even better known in this area. For example other than some

notable exceptions (Jaccard) much

of the knowledge that is disseminated and mobilized

benefits partners

but may not extend beyond those partners to reach a wider audience

of practitioners. Again, the Research Institutes in the school do an excellent job of

knowledge mobilization.

7

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In terms of administration, all faculty members serve on the major school committees

(Graduate committee and

UG committee, Executive Committee) as well as many other

committees (18 different committees in addition to the Executive committee (more

committees than Faculty members)but will now increasingly

be called upon to participate

in Faculty

as well as University administration and governance. However the external

relations and community service activities are particularly great

in the School and it is

hard to imagine adding any more service burdens to faculty member workloads.

Students are seen

as an integral part of the School's administration and governance and

are consulted

regularly and represented on most School committees. The director of the

school bears

an extremely heavy administrative and communication burden and we

believe that to share that burden and to ensure succession, consideration should be

given

to adding an assistant or associate director position.

d) Environment -

the environment is conducive

to

the attainment of the objectives of the

school

The School provides a remarkably stimulating and welcoming intellectual and social

climate. The environment is extremely conducive to attainment of the objectives of the

unit.

Panel members were very impressed with the collegiality, congeniality and good

relationships within and outside the unit. Student-faculty relationships are

particularly

strong, open and productive. Excellent relationships also exist among faculty members

within and outside the Faculty

and with service units. The atmosphere is stimulating and

inspiring.

While

it is always a challenge to encourage and listen to the voices of young faculty in an

existing and successful unit, panel members felt that more support for and attention to

the new junior faculty could be given and that they should be allowed more influence in

the direction of the unit and the Faculty. In hirings, care should be taken to ensure the

"fit" of faculty members within this unique school, particularly with regard to the inter-

disciplinary,

problem focus of the School.

Questions to Consider:

a) Strategic Options:

What are the best strategic options for REM to pursue within the new

Faculty of Environment and the University more generally? In particular, how can REM

maintain its historical strengths in graduate education and training, and contribute

to

the

development and growth

of the faculty's undergraduate programs through strategic

alliances and partnerships with other units such as Geography and Environmental Science?

8

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The panel devoted considerable thought and discussion to these questions and came up

with the

following recommendations for increasing undergraduate offerings while not

risking the outstanding graduate programs. We agree with the general feeling in the School

that the priority should remain the high quality inter-disciplinary graduate programs.

However, we also agree that faculty members, the new Faculty and the university could

benefit a great deal from increased participation

of the School in undergraduate teaching.

With

that in mind, we make the following recommendations for increased participation in

undergraduate education. While these recommendations are given

as those with the least

resource implications,

it is clear that even they will require additional faculty resources to

implement. Options for increasing REM's undergraduate teaching include:

i.

Environment One - we believe the School is in an excellent position to take the lead, in

cooperation

with the other units of the Faculty, in developing a first year program such

as an "Environment

Oneil

program modeled on Science One, Arts One, or Tech One, or

the Explorations Program at Surrey. The University has experience developing such

programs and this should

be relatively easy to develop and see through the approval

process. The set

of first year courses could include the current REM 100 as well as other

courses

from within and beyond the Faculty.

ii.

Environmental Science - we also thought

that it would be beneficial to the School,

Faculty and University

for REM faculty members to participate in the Environmental

Science degree rather than developing a separate and probably redundant,

REM

undergraduate degree/program.

iii.

Second and 3

rd

year REM Courses: Although there is a well subscribed first year REM

course (REM 100) there is then a gap where few if any environmental courses are

offered at the 2

nd

and 3rd year level. REM should fill the gap in 2

nd

(no REM courses) and

3rd year courses (2 REM courses) by offering more courses at the 2

nd

and 3

rd

year level,

possibly

as versions of the Masters courses. This would give undergraduate students an

opportunity to continue an environmental focus throughout their undergraduate

education and would also

better prepare students to go on to the Master's Program.

iv.

literacy minor: We agree with the idea that the School could develop an

environmental literacy minor (or be involved in offering a Faculty of Environment

literacy minor)

for students with majors outside the Faculty and School, for example for

Business and Education students. This could also provide an "environmentalliteracy

across the curriculum" opportunity

for the University as a whole.

v.

Specialty courses at 3

rd

and 4th year: The School could contribute more than the current

("'5) specialty environmental courses to senior level undergraduates. These could be

joint masters and senior undergraduate courses (many in existence for the MRM) but

9

---

care would need to be taken to ensure that this does not lead to overcrowding and

dilution

of the experience for either group.

b) Research strength:

Assess the research strength of REM and evaluate the strategic plan for

new faculty positions, including the trade-offs between supporting existing strengths and

adding

new areas.

(See above) The research strength of REM is very high and for its size,

the School contributes strongly to the research and scholarly reputation of the University.

The

School also fulfills the objectives of the University's Strategic Research Plan, not just in

theme area

of Environment, Resources and Conservation but in a number of other areas and

objectives

as well including research dissemination and mobilization and collaborations

across

disciplinary and institutional boundaries. (see above) Faculty research currently

covers a broad range

of environmental areas and no real gaps come to mind. Clustering and

supporting strength

in areas such as First Nations environment and resource issues should

be a top priority. Other new areas should only be pursued as a result of faculty strength, or

clusters of strength, in the area (as a result of new hirings, for example.) We agree with the

School's analysis

of needs for new areas and positions as presented in the self-study. We

might however, present them

in a different order of priority, with First Nations resources,

sustainability and environment

as the top priority. We also recognise the critical importance

of supporting and reinforCing the Energy and Materials Sustainability group led by Mark

Jaccard. We agree also

with the need for new Faculty strength and positions in Conservation

Science and

especially the focus on Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology to balance the strength in

Marine and

Coastal ecology. The school lists its next highest priorities as Ecosystem based

management and no one could

quarrel with that, and Food politiCS Security and

Sustainability which we

believe will have increasing salience in the coming decades. Finally,

Environmental Design

is also an important area for growth particularly with the popularity

and demand

for the Planning stream and the very welcome and exciting addition of Mark

Roseland to the School. This would probably be the most difficult to implement and could

require significant strength and resources.

c) Growth management: how can REM best address issues of managing growth in the

graduate program in relation to limited resources (class sizes, student support, space etc.)

The graduate programs are excellent and immense contributions to the University and the

society. There

is pressure for growth, particularly in the new Planning stream of the MRM.

Some

classes are reaching or exceeding limits for high quality interaction and more work

10

---

could be done to stagger course offerings or offer more than one section of the more

heavily subscribed courses. (This

of course has resource implications but we believe this is

critical for maintaining the quality of the MRM.) We believe that some growth is possible, in

both the Masters and the PhD program but the costs of unlimited growth will be high in

reduced quality, diminished experience

for the students and faculty burn out. Therefore we

believe

that the MRM should not grow significantly and that the School should retain the

high entrance requirements.

In order to serve more students with that high quality

experience, however, we strongly

believe that the Masters students must complete in a

more timely manner. The primary responsibility here will

be for faculty members to

strenuously limit the scope of the Masters projects and do a better job of narrowing the

scope

of these projects. (We do favour flexibility on an individual student basis, rather than

developing steams such

as a course work (professional) and a thesis (academic) stream.)

We

realize that efforts to limit the scope of the project may fly in the face of the pride the

school takes in

the high and publishable quality of student work and the support that these

student projects provide

for faculty research. We believe that high quality, publishable work

can still be done with a narrower scope. [note that we really try NOT to advertise is as a 2

year program and

attempt to give an accurate assessment of completion times]-While

faculty members in the School are generally scrupulous about not promising two year

completion, many current students reported

that if the Master's program were advertised

as a three year program they would not have come. (It is difficult to imagine how 14

courses, 2 full years

of taking those courses, and a major project could be completed in two

years.) Since most comparable programs are at most two years, completion times of more

than

that pose an obstacle to recruitment of outstanding students who are eager to join the

workforce.

If faculty research could shift to more dependence on PhD dissertations rather in

addition to Masters student projects, it would be of benefit to everyone. Thus we

recommend

that all faculty take on PhD students to grow the PhD to about 7-10 students

per year, depending

of course on the existence of longer term research programs and

projects, increased funding

for PhD students and willing faculty members for supervisory

roles.

This will be more readily accomplished by reducing the time spent by PhD students

on the course work and comprehensive examination process and enabling students

to begin

their research sooner, thus enabling students to work earlier with faculty members on

research projects.

d)

Assess current Masters program curriculum - As above, we conclude that the Masters

program curriculum

is outstanding and is a source of satisfaction to both faculty and

students.

Should the development of a PhD program be a high priority in view of the need for growth

and the challenges oj cross-disciplinarity at the PhD level?

Yes. We believe there is an important role for the PhD program and that it can remain a

problem focused, inter-disCiplinary program

but one not modeled precisely on the

11

---

professional focus of the Masters program but more research based and preparation for an

academic as well as a professional career. While remaining inter-disciplinary the program

should

and does, encourage and prepare students for more in-depth work in a topic area.

e)

REM faculty and students play an important role provincially, nationally and internationally

in having input to decision-making and policy about resources and the environment from

which both

REM and SFU benefit.

The demand for such contributions is increasing

at

the

same time

as

REM's Resources are being stretched internally. What is the appropriate

strategic balance?

All of the many and varied external activities of REM faculty members contribute directly to

the teaching and research mandates of the School. While other universities agonize about

how

to incorporate research into teaching and what to do about service, REM is a model for

integrating and building on the synergy among research teaching and service.

As indicated above, we observe that REM faculty members willingly take on a very heavy

role

in advising governments and non-governmental organizations and providing policy

guidance.

As a result, their influence is great, they contribute significantly to the profile and

reputation

of the University and they also provide unparalleled opportunities for

experiential learning for students. This work is also a source of and stimulus for research

opportunities and funding. There

is no question that this work is extremely time-consuming

and

is not adequately recognized in the normal reward structures. We recommend that

such activity be supported and ways found of rewarding faculty members for their

accomplishments

in this area. The problem is indeed one of balance and the question of not

jeopardizing

the teaching and research functions-in spite of the fact that these activities

support and contribute

to those teaching and research activities. While we do not have a

solution

to this problem, we believe that the new Faculty is key to addressing the dilemma.

All members

of the faculty could share the load of these responsibilities and the Faculty as a

whole could develop its

own workload and reward strategies. Thus the effort would be

more widely spread across the Faculty and could become a great strength of the new

Faculty. New faculty positions

to support faculty engaged in these activities and to backfill

the teaching load would also go a long way

to alleviating the stresses of the current practice.

Other areas to be considered:

1. Programs

Structure, breadth, orientation and integration of the undergraduate programs including coop

12

---

Structure, breadth, depth and course offering schedule of the graduate programs:

One reason

for the length and completion times of the graduate programs is the critical need to provide

both breadth and depth in the Masters and

PhD programs due to their inter-disciplinary nature.

That imperative

is difficult to avoid and should not be abandoned in the interests of shortening

the program. The

School does an excellent job of providing both breadth (course work) and

depth (project and thesis).

Arguably, ways might be found (such as our suggestion for an inter-

disciplinary, problem-focused seminar) for providing both breadth and depth more efficiently

and within a shortened

time frame. (As students increasingly become trained in inter-

disciplinary integration, the need for this breadth, particularly at the PHD level may well

diminish.)

Graduate student progress and completion and support

for graduate students

As above, completion times are still too long in the Masters program. We considered a two

stream structure but decided instead for recommending flexibility on an individual student basis

with stricter faculty supervision and scoping of projects. Financial support for Masters students

remains

an obstacle to recruitment. Funding should be increased for both Masters and PhD

students through more long-term research funding.

Enrolment management issues at the undergraduate and graduate levels including, for the

former, majors and service teaching.

There is considerable pressure on the MRM degree, and

while some growth

is desirable, we believe that the program should not grow too much or the

current high quality could

be jeopardized. Both the Masters and PhD program could grow

incrementally, especially if faculty could be added in the areas identified above, but enrolment

should definitely not be allowed

to grow limitlessly. In other words, the School should decide on

maximum carrying capacity given different resource scenarios and

cap as necessary.

2. Faculty

Size and quality of the faculty complement in relation

to

the School's responsibilities and

workload:

The quality of Faculty is consistently high but the numbers are low for the workloads

and the extensive service component

of most faculty members. The service component

however

is critically important for the educational goals of the school and should not be

decreased.

Teaching, research and service contributions of faculty members including the level of external

research support.

We observed that teaching, research and service are all at a very high level in

13

---

most faculty workloads. This is unusual but is highly relevant and productive in this field. While

the level

of research funding is relatively high for the field and in comparison with other

"environmentally" related units at SFU, we believe it should be higher and more long term in

order

to support graduate students and to develop more long term research programs in the

school.

3. Administration

Size of the administrative and support staff complement, and the effectiveness of the

administration

of the School.

We found the administration of the School to be extremely

effective

with very limited resources. We believe that the Director needs more support and

recommend

an associate director. The staff is also stretched very thin and has heavy workloads.

The School also needs

an effective succession planning strategy.

Adequacy of resources and facilities provided to support teaching and research including library,

laboratory, equipment, computing

and office space.

The new space is high quality space but ongoing pressure makes it already inadequate,

particularly

if the new positions are realized. Library resources are impressive and there is good

computing support but capital replacement

is a problem. A challenge for the new Faculty is to

forge a strong Faculty identity with faculty members and facilities so widely dispersed across the

campus and in other locations.

4.

Connection of the faculty

within and outside of the University

The school's concept and plan for teaching and research and relationship with the other units

within the University:

The School's plan for the future is realistic and sound. With the creation of

the new Faculty, REM is now in limelight and needs to take advantage of their current situation

to build even stronger links within the Faculty and also with related units not put into the faculty

These enhanced links would

be extremely fruitful for future development of the School and

Faculty.

An excellent example is Archaeology's intention to join the FaCUlty. Other units are also

critical

such as the centre for urban studies, earth sciences, and the school of policy.

As noted above, relationships between the School and the community are warm and very

supportive

of the goals of the School. There is potential for increasing national and international

connections.

14

---

Relationships with alumni are also excellent as we experienced in a very well attended and

exciting reception. Many

alumni attended and many of those are also employers of REM

graduates. The School does a good job of tracking Alumni and in utilizing them for employment,

research and coop opportunities. A committee

has been formed for Alumni Relations and

several new

alumni activities are being planned.

5. Future directions

The plans of the school are appropriate and manageable.

The plans that REM has developed for

the future of the School are appropriate and feasible. The expansion plans for the PhD and for

new areas of teaching and research and new faculty positions are very sound and based on

realities

of this diverse and rapidly changing field. The challenge now will be to align the REM

vision with the faculty vision and REM faculty members should take leadership in the

collaborative development of that faculty vision.

Other Issues of Concern: We noted other areas about which we would like to comment:

1. Response to last review: We noted the effective response of the School to the issues of

concern raised in the last review in 2003. Among these were completion times of graduate

students which

has been addressed but remains an issue and the concern about inadequate

sessional faculty teaching core courses which

has been addressed to the apparent

satisfaction

of both students and faculty. Another issue is the demanding and time

consuming structure of the PhD. The School has put a great deal of effort into revising that

structure but we believe there is yet more to be done (See recommendations below and the

discussion

of the PhD above.)

2. Response to CIP Planning Accreditation: While the CIP accreditation report was very

positive, we are concerned that

in their response to the report the School should not

attempt to become like every other planning school in the country but should rather

maintain its historical and regional strengths in environment, resource,

regional planning.

An emphasis on Aboriginal planning would be very relevant to that focus.

3. New Faculty: We are very enthusiastic about the new Faculty of the Environment and the

opportunities

that the development of the faculty holds for REM. Threats also exist of

spreading faculty and administrative staff even more thinly than they are now by taking on

Faculty

roles in addition to their already heavy REM responsibilities. On the other hand, if

managed well, the loads could be shared and a strong synergy could be created that would

benefit all in the new Faculty.

15

---

4. PhD Program: The PhD program is unique in Canada (and probably in the rest of the world

as well) for its interdisciplinary, research intensive focus. We approve very much of the

direction

that the revision of the PhD program has taken. We believe however that these

changes could

be taken even further, and should focus not on interdisciplinary

breadth,

but on integrative methods, concepts and examples. (See recommendations

below.)

5. Undergraduate Teaching by REM. We have made some recommendations regarding ways

in which REM faculty could be more engaged in undergraduate teaching which would

benefit The Faculty, University, and students who are demanding environmental education

at

all levels from first year to the Ph.D. (See recommendations below with regard to five

potential areas

in which the School could increase its contribution to undergraduate

teaching.)

6. Aboriginal Focus: We believe that a wonderful opportunity exists for the School that should

not

be missed. Many faculty members and students are currently conducting research and

forging relationships with First Nations.

These efforts should be supported, reinforced,

expanded and coordinated

in a research and teaching emphasis for the School. This would

also

assist with recruitment of aboriginal students and faculty. We strongly recommend that

a new faculty position should be created in this area and probably a new research institute

or group as well. (See recommendations below.)

Recommendations - We have tried

to make these recommendations as practical as possible

and within the context

of resources available as well as consistent with objectives of the school

and University.

1. Maintain, protect and support the existing REM masters program (MRM) and continue to

place priority on it. Address completion time. Consider reinforcing the flexibility of the program

that enables students

to complete in two years, primarily with course work and a project or to

choose to do a more demanding thesis with fewer courses. Completion time remains an issue as

does balance with the PhD program.

2. PhD Program: While recognising the attention paid and changes made to the PhD program

more work

could be done to improve and expand the PhD program. This would be in keeping

with and would assist the university to fulfill its plan to become more research intensive. The

main

issues with the PhD program are the demands of the comprehensive examination to

develop an understanding of the three areas. This takes considerable time and delays the start

of the students PhD research which means it also delays their work with faculty members on

16

---

their research. The change to combine the comprehensive examination with the thesis proposal

defence

is a good one but may not go far enough. One model we discussed during the site visit

(now known

as the Holling model) is to eliminate core required courses. (Courses would still be

available and would be recommended or even required to fill deficiencies in a particular

student's background.) The only required course would

be an interdisciplinary, problem-

focused, year long course which would require students

to apply different methods and

strategies

to a significant environmental issue and to work in groups to address that issue and

come up

with a plan for its resolution. The seminar would be open to all graduate students but

would be taught and organized by the PhD students. Other recommendations are to investigate

the potential

for developing fewer, but PhD exclusive courses at the PhD level. This of course

has resource implications. The model of an interdisciplinary, yet research intensive PhD fills a

significant need in

the country and beyond and needs to be supported, celebrated and

expanded.

3.

Secure more long term funding for graduate students, especially related to long term

research programs.

4. Maintain and continue

to make advances in interdisciplinary, experiential, problem focused

model

of education with adaptation to recognize the different needs at the undergraduate,

Masters and

PhD level.

3. Undergraduate Education: Recommended Options for REM's involvement in Undergraduate

education

in the Faculty of Environment and the University include the following:

i. Environment One: REM could effectively lead the development of an "Environment

One" Program for first year study modelled after existing first year programs at SFU and

other Universities (Dialogue, Arts

One, Science One, Tech One.)

ii. Specialty courses: Continue to develop senior (3

rd

and 4th year) undergraduate

courses

that could be extra sections of Master's courses, or could allow a limited

number

of undergraduates into Master's courses or could develop exclusive upper level

undergraduate courses

as modified version of Master's courses.

iii. Literacy

minor - Develop a REM Environmental Literacy Minor (or participate in a

Faculty

of Environment Literacy Minor) for students from other disciplines and faculties

at

the University. Indications are that there would be a strong demand for this type of

minor. This could be done as a general minor or specifically designed for Faculties such

as Business and Education. This could also provide an environmental literacy across the

curriculum opportunity

for the University.

iv. Develop courses

to fill in the gap in 2

nd

and 3

rd

year offerings in Environmental

topics.

17

---

v. Participation in Environmental Science degree - REM should participate actively in

developing and implementing the Environmental

Science degree.

4. Aboriginal focus- greater emphasis should be placed on Aboriginal perspectives and content

in the curriculum and research

l

and on recruiting aboriginal students

l

faculty and staff. Current

work with First Nations should be coordinated and supported and a research cluster or institute

should

be developed in this area.

S. Succession Planning - We are concerned that the leadership of the school is in jeopardy with

the intention of the current director to step down this summer. Support for the Director and

succession

planning should be a priority.

6. Leadership role: The school should playa leadership role in the new faculty particularly in

developing relationships between units in the

faculty and beyond

l

and ensuring environmental

course opportunities from the first year

to the PhD level.

7. Public Presence: REM should work to enhance its national and international reputation and to

internationalize the curriculum and research. (They need to blow their horn morel) Joining

international networks such

as the Resilience Alliance and the Study of the Commons and

international student exchanges are good ways

to begin this process.

8. CIP recommendations: REM should focus and build on its planning strengths: environment,

resources and regional planning

l

(as well as First Nations planning) rather than attempting to

cover all of the planning ground. REM should avoid becoming more like all the other planning

programs in the country. The

REM focus is strength and an advantage for student recruitment.

9. New faculty positions: Work to add faculty positions in the areas identified in the REM

strategic plan with perhaps first priority given to "First Nations resources, sustainability and

Environment" .

10. Recognise and reward

external involvementl professional service

11. Diversify and

internationalize the School, Curriculum and Scholarship.

12. Research: Promote and support the

further development of long term large scale research

programs

with consistent funding for Highly Qualified personnel- PhD and Masters students.

13. Junior

faculty- support and encourage Junior Faculty to put their stamp on REM.

14.

Space: the need remains especially for laboratory and student space.

18

---

. .

-D

EXTERNAL REVIEW - ACTION PLAN

Section 1- To be comgleted

by

the Responsible Unit Person e.g. Chair or Director

Unit under review

Date

of

Review Site visit

Responsible Unit person,

Faculty Dean

John Pierce, FENV

REM

March

10-12, 2010

Frank Gobas, Director

.............................................. _

.....

Note: It is

nor

expected that every recommendation mode by the Review Team needs

to

be included here. The major thrusts

0/

the Report should

be

identified and some consolidation of the recommendations may be possible while other recommendations

0/

lesser importance may be excluded.

External Review

Recommendation

1.

Master's Program

Maintain existing

Master's program and

keep

it a high priority.

Consider

greater

flexibility with course

work or chose a more

demanding thesis

with

fewer courses.

Completion times

remain an issue and

balance

with PhD

program.

2. PhD Program

Recent changes may not

be enough. Lesson

demands

of

comprehensive

examl

coursework. Options:

Holling model (no

required courses) with

problem based

Unit's response

Expected

Ie

t

Act.

.on to be

taken '..

Resource implications

I

t.

notes ommen s

(if

any)

comp e Ion

(if

any)

date

.

,

.

While we agree with

the overall nature of

the External Review's

concerns about

the

PhD program, we

disagree

with some of

their specific

prescriptions

for

solutions - and have

REM will maintain existing Master's program and

the Masters program will remain the flagship of the

REM program. During the retreat several options

for improving the Masters program were discussed

including a (i) Thesis

option;

(ii)

current program

with reduced course load; (iii) change of current

program to thesis format. REM GSC will consider

these

two programming options and gather data to

present to REM EXEC in the Fall.

To address these concerns REM changed PhD.

program requirements last year. REM would like to

see the changes through before making Significant

new changes.

PhD Handbook will be revised to provide better

guidance to students and faculty about the

requirements for the comprehensive exam and

thesis proposal defense.

None

September

2011

for

implementation

Sept. 1,2010

---

coursework, or develop

data to back up .our

fewer PhD exclusive

perspective.

REM will expand the Ph.D. program

by

increasing

courses.

PhD intake to 7-10 students/ yr.

We believe that increasing our PhD student

population will have a significant impact

on the

nature of the PhD culture in REM.

3. Secure more long

REM will look for opportunities to bring in high-end

On going

ter~

funding for

long term funding, through the Hakai Institute,

graduate students.

CFI, and others.

..

4. Maintain and

REM will maintain and make advances in

Ongoing

continue to make

.

interdisciplinary, experiential, problem focused

advances in

"-

.

model of education with adaptations to recognize

interdisciplinary,

the different needs at the undergraduate,

experiential, problem

Masters and

PhD level.

focused model of

education with

REM's most important new contribution will be at

adaptation to recognize

the undergraduate level. See under undergraduate

the different needs

at

programming.

the undergraduate,

Masters and

PhD level.

5. Undergraduate

REM will create new undergraduate courses in

2 new faculty positions

Ongoin&and

Programming: Develop

current areas (i.e.: ecological economics,law/poJicy, Office space

implemented

a greater role.

energy/materials to support the environmental

lab / Research space

over the next 1-

- Environment One

science undergraduate program and the

3 years.

-

literacy Minor

undergraduate curriculum at SFU. New faculty

- More u/grad 3

rd

and 4th

hires will allow for new courses to be developed.

yrcourses.

TAships from u/grad courses

will help fund grad

- Fill

in gap in 2nd yr

students.

courses

. .

---

. .

- Participate in Env.

. Science program.

REM

plans to develop a

REM

Minor .

REM will develop a larger Undergraduate program

committee

to work on Undergraduate initiatives

(i.e.:

REM

minor, Environmental literacy Minor,

support

of environmental science program).

Undergraduate initiatives are considered

FENV

initiatives rather than

REM

initiatives

REM

will support FENV initiatives.

6. Aboriginal focus

.

New Initiatives include: Hakai, Haida Gwaii

One new faculty

posi~jon

Currently, and

- First priority given

to

,

.

Office space

developing over

I'First Nations resources,

REM's current Aboriginal focus needs to

be

made

Research Space

the next 1-3

sustainability and

more prominent and visibfe.

REM

will address this

years.

Environment"

through

our new website design. Course content is

increasing (new

course designs) and REM faculty

members are currently working on projects

with an

Aboriginal focus.

Hiring a faculty

member with an Aboriginal focus

remains a high

priority for REM.

Others:

We are playing a leadership role in FENV and are

While this

isn't

likely

to

- Playa leadership role

committed

to continue this role.

translate

into a .clear call

in new faculty.

Our

various new initiatives, referred to above, will

on SFU resources, aU of

- Create a greater public

contribute to improving public presence, long-term, these activities have a

presence.

large-scale research programs, and others.

clear cost in

the time

- Planning program -

budgets of individual

build on current

faculty members - and

strengths."

since

time is a zero-sum

~

.•

---

.

..

- Promote and support

the further

development

of long

term large scale

research programs.

game, this must be

factored

in somehow. We

are doing more externally

at

SFU

than we ever have

before, which means

we

necessarily are doing less

of something else. There

are issues

of sustainability.

Growth

of REM's faculty

complement associated

with implementing new

undergraduate initiatives

in particular may

help

alleviate this.

e above action plan has been considered by the Unit under review and has been discussed and agreed to by the Dean.

Unit

Leader (signed)

Date

Name1il1~

.............

.... - .. '.1-

••. ..-.

... .M.

~~r.

...

2b ...

~!.Q

...

_.~

..... _.

---

. .

REM External Review

The external review team (ERT)was impressed by the high quality of the teaching and research as well as the

outstanding service contributions made by many faculty to the profession and larger community. The majority of the

ERT's recommendations should be seen as relatively minor improvements in programming and/or building upon

existing strengths. The most important

are as follows: improving completion' times for graduate students, introducing

greater flexibility in

the PhD program, expanding the role for REM in undergraduate teaching, (and associated with this

a leadership role in new programming for

FENV), developing greater opportunities for experiential and problem based

learning and promoting a greater emphasis on aboriginal programming. I believe

that the majority if not all of these

recommendations can

be accomz:nodated in a timely matter and that REM is fully committed to doing so. All of that said

it must be acknowledge that REM faculty are already fully engaged so that further commitments will come at a cost

unless

there is some adjustment to their faculty complement. I will work closely with the new Director to

try

and

ensure the completion of these recommendations and in the process to ensure that REM continues to playa leadership

role within

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