AC-99-117 FACULTY OF SCIENCE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, January 18, 1999, at 3:00 p.m. in the Arts Council Room (160). PRESENT: Dean Shaver (Chair), Associate Dean Mendelson (Vice- Chair), Professors Baines, Baker, Brawer, Cline, Fabry (in the absence of Prof. Yau), Farrell, Klemes, MÅller- Wille, Panangaden, Paquette, Pasztor, Rasmussen, Silvius; Ms. H. Waluzyniec; A. Kovacs, W. Maricar; J. D'Amico. REGRETS: Professor Wechsler; Associate Dean Norris; T. Samanta, J. Tsang, G. Tsimiklis; Mr. D. Crawford. GUEST: Dr. C. Snow DOCUMENTS: AC-99-103 to AC-99-107 AC-99-110 to AC-99-116 Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. Dean Shaver welcomed Prof. Patrick Farrell to the Academic Committee, and welcomed back Prof. Prakash Panangaden. (1) ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA Changed Items: - Item #8 on the circulated Agenda will become Item # 5 of the Minutes. - Item #7 on the circulated Agenda will become Item # 6 of the Minutes. - Item #5 on the circulated Agenda will become Item # 7 of the Minutes. - Item #6 on the circulated Agenda will become Item # 8 of the Minutes. New Items: - Report on Double-Prefix Courses to be considered under Business Arising from the Minutes (Item #2 (b) of the Minutes). - MCI Motion to be considered under Business Arising from the Minutes (Item # 2(c) of the Minutes). - Required Credits for Science Programs - 2000-2001 (AC- 99-116 - Tabled), to be considered under Other Business (Item # 9 of the Minutes). Associate Dean Mendelson moved, seconded by Prof. Klemes, that the agenda be adopted with the above changes. The motion carried. (2) MINUTES OF DECEMBER 14, 1999 AC-99-110 Prof. MÅller-Wille moved, seconded by Associate Dean Mendelson, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried. (3) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES (a) Enrollment in B.Sc./B.Ed. Program 503.1 Associate Dean Mendelson reported that there were a total of 27 students enrolled in the B.Sc./B.Ed., 135 credit program. (b) Double-Prefix Courses 503.2 Dean Shaver asked Prof. Paquette to report on the APPC meeting concerning double-prefix courses. 503.3 Prof. Paquette said that APPC had accepted the principle of multi-prefix courses where content and resources justified it, with each case to be judged on its own merit. 503.4 Dean Shaver said he had been informed that Prof. Paquette had been an extremely able advocate of the Faculty's position. Dean Shaver thanked Prof. Paquette for her spirited intervention on behalf of double- prefix courses. 503.5 Dean Shaver said that Prof. E. Cooper, Faculty of Medicine, had also had been very active in advocating double-prefix courses. 503.6 Dean Shaver said he thought that double-prefix courses offered an important opportunity to explore interdisciplinary cooperation between departments. He cautioned that a number of potential administrative problems existed. The departments involved would have to assume total responsibility for such things as ensuring that the two courses would be scheduled simultaneously. Examinations would also have to be scheduled simultaneously. He cautioned members that departments must be very vigilant, because problems would allow criticism from those who question the issue. 503.7 Dean Shaver thanked departments for the suggestions and support he had received. 503.8 Associate Dean Mendelson emphasized the importance of being aware while advising/auditing students that a course from another department could exist, with the same content but a different course number. (c) MCI Motion 503.9 Dean Shaver reminded members that a motion to establish an ad hoc committee to consider a private liberal arts college within McGill had not been passed by the Faculty of Science at its meeting of December 7, 1999. He said the issue had been presented to a Faculty of Arts meeting on January 11, 2000, and a motion to look into establishing an ad hoc committee had been approved. Dean Shaver said that the Dean of Arts had invited him to appoint a Science representative on that committee; he was very pleased Science would have representation on the committee. 503.10 In reply to a member's question, Dean Shaver said he did not think the MCI issue was dead, because there had been great support for innovative programs involving Arts and Science at the Faculty of Science meeting. (4) REPORT ON MINOR COURSE CHANGES AC-99-111 (for information) 504.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said the change for Psychology 204-495 in the above report should be a change in restriction, and not a change in prerequisite. (8) SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE/DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING - Bachelor of Software Engineering AC-99-115 Prof. Panangaden moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, that Dr. Charles Snow be given speaking rights. The motion carried. 508.1 Prof. Panangaden gave a brief summary of the above program proposal, and he said the Faculty of Engineering had approved the program. 508.2 Dr. Snow said that the current structure of the program mirrored one that had been accepted by the Faculty of Engineering under the title of Bachelor of Engineering and Software Engineering. 508.3 A number of points were raised concerning the proposed program, including admission criteria; whether the program was essentially serving as a backdoor to an engineering qualification for students unable to get into the Faculty of Engineering; and the fact that new infrastructure, faculty members and library resources were needed for the program. 508.4 In response to members' questions, Dean Shaver pointed out that the proposed program was not an Engineering degree, but rather a jointly offered, interdisciplinary degree that could lead to accreditation if and when accreditation became available. He said that the accreditation issue was a future issue, and that, by establishing a program, the Faculty could have some voice and stature in the drafting of accreditation standards. Prof. Panangaden moved, seconded by Prof. MÅller-Wille, that the program be adopted. The motion carried. (7) SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE - Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering AC-99-114 507.1 Prof. Panangaden introduced the above program, and Dr. Snow gave details of the program. 507.2 It was explained that the program would be a Major program. 507.3 Concerns were raised about the need for new infrastructure, faculty members and library resources. 507.4 In response to a question, Associate Dean Mendelson explained that students in the program would have to be able to take more than 18 credits outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science; Faculty would have to pass a resolution concerning this, as had been done for the MSE. 507.5 Dean Shaver said that the proposals for both the Bachelor of Software Engineering and the Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering were based on the assumption that there would be a considerable amount of money reinvested in university education in QuÇbec. One of the priorities would be hiring new professors; if this was not done soon, at an accelerated rate, the Faculty would not have enough people to give current courses. Prof. Panangaden moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the program be adopted. The motion carried. 308-206 Intro to Software Systems AC-99-103 3 credits Changes: credit weight [from 1 to 3], course description & title Prof. Panangaden moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the changes be approved. The motion carried. New Course: 308-361 Systems Programming Project AC-99-104 3 credits Prof. Panangaden moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. New Course: 308-409 Concurrent Programming AC-99-105 3 credits New Course: 308-410 Mobile Computing AC-99-106 3 credits New Course: 308-412 Software for e-commerce AC-99-107 3 credits 507.6 Concerns were expressed regarding the incompleteness of the information presented about the proposed courses; the fact that resources were not currently available; the circularity of the situation, i.e. the fact that a program must be put together based on incomplete knowledge and then submitted to the MEQ, which will then judge the validity of the program - thus those creating the program cannot know what the MEQ wants until they have submitted the program; and that the fact that there was no prerequisite or restriction for 308-410. 507.7 Associate Dean Mendelson said that the prerequisite for 308-410 could be added at a Faculty of Science meeting. 507.8 Dean Shaver said that reports on the status of the programs and their component courses could be given to the Academic Committee by the Dean or the Associate Dean. He said course outlines could be submitted when the courses are due to be given. The Academic Committee could also be updated on the resource issue in general, including the issue of library resources. Prof. Panangaden moved, seconded by Prof. MÅller-Wille, that the above three courses be adopted. The motion carried. (5) MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS - B.Sc. Faculty Program in Mathematics, Chemistry, & Physics AC-99-112 Prof. Klemes moved, seconded by Prof. Farrell, that the program changes be approved. The motion carried. (6) Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences 195-199A FYS: Weather, Climate, History AC-99-113 3 credits Changes in course title & course description Prof. Fabry moved, seconded by Prof. MÅller-Wille, that the changes be approved. The motion carried. (9) OTHER BUSINESS - REQUIRED CREDITS FOR SCIENCE PROGRAMS - 2000-2001 AC-99-116 509.1 Dean Shaver pointed out the above list and asked departments to check the number of required credits for their programs for the 2000-2001 academic year. The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m. josie\academic\acmn1999f.doc