AC-02-130
                                
                       FACULTY OF SCIENCE
                       ACADEMIC COMMITTEE
                                
                                


Minutes  of the meeting held on Tuesday, March 18, 2003, at  3:00
p.m. in Room 409, Dawson Hall.


PRESENT:  Dean  Shaver  (Chair), Associate Dean Mendelson  (Vice-
          Chair),  Professors  Bennett,  Drury,  Kakkar,  Kramer,
          Leighton,  Panangaden, Silvius; E. Gibb; K.  Smith;  L.
          Bondy,  C.  Caserly, I. Halperin, C. Kim, E. Lewis;  Y.
          Moolani; J. D'Amico.

REGRETS:  Professors   Arkani-Hamed,  Baines,  Baker,   Lapointe,
          Sutton,   Wechsler;  Associate  Dean   Hendershot;   J.
          Capling.

DOCUMENTS:     AC-02-117 AC-02-123 to   AC-02-129


Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:08 p.m.


1.   ADOPTION OF AGENDA

          Prof. Bennett moved, seconded by Prof. Drury, that  the
          Agenda be adopted.

          The motion carried.

2.   MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 25, 2003                           AC-02-
123

          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-
124
     (for information)

704.1     On  request from Associate Dean Mendelson, Prof.  Drury
          said  that  the  change in restriction was  to  prevent
          students who had received a high-level pass in a  CEGEP
          statistics  course, from taking MATH 203.  This  change
          in  restriction paralleled the restriction applying  to
          PSYC 204. Prof. Drury said that it was to be hoped that
          other relevant statistics courses would also adopt  the
          restriction.

5.   AD HOC JOINT HONOURS PROGRAM IN PHYSICS AND NEUROSCIENCE
AC-02-125

705.1     It was pointed out that all Core Courses in both List A
          and  List  B  of  the Physics component  were  required
          courses,  and  that  the four Math  courses  should  be
          included  in  the total program credits.  It  was  also
          pointed  out  that  MATH  248 was  a  more  appropriate
          prerequisite  than  MATH 314.  In  addition,  ANAT  214
          should  be replaced by ANAT 321.  The Committee  agreed
          that it would be helpful if course titles were included
          in ad hoc proposals.

          Associate  Dean  Mendelson  moved,  seconded  by  Prof.
          Bennett, that the ad hoc program be adopted.

          The motion carried.

6.   AD HOC B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.) DOUBLE MAJOR IN PSYCHOLOGY AND
          IN ENVIRONMENT                               AC-02-126

706.1     Associate Dean Mendelson explained the ad hoc program.

          For Environment Major under Complementary Courses for
          Domain

          (a)  18 credits of Fundamentals ADD:

          BIOL 200 (3) or BIOL 201 (3) or FDSC 211 (3)

          Prof.  Leighton moved, seconded by Prof. Bennett,  that
          the ad hoc program be adopted.

          The motion carried.

7.   MINOR IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE (PROGRAM CHANGES)           AC-02-
127

          Associate Dean Mendelson moved, seconded by Prof.
          Leighton, that the program changes be approved.

          The motion carried.

8.   COURSE EVALUATIONS                                AC-02-117

708.1     Mr. Lewis highlighted aspects of Document AC-02-117.

708.2     Dean  Shaver  said  that course  evaluations  had  been
          mandated  by Senate, that their purpose was to  improve
          the   quality  of  teaching,  and  that  it   was   the
          responsibility  of  chairs to ensure  that  departments
          complied.  He also said that course evaluations  should
          be  either web-based or paper-based, but not  both,  to
          avoid "double evaluations."

708.3     After a lengthy discussion, Dean Shaver suggested  that
          the Faculty gather a set of "best practices" that could
          be  circulated to departments.  Student input into this
          would be welcomed.  Dean Shaver also said that it would
          be  a  good  idea for course evaluations to  contain  a
          cover   sheet  giving  general  information  concerning
          course evaluations.  The Faculty was in the process  of
          examining the web-based evaluation system.

9.   UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH                                 AC-02-
128

709.1     Dean   Shaver   said   that   Document   AC-02-128,   a
          questionnaire  for a Psychology undergraduate  research
          course,  was  being  presented  to  members  for  their
          information.   He  said that he would  be  providing  a
          survey  questionnaire concerning undergraduate research
          in the Faculty of Science, to the Academic Committee in
          the near future.

10.  PEER TUTORING PRESENTATION                             AC-02-
129

710.1     Ms.  Kim  and  Ms.  Bondy gave a presentation  on  Peer
          Tutoring.

710.2     On  behalf  of the Committee, Associate Dean  Mendelson
          congratulated  the  SUS for its Peer Tutoring  Program.
          He  said  that the program provided a valuable  service
          for students encountering difficulties, and that he was
          very impressed with the quality of the program and  its
          professionalism.

11.  OTHER BUSINESS

          There  being no further business, the meeting adjourned
          at 4:29 p.m.