APPROVED BY SENATE
Minutes of a Meeting of the Senate of Simon Fraser University held on
Monday, June 11, 2012 at 7:00 pm at the West Mall Complex (Room 3210)
Open Session
Present:
Andrew Petter, President and Chair
Ali, Alia
Black, Sam
Brandhorst, Bruce
Chapman, Glenn
Craig, John
Cupples, Claire
Driver, Jon
Easton, Stephen
Eckman, Charles
Elle, Elizabeth
Flodr, Sarah-Sophia
Geisler, Cheryl
Gordon, Robert
Hall, Angie
Hedley, Nick
Kelm, Mary-Ellen (for W. Parkhouse)
Kopahi, Moe
Krane, Bill
Kropinski, Mary Catherine
Laitsch, Dan
Leacock, Tracey
Li, Paul
Lundgreen-Nielsen, Jens
Magnusson, Kris
O’Neil, John
Palis, Heather
Parekh, Nimisha
Pavsek, Christopher
Percival, Colin
Perry, Tom
Pilarinos, Andreas
Pinto, Mario
Rajapakse, Nimal
Robinsmith, Stacey
Ruben, Peter
Sakhrani, Rohan
Schellenberg, Betty
Kate Ross, Registrar and Executive Director, Student Enrolment
Shelley Gair, Recording Secretary
Shaw, Chris
Tabin, Yvonne (for H. Wussow)
Warner, D’Arcy
Wilson, Meaghan
Zhang, Kevin
Absent:
Brennand, Tracy
Burley, David
Chen, Alexander
Corbett, Kitty
Cyr, Dianne
Delgrande, Jim
Francis, June
Golnaraghi, Farid
Hejazi, Michael
Kong, Shuyu
Leivdal, Joseph
Leznoff, Daniel
McRae, Jennifer
Nilson Levisohn, Michelle
Percival, Paul
Pierce, John
Quarmby, Lynne
Shapiro, Daniel
Somers, Julian
Szeto, Hendson
Taylor, Carole
Tingling, Peter
Woodbury, Rob
In Attendance:
Collins, Colleen
Di Francesco, Concetta
Hinchliffe, Jo
Schiphorst, Thecla
S.M. June 11, 2012
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1.
Approval of the Agenda
The agenda was approved as distributed.
2.
Minutes of the Open Session on May 22, 2012 will be approved at the Senate meeting on
July 9, 2012.
3.
Business Arising from the Minutes
There was no business arising from the minutes.
4.
Report of the Chair
The Chair, on behalf of Senate, welcomed the following new and re-elected faculty and student
Senators: Jim Delgrande, Peter Tingling, David Burley, Nick Hedley, Betty Schellenberg, Lynne
Quarmby, Elizabeth Elle, Kitty Corbett
,
Rob Woodbury, Chris Shaw, Paul Percival, Peter Ruben
,
Alia Ali, Michael Hejazi, Hendson Szeto, Meaghan Wilson, Kevin Zhang, Nimisha Parakh,
Rohan Sakhrani, Joseph Leivdal, Jens Lundgreen-Nielsen, Moe Kopahi, Angie Hall, Sarah-
Sophia Flodr
,
Stacey Robinsmith, Alexander Chen, Andreas Pilarinos, Heather Palis.
The Chair reported that the Open House was a success with almost 20,000 people attending and
approximately 1,500 students, staff and faculty involved as volunteers.
A new initiative, the SFU Public Square, will be launched as an opportunity to engage the
community on major issues of public policy. The results of a recent survey by the Vancouver
Foundation found that a major issue in Greater Vancouver is a concern regarding disconnection
and isolation within the community. In September the first SFU Public Square Community
Summit, in partnership with the Vancouver Foundation, will be held on this topic.
Senate was informed that recently two major international ranking services (i.e. Times Higher
Education and QS World) focused on universities that are less than 50 years of age and the results
were positive for SFU. The results from both rankings placed SFU as 30th and 25th in the world,
7th and 3rd in North America and 2nd in Canada respectively.
5.
Question Period
There were no questions submitted for question period.
6.
Reports of Committees
A)
Senate Committee on University Priorities (SCUP)
i)
Interaction Design Research Centre (S.12-86)
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Motion
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by S. Easton
“That Senate approve the proposal for the establishment of the Interaction Design Research
Centre as a Centre for a five year term.”
Question was called and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
ii)
Suspension of Admission and Dissolution of the Advanced Certificate in Criminology
(S.12-87)
Motion 1
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by J. Craig
“That Senate approve the suspension of admission to the Advanced Certificate in
Criminology in the School of Criminology within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
effective immediately.”
Question was called and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
Motion 2
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by S. Easton
“That Senate approve and recommended to the Board of Governors the dissolution of the
Advanced Certificate in Criminology in the School of Criminology within the Faculty of
Arts and Social Sciences, effective Spring 2013.”
Question was called and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
iii)
Suspension of Admission to the Certificate in Family Studies (S.12-88)
Motion
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by T. Leacock
“That Senate approve the suspension of admission to the Certificate in Family Studies in the
Department of Sociology and Anthropology within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
effective Spring 2013.”
Question was called and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
iv)
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Principles (S.12-89)
Motion
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by P. Ruben
“That Senate approve the principles that will guide the development of learning outcomes
and assessment processes.”
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A lengthy discussion followed regarding the positives and negatives of implementing learning
outcomes throughout the university. Some of the key concerns raised were as follows: the
anticipated cost and time commitment required for setting up and maintaining learning outcomes;
the method of measuring outcomes; how accessible the data will be; adequate representation and
input throughout the process; and the purpose of the principles.
Senate was informed that the two main reasons this process was initiated was because of a need to
be accountable to students as well as the provincial and federal government, and secondly, during
the process of accreditation it became clear that the standard of establishing learning outcomes
and assessing those outcomes was an area that SFU lacked compared to other institutions.
The key concerns were addressed as follows:
o
It was too early in the process for cost estimates but it was felt that the costs incurred
would be mitigated by saving time and costs in other curriculum processes. It was also
expressed that this would be an investment in students and the university’s reputation.
o
Learning outcomes will be defined by the academic departments and therefore will not be
imposed by the university. Part of the process will be to define those parts of the
curriculum that can be observed and measured, although it was agreed that not all aspects
of a student’s experience can be measured.
o
Data accessibility will be determined as part of the process.
o
The process will be lengthy and involve significant amounts of consultation (e.g. focus
groups, town hall meeting) with a wide variety of people.
o
The purpose of the principles was to initiate a process and set some boundaries around the
discussion that will happen over the next few years. Senate was assured that approving
this motion only approved the principles, not the development of learning outcomes and
assessment processes.
Several Senators (faculty and students) expressed support from their own personal experience, or
from the experiences of other institutions, regarding the benefits of having learning outcomes.
An
amendment
was proposed by Senator C. Percival, and seconded by Senator M. Kopahi, to
change the word “approve” to “agrees with” in the motion. The amended motion would read as
follows: “that Senate agrees with the principles that will guide the development of learning
outcomes and assessment processes.”
Question was called and a vote taken on amendment
MOTION DEFEATED
A
friendly amendment
was proposed and accepted to change the wording of the first principle
on page 5 from “SFU will establish learning outcomes and assessment processes in order to
communicate transparently the purposes of all degree program and course requirements” to “The
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primary purpose of learning outcomes and assessment processes is to communicate transparently
the purposes of all degree program and course requirements.”
Question was called and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
v) Revisions to Master of Business Administration Program (S.12-90)
Motion
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by S. Easton
“That Senate approve the revisions to the Master of Business Administration Program
within the Beedie School of Business, effective September 2012.”
A concern was raised regarding a discrepancy in the list of courses on page 5 with another
location within the document as well as the current online calendar. An example is BUS 728
which appears in the online calendar but not in the Senate paper. It was confirmed for Senate that
BUS 728 should be included on the list and that the list in the right hand column on page 5 is
what is currently being approved.
Question was called and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
vi) Name Change of the CMA Centre for Strategic Change and Performance Measurement to
CMA Innovation Centre (S.12-91)
Motion
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by T. Leacock
“That Senate approve that the name of the CMA Centre for Strategic Change and
Performance Measurement be changed to the CMA Innovation Centre.”
Question was called and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
vii)Revisions to the Academic Planning Process (S.12-92)
Motion
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by J. Craig
“That Senate approve the revisions to Senate Guidelines for Academic Plans S.06-62.”
Question was called and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
viii) External Reviews Scheduled for 2012 – 2013 (S.12-93)
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on University Priorities (SCUP) reviewed
the list of external reviews and external review updates that are scheduled for the 2012-2013
academic year.
S.M. June 11, 2012
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B)
Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (SCUS)
i)
Curriculum Revisions – Beedie School of Business (S.12-94)
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting under
delegated authority, approved a revision to an existing program in the Beedie School of Business.
ii)
Curriculum Revisions - Faculty of Communication, Art & Technology (S.12-95)
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
Communication, Art and Technology (Communication, Interactive Arts and Technology).
iii)
Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Education (S.12-96)
Senate received information that the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies, acting under
delegated authority, approved a revision to an existing course in the Faculty of Education.
C)
Senate Graduate Studies Committee (SGSC)
i)
Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (S.12-97)
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under delegated
authority, approved revisions to existing programs in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
(Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies).
ii)
Curriculum Revisions – Beedie School of Business (S.12-98)
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under delegated
authority, approved the deletion of some existing courses in the Beedie School of Business.
iii)
Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Environment (S.12-99)
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under delegated
authority, approved a revision to an existing course in the Faculty of Environment (Geography).
iv)
Curriculum Revisions – Faculty of Science (S.12-100)
Senate received information that the Senate Graduate Studies Committee, acting under delegated
authority, approved new courses and revisions to existing courses in the Faculty of Science
(Statistics and Actuarial Science).
S.M. June 11, 2012
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D) Senate Nominating Committee (SNC)
i) Elections by Senate (S.12-101)
Senate received a report from the Senate Nominating Committee on the positions that required a
vote, were elected by acclamation, and outstanding vacancies. Senate was informed that a revised
document would be sent to everyone by email and that online voting would be held from June 12,
2012 to June 14, 2012.
7.
Other Business
i)
Board Election Rules - Notice of Motion (S.12-102)
Senate received the Board Election Rules as a notice of motion (without debate) to be considered
for approval at the July meeting.
ii) Revision to Academic Dates 2012 – 2015 (S.12-103)
Motion
Moved by J. Driver, seconded by S. Easton
“That Senate approve the revised Schedule of Academic Dates 2012 – 2015.”
Senate was informed that this revision was due to “Family Day” being moved to the second
Monday in February. A question was raised regarding whether consideration was given to
aligning Reading Week with other B.C. institutions, in particular UBC. It was reported that
originally SFU was aligned with other institutions but at this time, with everyone adjusting their
schedules, it cannot be confirmed whether or not our Reading Week will be aligned with other
institutions.
Question was called and a vote taken.
MOTION CARRIED
8.
Information
i)
Date of the next regular meeting – Monday, July 9, 2012.
Open session adjourned at 8:47 pm and Senate moved directly into the closed session.
Kate Ross
Registrar & Executive Director Student Enrolment
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