S-96-30 FACULTY OF SCIENCE Meeting of Faculty Tuesday, March 11, 1997 Leacock Council Room - L232 ATTENDANCE: As recorded in the Faculty Appendix Book. DOCUMENTS: S-96-27 to S-96-29 Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:06 p.m. (1) MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 18, 1997 S-96-27 Prof. GowriSankaran moved, seconded by Prof. Baker, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried. (2) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES There was no business arising from the minutes. (3) ANNOUNCEMENTS 603.1 Prof. Mucci announced that Prof. E.W. Mountjoy, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, had received the Logan Gold Medal. He said that this was the most prestigious award given by the Geological Association of Canada, for lifetime contribution to geoscientific knowledge, in this particular case, for the mapping of the Canadian Cordilleran. On behalf of the Faculty of Science, Dean Shaver congratulated Prof. Mountjoy, and thanked Prof. Mucci for bringing the award to the Facultyís attention. 603.2 Associate Dean de Takacsy announced that special examination arrangements for observant students were being made through the Student Affairs Office (SAO), in cooperation with the Hillel Society. He said that professors should not be making their own special arrangements, but that students should be directed to the SAO. 603.3 In reply to Prof. Marley, Dean Shaver said that he would try to distribute the information regarding special examination arrangements via e-mail to all academic staff. (4) REPORTS OF COMMITTEES a) Academic Committee S-96-28 REPORT ON MINOR COURSE CHANGES (AC-96-57) (for information) CHEMISTRY New Courses: 180-112B General Chemistry Laboratory (AC-96-58) 1 credit 180-113B General Chemistry (PSE) (AC-96-59) 1 credit Prof. Farrell moved, seconded by Prof. Sittmann, that the above courses be adopted. The motion carried. New Courses: 180-122A General Chemistry Laboratory (AC-96-60) 1 credit 180-123A General Chemistry Laboratory (PSE)(AC-96-61) 1 credit Prof. Farrell moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above courses be adopted. The motion carried. New Course: 180-224A/B Organic Chemistry Laboratory I (AC-96-62) & C 1 credit Prof. Farrell moved, seconded by Prof. Sittmann, that the above course be adopted. Prof. Farrell proposed an amendment. Prof. Farrell proposed, seconded by Prof. Sittmann, that 180-224A/B be offered also in the summer session (C). The amendment passed. The amended motion carried. New Course: 180-574B Optical Methods and Materials in Chemistry 3 credits (AC-96-63) Prof. Farrell moved, seconded by Prof. Sutton, that the above course be adopted. The motion carried. New Courses: 180-608A Current Topics in Physical Chemistry (AC-96-64) 4 credits 180-609A Current Topics in Physical Chemistry (AC-96-65) 4 credits Prof. Farrell moved, seconded by Prof. Sittmann, that the above courses be adopted. The motion carried. EARTH & PLANETARY SCIENCES - Majors, Honours in Earth Sciences & Honours in Planetary Sciences (AC-96-66) 604.1 Associate Dean de Takacsy said that special attention should be taken with regard to advising, due to the number of program changes in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Prof. Baker moved, seconded by Prof. Paquette, that the changes be approved. The motion carried. 186-480D Honours Research Project (AC-96-67) 6 credits Change of credit weight from 9. Prof. Mucci moved, seconded by Prof. Paquette, that the change be approved. The motion carried. In document AC-96-67, under Course Description, #13, the first line should read: î...outlining the studies to be undertaken...î EDUCATION 434-392 (Nutrition & Wellness) & DIETETICS & HUMAN NUTRITION 382-307B (Human Nutrition) (AC-96-68) (for information) MUSIC - Minor in Music (AC-96-70) Prof. Ingram moved, seconded by Prof. Baker, that the above Minor be adopted. The motion carried. - Minor in Music Technology (AC-96-71) Prof. GowriSankaran moved, seconded by Prof. Mucci, that the above Minor be adopted. The motion carried. COURSE APPROVAL PROCEDURE - MEDICINE (AC-96-72) (for information) AD HOC JOINT MAJOR IN MATHEMATICS AND NEUROSCIENCE (AC-96-73) Prof. Schmidt moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above ad hoc program for Ms. R. Achtman be adopted. The motion carried. (5) DEANíS BUSINESS There was no Deanís business. (6) REPORT: McGILL SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT(MSE) S-96-29 Prof. Ingram 606.1 Prof. Ingram said that the above document (S-96-29) had been circulated on March 5, 1997, and that it resulted from an earlier document that had been circulated to chairs/directors of departments in the Faculty of Science, and to members of the Faculty of Science MSE Coordinating Committee, as well as to chairs of the MSE committees of the Faculties of Arts and of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Prof. Ingram said that comments that had been received by February 28, 1996 had been incorporated into the current document. He said he thought that this document represented a consensus view by the Faculty of Science MSE Coordinating Committee and that it was close to being acceptable to chairs of the MSE committees of the Faculties of Arts and of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. 606.2 Prof. Ingram moved, seconded by Prof. Green, that the Faculty of Science agree to participate in the establishment of the McGill School of Environment (MSE) in collaboration with the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Furthermore, that the document prepared by the Faculty of Science MSE Coordinating Committee (circulated on March 5 to Faculty) serve as a framework for the MSE structure and academic program. The motion carried. 606.3 Dean Shaver thanked Prof. Ingram and the Faculty of Science MSE Coordinating Committee for working with the Faculties of Science, of Arts, and of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He also thanked the Faculty for having been involved in the process. (7) MEMBERSí QUESTION PERIOD There were no questions. (8) REPORT ON ACTIONS OF SENATE* Associate Dean de Takacsy - Senate Meeting of March 5, 1997. I must stress that this report is based on my memory and my notes, since the official Minutes are not yet available. (1) Senate Steering reported that 1075 degrees and 38 diplomas were granted in February 1997. (2) Professor Lieblein asked a question in three parts about the committee to review the Principal. These were answered by the Chancellor. Question: why is mandate different from 1983 (i.e. limited to recommending for or against reappointment) and why is the review held in mid-mandate? Answer: The Statutes speak only of a search committee for a new Principal and are silent regarding a review. The first review recorded took place in 1983, and so there is limited precedent. The timing seemed reasonable to avoid the simultaneous review of two Vice- Principals, and three Deans, as well as the Principal. The Chancellor added that the original letter from the Board appointed Principal Shapiro for a five-year term, renewable once. Question: in the event of a negative decision, would a new search committee have to be struck? Answer: yes, but only next year, i.e. 1998. Question: who made the decision to change the procedures? Answer: there are no established, much less statutory, procedures in force. Professor Lieblein wondered whether this review was fair to either the Principal or the University. Vice-Principal Belanger asked whether there is any limitation in the Statutes as to age. The answer is no. (3) The 288th report of APPC dealt with the McGill University Health Centre, and contained reports from the three workgroups (Prichard workgroup on Clinical Departments, the Binik workgroup on units that use the hospitals for clinical training, and the Acheson workgroup on basic science departments). Dean Fuks spoke at length about the progress made to date and the planning mechanisms in place. Since the original proposal, much has changed. The model now is not so much a îmega-hospitalî as a network centred on a compact îtertiary care coreî linked to a system of out- patient services distributed throughout the community. The core is much smaller than originally envisaged and the present thinking has the Faculty of Medicine and the basic science departments remaining in their present location. Both the practice and the teaching of medicine will look very different in the new model. The planning activity is presently hottest in 20 planning panels concerned with health care delivery in 20 different specialised areas. Other committees are also at work, including one concerned with the Research Institutes under Prof. Branton. An integration task force under Prof. Sarah Prichard is concerned with the integration and coordination of medical services in the existing hospitals: MGH, RVH etc. The University would retain links not only with the MUHC, but also the Jewish General, St. Maryís etc as appropriate. The questioning was somewhat general in nature and not very aggressive, except for Prof. Shore who moved that APPC revise the report of the Binik workgroup to incorporate a section parallel to the others concerning Educational and Counselling Psychology. This motion was adopted. (4) Senate received the report of Prof. Rigelhofís committee on the New Student Records System, and approved the main recommendations of that Committee. These were that the new system should be purchased, that the University should work with policies and procedures that are implementable, that Web access should be provided to the present system in the interim, that administrative client access to the new system should be MS Windows based, that a Financial IS should be developed in concert with NSIS (a potential difficulty was resolved when the recommendation that FIS and NSIS should be from the same supplier was deleted on a motion by the Dean of Science), and that we should proceed with procurement of the NSIS by the end of the year. (5) Statutory selection committees were approved for four professors, including one in physics, and a member was added to the Committee on Student Affairs. (6) Reports were tabled on the evolution of academic and administrative and support positions, showing continued steady decreases in all areas. *Senate documents are available in the Deanís Secretariat for consultation. 608.1 In response to Prof. Marleyís question about Prof. Shoreís motion at Senate, Associate Dean de Takacsy said that APPCís practice is not to amend reports it receives, but if appropriate, to append APPCís own commentaries. 608.2 Dean Shaver said with regard to the review of the Principalís term, that deans of the faculties have been invited to attend the committeeís meetings. He said that Facultyís comments would be welcome. (9) OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business. The meeting adjourned at 3:40 p.m.