AC-00-203 FACULTY OF SCIENCE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, March 20, 2001, at 3:00 p.m. in the Arts Council Room (160). PRESENT: Dean Shaver (Chair), Associate Dean Mendelson (Vice- Chair), Professors Baines, Cline, Farrell, Klemes, Leighton, MÅller-Wille, Panangaden, Paquette, Wechsler; Associate Dean Hendershot; H. Waluzyniec; P. Charbonneau, Mr. A. Organek, M. Sanagan, D. Selvadurai, S. Waterston; J. D'Amico. REGRETS: Professors Baker, Brawer, Pasztor, Rasmussen, Silvius; Ms. S. Baptista, and Ms. A. Organek; D. Crawford. DOCUMENTS: AC-00-146 AC-00-189,190 AC-00-192 to AC-00-202 MCC-00-104 Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:06 p.m. (1) ADOPTION OF AGENDA - Item #6, Materials Science Committee Report, to be considered after Item #1. - Item #9, Multi-Term Courses, to be considered after Item #12, Other Business. - Item #10, Calculation of GPA for Interfaculty Transfer Students, to be considered after Item #8. - Two additional Physics proposals, 198-521A and 198-214A, to be considered under Item 12, Other Business. Prof. Klemes moved, seconded by Prof. Paquette, that the Agenda be approved with the above changes. The motion carried. (2) MINUTES OF JANUARY 16, 2001 AC-00-189 Prof. Cline moved, seconded by Prof. Wechsler, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried. (3) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES - Minute 405.1, Academic Committee Meeting, Dec. 12, 2000, Ad hoc Interdepartmental Honours Degree in Cognitive Science 603.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said the Academic Committee had originally approved the above ad hoc program as "Ad hoc...Cognitive Neuroscience," but that at the Faculty of Science meeting of February 6, 2001, it was proposed and approved as "Ad hoc... Cognitive Science." - Minute 503.2, Physics 198-200A 603.2 Associate Dean Mendelson said that there were no other courses in physics open to non-physics students that should preclude students from taking 198-200A. - Minute 509.2, Master List of Consultations 603.3 Associate Dean Mendelson said that positive consultations can be reported on a Master List but that negative consultation reports or reports with suggestions would be reported by departments in the usual manner. - Minute 510.1, Standard Calculators for Examinations 603.4 Associate Dean Mendelson said that an e-mail had been sent to chairs/directors asking their opinions about the possibility of having a Faculty policy to restrict the types of calculators used during examinations. He said that some departments, namely, Chemistry, Mathematics & Statistics, Physics and Psychology felt that such a policy would be useful, whereas it was not an issue in the School of Computer Science. However, the School of Computer Science felt that it was important to alert Academic Committee members that calculators were becoming more sophisticated, and that soon students would be able to communicate with other students. 603.5 After a short discussion, it was decided that the issue be considered at a future Academic Committee meeting. - Ad hoc Graduate Studies Committee - Education Course Proposal: Science Writing and Publishing (455-645) 603.6 Associate Dean Mendelson said that one of the proposals in the above committee report was that the Faculty of Science sponsor writing workshops. He said that the Faculty of Education has proposed a one-semester course (455-645) to teach scientific writing to graduate students in the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Medicine. Associate Dean Mendelson said that he felt that Science students would be unwilling to spend a full semester taking such a course. However, the response from the Faculty of Education was that more time was required to learn scientific writing than could be provided by a workshop. - Ad hoc Major Concentration in Quantitative Science, Academic Committee Meeting, Dec. 12, 2000 (AC-00-146) 603.7 Associate Dean Mendelson said that the Department of Physics had approved the above-mentioned ad hoc program. Associate Dean Mendelson moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, that the ad hoc program be approved. The motion carried. (4) RESULTS OF ELECTRONIC MEETING OF FEBRUARY 20, 2001 - Admissions Criteria for Students with a French Baccalaureate (AC-00-191) AC-00-192 604.1 Ms. Sanagan said that she had not received the e-mail concerning this item. The e-mail had been sent, and Ms. Sanagan said that around that time, she had been having problems with her e-mail system. (5) REPORT ON MINOR COURSE CHANGES AC-00-190 (for information) 605.1 Associate Dean Mendelson alerted members that many Computer Science courses were being restricted in this report. Computer Science programs and joint programs with the Department of Mathematics & Statistics will be restricted as of September 2001. 605.2 Associate Dean Mendelson pointed out that a Geography First Year Seminar course (183-190A) had been retired. 605.3 Associate Dean Mendelson said that the Arts Curriculum Committee had suggested that the course titles for 183- 201 and 183-306 be changed. It was agreed that Prof. MÅller-Wille would discuss this further with Associate Dean Mendelson. (6) MATERIALS SCIENCE COMMITTEE REPORT AC-00-193 - Prof. B. Lennox 606.1 Prof. Lennox introduced the above report, gave some background information, and answered members' questions. Prof. Cline moved, seconded by Ms. Waterston, that the proposal for the establishment of the McGill Institute for Advanced Materials (MIAM) be adopted. The motion carried. (7) GEOGRAPHY 183-424B Europe: Places and Peoples AC-00-194 3 credits Changes in title, prerequisite, credit weight [from 6 to 3] and description Prof. MÅller-Wille moved, seconded by Ms. Waterston, that the changes be approved. The motion carried. - Program Changes: B.Sc. Honours in Geography AC-00-195 Prof. MÅller-Wille moved, seconded by Ms. Waterston, that the program changes be approved. The motion carried. - B.A. Program Changes: (For Information) Minor Concentration in Geography AC-00-196 Honours in Geography AC-00-197 Joint Honours - Geography Component AC-00-198 (8) DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION (FACULTY OF EDUCATION) - Minor in Kinesiology for B.Sc. Students (New) AC-00-199 Prof. Wechsler moved, seconded by Mr. Charbonneau, that the Minor Program be adopted. 608.1 A member noted that the prerequisites for some of the complementary courses listed in document AC-00-199, were different from the prerequisites for those same courses listed in the 2001-2002 Calendar. Also, some course titles were different. 608.2 Associate Dean Mendelson suggested approving the Minor Program pending resolution of the above issues by the Faculty of Education. The motion carried. (9) MULTI-TERM COURSES 609.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said that Banner did not accommodate multi-term (e.g., 'D') courses well. He alerted members that multi-term courses could cause problems with certain processes under Banner. Associate Dean Mendelson advised departments to split 'D' courses into 'A' and 'B' courses wherever possible, unless there were good academic reasons for not doing so. (10) CALCULATION OF GPA FOR INTERFACULTY TRANSFER STUDENTS AC-00-200 610.1 Associate Dean Mendelson introduced the topic, and said it was not yet a formal proposal for approval. 610.2 After some discussion about the relative merits of the options and their implications, a straw vote was held to determine members' feelings. Results: Option #1: 3 For Option #2: 9 For Option #3: 2 For Abstentions: 3 610.3 The topic will be brought back to the Academic Committee at a later date for approval. 610.4 Associate Dean Mendelson chaired the rest of the meeting, as Dean Shaver had to attend other business. (11) GENERAL ETHICS COURSE FOR SCIENCE STUDENTS 611.1 Due to lack of time, the above item was postponed to a future meeting. (12) OTHER BUSINESS - PHYSICS New Course: 198-521A Astrophysics AC-00-201 3 credits Prof. Cline moved, seconded by Prof. Panangaden, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. Minor Course Change (For Information Only): 198-214A Introductory Astrophysics MCC-00-104 3 credits Change in course title - LETTER GRADES IN BANNER AC-00-202 612.1 Associate Dean Mendelson introduced the topic. 612.2 Following some discussion, a straw vote was held to determine members' feelings concerning whether it should be possible to have the option of numerical grades appearing on transcripts, in addition to letter grades. 612.3 Those satisfied with having only letter grades on the transcript = 5. 612.4 Those wishing the option of including numerical grades = 13. 612.5 It was agreed that this issue should be discussed at a future Faculty meeting. The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m. josie\academic\acminmarch2001.doc