APPROVED BY SENATE

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

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at 5:30 pm at the West Mall Complex (Room 3210)

Open Session

Present:

Andrew Petter, President and Chair

Brennand, Tracy

Chapman, Glenn

Craig, John

Driver, Jon

Eckman, Charles

Fizzell, Maureen

Fontaine, Marc

Francis, June

Garneau-Scott, Christi

Gordon, Robert

Kohn, Jordan

Kong, Shuyu

Krane, Bill

Kropinski, Mary Catherine

Laitsch, Dan

Leacock, Tracey

Li, Paul

Magnusson, Kris

McRae, Jennifer

Moghaddamjoo, Sara

Myers, Gordon

Nilson Levisohn, Michelle

O’Neil, John

Palis, Heather

Parkhouse, Wade

Paterson, David

Percival, Colin

Percival, Paul

Perry, Tom

Peters, Joseph

Pierce, John

Pilarinos, Andreas

Pinto, Mario

Rajapakse, Nimal

Robinsmith, Stacey

Ruben, Peter

Kate Ross, Registrar and Executive Director, Student Enrolment

Shelley Gair, Recording Secretary

Russell, Robert

Shapiro, Daniel

Somers, Julian

Tashakor, Pasha

Warner, D’Arcy

Woodbury, Rob

Wussow, Helen

Absent:

Acierno, Kyle

Armstrong, Arthur

Black, Sam

Brandhorst, Bruce

Chen, Alexander

Corbett, Kitty

Cupples, Claire

Cyr, Dianne

Dhillon, Arinder

Easton, Stephen

Geisler, Cheryl

Golnaraghi, Farid

Hughes, David

Leznoff, Daniel

Mann, Geoff

Pavsek, Christopher

Sahinalp, Cenk

Shaw, Chris

Taylor, Carole

Yeung, Lorenz

In Attendance:

Budra, Paul

DiPaolo, Steve

Di Francesco, Concetta

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S.M. May 22, 2012

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1.

Approval of the Agenda

The agenda was approved as distributed.

2.

Minutes of the Open Session on April 2, 2012

The minutes were approved as distributed.

3.

Business Arising from the Minutes

Senate was informed that the SCIA annual report, submitted at the March Senate meeting, did

include some membership errors. The SCIA website has the correct membership listing, which is

consistent with changes that were approved in 2009.

4.

Report of the Chair

The Chair reported on a new program in Brazil called “Science without Borders” which plans to

send 100,000 students from Brazil, fully-funded by the Brazil government, to study outside Brazil

over the next three years. Canada was successful in securing support within the Brazil

government to target 12,000 of those students to come to Canada. It is expected that two thirds of

the students will be undergraduates. The Chair also reported that Vancouver seems to be a

preferred destination for Brazilian students and that Simon Fraser University is very well

regarded.

SFU’s vision has been shared with external audiences and the reception has been very positive. It

was noted that internally there is still work to be done in regards to integrating the vision with the

various planning processes. It was also reported that an agreement has been reached to extend the

lease at Harbour Centre for another ten to eighteen years.

Appreciation was expressed by a Student Senator to the Dean of Library Services for offering

extended library hours during the Spring exam period on a trial basis.

The Chair, on behalf of Senate, expressed appreciation to the following Senators whose terms of

office expire on May 31, 2012: Maureen Fizzell, Geoff Mann, Gordon Myers, David Paterson,

Joseph Peters, Robert Russell, Cenk Sahinalp, Pasha Tashakor, Kyle Acierno, Arthur Armstrong,

Arry Dhillon Marc Fontaine, Christi Garneau-Scott, David Hughes, Jordan Kohn, Benjamin Lee,

Sara Moghaddamjoo, and Lorenz Yeung

5.

Question Period

There were no questions submitted for question period.

6.

Reports of Committees

A)

Senate Committee on University Priorities (SCUP)

i)

Dissolution of the Geography and Economics Environmental Specialty BA Joint Major

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Motion 1

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by P. Percival

“That Senate approve the suspension of admission to the Geography and Economics

Environmental Specialty BA Joint Major Program within the Faculties of Environment and Arts

and Social Sciences, effective immediately.”

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

Motion 2

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by M. Fizzell

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

Geography and Economics Environmental Specialty BA Joint Major Program within the

Faculties of Environment and Arts and Social Sciences, effective Spring 2013.”

The effective date in the motion was changed from September 1, 2012 to Spring 2013.

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

ii)

Motion

Moved by J. Driver, seconded by R. Woodbury

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

for a Graduate Certificate in Visual Analytics in the School of Interactive Arts and

Technology within the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, effective Spring

2013.”

The effective date in the motion was changed from Fall 2012 to Spring 2013.

Question was called and a vote taken.

MOTION CARRIED

iii)

SCUP Annual Report 2011 – 2012 (S.12-75)

Senate received the annual report for the Senate Committee on University Priorities for

information.

B)

i)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (S.12-76)

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

delegated authority, approved a revision for an existing course in the Faculty of Arts and Social

Sciences (History).

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ii)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Applied Sciences (S.12-77)

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

delegated authority, approved revisions to existing courses in the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

A Senator expressed concern over CMPT 401 being temporarily withdrawn because it is a

critical course that some well-known companies look at when hiring. A Senator from the School

of Computing Science agreed to have this course reconsidered.

iii)

Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of Communication, Art & Technology (S.12-78)

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

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

Communication, Art and Technology (Communication, Contemporary Arts, Interactive Arts and

Technology).

iv)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Education (S.12-79)

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

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

Faculty of Education.

v)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Science (S.12-80)

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.

C)

Senate Graduate Studies Committee (SGSC)

i)

Motion

Moved by Wade Parkhouse, seconded by S. Moghaddamjoo

“That Senate approve the changes to GGR 1.3.6 Admission as a Qualifying Student and GGR

1.3.8 Conditional Admission.”

An

amendment

was proposed by Senator Percival and seconded by Senator Leacock to change

the wording on p. 4 of the document from, “These courses must be completed no later than the

end of the first term of enrolment” to “These courses must be completed no later than the end of

the second term of enrolment.”

Question was called and a vote taken on amendment.

AMENDMENT CARRIED

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Concern was expressed that the requirement for qualifying students to complete between 12 to 30

undergraduate courses may be higher than necessary. Senate was informed that this was

considered by the Senate Graduate Studies Committee and it was determined to be a reasonable

requirement.

An

amendment

was proposed by Senator Magnusson and seconded by Senator Paterson to

change the wording on p. 3 of the document from, “Admission as a qualifying student does not

guarantee future admission to a master’s program unless the offer of admission clearly states that

satisfying specific requirements within a specific period of time will result in admission to the

master’s program” to “Admission as a qualifying student guarantees admission to a master’s

program provided that the student satisfies the specific requirements within the specific period of

time.”

Question was called and a vote taken on amendment.

AMENDMENT CARRIED

A

motion

was proposed by Senator Percival and seconded by Senator Perry to refer this item

back to the Senate Graduate Studies Committee for further deliberation since there have already

been two amendments with considerable discussion and there are still additional concerns with

the document.

Question was called and a vote taken on motion to refer

MOTION TO REFER CARRIED

ii)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (S.12-82)

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

authority, approved revisions to an existing program in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

(Gerontology).

iii)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology (S.12-83)

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

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

Communication, Art and Technology (Communication, Publishing Program).

iv)

Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Science (S.12-84)

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

authority, approved revisions to existing courses in the Faculty of Science (Molecular Biology

and Biochemistry).

7.

i)

Revision to the Rules of Senate – Notice of Motion (S.12-85)

Senate received revisions to the Rules of Senate as a notice of motion. These revisions will be

submitted for approval at the July Senate meeting.

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8.

i)

Date of the next regular meeting – Monday, June 11, 2012.

Open session adjourned at 6:22 pm and Senate moved directly into the closed session.

Kate Ross

Registrar & Executive Director Student Enrolment