Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Minutes of the Departmental Meeting on January 12, 2010
Present: H. Barron, B. Boulet, C. Brown, B. Champagne, D. Davies, K. Fraser, C. Greco, A. Hamoui, S. Henry, K. Johnson, G. Joos, P. Kabal, A. Kirk, F. Labeau, T. Laliberte, H. Leib, M. Levine, O. Liboiron-Ladouceur, D. Lowther, L. McKenna, D. Plant, X. Salaun, I. Shih, T. Szkopek, J. Webb, S. Wong, Z. Zilic.
Regrets: P. Caines, D. Giannacopoulos, M. Rabbat.
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm.
2. Adoption of the Minutes (November 17, 2009):
No changes. K. Fraser, seconded by D. Lowther. Carried.
3. Remarks from the Chair:
D. Plant wished everyone a healthy, happy, productive New Year and presented the Commemorative Years of Service pins to the following staff members for:
15 years of service: Prof. Benoit Champagne, & Mrs. Connie Greco
20 years of service: Prof. Harry Leib, (Prof. Steve McFee & Prof. Gordon Roberts were absent)
30 years of service: Prof. David Lowther
40 years of service: Mr. Stanley Henry
45 years of service: Mr. Kenneth Fraser
4. Accreditation and Licensure:
D. Plant thanked the Committees for all their hard work and wanted to remind everyone of the Accreditation is this Fall. He along with his Leadership Team worked hard on the Licensure Memo of January 6th, to change the expectations of the Department and to be the driving force to comply with the changes in the rules of accreditation. D. Plant stated that aggressive measures are needed to get the ECE professors licensed and at the very least to create a discussion. His objective is to keep ECE programs accredited. B. Boulet explained the changes in accreditation: academic units taught by engineers must have 1) 600 ACU taught by professional or junior engineers, 2) the definition of a junior engineer is changed – now restricted to apply 5 years into your position. He explained that now if we were audited we would be short 70 acu’s for the Electrical Engineer Program and that none of our programs would be accredited. He also stated that serious action must be taken and that if a course needs a licensed engineer to teach it and the professor who taught it is not licensed then they will be replaced by someone who has their license.
T. Szkopek asked the definition of a junior engineer. B. Boulet explained that a junior engineer has to apply to the PEO or QIE within 5 years of their initial appointment. He and L. Chen will be going around to all of the professors who are not licensed to coach them and offer support. D. Lowther reminded everyone of the “Washington Accord” which is an international accreditation agreement for professional engineering academic degrees, between the bodies responsible for accreditation in its signatory countries; established in 1989, the signatories as of 2007 are Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The agreement recognizes that there is substantial equivalency of programs accredited by those signatories.
T. Szkopek asked what the benefit of accreditation. B. Boulet explained that the profession of engineers is regulated and no one would go to McGill if the engineering courses were not accredited. D. Plant explained that we can mobilize our efforts and from information obtained from J. Clark, if there are enough professors to take the exam perhaps they would come here. O. Liboiron-Ladouceur explained that the Quebec exam is easier than the Ontario exam if you are comfortable in French.
5. Guidelines for the Instructor's Teaching Constraints and Unavailability:
D. Plant had asked everyone to fill out the Instructor constraint forms and A. Hamoui compiled all the information. He requested guidelines from the university and faculty and was told that this must be determined by the Department. The Committee determined what were acceptable practices and procedures and wrote the guidelines for the Instructor’s teaching constraints and unavailability. A. Hamoui explained that there were three general categories: child care, commuting and research. D. Plant explained to everyone that he asked for guidelines and got none so he started with no constraints then mapped the trends in order to be transparent. He recommended that everyone take one day off for research. The guidelines are meant to be flexible.
6. Report of the Curriculum Committee:
B. Boulet wanted to remind everyone to answer the email that was sent by L. Chen about contact hours; it is important.
7. Other Business:
D. Plant asked for any items for other business. None.
8. Adjournment:
D. Plant asked for a motion to close the meeting. Motion to adjourn: A. Hamoui at 3:55 pm. Carried.
D. Davies, Secretary