APPROVED BY SENATE
Minutes of a Meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on
Monday, October 3, 2011 at 5:30 pm at the West Mall Complex (Room 3210)
Open Session
Present:
Andrew Petter, President and Chair
Acierno, Kyle
Black, Sam
Brandhorst, Bruce
Chen, Alexander
Craig, John
Cupples, Claire
Cyr, Dianne
Dhillon, Arinder
Driver, Jon
Fairey, Elaine (representing C. Eckman)
Fizzell, Maureen
Francis, June
Geisler, Cheryl
Gordon, Robert
Krane, Bill
Kropinski, Mary Catherine
Leacock, Tracey
Leznoff, Daniel
Magnusson, Kris
Moghaddamjoo, Sara
Myers, Gordon
Nesbit, Tom (representing H. Wussow)
Nilson Levisohn, Michelle
O’Neil, John
Parkhouse, Wade
Paterson, David
Percival, Colin
Percival, Paul
Perry, Tom
Pierce, John
Pinto, Mario
Rajapakse, Nimal
Ruben, Peter
Tashakor, Pasha
Woodbury, Rob
Kate Ross, Registrar & Executive Director Student Enrolment
Shelley Gair, Recording Secretary
Absent:
Armstrong, Arthur
Brennand, Tracy
Chapman, Glenn
Easton, Stephen
Fontaine, Marc
Garneau-Scott, Christi
Golnaraghi, Farid
Hughes, David
Kohn, Jordan
Kong, Shuyu
Laitsch, Dan
Lee, Benjamin
Mann, Geoff
McRae, Jennifer
Pavsek, Christopher
Peters, Joseph
Pilarinos, Andreas
Reyeros, Diego
Russell, Robert
Sahinalp, Cenk
Shapiro, Daniel
Shaw, Chris
Somers, Julian
Taylor, Carole
Warner, D’Arcy
Yeung, Lorenz
In Attendance:
Guthrie, Larry
Lee, Jacy
Pochurko, Martin
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1.
Approval of the Agenda
The agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
Minutes of the Open Session on July 4, 2011
The minutes were approved with the addition of the word “suggested” in the last sentence in
section 7.iii so that it reads, “Once the review is complete, the suggested changes will be
submitted to SCAR.” As well, the Senate recording will be reviewed to verify the accuracy of the
sentence in item 6.A.iii that reads, “Senate was informed that past institute proposals were
reviewed and some were found to be less detailed than this document”.
3.
Business Arising from the Minutes
There was no business arising from the minutes.
4.
Report of the Chair
The Chair acknowledged that it had been a traumatic week with the news of the death of an SFU
student near the Surrey campus. Staff responded well by working with police and communicating
with the community and the family of the student.
The Chair highlighted a few items for the information of Senate. A new agreement between SFU
and the Bill Reid Foundation transfers the Bill Reid collection in perpetuity. The gallery will
continue to be managed by the foundation and be available for public and educational purposes.
An announcement by the B.C. premier concerning the jobs agenda included an increase in the
number of international students in the province. SFU is well represented by international
students and therefore may gain some recognition in this regard. During the second week of
October, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities accreditation review will
interview and meet with people throughout the university. Senate was thanked for its feedback on
the enVision process and was informed that a revised draft will be submitted at the next Senate
meeting for consideration.
A) Annual Financial Report (S.11-119)
M. Pochurko, Associate Vice-President, Financial Services, and L. Guthrie, Director, Accounting
Services, were in attendance to respond to questions.
The Annual Financial Report was received by Senate for information. A question was raised
regarding the increase in current liabilities found in the Statement of Financial Position. Senate
was informed that this increase is partly due to timing issues and that an explanation is provided
on p. 25. Clarification was also requested concerning the long term debentures and the auxiliaries
and special projects item found in note 16b on p. 52.
5.
Question Period
It was acknowledged that a recently submitted question will be answered at the next meeting.
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6.
Reports of Committees
A) Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (SCUS)
i)
Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (S.11-120)
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting under
delegated authority, approved minor revisions to existing courses and programs in the Faculty of
Arts and Social Sciences (Departments of Humanities, Psychology).
ii)
Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology (S.11-121)
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting under
delegated authority, approved a new course and a minor revision to an existing course in the
Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology (Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing,
School of Communication).
B) Senate Graduate Studies Committee (SGSC)
i)
Curriculum Revisions – Beedie School of Business (S.11-122)
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under delegated
authority, approved new courses and minor revisions to existing courses and programs in the
Beedie School of Business.
ii)
Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Science (S.11-123)
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under delegated
authority, approved a minor revision to an existing course in the Faculty of Science (Department
of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology).
C) Senate Nominating Committee
i)
Elections by Senate (S.11-124)
Senate received a summary of position vacancies and nominations received for the Senate
committees.
7.
Other Business
i)
Institutional Research and Planning (IRP) Reports (S.11-125)
Senate received the 2010/11 Grades Report and the 2010 Undergraduate Student Survey (UGSS)
Report for information. A question was raised regarding delayed credential completion due to the
lack of course availability and how this compares to other institutions. Senate was informed that
the average length of time for credential completion is five to six years. It was pointed out that
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one reason for delayed credential completion is students deciding to study part-time while also
working. The trimester system also makes it more difficult to anticipate the demand for courses
from semester to semester which can affect course accessibility. A change in scheduling policies
may have an impact on access to courses.
A request was made to include a table in the Grades Report that shows grades reported by student
faculty versus course faculty. A discussion followed about the value of this type of information.
Senate was informed that there is a report on the Institutional Research and Planning (IRP)
website regarding undergraduate course grades awarded by faculty-of-student versus faculty-of-
course.
A question was raised regarding how the Grades Report information is typically used. Senate was
informed that the faculty deans are one group that would use this data on a regular basis.
8.
Information
i)
Date of the next regular meeting – Monday, November 7, 2011.
Open session adjourned at 6:15 pm and Senate moved directly into the closed session.
Kate Ross
Registrar & Executive Director Student Enrolment
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