APPROVED BY SENATE

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

Monday, February 6, 2012 at 5:30 pm at the West Mall Complex (Room 3210)

Open Session

Present:

Andrew Petter, President and Chair

Acierno, Kyle

Brandhorst, Bruce

Brennand, Tracy

Chapman, Glenn

Craig, John

Cupples, Claire

Cyr, Dianne

Dhillon, Arinder

Driver, Jon

Easton, Stephen

Eckman, Charles

Fizzell, Maureen

Francis, June

Garneau-Scott, Christi

Geisler, Cheryl

Gordon, Robert

Kohn, Jordan

Kong, Shuyu

Krane, Bill

Laitsch, Dan

Leacock, Tracey

Li, Paul

Magnusson, Kris

McRae, Jennifer

Moghaddamjoo, Sara

Nilson Levisohn, Michelle

Palis, Heather

Parkhouse, Wade

Percival, Colin

Perry, Tom

Peters, Joseph

Pierce, John

Pilarinos, Andreas

Pinto, Mario

Robinsmith, Stacey

Ruben, Peter

Somers, Julian (also representing J. O’Neil)

Kate Ross, Registrar & Executive Director Student Enrolment

Shelley Gair, Recording Secretary

Tashakor, Pasha

Warner, D’Arcy

Woodbury, Rob

Wussow, Helen

Absent:

Armstrong, Arthur

Black, Sam

Chen, Alexander

Fontaine, Marc

Golnaraghi, Farid

Hughes, David

Kropinski, Mary Catherine

Lee, Benjamin

Leznoff, Daniel

Mann, Geoff

Myers, Gordon

Paterson, David

Pavsek, Christopher

Percival, Paul

Rajapakse, Nimal

Russell, Robert

Sahinalp, Cenk

Shapiro, Daniel

Shaw, Chris

Taylor, Carole

Yeung, Lorenz

In Attendance:

Budra, Paul

Burns, Dan

Hinchliffe, Jo

Knowler, Duncan

Williams-Jones, Glyn

---

S.M 6 February 2012

Page 2

https://docushare.sfu.ca/dsweb/View/Collection-16884

1.

Approval of the Agenda

The agenda was approved as distributed.

2.

Minutes of the Open Session on January 9, 2011

The minutes were approved as distributed with a minor correction.

3.

Business Arising from the Minutes

There was no business arising from the minutes.

4.

Report of the Chair

The chair reported that there continues to be concern around funding from the provincial and

federal governments but that steps have been taken, in the form of a recent visit to Ottawa and a

planned visit to Victoria, to raise the profile of SFU and the importance of research funding in

general. On a positive note, the chair also reported that the Northwest Commission on Colleges

and Universities has accepted SFU as a candidate for accreditation. The chair expressed thanks to

all who have been involved with this process.

The chair highlighted a few important dates that are coming up. A public launch of SFU’s

strategic vision is planned for February 20, 2012. It was noted that the tag line “thinking of the

world” will be changing to “engaging the world” as approved by the Board at a recent meeting.

On March 13, 2012, the chair will be taking part in a panel discussion at the British Council

Going Global conference on the role of the university in contributing to society. An open house

event is planned at SFU’s Burnaby campus on May 26, 2012.

Lastly, Steve Henslow was acknowledged for his many years of service at SFU and with Senate

in the area of audio-visual support.

5.

Question Period

There were no questions submitted for question period.

6.

Reports of Committees

A) Senate Committee on University Priorities (SCUP)

i)

Motion

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by M. Fizzell

“That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the dissolution of the Major and

Joint Majors in Latin American Studies within Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Beedie

School of Business, Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology and Faculty of Environment,

effective Fall 2012.”

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii)

Certificate in Environmental Literacy (S.12-29)

---

S.M 6 February 2012

Page 3

https://docushare.sfu.ca/dsweb/View/Collection-16884

Motion

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by S. Easton

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

Certificate in Environmental Literacy within the Faculty of Environment, effective September

2012.”

A suggestion was made that the proposal would be stronger with Chem 191 and Chem 192

removed from the list of electives in the Natural Science group on p. 4, due to their elementary

nature. Senate was informed that consultation was done with every department that’s represented

and that each department gave their support for every course found in this certificate. It was

pointed out that one of the challenges in designing this interdisciplinary program was finding

courses that are science based which non-science students can take. Both Chem 191 and Chem

192 are designed for non-science students and may have been added to this certificate for that

particular reason.

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Motion

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by P. Ruben

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

Joint Major and Honours in Earth Sciences and Chemistry in the Departments of Earth Sciences

and Chemistry within the Faculty of Science, effective September 2012.”

It was clarified for Senate that students entering the Joint Honours program will be required to

fulfill the existing requirements of each department. There was some ambiguity over whether or

not the breadth requirements, found on page 19, fulfilled university regulations. It was agreed that

Senate would consider the motion subject to the breadth requirements fulfilling university

regulations and if they don’t fulfill university regulations, then it would need to go back to Senate

for approval.

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

B)

Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (SCUS)

i)

Motion

Moved by B. Krane, seconded by S. Easton

“That Senate approve the admission changes to the Business Minor Program within the Beedie

School of Business, effective Fall 2012.”

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

---

S.M 6 February 2012

Page 4

https://docushare.sfu.ca/dsweb/View/Collection-16884

ii)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (S.12-32)

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

delegated authority, approved revisions to existing courses in the Faculty of Arts and Social

Sciences (Psychology, Criminology).

iii) Curriculum Revisions – Beedie School of Business (S.12-33)

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

delegated authority, approved new courses and revisions to an existing course and program in the

Beedie School of Business.

iv) Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Education (S.12-34)

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

delegated authority, approved revisions to existing courses and an existing program in the Faculty

of Education.

v)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Science (S.12-35)

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

delegated authority, approved revisions to existing courses and programs in the Faculty of

Science (Mathematics, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Physiology & Kinesiology, Molecular

Biology and Biochemistry, Chemistry).

vi)

SCUS Annual Report (S.12-36)

Senate received the 2010 – 2011 annual report of the Senate Committee on Undergraduate

Studies for information.

C) Senate Graduate Studies Committee (SGSC)

i)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Applied Sciences (S.12-37)

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

authority, approved revisions to existing courses and an existing program in the Faculty of

Applied Sciences (Engineering Science).

ii)

Curriculum Revisions – Beedie School of Business (S.12-38)

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

authority, approved revisions to existing courses in the Beedie School of Business (Master

Program).

---

S.M 6 February 2012

Page 5

https://docushare.sfu.ca/dsweb/View/Collection-16884

D) Senate Nominating Committee (SNC)

i)

Elections by Senate (S.12-39)

Senate received a summary of the outstanding vacancies for positions elected by Senate on Senate

committees.

F)

Calendar Committee (CC)

i)

Motion

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by M. Nilson Levisohn

“That Senate approve a Schedule of Academic Dates 2012 – 2015.”

Senate was informed that the schedule of academic dates was revised due to the addition of a

Family Day approved by the provincial government starting in February of 2013. As a result, the

reading break has been moved and shortened to four days in order to include the Family Day. As

well, an attempt was made to start all terms on a Monday and to accommodate the orientation

schedule.

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

7.

Other Business

Senate was informed that a survey will be sent to Senators by email regarding feedback on the

electronic distribution of Senate materials.

8.

i)

Date of the next regular meeting – Monday, March 5, 2012.

Open session adjourned at 6:03 pm and Senate moved directly into the closed session.

Kate Ross

Registrar & Executive Director Student Enrolment