Faculty of Arts

Academic Plan



for



2001 / 2004







May, 2001

Faculty of Arts

Three Year Plan: 2001/2004



Introduction: The Role of the Liberal Arts in the University





I. The Planning Context and How it Has Changed in Three Years



A. Changes in Enrolment



1. Direct Admission to the Faculty of Arts

2. The University and Student Recruitment



B. Government Funding

C. External Research Funding and Granting Agencies

D. Space

E. New Faculty

F. Competitive Environment of Hiring and Retention



II. Evaluation:



A. Previous Priorities

B. Recommendations of Previous Plan



III. Profile of Faculty: Statistical Summaries



IV. The Way Ahead: Challenges and Opportunities



A. Synthesis of Departmental Plans

B. Success in Research and Teaching

C. Priorities for the Future

D. Initiatives

E. Conclusion

Faculty of Arts 2

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Most people are mirrors, reflecting the moods and

emotions of the times; few are windows, bringing light to

bear on the dark corners where troubles fester. The

whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into

windows.



Sydney J. Harris







Introduction



The Faculty of Arts has achieved a better understanding of itself

through its previous three-year plan. The goal, as stated in the intro-

duction. was to articulate in practice the principle of the liberal arts

degrees offered by the Faculty. We begin the current plan with a few

remarks about that principle. The term artes liberales originated in

ancient Rome. It referred to the higher arts (philosophy, mathematics

and geometry, music, poetry, the sciences and astronomy). Only free

men (liberi) were allowed to study these ‗pure‘, unapplied disciplines.

In the Middle Ages, monasteries and the first universities insti-

tutionalized higher education around these subjects within a

religious context. Since the Enlightenment, the liberal arts have

come to be understood through the secular curricula of universities,

in contrast with technical and professional educational institutions.



What are the liberal arts now and what should be their role in this

university? The liberal arts liberate; they emancipate the mind from

the dangers of the status quo through intellectual pursuit of the

highest order. The liberal arts, including both the humanities and

natural sciences as well as the social and human sciences, encourage

the creativity of new ideals as well as the rejuvenation of tradition.

Besides creating and imparting knowledge, any university course,

department, or faculty should enhance and exercise the student‘s

skills in both verbal and written expression, including the nature and

practice of reasoning. The Faculty of Arts, through its fifteen depart-

Faculty of Arts 3

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







ments and several programs, provides the most diverse arena for the

pursuit of these educational activities.



During the twentieth century, as it has reflected recent social

concerns, the institution of the university evolved to include many

practical and applied subjects within its historically established

structure. As a result, the university of 2000 is far different from

what it was in 1900 or even 1950. Despite these important changes,

the fundamental role of the liberal arts remains the same, and the

integration of the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences

has become even more important with the growing attention given to

employability. Employers want not simply trained, but educated

people.



Most Arts courses, to one degree or another, emphasize the basic

skills of rational thought, research, and discourse. Reasoning, writ-

ing, and communication, along with both quantificational and eval-

uative thinking, are ―practical‖ in the sense that they are required by

both employers and citizenship. The liberal arts foster the ultimate

form of employability: the person who can think creatively and who

understands the traditions of their own and other societies. The

person who can reason independently, who understands the social

and historical context as well as the political, psychological, and

philosophical assumptions of a problem, is usually someone who can

adapt to the demands of many different employment situations.



The principle of the liberal arts, that of intellectually and socially

responsible creativity and freedom of thought, should be understood

as a university-wide educational responsibility. This is as true in the

Faculties of Science, Applied Science, Business or Education as it is

in the Faculty of Arts, all of which are similarly dedicated to the

educational mission of the university. But in this endeavor, the

Faculty of Arts continues to be both primary and essential, in part

because all other areas and subjects are or can be studied and

debated in many arts courses, thus creating different perspectives

within which large and important questions emerge about the

Faculty of Arts 4

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







nature, purpose, and value of particular disciplines. This capacity for

generalization and abstraction, without denying specificity, lies at

the core of the liberal arts. The liberally educated person has skills,

but education is more than training; it includes the informed ability

to use those skills wisely.



The Faculty of Arts web site provides a number of articles on the

relation between the Bachelor of Arts and employability:



http://www.sfu.ca/arts/artsed.htm





In the previous three-year plan, the following principles were stated

and are here reaffirmed:



 The Faculty should maintain an intellectual climate for faculty

and students that values differences and recognizes similarities

in scholarly activities. We should acknowledge this elusive but

vital quality of intellectual respect in all our endeavors.



 Departments should reaffirm their belief in liberal arts edu-

cation and seek to strengthen their contributions to it through a

deepened commitment to fundamental academic values that

sustain quality while respecting diversity. Central to the nature

of a university education is the opportunity to engage in a

variety of disciplines of intellectual inquiry. Along with the

Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Arts supplies these essential

ingredients of academic life. The University must ensure the

health and vitality of its academic core by strengthening the

teaching and research programs in arts and science



 The Faculty should establish applied skills courses and

programs where they complement the basic academic mandate

of departments and where they extend and build on the

fundamentals of a liberal arts education.

Faculty of Arts 5

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









 The University should continue to recognize the pivotal role of

Arts as the most heterogeneous faculty, representing many

forms of inquiry, teaching and learning. Given its unique

position within the institution, the University should encourage

and nurture the many mutually supportive relationships that

Arts has developed with the other faculties as well as with its

own departments. The Faculties of Applied Science, Education,

and Business share the same goals of liberal education since

students in those faculties enroll, in many cases are required to

enroll, in Arts courses. The University should continue to

encourage these relationships, and to increase inter-faculty

partnerships in research as well as degree requirements. Many

excellent interdisciplinary programs already exist between

faculties and more should be encouraged.



Against this general description of the guiding philosophy for the

Faculty of Arts and its role in the University, we turn to the details

of implementation and management.



The period extending from about 1995 to 1998 saw increasing enrol-

ments along with declining budgets. Deans were therefore

preoccupied with managing finite resources within a period of growth

in student numbers. Planning for the next period (2001/2004) will

rest on the assumption of a steady-state (or at best modestly

increased) budget that should allow the University to better cope

with rising costs, including salary growth due to progress through the

ranks, salary remapping, and market differentials. We assume that

enrolments will be more rationally managed than in the past and

that they will also remain relatively constant. These assumptions are

essential to plan for faculty renewal. The aim of the Faculty of Arts

remains the same as in the previous plan: to grow better if not signi-

ficantly larger.



As Part IV of this plan will show, the Faculty of Arts Plan for

2001/2004 will build on the successes of the past. Arts will maintain

the academic core of its liberal arts degrees, and move forward from

Faculty of Arts 6

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







the recommendations of the previous plan, most of which have been

implemented. The future introduces new challenges that can be

planned for best by ensuring the flexibility of the Faculty‘s programs

and administration.

Faculty of Arts 7

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









I. The Planning Context and How it Has

Changed In Three Years





A. Changes in Enrolment



1. Direct Admission to the Faculty of Arts



The years from 1995 through 1997/1998 saw increasing

enrolments in the Faculty of Arts from 7372.4 to 7516.6 FTE

undergraduate and graduate. This period was followed by one

of decline from 7516.6 in 1997/1998 to 7258.5 FTE in 1999/2000

(see Table 3 and enrolment discussion in Section III). Beginning

in 2000–2, and continuing in 2000–3, enrolments began to

increase again (up 2.8% in the former and 3.6% in the latter

term). We can also note that in 2001–1, FTE course enrolments

in Arts are up. 4.9% (7.9% in Lower Division). The bulk of these

increases came from lower division course enrolments (up 4.8%

and 7.8% for 2000–2 and 2000–3). The distribution of under-

graduate students by faculty of approved and intended major

showed an increase of 13.6% in the Faculty of Arts (from 7794

in 1999–3 to 8855 in 2000–3). Admission by faculty has

increased the University‘s ability to regulate student numbers

and their distribution, making it much easier to return to

targeted levels when a divergent enrolment drift is detected.



2. The University and Student Recruitment



An important question facing the University concerns under-

graduate recruitment. How much effort and money will we be

prepared to devote to sustaining the quality of our entering

students? The Faculty of Science has a staff member who

devotes his time entirely to addressing recruitment issues. The

Faculty of Arts contends that this matter should be addressed

by the University, as an institutional policy, and that it is best

settled at that level. Although recruitment might not be seen as

Faculty of Arts 8

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







a high priority while we are presently turning away well-

qualified undergraduate applicants, we cannot afford to lose

ground to our sister institutions who are spending far more

than SFU on student recruitment.



B. Government Funding



The years from 1996 to 1999 saw declines in real terms in the general

grant to the universities in British Columbia. Beginning with the

fiscal 2000/2001 budget, base funding increased by 5%. Even this

modest change in the financial climate means that planning may pro-

ceed on more positive assumptions. However, the entire question of

growth must be addressed with circumspection, especially in the light

of the unpredictable nature of funding for education in this province.



The basic principle for Faculty of Arts planning will be that of the en-

hancement of existing programs. Encouraging innovation and ini-

tiative must rest on the firm base of sustaining the plans of the

various units within the faculty, particularly through retirement re-

placements and appropriate curriculum changes.



C. External Research Funding and Granting Agencies



The past three years have seen major changes in research funding.

CRC; CIHR; CFI; the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund; Burnaby

Mountain Endowments; increasing funding within the programs of

SSHRC; NSERC; and so on, exemplify a new and different research

climate for universities. Simon Fraser has devoted more resources to

the area of research, through the Office of Research Services and the

Vice President of Research. The Faculty of Arts has recently received

funding that has allowed us to employ a grant facilitator (two of

whom already work primarily in the Faculties of Applied Science and

Science with a third at the recruiting stage). This will allow the

Faculty of Arts to devote more attention to research funding in

general, and in particular to encouraging its faculty to apply for

grants. As we point out in Part IV, Arts has done a good job in the

area of research funding and hopes to do better.

Faculty of Arts 9

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







D. Space and Technical Staff



As part of its faculty renewal, Arts continues to hire faculty with

significant laboratory and technical requirements. This fact, plus the

addition of as many as net new 38 CRCs over the next 5 years over

the whole university will significantly intensify competition for space.

The University urgently requires capital funding for this purpose.



The need for technical staff support in the Faculty of Arts has in-

creased with the demands for information technology and computer-

based instruction. Technical staffing and infrastructure budgets have

suffered because higher priority has been given to satisfying the

faculty CFL needs of departments.



E. New Faculty



The growing number of retirement replacements raises many

questions for departments and faculties: How will the research inter-

ests of new faculty be integrated into existing programs? What

demands will new faculty place on infrastructure (labs, library hold-

ings, computers, technical staff, clerical staff, etc.)? What will be the

impact of new faculty on teaching and pedagogical renewal?

Addressing these and related issues must be among the highest pri-

orities of the University. Impending CRC appointments imply even

more urgency for infrastructure support.



F. The Competitive Environment of Hiring and Retention



Since 1997/8, the Faculty has hired 39 new faculty comprising about

14% of its faculty complement (using a base of 286). The next 3-year

period will see about 40 retirement replacements (10 in 2001, 17 in

2002, and 13.5 in 2003). These numbers do not include bridging

arrangements, which would increase that number. The challenge of

filling these positions with high-quality hires has been and will

continue to be considerable. Every institution of higher education in

North America, even in the industrialized world as a whole, faces a

similar task. SFU has been extremely fortunate to date in building a

Faculty of Arts 10

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







high-quality faculty. Sustaining this effort will be one of the most

important challenges for the future.



Difficulties also confront the University in the areas of faculty and

staff retention. Holding on to our best and brightest has become

increasingly problematic given the exchange rate of the Canadian

dollar and the salary structure of the University. Far more pressure

can be expected from other institutions to recruit our current faculty.

Although hiring prospects remain good for the short run, particularly

with the advent of the CRC program, as the retirement bulge moves

through the first part of this century, it will become increasingly

difficult to predict both the quality of the supply of new Ph.Ds and

the increasing level of ―raiding‖ from other institutions, not just in

the U.S. but from Canadian universities as well.

Faculty of Arts 11

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









II. Evaluation



A. Previous Priorities



In the previous three-year plan, ten priorities were identified as

central to the Faculty‘s departments and general educational

interests. These are reviewed relative to current issues and

demands. We return to the discussion of Faculty priorities in

Part IV of this plan.



1. Faculty Renewal and Retention



The retirement replacement program is proceeding extremely

well in terms of quantity and quality of new hires. Not-

withstanding the many successes in filling recent appoint-

ments, a number of resource issues are emerging requiring

attention:



a) Space (office and laboratory): the scarcity of space in

the university generally is now a widely recognized prob-

lem. Hiring efforts in programs that utilize lab space for

both teaching and research are particularly hard pressed.

The difficulty of assuring job candidates that lab space

will be available for them has and will continue to be a

serious problem in recruiting.



b) Start-up costs: these remain an important aspect of

faculty recruitment, including matching funds for CFI and

CRC appointments. Start-up funding now constitutes a

significant portion of the Faculty‘s budget.



c) Recruitment and retention: salary remapping and

market differentials have been definite pluses in terms of

recruitment and retention. However, cost of living, salary

Faculty of Arts 12

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







inversion, and salary levels generally make SFU less

attractive for both hiring retention purposes.



d) Library holdings: faculty renewal accentuates the

budgetary problem posed by the increasing cost of journals

and other library materials such as data bases. New

faculty, and especially CRC appointments, will often bring

new research profiles to departments, requiring readjust-

ments of library holdings that may have significant cost

implications.



2. Staffing Inequities



The clerical and administrative support staff in traditional

academic areas continue to bear increased work loads resulting

from the critical staff cuts in 1996/1997. In addition, a more

complex and diverse curriculum has further increased staff

work load in the administration and management of programs

and pedagogies.



Furthermore, growth in information technology, both in-

structional and research-dedicated, has necessitated expanding

technical staff in order to manage and maintain the delivery of

these technologies. Because of increased demand elsewhere, the

current staff complement in Arts is no longer able to devote the

time required to assist with the planning and development of

these new programming initiatives. The fact that the FTE staff

complement in Arts has decreased from 101 to 96 in Arts over

the last five years (see Table 10) has further exacerbated these

difficulties.



3. Innovation in Teaching and Research



Increasing use of Web-based and computer-mediated instruc-

tion have expanded and enhanced learning opportunities at a

variety of levels. Research partnerships and expansion in the

diversity of funding sources have also improved the research

Faculty of Arts 13

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







environment. As will be shown in Parts III and IV, we are a far

more productive research establishment today than a decade

ago. To sustain this momentum connections between teaching

and research must be established more firmly across the

Faculty. Wherever possible, the benefits of research should be

visible in the classroom.



4. Efficient and Effective Pedagogies



Although there are successes in this area, particularly in terms

of integrating research and teaching, arguably we have been

slow to adjust to the need for program streamlining in ways

that will ensure both efficient delivery of the curricula and

timely completion by our students. As we continue to grow,

albeit slowly, more programs will need to address the

challenges of teaching large numbers of students. One issue is

whether to allow some larger classes in order to protect several

small ones. Another issue is the difficulty of maintaining

writing requirements in large classes. Finally, the current

initiative of the Vice President Academic to identify broad

―university curricula‖ may have a significant influence on the

development of curricula and pedagogy in this Faculty.



5. Undergraduate Programming



Faculty renewal has implications for the undergraduate pro-

grams of departments that have in some cases not been

addressed. New courses need to be created to reflect the

changing interests that new faculty inevitably bring into

departments. When hiring searches have failed or when

appointments are delayed in their campus arrivals, teaching

programs are disrupted. Filling in with Sessional appointments

has become a common way of dealing with this matter but an

institutionally pervasive problem has emerged concerning the

difficulty departments have in attracting Sessional instructors.

The pool of candidates in almost all disciplines has been

shrinking.

Faculty of Arts 14

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







6. Graduate Programming



A number of problems remain unresolved in providing a suf-

ficient number of graduate courses to ensure timely completion.

Proposals are underway to consider sharing of graduate courses

between departments, as well as the development of specialized

graduate programming. This will address needs of programs in

both the humanities and social sciences.



7. Learning Technologies



The inroads made by new computer-aided pedagogies is

proceeding at different rates across the Faculty. Some

individual faculty and departments are actively employing

online learning while others have done very little. Some larger

projects, in Economics and Psychology, have brought more

visible pedagogical changes with them. We expect this evolution

to continue.



8. Intellectual Skills



Much thought has been devoted to honing and improving in-

tellectual skills of the undergraduate student body. Through in-

dependent research on the value of a liberal arts education,

combined with advice from the Employability Skills Committee,

we have identified both the strengths and weaknesses of much

of our pedagogy. Ironically, however, even modest change

promises to be a formidable challenge owing to a fear amongst

faculty of the vocationalization of their pedagogies. However,

this is a fear of the unknown. In our view, departments should

diversify their programming while protecting their basic

mandate by establishing applied skills courses and programs.

These will complement the basic academic mandate of the

department by extending and building on the fundamentals of a

liberal arts education.

Faculty of Arts 15

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Mention should be made of the demonstration project in the

Philosophy Department, during 1997/1999, in conjunction with

the Writing Centre, which concentrated on the development of

writing skills as a component of one of the department‘s

standard introductory courses. The results of this project have

been promising, showing significant improvement in student

writing, and the principles developed through three separate

articulations can be used widely in the Faculty. History and

Economics are considering similar projects.



9. Changing Demands



Two factors have slowed our response to changing demands:

institutional inertia, and the danger of responding too quickly

to changes in fashion. The current plan offers a basis for

countering these forces as it identifies emerging demands and

outlines the principles to be utilized in addressing them.



10. Serving the Community



The Faculty has maintained its strong record independently

and in concert with Continuing Studies in serving the wider

community. In particular, we have striven to bridge the gap

between the University‘s historical role as a protector and

generator of knowledge and the need for an application of that

knowledge in socially useful ways. For example, the continued

development of First Nations Studies in the Archaeology

department, both on campus and community-based programs,

will help to develop additional partnerships with First Nations

communities. Many departments have established outreach

programs to various communities through institutes and

research activities.



B. Recommendations of the 1997/2000 Three-Year Plan



The previous plan contained a number of recommendations aimed at

the reorganization of the Dean‘s Office. The goal was to remove the

Faculty of Arts 16

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Dean from the direct administration of programs and to place those

that had reported to the Dean‘s Office in cognate disciplines. For

example, the Institute for the Humanities and Graduate Liberal

Studies were moved to the newly created Humanities Department.



In the remainder of this section the recommendations from the

1997/2000 plan appear in italics, followed by commentary on their

disposition.



1. Practices





A. Undergraduate Programs



1.A.1) Each program should assess the efficiency of structure

and operation of its undergraduate program in light of available

resources.



This process is ongoing at various levels. Limitations

to the Temporary Instruction and Teaching

Assistant budget allocations to departments,

combined with the requirement to maintain overall

course capacity, force attention to improvements in

the efficiency of curriculum implementation.

Meeting this demand has been made more difficult

by a scarcity of Sessional instructors. Despite these

obstacles, departmental staff generally find ways to

accommodate the needs of most of their students. All

departments will no doubt be prompted by the

current comprehensive and university-wide review

to consider the role played by their own curriculum

in ensuring that undergraduate students experience

appropriate breadth in their studies.



B. Graduate Programs

Faculty of Arts 17

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







1.B.1) The Faculty of Arts Graduate Studies Committee should

establish criteria to guide departments in deciding the number of

students to admit to their graduate programs.



In the absence of provincial funding for additional

graduate students, SCEMP has placed a Faculty-

wide enrolment cap on graduate programs. This has

not proved problematical since most programs in the

Faculty of Arts are currently in a ―no growth‖ mode.



1.B.2) Every department should assess the efficiency of structure

and operation of its graduate program in light of available re-

sources.



Constraints in the availability of TA funds, graduate

fellowships and other forms of graduate support

have added weight to the moratorium on growth.

That said, opportunities for selective expansion do

exist through support from major research grants.



C. Research



1.C.1) The University should find an effective, efficient and

comprehensive means of documenting the achievements of its

researchers.



This still needs to be done. Perhaps the recent addi-

tion of a grants facilitator to the Faculty will now al-

low this to begin.



1.C.2) The University should reinstate University Research

Professorships, and should supply its most promising re-

searchers with incentive or matching grants where these are

likely to attract substantial external funding.



This has been completed:



1. Burnaby Mountain Research Professorships have

been introduced (4);

Faculty of Arts 18

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







2. CRC applications are being developed (8–10);

3. CFI New Opportunities applications are underway

(3–4);

4. SFU Advancement Office initiatives are being

taken in funding professorships and programs (5

under active pursuit).



1.C.3) Researchers and administrators should work co-opera-

tively to remove any barriers that prevent research funds from

being managed through the University.



Some progress has been made, but this remains a

sensitive issue. Administrative impediments have

proven to be entrenched and difficult to surmount.



1.C.4) The University must provide realistic research set-up

funding for newly appointed faculty members, especially those

with lab-based research programs.



There has been significant progress here: CFI start-

up funding is now in place for big projects. However,

faculty in many areas of Arts are unable to apply for

these grants. The University has earmarked start-up

funds that, when matched by the Faculty, provide

for one-time capital resources. There have been some

difficulties in finding the Faculty‘s matching con-

tribution given the magnitude of some costs. Also

available are funds from the President‘s Research

Grant and SSHRC Small Grants.



E. Balancing Contributions



1.E.1) The Faculty should encourage meaningful recognition of

exceptional service contributions by members of its community.



The establishment of a Dean of Arts‘ medal for

academic excellence has created a vehicle for

recognizing service contributions. Attempts are

Faculty of Arts 19

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







being made in the tenure salary and promotion

review to acknowledge public and university service.

Faculty of Arts 20

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









2. Structure and Organization



A. Dean‘s Office



2.A.1) The Chairs Advisory Committee, established on an ad hoc

basis in 1997–3, be made a standing committee.



Completed. This has proven very useful. It has

established a forum for direct contact between the

Dean and Chairs, less formal than the Dean‘s Ad-

visory Committee, which is large in the Faculty of

Arts.



B. Decentralization



2.B.1) The Dean's Office will continue to explore ways of decen-

tralizing budgets to the mutual benefit of departments and the

Faculty.



Limited success. Operating budgets have been

turned over to departments but TA, TI, and CFL

budgets remain in the Dean‘s Office. It is recognized

that inequities can arise if too much decentralization

occurs. There remains a central role for the Dean‘s

Office in budget distribution.



C. Interdisciplinary Studies



2.C.ii) Create a Department of Humanities and Liberal Studies.



2.C.ii.1) Create a new Department of Humanities and Lib-

eral Studies, incorporating the present Program in Hu-

manities, the Asia-Canada Program, the Graduate Pro-

gram in Liberal Studies, and the Humanities Institute, by

1998–3.



Completed with the establishment of the Depart-

ment of Humanities in the 1999–1.

Faculty of Arts 21

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







2.C.ii.2) Give the proposed department of Humanities and

Liberal Studies the mandate to develop a Humanities

Major program by 1999–3



Completed in the 1999–3.



2.C.iii) Transfer Remaining Programs and Unattached Courses

to Existing Departments.



2.C.iii.1) Three-way negotiations between program steering

committees, prospective home departments, and the Dean’s

Office should be concluded as soon as possible to determine

where the Canadian Studies, Latin American Studies, and

Family Studies Certificate programs should be transferred,

effective no later than 1998–1.



Between 1998 and 1999, Canadian Studies was

moved to Political Science, Latin American Studies

to Sociology and Anthropology, and the Family

Studies Certificate to Sociology and Anthropology.



2.C.iii.2) Negotiations between the Dean’s Office and the

Linguistics Department should be concluded as soon as

possible to consolidate the Language Training Institute,

with its components (Language Learning Centre, courses in

CHIN, GERM, SPAN, and LANG, and Spanish Language

Proficiency Certificate), as a unit within the Linguistics

Department, effective 1998–1. Also effective 1998–1, courses

in Italian became a component in the Department of

French.



Completed.



2.C.iii.4) The Language Training Institute should be given

the mandate to explore the development of interpretation

and translation programs as a new program initiative.

Faculty of Arts 22

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







An attempt has been made at a joint SFU/UBC

initiative with no success at the moment. A need for

such a program exists, and civil service interest has

been noted: at present there are no interpretation or

translation services for Chinese, Japanese, or either

of these relative to French.



C.iii.5) Departments into which IDS programs are trans-

ferred should be given adequate space, operating expense,

capital, and personnel resources to support the enlarged

department without compromising the previously existing

mandate of the department.



There have been budget reallocations for Linguistics,

Sociology and Anthropology, Political Science, and

Humanities.



2.C.iv) Transfer IDS Faculty and Staff to Departments.



2.C.iv.1) Faculty whose home department is Interdisci-

plinary Studies are to be transferred to another academic

department. After consultation with both the faculty

member and department, the Dean will conclude the trans-

fer.



Completed for Linguistics, Sociology and An-

thropology, Political Science, and Humanities



2.C.iv.2) The preferences of staff members as well as the

needs of academic departments will be taken into account

in determining the staffing assignments of the reorganized

departments. Budgetary limitations and program needs

will be decisive in the final determination of staff

assignments to new departments, however.



Completed.

Faculty of Arts 23

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









2.C.v) Dissolve the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies



2.C.v.1) The Division of Interdisciplinary Studies will be

dissolved and its budgetary resources and space will be

reallocated by the Dean of Arts.



Completed.



2.C.v.2) The position of one Associate Dean of Arts is to be

deleted as of 1998–1.



In lieu of a special assistant to the Dean, it was

concluded that a third associate dean was needed,

especially in the light of the increased planning and

research activities in the Faculty.



4. Enrolment Issues



4.A) Differences Across Faculties



4.A.1) The Faculty will develop a contingency plan to accom-

modate any enrolment increase that it is required to accept.



No longer necessary. The enrolment management

policy and direct admission to Faculty has obviated

the need for such a contingency plan.



5. Capital Equipment Requirements (Computing)



5.1) Given that the Faculty of Arts has greater capital requirements

than have been acknowledged, we resolve to seek increased support in

this area.



There has been some success on this area, including

a 30% increase in the Faculty‘s equipment budget

since 1996/1997. However, an increasing share of

this budget is committed to fixed annual costs such

Faculty of Arts 24

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







as leasing. Requirements in this area are rising

faster than the budget.



5.2) The Faculty will seek partnerships with private industry to pro-

vide needed equipment, software and licenses.



Limited success in this area; more needs to be done.

On the positive side, alumni have provided money

for a Geography lab, and this department received

software support from industry. Alumni have also

supplied funds for a second $30,000 digital editing

system for Contemporary Arts.



5.3) We will sustain current equipment inventory, and support reno-

vation and equipment requests, where they are integral to disciplines

or where well developed pedagogy and enrolment permits.



Significant progress has been made in introducing

computer mediated instruction in a number of

Departments and Schools. The development of

computer labs for Psychology 100 students has

completely changed the way this introductory course

is taught. The success of this venture provides a

useful template for the future, particularly in the

social sciences. The language laboratories are now

completely computer-based, and have developed new

approaches to computer-based learning in language

instruction. The further development of the teaching

labs in spatial information systems has enhanced

this area of strength in the Geography Department.



5.4) The Faculty of Arts will encourage the University to provide

technologically enhanced teaching spaces.



This has been done for Psychology and Economics.



5.5) The Faculty will strive to address the problems faced by programs

in which current levels of capital support are inadequate.

Faculty of Arts 25

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Problems remain. GIS and SIS are underfunded, and

Film and other fine arts programs struggle to keep

up with technological advances in their fields. There

is a serious shortage of lab, office, and studio space

in the University generally, and specifically in

Psychology, Contemporary Arts, Geography and

Archaeology.



A. Leasing



5.A.1) The Faculty will continue to arrange for leased equipment

and expand this practice where budgets allow.



This has been done and more activity is excepted.

The proportion of lease outlays from the annual

equipment budget is now such as to reduce flexibility

in the equipment budget, a cause for some concern.



B. Licenses



5.B.1) Arts will move to University-wide site license arrange-

ments where feasible.



Further discussions are underway with Criminology,

Gerontology, Archaeology, Geography and REM with

respect to sharing site licenses for GIS software.







C. Research Computing Support.



5.C.1) We will support University-sponsored initiatives to

provide faculty with computers, whether through recycling,

leasing or cloning.



This has been done for all new faculty.



D. Faculty Of Arts Computing Technology Support

Faculty of Arts 26

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







5.D.1) Arts should continue to work with departments to satisfy

infrastructure needs.



Currently underway as budgetary limitations per-

mit.



5.D.2) We should address the possibility of technical staff po-

sitions in departments where a critical need is clear, recognizing

that at the Faculty level our ability to fund positions is highly

constrained.



Efforts are underway to provide technical support

that is either dedicated to or operating out of the

Dean‘s Office. There has been some progress on both

fronts but far from enough. The Dean‘s Office has

been able to expand its CUPE technical staff by one.



E. Administrative Computers



5.E.1) The Faculty should evaluate the relative merits of leasing,

recycling, and direct purchase of administrative computers.



The Faculty has expanded the use of leases to

provide administrative computers and has recycled

equipment where possible.







6. Capital Resources (Non-Computing)



A. Physical Capital



6.A.1) Lobby to have the university establish a task force to look

into critical needs in non-computing capital.



Although numerous discussions have occurred, the

issue has not been resolved. The ability of the

Faculty to acquire and maintain non-computing

Faculty of Arts 27

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







hardware is diminishing over time and needs

immediate attention.

Faculty of Arts 28

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









B. Space



6.B.1) We support the Applied Sciences II building project in

order to free space in the Classroom Complex.



There has been no significant progress toward an

early solution to this problem; Arts space, partic-

ularly laboratory space, will be increasingly scarce

as long as relief provided by this project is not forth-

coming.



6.B.2) The Faculty will lobby for construction or renovation of

adequate, safe space for Contemporary Arts.



The Faculty of Arts continues its support for

renewed Contemporary Arts space, with increased

urgency. The existing space has been found

unsuitable, and continues to deteriorate. The

President has financially supported specific fund-

raising activities for Contemporary Arts.



7. Employment Equity



7.1) The Faculty of Arts Standing Committee on Employment Equity

in consultation with departments, should develop targets based on

more reliable data, develop strategies to address inequities and refine

and focus initiatives suggested in the 1997 Ad Hoc Committee Report.



The Faculty continues its support for the principle of

equity employment opportunities. The question of

designated targets remains a vexed issue. In 1995,

in the Faculty of Arts, there were 221 male and 92

female faculty members. In 1999, there were 194

males and 95 females. The changes was from 29.39%

to 32.87%—an increase of only 3.48%. Clearly

unsatisfactory in the category of gender, equity

hiring has been even slower in areas other than

Faculty of Arts 29

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







gender. A major factor has been the serious shortage

of qualified candidates in certain academic areas.



8. Continuing Studies



8.1) The Faculty will establish a standing committee with represen-

tation from FACC, the Dean’s Office, and Continuing Studies to

consider program design, to determine eligibility for financial support

for Continuing Studies, and to initiate periodical program review.



This has been achieved through establishment of the

Integrated Studies Program Coordinating Com-

mittee. With representation from the Dean of Arts

office, Continuing Studies and ISP Steering Com-

mittees, the Coordinating Committee has oversight

of the two existing ISPs in Liberal & Business

Studies and Justice & Public Safety Leadership.



8.2) The Faculty of Arts proposes that the funding formula for Con-

tinuing Studies be reviewed.



This initiative has not been as productive as hoped.

The Faculty continues to improve its fiscal relation-

ship with Continuing Studies, but much remains to

be done.



9. International Activities



9.1) Students will be encouraged to build international educational

experiences into their studies through the increasing use of exchange

agreements.



This is well underway. Field programs are well

attended and lively. Arts seeks to collaborate closely

with other Faculties and international partners to

enhance opportunities in this area.

Faculty of Arts 30

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







9.2) Existing and new institutional agreements with partner univer-

sities should be structured to provide more opportunities for faculty

members to participate in exchanges.



As part of the issue of international studies and

partner universities, the Faculty encourages more

active participation in existing relationships and

seeking opportunities for the future.



9.3) Programs and departments should be encouraged to make use of

opportunities to mount field schools, within the limits of the current

funding formula.



The Faculty has added new schools in France,

Greece, and Ghana, and will consider others in the

future.



9.4) Within the context of the University’s efforts to provide better

academic support for international students, the Faculty of Arts

should provide specialized instruction for international students,

especially in language skills.



The English Bridge Program allows international

students to enter with conditional admission, pro-

viding they satisfactorily complete this one-semester

course in academic English. This program provides

the first step in this direction, and the Faculty is

willing to collaborate in developing further

initiatives to ease the integration of international

students.



9.5) Proposals to offer SFU programs outside Canada should be care-

fully assessed by the bodies responsible for the curriculum, and by

appropriate department chairs as well as the Dean, in order to ensure

that academic standards are upheld and that academic and economic

benefits are derived from the enterprise.

Faculty of Arts 31

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Ongoing. The Faculty is currently monitoring de-

velopments in an offshore program proposal for

China.



III. Overview of the Faculty

of Arts: Statistical Summaries

Tables 1 and 2 provide a general picture of the Faculty of Arts today,

with Table 2 profiling ordered performances of departments. It is

important to note that these are ordered but not ranked relations (in

the sense that the latter term implies a qualitative assessment).

Table 3 summarizes enrolment, budgeted academic positions and

support staff from 1994 to 2000. Tables 4–9 profile annualized

graduate and undergraduate enrolments in the fall semester, regis-

tered approved majors and minors, FTE CFL, and course-full turn-

aways per major. Table 10 summarizes enrolment growth in the

Faculty.



Table 10:



FTE GROWTH IN THE FACULTY OF ARTS (ANNUALIZED)





95/96 99/00 % Change





Undergraduate FTE 6744 6655 -1%

Graduate FTE 598 603 1%

Budgeted CFL Faculty 308 311 1%

Filled CFL Faculty 299 287 -4%

FTE Support Staff 101 96 -5%







As Table 10 shows, undergraduate Enrolment fell slightly in

1999/2000 from its peak in 1995/1996. In 2000–2 and 2000–3,

however, it has increased (7.8% between 1999–3 and 2000–3 in lower

division, 3.6% for lower and upper division. The undergraduate

Faculty of Arts 32

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







enrolment target for 2000/2001 of 6946 has been met, continuing the

upward trend. Annualized newly approved majors have fallen from

2106 in 1995/1996 to 1974 in 1999/2000 (but up from 1,836 in

1998/1999). Graduate head count remains fairly constant, as have

enrolments in distance education courses. As in the past, there is

considerable variation between departmental enrolment patterns.

The implications of this variation will be discussed below in

connection with workload. The relation between the Faculty‘s budget

and its enrolment, along with the recently introduced policy of direct

admission to faculty, raises issues concerning the management of

enrolment that will be addressed in Part IV. In addition to its own

majors and minors, the Faculty of Arts devotes significant resources

to providing places for students from other faculties who are taking

Arts courses to fulfill their program requirements.



An important aspect of enrolment concerns demand for courses and

programs. We note relative constancy from 88% (1997–3) to 89%

(2000–3) in the proportion of Arts students who succeed in gaining

admission to at least the number of courses they desired (University

average in 2000–3: 86%). Given the large range of curricular choices

enjoyed by Arts students, and the fact that demand exceeds supply in

several departments, it is unreasonable to expect course access to

approach 100%. Nevertheless, there is work to be done in better

matching the pattern of course supply to that of course demand.



The picture is brighter, at least at the aggregate level, when program

demand is considered. Data collected for the first time in 2000–3

show that 42% of all undergraduate applicants identified an Arts

program as their academic goal. Since this Faculty supplies about

45% of undergraduate instruction (see Table 11), it appears that

supply and demand at this level are well balanced.

Faculty of Arts 33

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Table 11:



STUDENT DEMAND: 2000–3





Faculty Student demand Approved majors Undergrad FTEs







Arts 42% 43% 46%

App Sci 19% 23% 15%

Science 19% 11% 17%

Bus Ad 15% 17% 10%

Educ 6% 6% 12%





The Faculty of Arts‘ percentage of budgeted CFL positions between

1995 and 1999 are compared to the other faculties on Table 12.



Table 12:



BUDGETED CFL





1999 1995





University 607 100% 631 100%

Science 131 22% 132 21%

Education 39 6% 41 6%

Business Admin 51 8% 48 8%

Arts 287 47% 304 48%

Applied Sciences 99 16% 106 17%







As student demand and approved majors (Table 11) thus equate to

undergraduate FTE‘s, budgeted CFL also corresponds to under-

graduate FTE enrolment (Table 13):

Faculty of Arts 34

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Table 13:



UNDERGRADUATE FTE: 1999/2000





FTE Enrolment % CFL Faculty %







University 13820 100 100

Science 2266 16 22

Education 1586 11 6

Business Admin. 1319 10 8

Arts 6655 48 47

Applied Science 1993 14 16





Table 14 shows the number of certificates awarded in Arts over the last

five years.



Table 14:







STUDENT SUCCESS: CREDENTIALS AWARDED





1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00



Honors/Majors 1361 1487 1696 1639 1518

Minors/Ext. Minor 868 809 754 750 723

Post Baccalaureate 73 54 54 53 50

Certificates 526 505 492 451 435

Total Undergrad. 2828 2855 2996 2893 2726





Masters 115 108 124 104 138

Ph.D 26 29 40 26 38

Total Graduate 141 137 164 130 176

Faculty of Arts 35

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







To further situate Arts among the other faculties, several com-

parisons of interest are captured in the following statistical sketch.

We use the Faculty of Science as a comparison because it is the most

academically comparable. (Unless otherwise noted, these figures

represent the 1999/2000 fiscal year. Sources: SFU Fact Book, and

Tables 1-9.)



Average student FTE (graduate and undergraduate) per filled

CFL position:



University: 26.0

Faculty of Arts: 25.3

Faculty of Science: 20.2



Average student FTE per FTTE (Full Time Teaching

Equivalent = 1 tenure track, 1.5 Lecturers, 1 FTE Lab In-

structor, 16 Sessional contact hours):



University: 17.9

Faculty of Arts: 17.00

Faculty of Science: 16.3



Average cost per student (annual operating expenditure per

FTE):



University Average: $7433

Faculty of Arts Average: $5737 (Low: $3247, High:

$10794)

Faculty of Science: $8815



Operating budget per WFTE (Weighted Full Time Equivalent

Student):



University: $2703

Faculty of Arts: $2825

Faculty of Science: $2975

Faculty of Arts 36

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









Average number of support staff per FTE faculty:



Faculty of Arts: 0.30 (Low: 0.10, High: 0.24)

University: 0.32



CFL WICH (Weekly Instructional Contact Hour (see Note M,

Table 1)) per Filled FTE CFL:



University Average: 9.1

Faculty of Arts Average: 10.6

Faculty of Science Average: 6.0





According to these comparisons, the Faculty of Arts has been efficient

in terms of its cost-per-student numbers and higher than the norm in

its average contact hours. Other important data are shown below

(source: Table 1, also showing departmental shares):



Total Faculty of Arts Research Grants $$ (1998/1999):

$2,432,666; (1999/2000): $3,800,201 (Table 14)



Undergraduate FTE Enrolment per Filled FTE CFL: 23.2 (Low:

10.2, High: 47.3)



Average Course Turnaways per Major (2000–3): 0.55



Lower Division Average Fall Class Size: 58 (Low: 18, High:

147). Mean: 1999/2000: 69, 1996/1997: 60



Upper Division Average Fall Class Size: 30 (Low: 18, High: 69).

Mean: 1999/2000: 28, 96/97: 32



Total Unique Lower Division Course Sections: 1999–3 to 2000–

2: 565



Total Unique Upper Division Course Sections: 1999–3 to 2000–

2: 740

Faculty of Arts 37

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Registered Approved Majors (1999–3): 3695; (2000–3): 3370



Registered Approved Minors (1999–3): 1687; (2000–3: 2355



Distance Education. Courses as % of Total FTE Enrolment

(1999/2000 fiscal) 8.9%





A qualification is necessary concerning the area of research grant

awards referred to in this section and in Section IV. In reporting

grant awards for departments, it has not been possible to accurately

determine all sources because there is no central recording function

capturing the full range of granting activity. The statistics appear on

Table 1 and Table 14 list only some grant sources. They should be

taken as representative only of the agencies for which we have been

able to report from the statistics available through the Office of

Research Services and the Office of Analytical Studies. For example,

the Centre for the Contemporary Arts received almost $250,000 in

Canada Council grants in 1998/1999. These awards do not appear on

the standard reports. There are no doubt other examples.



In ordering the performance of departments on the twenty-one

indices shown in Table 2, the operative basis of comparison rests on

workload. As a concept used in this plan, workload can be analyzed

according to the following factors: students per FTE faculty, numbers

of majors and minors, class size, number of courses offered, research

grants awarded, and weekly instructional contact hours per FTE

CFL. Although statistical comparisons do not exhaustively account

for workload variation, and how workload changes over time, they do

offer a basis that is as close to objective as one can hope for—one

from which discussion of other factors may begin. What are these

factors?



Clearly, comparative representations between departments must be

made with caution. Because there should be no one definition of

terms such as ‗pedagogy‘ or ‗research‘, no unique analysis of workload

is possible. There may be, for example, important aspects of a

Faculty of Arts 38

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







discipline‘s pedagogy, such as differing styles of instruction (lecture,

seminar, tutorial, lab), and different forms of course requirements,

that may dictate smaller (or larger) class sizes compared to other

departments. Similarly, research methods differ widely among

disciplines, and technological innovation may have an impact on

research methods (fifteen years ago, for example, there was little

understanding of the impact that computers would have on almost

every aspect of higher education).



Other factors may also determine a department‘s relative size.



 Undergraduate instructional demand: some departments con-

tinually turn away students from lower-division (in some cases

even upper-division) courses. These departments consistently

demand more resources which, were they to receive them,

would make them larger but would also correspondingly limit

growth in other departments.



 Graduate instructional demand: how large should graduate

programs be permitted to grow, given the expensive nature of

graduate support and instruction?



 Service teaching supplies a large share of lower-division enrol-

ments in some departments. These departments do this out of

self-interest to some extent, yet they also provide the breadth

requirements necessary for a liberal education.



 Research potential: what are the various intellectual domains

and areas that must be part of a liberal arts university?



 Domain: the History department will always be larger than the

Philosophy or Women‘s Studies departments in part because it

requires more courses and hence faculty. But, again, other

departments, especially smaller departments with important

research profiles, and which occupy essential intellectual areas

Faculty of Arts 39

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







within the context of the liberal arts and its educational

mandate, should not suffer from the demands of larger units.



 Faculty availability: there are more faculty available to hire in

some areas than in others. If quality is to be taken seriously in

the quest for faculty renewal, some departments encounter

problems in their searches for new appointments. Insofar as

gender and other equity categories have an impact on hiring,

they will usually make the process even more difficult.



Workload traditionally has been understood differently between

academic areas. The sciences, for example, form a group in which

research activity is a more influential determinant of workload. If

undergraduate enrolments were the determining factor in depart-

mental size, science departments would be dramatically smaller. For

Arts departments, on the other hand, teaching plays a larger role in

workload assessment. The point, however, is not to have a single

measure of workload but to understand the relativity of the concept

due to the historical evolution of academic faculties.

Faculty of Arts 40

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









IV: The Way Ahead: Challenges, Constraints,

Opportunities





A. Synthesis of Departmental Plans





In Part II, we discussed the priorities of the previous faculty plan and

the many recommendations that facilitated their implementation.

Almost all of those recommendations have been enacted and their

goals accomplished. Several initiatives concerning the reorganization

of the Dean‘s Office have resulted in more efficiency and respon-

siveness to the units under its supervision. We now do a better job

serving departments, programs, and students.



We began this plan with some remarks about the nature and

importance of the liberal arts. The idea of the University that has

evolved in Western Civilization has come to rest on the principle that

concepts are more important than things, that knowledge is power

(as Francis Bacon put it). Insofar as they produce or discover know-

ledge—the very nature of knowledge, its practicality and its abstract-

ness—ought to be something studied in a university. While know-

ledge includes knowing that and knowing how, it also and most

importantly from an academic point of view includes knowing why.

The mission of the Faculty of Arts fosters the integration of all three

forms of knowledge. We have done this at Simon Fraser by

establishing partnerships, both interdisciplinary and interfaculty,

that improve research and teaching. Partnerships depend on creative

and imaginative individuals and have in many instances resulted in

excellence.



In reviewing the departmental three-year plans we have identified

the following recurring themes and challenges that must be

addressed if we are to succeed in fulfilling our liberal arts mandate.

Faculty of Arts 41

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









 Recruitment and Retention



Approximately the same number of new faculty (40) will be

hired during the next three years as in the previous period.

Although the last three years have seen excellent appointments

in the Faculty of Arts, some departments are having difficulty

recruiting the better candidates on their shortlists. Many

departments are also having difficulty finding qualified equity

candidates. The problems listed below concerning space and

recurring capital budgets play a role in the success of faculty

renewal. The age and gender profiles of the faculty have

changed significantly over the last three years and will continue

to do so. Even with salary differentials and a remapped salary

profile, some departments remain uncompetitive in the market

for new faculty members. If SFU continues to seek the best and

the brightest, it will have to continue to address salary issues.



 Enrolment Issues



Although Arts as a whole has maintained relatively stable

enrolments (+/- 4% for 2000/2001 over 1999/2000) in recent

years, there is considerable interdepartmental variability. On

the one hand, some are experiencing rapidly rising demand but

constrained supply, both in lower division and upper division

courses. In others, enrolments are falling due not to constrained

supply but to falling demand. In the next stage in this plan,

implementation, the Dean will analyze the sources of these

variations and proactively proceed to ensure that student needs

are met.



 Space



Some units have serious problems with laboratory, office and

teaching space. This problem, which faces the university as a

whole, can be dealt with only on an unsatisfactory ad hoc basis

at present. In particular, the School for the Contemporary Art

Faculty of Arts 42

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







has made do with an utterly deplorable ―facility‖ far too long.

We see other units, notably Psychology, Linguistics, and

Geography in the R.C. Brown complex, experiencing extreme

constraints on office and lab space. Despite the completion

seven years ago of the West Mall Complex that houses

Economics, Criminology, Philosophy, and Business, by virtue of

their status as ―high demand‖ departments all three are now or

soon will be facing space shortages.



 Support Staff



Practically all departments are suffering in one way or another

from shortages in office staff and technical support. Steps must

be taken to solve this problem since it directly affects the

quality of teaching and research. Recruitment of qualified

technical staff is proving to be less and less successful because

of a scarcity of candidates as well as salary limitations (relative

to comparable positions in the private sector).



 Workload Balance



All departments, to varying degrees, have difficulty meeting the

demands of undergraduate teaching as well as the needs of

their graduate programs, especially mounting adequate

graduate seminars and fulfilling responsibilities of thesis

supervision. To some degree this is self-inflicted, but it raises a

larger question regarding the challenges faced by research-

intensive institutions. We need to rethink our pedagogies in

relation to supply/demand constraints as well as the relations

between graduate and undergraduate programming and

resource

Faculty of Arts 43

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









 Capital



Both noncomputing and computing budgets need to be

increased. Some departments, more heavily dependent on

equipment than others, are experiencing difficulty with aging

equipment. Computing labs, for example, have a life-expectancy

of only three years. The life-span of noncomputing inventory

such as vehicles, field and laboratory equipment, is typically

longer, but it too needs replacing eventually. Action too long

delayed is likely more expensive than timely response.



 Pedagogical Issues



Most departments are engaged in various aspects of

instructional technology as universities experience a shift from

a ―teacher-centred‖ to a ―learning-centred‖ pedagogy.

Instructional technology is a critical resource in facilitating that

transition. Some departments would like to devote more effort

to this and other areas of pedagogy but are hindered by funding

constraints as well as philosophical disagreements about the

role and value of technology in higher education. Independent of

these issues, some departments should simply review their

undergraduate programs, which would almost certainly

improve enrolments. Related issues include streamlining

completion times, better access, increased course availability (a

growing problem in the University), the need for more on-line

and distance education courses and access for students. Both

the promotion and conceptualization of the virtual university

has been glacial!

Faculty of Arts 44

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







B. Success in Research and Teaching



Against these challenges, constraints, and concerns, the Faculty of

Arts has been successful in the following areas that we intend to

further strengthen.



 Research Mission



The Faculty has continued to add to its successes in all areas of

research. While some departments in the humanities have

relatively fewer grant dollars available to them, nevertheless

there have been many accomplishments on the part of Arts

faculty. There has been recognition of individuals by the Royal

Society, as well as through book awards and teaching awards.

There have been many long-term research projects resulting in

publication without external grant support. The productivity of

SFU‘s Arts faculty has been noteworthy and in some cases

outstanding. The Departments of Economics, English, History,

Philosophy, and Women‘s Studies should be singled out in these

regards. There has also been vigorous productivity in laboratory

and field-based programs in Archaeology, Geography, Psych-

ology, and Sociology/Anthropology.



Turning to the research areas for which external support is

more directly available, research grants and contracts in Arts

for 1998/1999 came to $2,432,666 (see Table 1 for departmental

breakdown) and $3,800,201 for 1999/2000 (see Table 14). This is

an increase of 59%! Research grants and contracts per filled

Arts CFL in 1998/1999 was $7,851; in 1999/2000 it rose to

$13,286. According to the McLean’s survey, SFU, all faculties,

has the third highest per capita value of grant dollars (SSHRC

and Canada Council) of all Canadian universities (only UBC

and Toronto are higher). In SSHRC institutional and general

research grants, SFU has a higher per capita total than UBC:

$4,124 versus $3,224.

Faculty of Arts 45

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







This is an impressive achievement but we cannot afford to rest

on our laurels. Departments need to maintain, and in some

cases increase, their grant-related activities. While not

competitive with Science in the size of NSERC grants, in terms

of frequency, Arts has received an impressive number in that

area. The grants facilitator assigned to the Faculty of Arts has

proven to be a major benefit in helping faculty with applications

and in trying to recruit more faculty to apply. More

importantly, our level of research productivity as measured by

publication rates continues to grow, no doubt due to the high

quality of individuals hired during the past ten years





 Large Research Grants in Arts



One measure of Arts‘ success in its grant-oriented research pro-

grams can be seen in the number of large grants received by our

faculty



 Ray Corrado (PI), Criminology, with Ellen Gee (co-investigator),

Sociology and Anthropology, ―Aboriginal Victimization,‖ SSHRC

Strategic Grant, $592,000, 2000/2003.



 Dara Culhane (PI), Sociology and Anthropology, Rebecca Bateman,

Stacey Pigg, Jane Pulkingham, Danny Lacombe and Anne Travers,

Sociology and Anthropology, (co-investigators), ―Health and Home: The

Impact of Safe Housing on the Health of Women in the Downtown

Eastside of Vancouver,‖ SSHRC Strategic Grant, $683,413, 2000/2003.



 Margaret Jackson (PI), Criminology, ―The Intersectionality of Race and

Gender on Social Cohesion,‖ SSHRC Strategic Grant, $515,000,

2000/2003.



 Monica Escudero (co-director), Sociology and Anthropology, ―Women

Poverty and Education in Mexico,‖ CIDA, $750,000.



 Majorie Griffin-Cohen (research director and co-investigator), Political

Science and Women‘s Studies, Gerardo Otero, Sociology and

Anthropology, Stephen McBride, Political Science, and Habiba Zaman,

Faculty of Arts 46

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Women‘s Studies (co-investigators), ―Neo-liberal Globalism and Its

Challengers: Sustainability in the Semi-periphery,‖ SSHRC MCRI

Grant, $1.4 million (plus $400,000 matching funds from Canadian

universities), 2000/2005.



 Don DeVoretz (co-director), Economics, approximately twenty senior

researchers and 25 graduate students from Simon Fraser University

have participated in the project to date, ―Research on Immigration and

Integration in the metropolis (RIIM), Joint SSHRC/Citizenship and

Immigration Canada, Centre of Excellence, $2.1 million, 1996-2002.

Other grants generated by RIIM to date total approximately $1 million.

RIIM has been renewed for four years 2002/2006.



 Kathleen Akins (PI), Philosophy, ―Philosophy and the Neurosciences,‖

James S. McDonnell Foundation, Centennial Fellowship, $1 million

(US), 2000/2004.



 Mark Roseland and John Pierce (PIs), Geography, ―Promoting

Community Economic Development for Forest-based Economies,‖

Forest Renewal BC, $380,000, 1997/2000.



 Carole Gerson (co-investigator), English, ―The History of the Book in

Canada Project,‖ SSHRC, MCRI, $2.3 million, 2000/2005.



 Gloria Gutman (co-investigator), Gerontology, ―Understanding

Cognitive Decline: Patterns and Prognosis A Final Follow-up to the

Canadian Study of Health and Aging,‖ CIHR, Operating Grant, $3.5

million, 2000/2003.



 Gloria Gutman, Gerontology, with L. O‘Rourke and J. Springate, ―SFU

Gerontology Research Centre,‖ Canadian Association of Gerontology,

Canadian Nurses Association, Seniors Affiliate Canadian Health

Network, $399,998, 2000/2002.



 Andrew Wister (co-investigator), Gerontology, ―Best Practices of

Coordinated Health Services in Midlife,‖ CIHR, CAHR, $2.475 million,

2001/2006.



 Ellen Gee, Sociology and Anthropology, and Krishna Pendakur,

Economics, (co-investigators), ―The Changing Distribution of Well-being

in Canada,‖ SSHRC, MCRI, $1.7 million, 1998/2002.

Faculty of Arts 47

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









 Computer-Mediated Instruction



The Departments of Psychology, Geography, Economics, Lin-

guistics, French, Archaeology, Sociology/Anthropology, Political

Science, and Criminology have, either individually or in

combination with other units, implemented programs of

computer-aided and mediated instruction. As a supplement to

but not a substitution for improving interaction with students,

the Faculty needs to evaluate in more detail the end products of

these forms of instruction in terms of their educational benefits.



 Student Satisfaction With Their Liberal Arts Education



Graduation surveys indicate a high sense of gratitude and

satisfaction on the part of our students. They are clearly

receiving the education they want, even it they did not fully

appreciate this on entering the university. Similarly, the myth

that Arts students do not find employment must be debunked.

On the Faculty of Arts Web site, under the heading ―The Value

of the Arts Degree and the Job Market,‖ several articles and

studies can be found indicating that Arts students have an

excellent prospect for meaningful and rewarding employment.

The BA degree has proven to be an excellent preparation for our

students to enter the ―real‖ world.



 Engaging the Community



Many departments, including Criminology, History, Sociology

and Anthropology, French, and programs such as CEDC, Asia-

Canada, as well as the Institute for the Humanities, have taken

their research into the community, promoting dialogue and

raising awareness about important social, economic and

environmental issues. Arts Co-op also offers opportunities for

community engagement in various government, business,

artistic and not-for-profit organizations. Arts Co-op participants

are invited speakers at Rotary, library, college, high school,

trade show, and business venues.

Faculty of Arts 48

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









 Innovative Programming at the Graduate and Under-

graduate Levels



Arts has established, or plans to establish, a number of

distinctive or unique programs. Existing Programs include:

Master of Publishing; GLS; First Nations; Master of Print

Culture; Gerontology; the Joint Ph.D. in Law and Forensic

Psychology; the Joint UBC/SFU Ph.D. in Philosophy; Labour

Studies; the Language Training Institute; the Language Learn-

ing Centre and the Self-Instructional Language Program; the

Centre for Francophone Studies. Proposals for future programs

include the SFU/UBC Master of Intercultural Studies; the

Master of Public Policy and Management; Cultural Resource

Management; Urban Studies and the Institute for Health

Research and Education; and, finally, a SFU/UBC cooperative

Ph.D. in Women‘s Studies.



 Professional Accreditation



The Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology is accredited through the

Canadian and American Psychological Associations. In Geo-

graphy, B.Sc. students in physical geography in conjunction

with Earth Science are eligible to become members of the

Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists. Other

semi-professional programs include the Gerontology MA, and

the Master of Publishing.



 Tenure and Promotion



Over the past three years, these cases reveal remarkable depth

and breadth of research and teaching. The quality of the Arts

faculty is excellent and will continue to improve if we can

sustain our recent record of new appointments.



 Continuing Studies

Faculty of Arts 49

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







The Integrated Studies Programs provide opportunities for mid-

career learners to earn a Bachelor of General Studies degree

from the Faculty of Arts while continuing their employment.

Two ISPs are currently offered through the Centre for

Integrated and Credit Studies, one in Liberal and Business

Studies at the Harbour Centre campus and the other in Justice

and Public Safety Leadership in cooperating with the Justice

Institute of BC. Planning for a third ISP in Community Services

is well advanced. Created specifically for cohorts of students

with a common set of objectives, ISPs are tailored to the

experience and previous education of participants. The

programs are interdisciplinary, integrating liberal studies with

the knowledge and skills associated with particular jobs or

interests.



 Collaboration and Partnership



The Faculty has fostered productive academic links across the

university and beyond. New programs across Faculty lines, such

as the proposed Master of Public Policy and Management and

the proposed major in Computational Linguistics, carry on the

tradition of interdisciplinary programming at SFU. Beyond the

university, the Community Economic Development Centre

collaborates with the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology to

bring community economic development programming to First

Nations students in the Merritt area; and our academic

partnership with the Shuswap Nation, based in Kamloops,

continues to develop after 12 years of offering degree programs

in the interior. Internationally, our field schools involve part-

nership with host universities from Prague to Fiji, and units

such as the CEDC have won international development project

funding from the Canadian government to transfer academic

expertise to partners abroad.

Faculty of Arts 50

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









 Co-operative Education



Since January 2000, when the Arts Co-op Program became a

three-coordinator program, it has focussed on three areas:



1. Increasing the number of students placed each work term;

2. Expanding the placement opportunities available to

students;

3. Informing departments and faculty about student partici-

pation and success in the program.



The number of participants in the Arts Co-op Program has risen

from 10 in 1988 to 200 in 1993 to 250 in 1996. A total of 243

students were placed in 1999 (this figure includes Arts

Geography students, administered by the Science Co-op since

1996). It is worth noting that the number of co-op placements in

Arts at UBC was 133. The reorganization of the Co-op

administration has been effective. Interest and participation in

the program are on the rise.



The educational component of the program has been expanded

in the past year to include workshops on career topics such as

resume writing, cover letters, and interview skills. Workplace

101, which students take before they start their Co-op position,

provides practical information on how to succeed on the job.

Skills Transfer courses, offered Co-op wide, are designed to

assist students in understanding and recognizing the link

between the skills gained academically and their applicability

on the job. Arts Co-op has been placing students internationally

for some time, and currently has one student in Washington,

D.C. and another in Beijing, China. These international place-

ments offer students experience in working in other cultures

and applying their education and skills in a different

environment. A survey of Co-op graduates in 2000–2 indicated

that 68% of the respondents found at least one of their jobs

Faculty of Arts 51

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







after graduation with a former Co-op employer or networking

contact established during a Co-op work term.



 Service to Departments



The Dean‘s Office has undertaken a number of initiatives

during the past three years that are aimed at improving morale

and communication. These include the publication of a

newsletter, the introduction of a Dean‘s Medal for Academic

Excellence, redesigning our web page, the hiring of a grants

facilitator and a development officer, the redefinition of job

descriptions within the Dean‘s Office and the enhancement of

office support for computing.



 Faculty of Arts Advancement



The Faculty of Arts has undertaken a number of fund-raising

efforts that have an impact on teaching and research. Projects

underway for which some external support is being sought

include the Centre for Restorative Justice (School of

Criminology), the Initiative for Labour Education (Department

of History), and the Immigration Studies Professorship.

Funding is also being sought for Centre for Community

Economic Development. The Arts Advancement Office has had

success in finding support for the Art Gallery, the Master of

Publishing Program, the Arts Alumni Funds for scholarships

and bursaries, and establishing an advancement advisory

council in the First Nations Program.



C. Priorities for the Future



In Section II (Evaluations), we discussed the previous priorities

relative to actions undertaken in the last three years. We now turn to

the next three years. Priorities remain essentially the same as for the

last, but with some repositioning and blending:

Faculty of Arts 52

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









 Renewal and Retention for Faculty and Staff



Arts will continue to rebuild the Faculty as the retirement

bulge proceeds through the ranks. In assigning replacement

positions, the Dean will abide by the principles of prioritization

that were outlined in the previous Plan.



 Addressing Resource Constraints



Other recurring resource issues, directly connected to teaching

and research, include:



1. Technical and support staff (both hiring and retention);

2. Non-computing equipment;

3. Computing: both academic and administrative;

4. Laboratory space;

5. Office space for new appointments.



 The Research Enterprise



Arts will aggressively pursue the continuation of externally

supported research initiatives from SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR,

CRC and CFI. There is currently one CRC in Arts (Psychology)

and an additional three proposals under development. Three

CFI New Opportunities applications are also in the proposal

stage.





 Pedagogical Reprogramming



Arts will continue to pursue re-examinations of pedagogies and

curriculum reform. This will include encouragement of

innovation and the delivery of content both through emerging

and established learning technologies as well as the devel-

opment of interdisciplinary opportunities as enumerated above

and in the next section.

Faculty of Arts 53

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









 Changing Demands



In the next phase of planning—implementation—the Dean will

meet with departments in order to address the changing

demands of enrolment and staffing. Work-load inequities may

be managed through a combination of strategies including the

redistribution of positions and supply/demand management. At

the same time it is recognized that we must be sensitive to

defensible programmatic differences in teaching pedagogies.



D. Initiatives Undertaken to Achieve Priorities



Many opportunities exist to achieve our priorities. We conclude by

identifying initiatives already or about to be undertaken to continue

building on past successes.



 We will continue to expand and support Co-op education in its

local and international efforts. The recent successes in

expanding participation and the relevance of the Co-op to

employment skills referred to in the Section B are encouraging.

This program clearly speaks to the educational needs and

desires of students and as such serves as an important gateway

into the workaday world.



 The Faculty will emphasize the strengthening of existing pro-

grams through the augmentation of interdisciplinary activities.

These include specialized programming at the graduate level as

listed above under ―Innovative Programming.‖ New teaching

and research program proposals include: the Master of Public

Policy and Management; Coastal Studies; Graduate Diploma in

Urban Studies; Restorative Justice; the Centre for

Contemporary Arts and Applied Sciences ―NewMIC‖ multi-

institutional digital media centre; Cultural Resource Manage-

ment; First Nations programming; Applied Intercultural Rela-

tion, and Computational Linguistics. Other areas of program

development include French and the Faculty of Education, and

Faculty of Arts 54

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Archaeology and Biological Sciences. Both Linguistics and

Philosophy are considering developing joint programs with

Computing Science. At the undergraduate level, the Cognitive

Science program (Linguistics, Psychology, Philosophy, Com-

puting Science) holds potential for strategic alliances between

Arts and Applied Science.



 Continued outreach to the community will be pursued through

international programs. Field schools and student exchanges,

including Co-op, will continue to be supported. Other outreach

programs include the Gerontology Diploma Program for Inter-

national Students; CEDC‘s CIDA initiatives in Mexico; the

Institute for the Humanities and the Downtown Eastside; the

efforts at community outreach by Women‘s Studies; and

Criminology and Sociology/ Anthropology‘s research program

and CRC proposal on the Victimization of the Elderly.



 Arts will continue to support a solution to the space problem for

the School for the Contemporary Arts. Arts continues its

support for the Applied Sciences II building program as well.



 Arts will continue development of specialized institutes for

research and teaching, including language learning. In

conjunction with the Master of Public Policy and Management

program centered in the Political Science Department, we

propose the creation of a Centre for Public Policy. We will

review the mandate of the Institute for Fisheries Analysis and

rename it the Centre for Coastal Studies. This will be jointly

run by Arts and Science. The Language Training Institute will

be made an independent institute and will become a centre for

a range of language instruction and for research in language

pedagogy. The new Centre for Restorative Justice will

investigate innovative alternatives to the current system of

offender rehabilitation.

Faculty of Arts 55

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004









 The Faculty will proceed with its CRC proposals to form

strategic alliances and partnerships within and across faculties.

We have identified three areas of current research interest in

this regard: Public Policy; Forensic Anthropology (alliances

between Criminology, Archaeology, and Biological Sciences) and

Victimization of the Elderly (Sociology/Anthropology, Crimin-

ology, and Gerontology). Greater co-operative contact with the

Faculty of Applied Science will be pursued in the areas of

cognitive science, computational linguistics, health, and new

media.



 The Faculty will try to find new approaches for graduate

student support through SSHRC, NSERC and other granting

agencies in an attempt to better integrate graduate studies into

ongoing faculty research.



 Arts will pursue the strengthening and augmentation of on-line

learning and instructional technologies.



 The Arts Advancement Office will continue to seek external

sources of funding for designated projects from alumni,

interested individuals, corporations, and governments.



 We will continue to publicize the value of the liberal arts edu-

cation within the university and beyond. Increased effort at

providing information and consultation for high-school coun-

selors.

Faculty of Arts 56

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







E. Conclusion



The Faculty of Arts first plan (1997/2000) included several recom-

mendations, many quite specific, that collectively set our agenda for

the last three years. The great majority of those recommendations

have been implemented. In the current plan, we have charted our

course by listing the initiatives that will engage us in greater service

to departments and to the community. These initiatives have been

guided by four global objectives:



 To clarify the meaning and value of the liberal arts edu-

cation



To enhance its relevance to the twenty-first century, the

University should provide for the continued health of its

academic core by strengthening the arts and science com-

ponents of its research and teaching activities.



 To ensure that students receive the best education

possible



By improving the breadth, flexibility, and depth of program-

ming through a more integrative approach to teaching and

research, we will make more explicit the employability and

career skills essential to a knowledge-based economy and

society.



 To enhance the research mission of the Faculty



We continue to support the individual research efforts of our

colleagues. In addition, we will seek opportunities to foster in-

novation and collaboration across the Faculties.



 To engage the community



The Faculty of Arts has a history of reaching out into the larger

community—from the local to the national and international.

Faculty of Arts 57

Three-Year Plan 2001/2004







Outreach activities, as well as teaching and research, have

drawn the university into the larger fabric of society. We intend

to combine and expand that initiative, both to enrich what we

are and do, and as an educational responsibility in this

increasingly globally oriented society.