May 23, 2007

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Minutes of the Departmental Meeting on May 23, 2007

Present: R. Abhari, T. Arbel, B. Boulet, P. Caines, B. Champagne, C. Champness, V.Chodavarapu, J. Cooperstock, D. Davies, F. Ferrie, K. Fraser, W. Gross, K. Johnson, G. Joos, P. Kabal, R. Khazaka, F. Labeau, H. Leib, S. Mannor, L. Mason, H. Mayer, L. McKenna, S. Musallam, D. Plant, M. Popovich, I. Psaromiligos, R. Rose, C. Serban, I Shih, J. Webb, S.C. Wong, A. Wojciechowska, Z. Zilic.

Regrets: F. Galiana, A. Kirk, D. Lowther.

The meeting was called to order at 3:05 pm.

1. Approval of the Agenda: K. Fraser, seconded by B. Boulet. J. Cooperstock and H. Leib requested the addition of two items under Other Business. Carried.

2. Approval of the Minutes (April 25, 2007): B. Boulet, seconded by P. Kabal. Carried.

3. Security and Fire Prevention Services

L. A. Fernandes and A. Fontaine gave a presentation on the Security and Fire Prevention services for the Faculty of Engineering buildings. L. A. Fernandes is responsible for the northeast sector and A. Fontaine is responsible for the Southeast sector. They encouraged the members of the department to volunteer for the evacuation teams. Interested members should contact J. Rousham. They reminded all those present that, in case of an alarm, teaching staff have the responsibility to evacuate the classrooms quickly and completely and move away to an assembly point. F. Ferrie remarked that an alarm survey should be done in the McConnell building as there are areas where the alarm is not audible. A. Fontaine replied that they perform yearly tests. However, the tests are done from 7pm to 8pm where the noise levels are low. She welcomed feedback from the department on this matter. B. Boulet asked whether safety lighting is working properly. A. Fontaine replied that they will look into that. K. Fraser added that the north staircase is now on the generator.

4. Remarks from the Chair:

Since our last Dept. meeting in December, and working with the Departmental Leadership Team of Associate Chairs, the Chairman’s Advisor Committee, and the Professional Staff, we have been focusing on the following issues:

  • Plans for a new Associate Chair – Graduate Studies
  • Renovations to Departmental office suit and elevator lobby
  • Hiring three new professors
  • Budget negotiations with the Dean’s office
  • Creation of two new positions
  • Other topics

Please allow me to review where we stand on these subjects.

I would like to begin by thanking Professor Benoit Champagne for his four years as Associate Chair of Graduate Studies. We wish him a productive and richly deserved sabbatical. I am pleased to report that Professor Fabrice Labeau has agreed to step in and serve as Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, effective Summer 2007, for a three year term.

We are renovating room 633; inspired by renovations to the Student Center, and to the Mechanical Engineering Departmental Offices, we have been given permission to redesign room 633 and the elevator lobby. The budget was approved; more on this later in the meeting. One consequence of this renovation is that we will be closing this conference room from June 24, to October 1, 2007, inclusive, (with the possibility of an extension) and using it as swing space for the ECE staff members currently sitting in MC633.

Hiring three new professors: four interviews; please send comments to Debbie. Work in progress.

Anna, Debbie, myself and staff members in the Dean’s office have been working very hard since January to: a) understand the Department’s financial situation; b) to propose a budget for the upcoming McGill fiscal year June 1, 2007 to May 31, 2008. We are currently running a very large deficit that we are trying to correct in our new budget. Discussions with the faculty to date have been extremely efficient and positive. I will present the budget to the Department at our first meeting in September, 2007.

Pleased to report that we have negotiated two new positions within ECE as follows:

  • Receptionist; reporting to Debbie, this person will handle reception matters for the Department.
  • Manager – Graduate Student Office; reporting to the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, this person will manage the affairs of the Graduate Office.

Annual report: as you have seen by email from Debbie, we have not yet been given an update on the format and due date for this year’s annual report. As soon as we receive news, you will be notified.

Nominating and Merit Committee: we will be holding elections for the Nominating Committee and the Merit Committee in June. Please stay tuned and vote when the time comes.

Accreditation: please note that the CEAB will be visiting in early November concerning our Computer Engineering program. Details to follow. If you have any update on your Professional Registration status, please send this to Associate Chair Benoit Boulet.

Celebrations: We will finish the year by celebrating with some wine and cheese. There have been many accomplishments and awards given to students, Professional Staff, Professors, and Alumni. The rolled up numbers are:

  • 40+ Awards and Distinctions to our undergraduate and graduate students, including the D.W. Ambridge Prize, the top McGill prize to a Ph.D. student given to xx Mr. Francois Bouffard who was supervised by our own Frank Galiana
  • 3 Awards and Distinctions to our Professional staff
  • 17 Awards and Distinctions to the Professoriate
  • 2 Awards and Distinctions to ECE Dept. Alumni

The names will be scrolling on the screen throughout the wine and cheese. This record will also be entered into the minutes of the meeting. (Addendum A)

I wish everyone a good summer.

S. Musallam asked for details regarding accreditation. J. Webb replied that the visitors from the Accreditation Board examine course material and outlines, review programs, interview staff and students in order to decide whether to accredit the program or not. G. Joos asked what would be the incentive for someone to register as a Professional Engineer. B. Boulet replied that it is for the greater good of the department as we need to be accredited. If we are not, then we will lose students. T. Szkopek asked about office access during the renovations. D. Davies replied that access will be limited for only one day when they replace the floors.

5. Update on Professional Registration

B. Boulet announced that J. Cooperstock and M. Rochette are now junior engineers at OIQ and W. Gross is now a professional engineer registered in Ontario. He encouraged the members of the department who are not yet registered to check the dates of the exams and consider taking them. Z. Zilic asked if there are any plans to provide targeted training for the French language test. B. Boulet replied that the department could organize such training sessions if there is demand.

6. Renovations to Room 633

D. Davies presented the plans for the renovation of Room 633 (Addendum B) and asked for feedback. R. Rose asked if there are plans to renovate the elevator lobby. D. Davies replied that the lobby will be renovated during the 3rd phase of the renovations. In response to questions by P. Kabal and B. Boulet, D. Davies clarified that the front entrance will be made of glass and that will be door will be a limited access door (staff will have access at all times).

7. Celebrations: See item 4 “Remarks from the Chair.”

8. Other Business:

J. Cooperstock raised the issue of academic integrity. He had to deal with what he thinks was a serious violation of academic integrity in his Artificial Intelligence class and is concerned with how the University and the Faculty handled the case. Two students submitted computer codes as part of a course project that showed similarities that went beyond what one would reasonably expect. However, the Faculty acquitted the students of all charges. He asked if it was possible as a department to establish our own standards and if we have a mechanism to influence the Faculty in how it deals with academic integrity violations. D. Plant asked if there is any department committee that could help instructors by suggesting protocols to be followed that would be acceptable by the Faculty. J. Webb replied that such a committee does not currently exist and he moved to create an ad-hoc committee to look into the issue. He added that that committee could also provide feedback to the Dean and the Assoc Dean. F. Ferrie remarked that the current system is an evolution. We need to know how this system was established and then address the problem. He added that there are many constraints imposed from the Dean of Students on how to handle violation of academic integrity. H. Leib remarked that there was a similar situation in the Communications Systems Lab that was not treated properly. The next year there was massive cheating in the lab. The only way to address that was to change the lab every year.

H. Leib raised the issue of the Teaching Assistants budget cuts. He asked how the budget is set up and if it is based on the needs of the courses. Since it was overspent for the past years, may be it was too low in the first place. F. Labeau replied that he did not know how the budget is chosen but it has been increased over the years to accommodate the union agreement. D. Plant remarked that the department asked for the same amount of money as last year. A. Wojciechowska added that in terms of TA hours we got the same allocation as last year. Overall, across the university the budget has been cut but the Faculty has covered the shortfall. F. Labeau stated that the TA allocations are based on the formula “50hrs per 20 students” and that it is taken into account if a course has a lab or not. R. Khazaka remarked that the allocation can have a fixed part plus a variable part that depends on the number of students. F. Labeau replied that something similar was done this year as each course was assigned a minimum number of TA hours. T. Arbel added that the current system does not take into account the instructor’s teaching load. D. Plant stated that one of the things he wants to do is to tie TA support to graduate student admission packages. In response to a question by J. Cooperstock, D. Plant said that this can be done within the constraints of the union agreement.

Motion to adjourn: B. Boulet at 4:26pm.

I. Psaromiligkos, Secretary

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