AC-02-123 FACULTY OF SCIENCE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, February 25, 2003, at 3:00 p.m. in Room 409, Dawson Hall. PRESENT: Dean Shaver (Chair), Associate Dean Mendelson (Vice- Chair), Professors Drury, Kakkar, Kramer, Le Moual (replacing Prof. Baines) Silvius, Sutton, Wechsler; E. Gibb; K. Smith; J. D'Amico. REGRETS: Professors Arkani-Hamed, Baker, Bennett, Lapointe, Leighton, Panangaden, Associate Dean Hendershot; L. Bondy, J. Capling, C. Caserly, I. Halperin, C. Kim, E. Lewis; Y. Moolani. GUEST: Prof. D. Harpp, Department of Chemistry DOCUMENTS: AC-02-102 to AC-02-122 Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. Dean Shaver welcomed Ms. Kaleigh Smith, the new graduate-student member of the Academic Committee. 1. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Prof. Drury moved, seconded by Prof. Sutton, that the Agenda be adopted. The motion carried. 2. MINUTES OF JANUARY 21, 2003 AC-02- 102 Prof. Kakkar moved, seconded by Prof. Kramer, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried. 3. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES There was no business arising from the minutes. 4. MINOR COURSE CHANGES AC-02- 103 (for information) 5. ADMINISTRATION OF MIDTERM EXAMS - Prof. D. Harpp AC-02-104, AC-02-120 605.1 Prof. Harpp said it was a Senate regulation for both final and mid-term exams involving multiple-choice questions, that multiple versions of the exam be provided and that there be a seating plan. Cheating was not a problem in final exams, but he had received a number of complaints from Science students taking Arts courses that the above regulations were not being followed for mid-term exams. He added that it was very easy to produce seating plans. 605.2 Associate Dean Mendelson said that maps of the seating arrangements for rooms were available on the Web, and that Excel files incorporating this information would be posted on the Web in the future. 605.3 In response to a member's question, Dean Shaver agreed that document AC-02-104 puts the onus of enforcement on the Computer Centre. This should not be the case. The Faculty of Science should be responsible for enforcing regulations within the Faculty of Science, and the most appropriate people in this case would be the chairs. 605.4 Prof. Harpp disagreed with this, and said that the V.- P. (Academic) could direct what the Computer Centre should and should not accept for grading. 605.5 It was pointed out that in the above case all faculties would have to comply with this. 605.6 Prof. Harpp read out an e-mail from Mr. Evan Lewis, Vice-President (Academic), SUS, providing feedback on the issue of exam administration (AC-02-120). Associate Dean Mendelson moved, seconded by Prof. Sutton, that the proposal in document AC-02-104 be approved. 605.7 Following a lengthy discussion about modifications to the proposal, Associate Dean Mendelson moved, seconded by Prof. Kakkar, that the proposal be tabled to a future Academic Committee meeting. The motion to table carried. 605.8 There was a further discussion of the issue. Among the points raised was the recommendation that the Method of Evaluation form be modified such that instructors would be agreeing to the Senate regulations on exam administration. Information concerning the Web location of seating plans and Excel files could be included in the modified Method of Evaluation form. 6. AD HOC HONOURS PROGRAM IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE AC-02- 105 Associate Dean Mendelson moved, seconded by Prof. Drury, that the ad hoc program be adopted. The motion carried. 7. MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS New Course: MATH 666 Seminar Math & Stats 1 AC-02- 106 2 credits New Course: MATH 667 Seminar Math & Stats 2 AC-02- 107 2 credits Prof. Drury moved, seconded by Prof. Silvius, that the above courses be adopted. The motion carried. 8. PHYSIOLOGY PHGY 314 Integrative Neuroscience AC-02-108 Change in Restriction 3 credits Prof. Kramer moved, seconded by Prof. Wechsler, that the change be approved. The motion carried. 9. ANATOMY & CELL BIOLOGY Program Changes: - Faculty Program in Anatomy & Cell Biology AC-02- 109 - Major in Anatomy & Cell Biology AC-02- 110 - Honours in Anatomy & Cell Biology AC-02-111 Prof. Kakkar moved, seconded by Prof. Kramer, that the program changes be approved. The motion carried. 10. CHEMISTRY CHEM 591 Bioinorganic Chemistry AC-02- 112 Changes in Title & Description 3 credits Prof. Kakkar moved, seconded by Associate Dean Mendelson, that the changes be approved. The motion carried. Program Changes: - Honours with Bio-organic Option AC-02- 113 - Honours in Chemistry: Environmental Chemistry Option AC-02- 114 - Major in Chemistry: Environmental Chemistry Option AC-02-115 Prof. Kakkar moved, seconded by Prof. Kramer, that the program changes be approved. The motion carried. 11. DISCUSSION - UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AC-02-121 611.1 Dean Shaver said that the Boyer report had found that research-intensive universities were not exploiting their research intensiveness in undergraduate education. This finding applied much more to U.S. universities than to Canadian universities, where researchers are required to teach undergraduates. He said that it was not clear how well McGill does in offering research opportunities to undergraduates. Dean Shaver said he and Associate Dean Mendelson had drafted a questionnaire to be sent to chairs in order to assess the situation (document AC-02-121). He would appreciate receiving comments from members concerning the questionnaire. 611.2 A number of suggestions were made for modifying the questionnaire, including an introduction specifying the purpose of the questionnaire, a Comments section, a question concerning the willingness of professors to supervise undergraduate-research projects, and the possibility of obtaining information on the number of publications resulting from undergraduate research. 611.3 Dean Shaver said that a workgroup could be assembled to examine the issue of undergraduate research, once the completed questionnaires had been received. 12. CHECKLIST FOR FIELD STUDY SEMESTERS AC-02-116 612.1 Associate Dean Mendelson introduced the above item. 612.2 Associate Dean Mendelson said that the final paragraph infringed on the independence of faculties. 612.3 Dean Shaver pointed out that the second part of the second sentence under bullet four was not legal under Qu‚bec law. He also said that the financial implications for field semesters were the responsibility of the instructor, chair and Dean, not of the university. 612.4 Dean Shaver also objected to the requirement in the last paragraph, that the issues in the checklist be addressed in a request for approval to the Associate Vice-Principal (Academic), on an annual basis. 13. COURSE EVALUATIONS AC-02-117, AC-02-122 613.1 Dean Shaver said that since the student members were not present, a discussion of the issue (document AC-02- 117) would be postponed. However, Prof. Wechsler would give a presentation on the Department of Physiology's Web-based course evaluation system. 613.2 Prof. Wechsler described her Department's course evaluation system, and said she was very pleased with its operation. The system increased the student response rate, and had a number of other advantages as well (document AC-02-122). 613.3 After some questions and comments, Dean Shaver asked Associate Dean Mendelson to work with Prof. Wechsler in order to let departments know how to go about setting up a Web-based course evaluation system. 14. SCTP INFORMATION SESSION (for information) AC-02- 118 614.1 Dean Shaver drew members' attention to document AC-02- 118, and Associate Dean Mendelson specifically mentioned Section 6, Frequent Problems. 15. OTHER BUSINESS There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:20 p.m.