APPROVED BY SENATE

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

Monday, December 5, 2011 at 5:30 pm at the West Mall Complex (Room 3210)

Open Session

Present:

Andrew Petter, President and Chair

Acierno, Kyle

Armstrong, Arthur

Black, Sam

Brandhorst, Bruce

Chapman, Glenn

Craig, John

Cupples, Claire

Dhillon, Arinder

Easton, Stephen

Eckman, Charles

Fizzell, Maureen

Fontaine, Marc

Francis, June

Garneau-Scott, Christi

Geisler, Cheryl

Gordon, Robert

Haunerland, Norbert (for M. Pinto)

Kohn, Jordan

Krane, Bill

Kropinski, Mary Catherine

Laitsch, Dan

Leacock, Tracey

Leznoff, Daniel

Li, Paul

Magnusson, Kris

Moghaddamjoo, Sara

Myers, Gordon

Nilson Levisohn, Michelle

Parkhouse, Wade

Paterson, David

Percival, Colin

Percival, Paul

Perry, Tom

Pierce, John

Rajapakse, Nimal

Reyeros, Diego

Robinsmith, Stacey

Kate Ross, Registrar & Executive Director Student Enrolment

Shelley Gair, Recording Secretary

Ruben, Peter

Russell, Robert

Shapiro, Daniel

Somers, Julian

Warner, D’Arcy

Woodbury, Rob

Wussow, Helen

Yeung, Lorenz

Absent:

Brennand, Tracy

Chen, Alexander

Cyr, Dianne

Driver, Jon

Golnaraghi, Farid

Hughes, David

Kong, Shuyu

Lee, Benjamin

Mann, Geoff

McRae, Jennifer

O’Neil, John

Palis, Heather

Pavsek, Christopher

Peters, Joseph

Pilarinos, Andreas

Sahinalp, Cenk

Shaw, Chris

Tashakor, Pasha

Taylor, Carole

In Attendance:

Dench, Sarah

MacEachern, James

Marshall, Steve

McAllister, Lawrence

Munro. Murray

Rhodes, Susan

Seigneurie, Kenneth

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1.

Approval of the Agenda

The agenda was approved as distributed.

2.

Minutes of the Open Session on November 7, 2011

The minutes were approved as distributed.

3.

Business Arising from the Minutes

As follow up to a raised issue with S.11-126 from the November meeting, one of the Senators did

some additional research by looking at admit rates by gender from 2010/2011 data. An

observation was made that the largest difference in admits was found in the faculties of Business

and Applied Sciences, where female students have a 20% higher probability of being admitted to

these two faculties than male students. It was acknowledged that there may be a good explanation

for this difference but that it should be investigated more.

4.

Report of the Chair

The Chair reported on the trip to India that was taken with the Vice-President External Relations,

Vice-President Research, Dean of Business, Dean of Applied Sciences and two faculty members.

The trip was considered successful in that the three main objectives were achieved along with

opportunities for relationship building with the provincial government. The objectives included

building on relationships around research, potential student exchanges and internships with other

educational institutions; looking for opportunities for students in respect to private sector entities

in India; and looking at student recruitment with the hope of diversifying the international student

population at SFU.

In regards to government relations, the Chair reported that the financial situation provincially is

not looking encouraging although on a positive note, a standing committee of the legislature made

a specific recommendation that the government recommit to the memorandum of understanding it

entered into in 2006 to double the size of the SFU Surrey campus.

The Chair reported that there should be more information from Translink regarding the skybus

project, also known as the gondola project, sometime in the next month. The business case shows

that by running a gondola type of service from Skytrain to the top of the mountain, it would

reduce costs over the life of the project, reduce the environmental footprint from diesel bus

service, and be a more reliable service. The Chair’s personal view is that this could make a major

difference to this campus and that people of this institution should support this project.

In regards to the food survey, Senate was informed that a committee has been formed to review

the survey data and that recommendations will be made to help improve the quality and diversity

of food services. The Chair mentioned that he was encouraged by the good turnout for the Winter

Warm-up and the positive response. It was also reported that this year’s B.C. Rhodes scholarship

was awarded to Sarah St. John, an SFU student from the Faculty of Health Sciences.

5.

Question Period

There were no questions submitted for question period.

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6.

Reports of Committees

A) Senate Committee on University Priorities (SCUP)

i)

Motion

Moved by B. Krane, seconded by S. Easton

“That Senate approve the Action Plan for the Department of Earth Sciences that resulted from its

External Review.”

Clarification was requested in regards to the allocation of teaching space, the term “non-teaching

faculty” members, collaboration with other departments/programs, and the drop in graduation

rates.

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii)

Motion

Moved by B. Krane, seconded by T. Leacock

“That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the Full Program Proposal for a

Certificate in the Linguistics of Speech Science in the Department of Linguistics within the

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.”

An opinion was expressed that the documentation was well argued and appreciation was

expressed to the authors of the paper. A general question was asked regarding the proliferation of

certificates. Senate was requested to consider the rationale provided for this particular certificate

rather than discuss certificates in general.

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Motion

Moved by B. Krane, seconded by J. Craig

“That Senate approve the Full Program Proposal for an Extended Minor in World Literature

within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.”

Clarification was requested in regards to the difference between a minor and an extended minor.

Senate was informed that the extended minor includes all the lower division requirements for a

major and the upper division requirements for a minor. A comment was made regarding extended

minors in general and it was agreed that a review of degree and credential structure is needed. A

typo was noted on p. 6 which states that the upper division requirements are 16 units. The correct

number of upper division requirements is 15 units.

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Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

iv) Report of Committee to Review EAL Supports (S.11-146)

Senate received the report of the committee to review EAL (English is an additional language)

supports for advice. Senate was informed that the committee was formed in 2010 to review the

supports and services for English as an additional language after Senate had a considerable

discussion on this topic. One of the key findings was that the EAL population at SFU is a

complex one that encompasses both the international and domestic population at SFU. The

deadline for comments on the report is January 31, 2012 and the input received will be considered

by the Vice-President Academic in determining the timetable for some of the recommendations.

In general, Senators were impressed with the report and felt that it dealt with a serious issue in a

clear and substantive way. There was some discussion around whether or not full credit should be

granted for EAL courses. As well, an issue was raised with principle seven on p. 2 which states,

“Academic units should remind and encourage students to use English during all aspects of their

studies at SFU, including activities such as group work, in-class discussions, field school,

faculty/student interactions and graduate supervision”. An opinion was expressed by several

Senators that this was not appropriate and a recommendation was made to delete this principle.

Concern was expressed over admission standards and Senate was advised that the current LPI

(Language Proficiency Index) will be evaluated to determine if this standard continues to be an

appropriate test for SFU. It was pointed out that there is no perfect admission standard or test but

that it’s still worthwhile to look at what other kinds of measures or predictors are available.

B)

Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (SCUS)

i)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (S.11-147)

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

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

Social Sciences (Political Science).

C) Senate Graduate Studies Committee (SGSC)

i)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (S.11-148)

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

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (International Studies, Linguistics, Philosophy, Sociology

and Anthropology, Urban Studies)

ii)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Education (S.11-149)

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

authority, approved a minor revision to an existing program in the Faculty of Education.

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D) Senate Committee on Continuing Studies (SCCS)

i)

Annual Report (S.11-150)

Senate received the 2010/2011 Annual Report for the Senate Committee on Continuing Studies

for information.

E)

Senate Nominating Committee (SNC)

i)

Elections by Senate (S.11-151)

A revised Senate paper distributed prior to the start of the meeting, showed positions that were

elected by acclamation and vacancies that would be carried forward to the next Senate meeting.

7.

i)

Election Report to Senate (S.11-152)

Senate received the results of student and faculty elections to Senate during the Fall 2011 term.

8.

i)

Date of the next regular meeting – Monday, January 9, 2012.

Open session adjourned at 6:25 pm and Senate moved directly into the closed session.

Kate Ross

Registrar & Executive Director Student Enrolment