AC-98-133 FACULTY OF SCIENCE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at 3:00 p.m. in the Arts Council Room (160). PRESENT: Dean Shaver (Chair), Associate Dean Mendelson (Vice- Chair), Professors Baines, Damha, Drury, GrÅtter, Lapointe, Panangaden, Paquette, Pasztor, Rasmussen, Silvius, Wechsler; Associate Dean Norris; Ms. E. Gibb (in the absence of Ms. H. Waluzyniec); J. D'Amico. GUESTS: Professors N. Roulet and D. Wolfson; Ms. K. Lauer. REGRETS: Professors Brawer, Franklin, and Yau; Ms. D. Cowan; A. Chaudhry; J. Lefebvre, J. Liao, T. Samanta, G. Tsimiklis. DOCUMENTS: AC-98-89(Revised 2) AC-98-106(Revised), AC-98- 107(Revised) AC-98-114 to AC-98-132 Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. ADDITIONS/CHANGES TO THE AGENDA - Item #8, Guidelines for Undergraduate Research Courses, to be considered after item #6, McGill School of Environment. (1) LEO YAFFE AWARD COMMITTEE REPORT - PROF. D. WOLFSON 801.1 Prof. Wolfson, Chair of the Leo Yaffe Award Committee for 1999, gave a summary report. 801.2 The committee members were Professors: D. Taylor, Psychology (Continuing Member); J. Crawford, Physics; L. Hendren, Computer Science; M. Lapointe, Geography; B. Lennox, Chemistry; J. Paquette, Earth and Planetary Sciences; H. Warshawsky, Anatomy and Cell Biology; M. Yau, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; the two student members were R. Leonar, Physiology, and D. Shiff, Microbiology and Immunology. 801.3 Prof. Wolfson said that Prof. L. Hendren, School of Computer Science, stepped down from the Committee when she became aware that her husband, Prof. P. Panangaden, had been nominated by the School of Computer Science. He said the Dean had decided that a replacement was unnecessary since the committee was sufficiently broad. R. Leonar had been replaced by M. Chuhhom, Microbiology & Immunology, because R. Leonar had been a student of one of the nominees. 801.4 The nominees were Professors: M. Damha, Chemistry; L. Hermo, Anatomy & Cell Biology; N. Kamran, Mathematics & Statistics; R. Koestner, Psychology; L. Lefebvre, Biology; P. Panangaden, Computer Science; J. Silvius, Biochemistry; and E. Zorychta, Pathology. 801.5 Prof. Wolfson said that Prof. Prakash Panangaden of the School of Computer Science had been nominated by the Committee to receive the 1999 Leo Yaffe Award. 801.6 The following is a detailed report of the Leo Yaffe Award Committee: "Professor Panangaden's selection as the 1999 nominee for The Leo Yaffe Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching in the Faculty of Science was greeted with spontaneous applause by the Leo Yaffe Award committee. Such was the committee's enthusiastic support for its own nominee! Professor Panangaden's profile as an educator of undergraduate students, rather than a mere teacher, simply demanded recognition. "Prakash, as he prefers his students to call him, came to McGill in July 1990 from Cornell University. His arrival at McGill was described in 1997 by the Director of the School, Professor Devroye, as "the pivotal event of the last ten years." For Prakash immediately undertook to revise and streamline the undergraduate program in Computer Science. One of his first tasks was to teach the important "Introduction to Computer Science" course which he did with brilliance and creativity, by unlocking the creativity in his students. Professor Devroye writes, "Overnight, the course became a playground for brainstorming and joint discovery of new ideas and solutions. . . . Without exception, students idolized Prakash, started hanging around his office at the oddest of times, and congregated with or without Prakash for discussions and cerebral excitement. Most importantly, all students leave Prakash's course loaded with confidence and curiosity." The ability to engage all, and not just the few very talented, is the mark of an exceptional teacher. "The consistently high course evaluations which Prakash has received over the years attest to his ability to reach all, even when the subject matter is tough. His former students were happy to write about the influence he has had on them. Theirs are words of uninhibited praise that capture the many facets of excellent teaching: 'He is as passionate about teaching as he is about his research, which he would enthusiastically tell anybody about if they gave him the chance.' 'Prakash often comes out more as a friend than a teacher." The same person wrote, "He has single- handedly sparked and maintained a real interest in computer science in many students, including myself. His attributes have made him a role model as far as my professional life is concerned.' '............he made me realize my full potential in adjacent areas such as Calculus and Linear Algebra." "Prakash is never afraid to admit that he does not know the answer to some difficult question.' '............his lectures are clear, well-structured, organized and informative.' '..........his office door is open to students often outside of office hours. He is ready to help students with any of their concerns or questions.' 'What sets Prakash apart, however, is that he always manages to inject even in the most basic courses a sprinkle of modern research, anecdotes and analogies with modern development that always give the feeling that there's a lot more work to be done in the field and that we should all think about that.' "The gems contained in the many letters are far too numerous to list completely. As if teaching courses as effectively as does Professor Panangaden were not enough, he has also been a fervent participant in undergraduate education in general. The President of the Computer Science Undergraduate Society describes Prakash's role in this broader setting. "Speaking on behalf of the Computer Science Undergraduate Society, he has attended almost every CSUS event, which shows that he is dedicated to the students. He is not only a professor, but he is also the Undergraduate Program Director for Computer Science. . . .He understands the students' needs and wants to ensure the quality of their education. On many occasions he has asked the students and myself about our opinions of certain courses and will take action on a situation when necessary. "There is yet more! Professor Panangaden has been the coach of the McGill ACM (Association for Computer Machinery) programming contest team the past two years. This is a worldwide contest and the most prestigious of its type, involving over 1200 universities. In 1998, the team went to the finals and placed 17th, ahead of Dartmouth, MIT, Caltech and Stanford. Training the team is an act of devotion to students and subject. For Prakash squeezes this activity into his schedule despite his prolific and internationally recognized research and his long list of graduate students. "There is little one can say about Professor Panangaden that has not been said by his former and current students and two successive chairs of the School of Computer Science. His role as explainer, inspirer, advisor, innovator, listener, and student friend places him in that small group of educators who truly make a difference in the lives of their students." 801.7 Prof. Wolfson suggested that all nominations submitted should be returned to departments to assist them should they wish to re-nominate the same candidate in the future and said that new information may be added to the old application. Prof. Wolfson said that this would allow departments to improve old submissions. He said that it should not be the responsibility of the Leo Yaffe Award Committee to seek out repeat nominations. Prof. Wolfson's second suggestion was that there should be broad guidelines sent out with the call for nominations, concerning what criteria should be taken into account in preparing nominations. 801.8 On behalf of the Academic Committee, Dean Shaver congratulated Prof. Panangaden. 801.9 Dean Shaver thanked Prof. Wolfson and the Committee for having done such thorough work. He said the recommendations would be taken under consideration. Dean Shaver mentioned that a congratulatory letter had been sent last year to all nominees and that this would be done again. (2) GEOGRAPHY - PROF. N. ROULET New Course: 183-501A/B Modelling Environmental Systems AC-98-89(Revised 2) 3 credits 802.1 Prof. Roulet explained the changes in the course proposal. 802.2 After a short discussion, Prof. Lapointe moved, seconded by Prof. Paquette, that the course be adopted, provided that the type of course (item #7, AC-98-89 [Revised 2]) and the number of hours per week (item #8) be reconciled with the activities described on page 2. This should be done in consultation with the Associate Dean. The motion carried. (3) MINUTES OF MARCH 23, 1999 AC-98-114 Prof. Panangaden moved, seconded by Prof. Damha, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried. (4) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES - Minute 705.1, Science for Teachers AC-98-115 804.1 Dean Shaver noted that Prof. Harris, Department of Physics, had responded to the Academic Committee's suggestion concerning equivalent courses in the Science for Teachers program. - Minutes 706.1-4, Limitations for MSE Students on Courses Outside Arts and Science 804.2 Associate Dean Mendelson said that at the Faculty of Science meeting of April 6, 1999, the first proposal had been approved, but that in the second proposal the word "mathematics" had been removed. The second proposal had been modified to read: "Students in the B.Sc. Major in Environment may take required statistics courses outside of the Faculties of Arts and Science necessary to satisfy their program requirements and to permit them to study at the McGill campus of their choice." - Minute 703.1, Procedures for Minor Program Changes 804.3 Associate Dean Mendelson said that minor program changes would continue to be processed by the current procedures, since programs are complicated; this would be beneficial to all members. (5) CHEMISTRY Program Changes: Program Changes Tabled to the Next Academic Committee Meeting - B.Sc. Honours in Chemistry - Environmental Option AC-98-116 Prof. GrÅtter moved, seconded by Prof. Damha, that the program changes be approved. 805.1 Following a discussion concerning the lack of a consultation report from the McGill School of Environment, the appropriateness of the program name (would Atmospheric Chemistry Option be more apt?), and the possibility of including MSE courses in the option, Dean Shaver suggested that the proposal be postponed to a future meeting. 805.2 Associate Dean Mendelson asked that the university standard course nomenclature be used. The course nomenclatures are: required, complementary and elective. Also, different program proposals should be independently complete, and not intermingled. 805.3 Prof. Baines further moved, seconded by Prof. Rasmussen, that the above program proposal be tabled until the next Academic Committee meeting. The second motion carried. Program Changes Tabled to the Next Academic Committee Meeting - B.Sc. Major in Chemistry - Environmental Option AC-98-117 805.4 Prof. Damha moved, seconded by Prof. Lapointe, that the program changes be tabled until the next Academic Committee meeting, since the issues raised concerning document AC-98-116 also related to this program. The motion carried. (6) MCGILL SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT New Course: 170-400A,B Environmental Thought AC-98-107(Revised) 3 credits NB This course was submitted to the Academic Committee meeting of March 23, 1999, as 170-401A,B. At that meeting, it was tabled to the next Academic Committee meeting. Following a short discussion concerning the integration of the two sections of the course, Prof. Rasmussen moved, seconded by Associate Dean Norris, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. Course Already Approved at the Academic Committee Meeting, March 23, 1999 New Course: 170-401A,B Environmental Research AC-98-106(Revised) 3 credits NB This course was submitted to the Academic Committee meeting of March 23, 1999, as 170-400A,B. At that meeting, it was approved by the Academic Committee, provided that certain issues were resolved (see Minutes of March 23,1999). Although the above course had already been approved, Prof. Pasztor moved, seconded by Prof. Damha, that the last sentence in the course description (item #13) be removed. The motion carried. (8) GUIDELINES FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH COURSES AC-98-119 to 131 808.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said that it was informative for all units to read one another's Undergraduate Research Guidelines (URGs). He said that different departments have different needs, and that therefore a single set of Faculty URGs was not appropriate. He said departments may want to consider what other units do and to adopt the best practices from other units' URGs. He asked that units go through the Associate Dean's Guidelines (ADGs) for production of URGs and make sure that all issues specified in the ADGs have been addressed. 808.2 Dean Shaver suggested that the Associate Dean provide a checklist covering all the issues specified in document AC-98-119, and that each department go through its URGs in relation to the checklist. If there are issues that departments have not addressed, they should be explained. He said that after this process, the guidelines would be re-examined. 808.3 After some discussion concerning the academic content of undergraduate research courses, Dean Shaver suggested that this issue could be addressed at a future Academic Committee meeting. He said that the Academic Committee is open to suggestions: the issue could be raised for general discussion or as a separate item of business at a future meeting. Members could inform the Dean or the Associate Dean of their preferences. If there was a meeting or workshop, he would bring the issue up for general discussion to the Faculty of Science. (7) CREDIT FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES AC-98-118 807.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said that the Faculty of Science does not have a regulation concerning distance education courses. The Faculty of Arts prohibits students from taking these courses. The only mention of these courses on an official document was on the instruction side of the Study Away Form, AC-98-118, used jointly by students in the Faculties of Arts and Science. Associate Dean Mendelson said that, in 1994, the Academic Committee had recognized, for purposes of admission, correspondence courses, if they were from recognized CEGEPs, high schools or universities. He said he would like to have a general discussion on the issue of credit for distance education courses. 807.2 After a brief discussion concerning distance education courses, Dean Shaver suggested that Associate Dean Mendelson distribute some information on the matter, and he encouraged members to raise the issue within their departments. (9) ISSUES ARISING FROM THE ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY 809.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said that a round-table discussion on academic integrity had been attended by professors and students from the Faculty of Science. He said that a number of issues had been raised and that he had committed himself to raise some of these for discussion at an Academic Committee meeting. He said he would outline them briefly and, if necessary, raise them for further discussion at future Academic Committee meetings. (a) Credit Weight and Workload 809.2 Associate Dean Mendelson said that when students are in situations that are unduly demanding, they often resort to dishonest measures. For example, a three-credit course that demands as much work as a six-credit course increases the likelihood that some students will take shortcuts. The opinion had been expressed that the credit weight was somewhat artificial. Overall a student should be planning his/her schedule in such a way that there is a doable amount of work. However, certain combinations of courses that must be taken at certain times may involve more work than appropriate. 809.3 During the discussion, it was suggested that professors and chairs monitor responses to questions regarding workload on course evaluations. Interventions may be necessary if particular courses are routinely identified as requiring an undue amount of work. (b) Evening Mid-term Examinations 809.4 Associate Dean Mendelson said that the issue of evening midterm examinations had been raised. The advantages of these are that students can be given more time to write the examination and that the examination can be administered in a way that prevents cheating. The arguments against evening midterm examinations are that professors demanded more work from students, that they interfere with students' other duties, that midterm examinations are concentrated in the weeks before and after study break, and that there is little control on how much work a student is facing, which then leads to dishonesty. 809.5 During the discussion, some members spoke in favour of evening midterm examinations, while some members spoke against having them. (c) Curving Grades 809.6 Associate Dean Mendelson said that there were two ways to curve grades. One way is to shift an entire class up or down. Grades are adjusted to produce what is considered an appropriate mean. The other way to curve grades is to adjust the shape of the distribution to achieve what a professor decides is an appropriate number of 'A's and 'F's. Students felt that grades were curved on courses and pointed out that this fosters intense competition. This was seen as a situation that would very likely breed dishonesty. 809.7 During the discussion, a member suggested that the Faculty include a note in the Science section of the Calendar stating that the Faculty does not have a policy concerning the numbers of each type of grade (i.e. A, B, C, D, F) that may be given out for any course. (10) OTHER BUSINESS - SCTP REGULATIONS AC-98-132 810.1 Dean Shaver drew members' attention to the SCTP policy of returning to faculties reports requiring revisions. The meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m. josie\academic\acmn1998af.doc