APPROVED BY SENATE

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

Monday, October 4, 2010 at 5:30 pm at the West Mall Complex (Room 3210)

Open Sessi on

Present: Petter, A ndrew , President and Chair

A cier no, K y le

Bezgl asnyy, A nt on

Bl

ack,

Sam

Br and h orst , Bru ce

Cor bett, K i t ty

Cr ai g, John

Cuppl es, Cl ai r e

Cyr, Dianne

Dhillon, Arinder

Dri v er, Jon

East

on,

Stephen

Eckman, Charl es

Fizzell, M aureen

Fr anci s, Ju ne

Gar neau-Scott, Chr i sti

H aunerland, N orbert (representing M . Pinto)

Kong, Shuyu

K r ane, Bill

Laitsch, Dan

Law, Mona

L ee, Benjami n

Leznoff, Daniel

Li, Fiona

M acGr otty , A l y si a

Magnusson, Kris

M yers, Gordon

O’N eil, John

Par k house, Wade

Patidar, Risha

Patidar, Trisha

Per civ al, Coli n

Per ci v al , Paul

Peter

s,

Joseph

Pi

er

ce,

John

Rajapakse, N i mal

Shapir o, Daniel

Somers, Julian

War ner, D ’A rcy

Woodbury, Rob (also representing C. Geisler)

Wussow, Helen

Ross, Kate, Registrar & Executive Director Student Enrolment

Gair, Shelley, Recording Secretary

A bsent:

Beale, A lison

Br ennand , Tr acy

Chapman, Glenn

Dow, Greg

Golnaraghi, Farid

Gordon, Robert

Janes,

Cr

ai

g

Kopahi, Moe

Kropinski, M ary Catherine

Lew is, Cynthia

Loui e, Br andt

Mann, Geoff

M cA rthur, James

M oghad d amjoo, Sar ah

M or r i son, John

Patel, Rav i

Paterson, Dav id

Pavsek, Christopher

Ruben, Peter

Russell, Robert

Sahi nalp, Cenk

Saif, M ehrdad

van der Wey, Dolores

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S.M . 4 October 2010

Page 2

1. Approval of the Agenda

The Agenda was approved as distributed.

2. Approval of the Minutes of the Open Session of September 13, 2010

The Minutes were approved as distributed.

3. Business Arising from the Minutes

Revisions to Senate paper S.10-106 (SFU/ZU Dual Programs) werea pproved

S.10 -116

by the Board of Governors and received by Senate for information.

4. Report of the Chair

The Chair, on behalf of Senate, welcomed the following Senators to thefirist r meeting of Senate:

Charles Eckman, Dean of Library Serviceas nd Kitty Corbett, a Faculty member from the Faculty

of Health Sciences. Senator Alison Beale has resigned as a Senator anwad s acknowledged for her

time of service.

The Chair commented on the changes that will be implemented with the department of University

Relations. The process to search for a new Vi-cPeresident, to replace Warren Gill, will begin

immediately with some modifications to the new position. The Chair has proposed to renathme e

position, Vice-President of External Relations, and to include International Relations in the

position along with Community and Government Relations to give it an external focus. Cathy

Daminato, Vice-President of Advancement and Alumni Engagement, haas greed to broaden her

portfolio immediately to include Alumni Relations (renamed Alumni Engagement).

The Chair reported that he habes en spending time meeting with faculty, students and staff across

the university to gain a greater understanding of the

community. A process of strateic g visioning

will begin in the New Year but in the meantime, the President’s gAenda and the associated

document on the strategic visioning process is avaaible

l on the president’s website

(

www.sfu.ca/pres

) for additional information.

5. Question Period

A) The following question was submitted by Senator Black, “The WQB initiative was

implemented three years ago. When will it be reviewed?”

The Vice-President, Academic, responded taht the WQB initiative began implementation in 2004

but went into full effect in Fall of 2006. Senate was informed thaht erte was no requirement made

for a scheduled review and thatt here is no intention of undertaking a review of the WQB initiative

specially at this time. It was noted, however, that the Academic Pn lafor 2010-2013 contains a goal

to examine curriculum across the university and it would be appropriate to review the WQB

requirements as part of this goal.

B) The following question was submitted by Senator C. Percival, “In the three-year Academic

Plan presented by the Vic-ePresident Academic at the March 2010 Senate meeting, under

goal 1.1 is stated, ‘Increase current numbers of First Nations Students by 10% by 2013.’ In

light of the recently announced success of the university in increasing the boAriginal student

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S.M . 4 October 2010

Page 3

population by 40% in the past year, I would like to know if the VP Academic has a new

target and what it is.”

Senate was informed that the recently announced success of the univeirtsy in increasing the

Aboriginal student population by 40% came from a recent SFU news release that stated,

“Currently there are 500 First Nations students at SFU up from 350 one year previously.” The

Vice-President, Academic, provided some details regarding the complex process of identifying

Aboriginal students. Acceptable methods for calculating numbers of Aboriginal students are defined

by the province and are followed to ensure comparability across the institutions in the province.

The official Aboriginal total for 2009- 2010 is not available yet, but if a comparison is made

between 2003 and 2008, the total headcount went from 474 to 514. Overall domestic student

numbers also increased so this was a decline in the percentage of Aboriginal students over that

period.

Senate was informed that the 350 students reported in the news release for the 2009 2010

–

academic year was not the official number because this data has not been confirmyeedt . The 500

students reported for 2010 – 2011 was based on the knowledge of a Sudet nt Services recruiter who

has knowledge of individual decisions. Therefore, the figures of 350 and 500 are not based heo n t

same process of calculation and so there has not been a 40% increase.

The numbers from 2003 to 2008 show a vey r slow rate of growth in SFU’s Aboriginal student

population and the projected results for 2009- 2010 are consistent with this rate of growth. In

British Columbia, the Aboriginal population is approximately 5%, with 54% of Aboriginal people

in B.C. living in the Greater Vancouver and Lower Fraser Valleay rea. Five percent of the

domestic student population at SFU would be a headcount of 1,380 for 2009- 2010 instead of a

projected 535.

The opinion was expressed that lathough increasing current numbers of Aboriginal students by

10% is a long way from reaching a goal of five perceont verall, it would be a definite improvement

over what has been achieved so far. Several Senate approved initiatives, such as the Aboriginal

Strategic Plan, Aboriginal Admissions Policy, and the Aboriginal Bridge Program should help to

improve these results.

6.

i) Deleted Course Repeat Policy

S.10-117

Moved by Bill Krane, seconded by Arinder Dhillon

“that Senate approve that the Repeated Course Policy include the following sentence: When

a course is deleted by the University, the department, in consultation with the affected

student, will determine a suitable alternative that will be considered rea peat course for the

purposes of this policy. (Effective May 2011)”

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S.M . 4 October 2010

Page 4

Question was called, and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii) Curriculum Revision – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

(For Information): Economics

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

delegated authority, approved a minor revisionto an existing course in the Faculty of Arts and

Social Sciences.

i) Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Applied Sciences

(For Information): School of Engineering Science

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committe, eacting under delegated

authority, approved minor revisions to program requiremes nitn the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

ii) Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences

(For Information): Gerontology, History

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

authority, approved a new course and minor course and program revisionsi n the Faculty of Arts

and SocialSc iences. The Dean of Graduate Studies noted that there was an error in the papers

regarding HIST 872. This course should be 5 credits not 4 credits.

iii) Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Business Administration

(For Information): MBA Program

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

authority, approved a minor course and program revision in the cFaulty of Business

Administration.

(For Information): School of Interactive Arts and Technology

Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee,t inacg under delegated

authority, approved deleted courses and changes to program requirements in the Faculty of

Communication, Art and Technology.

v) Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Environment

(For Information): School of Resource & Environmental Management

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

authority, approved minor course revisions in the Faculty of Environment

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S.M . 4 October 2010

Page 5

vi) Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Health Sciences

(For Information): Master of Public Health Program

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

authority, approved minor course revisions and changes to program requirements in the Faculty of

Health Sciences.

.

vii) Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Science

Sciences, Biomedical Physiology & Kinesiology

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

authority, approved new courses, a course revision and a program requirement changin et he

Faculty of Science.

i) Elections

S.10-126

A revised Senate paper was distributed prior to the tarst of the meeting. The revised papesr howed

all positions that were elected by acclamation and uotstanding vacancies that would be carried

forward to the next meeting of Senate.

7.

Information

The date of the next regular scheduled meeting of Senate is Monday,Nov ember 1, 2010 in the

West Mall Complex (Room 3210).

Open Session adjourned at6:00 pm and Senate moved directly into Closed Session.

Kate Ross

Registrar and Secretary of Senate