May 26, 2011 Meeting Summary

Board Members present:  B. Elton, Chair; A. Petter, President;
A. Barton; L. Brown-Ganzert; A. Dhillon; M. Francis; N. MacKay;
J. McPhee; G. Myers; R. Patel; P. Percival; B. Taylor

Regrets:  B. Louie; A. Giardini

OPEN SESSION

A.        Finance and Administration

a.         Fundraising Progress Reports: The Board noted year-to-date progress reports as
            follows:

Month

Fundraising Progress Report

For Information

2010/2011 Year to Date

To March 31, 2011

$52,063,119

 

Fundraising Progress Report

For Information

2011/2012 Year to Date

To April 30, 2011

$10,011,053

b.         The Board approved the Terms of Reference for the:

  • Dr. Warren Gill Memorial Endowment Fund;
  • Kurt J. Lesker Company Conference Travel Award.

c.         The Board received for information the 2010 Annual Due Diligence Report.

d.         The Board received for information the 2010 Annual Report of SFU's Human Rights
            Office.

e.         The Board approved an allocation of a portion of the cumulative carry forward from the
            year ending March 31, 2011 for expenditures in 2011-12.

f.          The Board approved revisions to policies B 10.09 – Investment Governance and GP 20
             – Endowment Management, and the deletion of Policy AD 3.15 – Investment
             Management Operating Procedures, effective immediately.

g.         The Board approved revisions to Policy B 10.11 – Signing Authorizations, effective
             immediately.

h.         The Board approved a new Policy AD 3.17 – Payment of Honoraria, revisions to Policy
             AD 3.11 – Independent Contractor Policy, and consequential amendments to policies
             AD 10.01 – Employment Policies, AD 10.06 – Position Evaluation and Salary
             Administration, AD 9.6 – Salary Administration, and AD 3.03 – Direct Acquisition of
             Goods and Services, effective immediately.

i.          The Board approved a motion authorizing the University to take the proposed draft Policy
             B 10.15 – Consultation with Students on Tuition and Fees, to community consultation.

j.          The Board received for information and comments a draft of SFU's self-evaluation report
             for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) in connection
             with the process being undertaken by the University to obtain accreditation from the
             NWCCU.

k.         The Board approved the appointments of Ms. Emily Hamilton and Mr. Don Smith to the
             Board of the Simon Fraser University Foundation for the period June 1, 2011 to June 2,
             2014, and the re-appointments of Mr. Jon Festinger and Ms. Evaleen Jaager Roy for the
             periods June 27, 2011 to June 28, 2012 and August 19, 2011 to August 20, 2012,
             respectively.

l.          The Board approved the appointment of Dr. Peter Klein and the re-appointment of Dr.
            Gary Parker as Trustees of the Academic Pension Plan representing Faculty for
            two-year terms from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013.

B.         Academic Operations

a.         The Board approved the following actions recommended by Senate:

  • Dissolution of the Minor in Gender Studies in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, effective Fall 2011;
  • Full Program Proposal for a Certificate in Business Technology Management within the Beedie School of Business;
  • Suspension of admission to and dissolution of the Publishing Minor in the School of Communication within the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, effective Fall 2011 and Fall 2013 respectively;
  • Revised Terms of Reference for the Chair in Health Disparities in Cancer Research;
  • Full Program Proposal for a PhD in Health Sciences within the Faculty of Health Sciences, effective Fall 2011.

b.         The Board received the following reports for information:

  • External Review Update for the Environmental Science Program within the Faculty of Environment;
  • Annual Report of the Senate Committee on Graduate Studies;
  • Annual Report of the Senate Appeals Board;
  • Annual Report of the Senate Committee on International Activities;
  • Annual Report of the Senate Committee on University Priorities.

c.         The Board approved a revision to Policy GP 35 – Named Recognition of Buildings,
             Academic Endowments and Academic Units.

d.         Other matters dealt with by Senate on April 4 and May 24, 2011 were noted for
             information.

C.        External Relations

a.         The Board discussed an update from the President on the consultations completed and
             scheduled with the community and SFU, and recent media coverage in connection with
             the envision>SFU process.

D.        Audit

a.         The Board approved the Financial Statements of the University for the year ended March
             31, 2011 on the basis that the Office of the Auditor General of BC, the University's
             Auditor of Record, has indicated that an unqualified audit report for fiscal year
             2010/2011 will be issued.

b.         The Board approved the Annualized Full-Time Equivalent Enrollment Report for the year
             ending March 31, 2011.

E.         Other

a.         The President reported on activities in which he has recently been engaged, including
             his address to the Surrey Board of Trade, a visit to SFU Burnaby by Advanced Education
             Minister Naomi Yamamoto, the successful Alumni Annual General Meeting and
             Reception on May 25, and the upcoming June Convocation ceremonies at which the
             Installation of Chancellor Designate Carole Taylor will take place.

b.         President Petter informed the Board that he has written and posted to the President's
             website a Statement on Respectful Debate at Simon Fraser University, in which he
             encourages freedom of speech to be exercised in a reasonable, tolerant and mutually
             respectful manner. 

c.         The Board congratulated member Ms. Anne Giardini, Q.C., who is the recent recipient of
             the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association's 2011 Robert V.A. Jones Award.

d.         The Board received a report from the Vice-President, Academic on various academic
             related successes, awards, and other matters, including his annual update on the First
             Nations University-Wide Strategic Plan.  J. Driver reported that doctoral students Alana
             Gerecke, English, and Brent Loken, Resource & Environmental Management, each
             received a Trudeau Scholarship of only 14 awarded nationally.

e.         The Board received a report from the Vice-President, Research on a number of recent
             research awards, initiatives, funding announcements/achievements, and other
             research related news.

f.          The Board was informed that former Board Chair Dr. Nancy McKinstry, and Dr. Pat
             Hibbitts, Vice-President, Finance and Administration, each received a 2011 PEAK
             award on May 2, 2011 in the Lifetime Achievement and Excellence in the Public Sector
             categories from the Association of Women in Finance.

g.         The Board Chair thanked outgoing student Board members, Arry Dhillon and Ravi Patel,
             and staff Board member, Andrew Barton, for their service to the Board ending May 31,
             2011.  The Board was informed that effective June 1, 2011, Marc Fontaine and Pasha
             Tashakor have been elected by students to one-year terms ending May 31, 2012 and
             Jo Hinchliffe has been elected by staff for a three-year term ending May 31, 2014.

CLOSED SESSION

A.        Finance and Administration

a.         The Board approved that a five-year contract be awarded to Konica Minolta to provide
             multi-functional print devices for the University.

b.         The Board approved a maximum seven-year contract to Concord Security Corporation
             for the provision of security services to SFU.

c.         The Board approved the name, Morgan Centre for Labour Studies, for the existing
             Centre for Labour Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

d.         The Board approved the name Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies
             in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

e.         The Board approved the Five-Year Capital Plan for 2012-13 to 2016-17.

f.          The Board received information on renovation plans for the Discovery 1 building.

g.         The Board received for information a Capital Projects and Planning Program Status
             Report.

h.         The Board received for information the Fundraising Progress Reports for March and
             April 2011.

i.          The Board authorized the University to enter into new contracts with TransLink and
             others for the U-Pass program for SFU students from September 2011 to March 2013.

B.         Academic Operations

a.         Faculty Appointments

The following academic appointments were approved and have been accepted:

  • Dr. Jonn Axsen, Assistant Prof., Resource & Environmental Mgt., 1 Aug 11 - 31 Aug 15
  • Dr. Krishna Vijayaraghavan, Assistant Professor, Engineering Science, 1 Jun 11 - 31 Aug 15
  • Dr. Sonja Luehrmann, Assistant Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, 1 Sep 11 - 31 Aug 15
  • Dr. Eline de Rooij, Assistant Professor, Political Science, 1 Sep 12 - 31 Aug 16
  • Dr. Kelley Lee, Professor with tenure, Health Sciences, 1 Sep 11
  • Dr. Byungchae Jin, Assistant Professor, Economics, 1 Aug 11 - 31 Aug 15
  • Dr. Erik Kimbrough, Assistant Professor, Economics, 1 Sep 11 - 31 Aug 15
  • Dr. Meghan Winters, Assistant Professor, Health Sciences, 1 Jul 11 - 31 Aug 15
  • Dr. Shih En Lu, Assistant Professor, Economics, 1 Sep 11 - 31 Aug 15

b.         Administrative Appointments

The following administrative appointments were approved and have been accepted:

  • Dr. Felix Breden, re-appointed Chair, Biological Sciences, 1 Sep 11 – 31 Aug 13
  • Dr. Simon Watkins, re-appointed Chair, Physics, 1 Sep 11 – 31 Aug 14
  • Dr. Catherine Black, Chair, French, 1 Sep 11 – 31 Aug 12
  • Dr. Tim Rahilly, Associate Vice-President, Students, 1 Jun 11

c.         Other

The Board approved:

  • Professor Emerita status for Dr. Pat Mooney, effective 30 Sep 13
  • A transfer of appointment from Explorations Program to 50% Explorations Program and 50% Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, effective 1 Sep 11

C.        External Relations

a.         The Board received for information an update on Government Relations matters.

D.        Audit

a.         The Board received for information the Report from the Auditor for 2010/2011.

b.         The Board received the annual Internal Audit Report for information.

c.         The Board received the annual Insurance and Liability Report for information.

d.         The Board received for information an update to the Enterprise Risk Management Plan.

E.         Other

a.         The Board engaged in a discussion about University governance.

b.         The Board received the President's Activity Report for March and April 2011.

c.         The Board heard a brief update on the going concern liability and a solvency issue
             associated with the Pension Plan for Administrative/Union Staff.

d.         Other matters were discussed.

CONFIDENTIAL SESSION

a.         The Board approved the appointment of Dr. Tim Rahilly as Associate Vice-President,
             Students, effective June 1, 2011.

b.         The Board approved a new Policy B 10.14 – Evaluation of the President's Performance.

c.         Other matters were discussed.

The next Board of Governors Meeting will be held at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 21, 2011 in Room 126 of the Halpern Centre, SFU Burnaby.

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