AC-03-18 FACULTY OF SCIENCE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, September 23, 2003, at 3:00 p.m. in Arts Council Room, Arts 160. PRESENT: Dean Shaver, Associate Dean Mendelson (Acting Chair), Professors Arkani-Hamed, Baines, Baker, Bennett, Cline, Kakkar, Kemme, Kramer, Meredith, Silvius, Schmidt, Wechsler, Yau; M. El Ouali; J. Caplin, R. Harron, A. Malone, S. Sen, J. Vorstenbosch; E. Gibb; J. D'Amico. REGRETS: Associate Dean Hendershot; R. Kozak, E. Lewis GUEST: Prof. R. Harris DOCUMENTS: AC-02-159 AC-03-1 to AC-03-17 In the absence of Dean Shaver, Associate Dean Mendelson called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m. (1) ADOPTION OF AGENDA - Item #9, Major Revisions to the Concurrent B.Sc./B.Ed. Program, to be considered after Item #3, Business Arising from the Minutes - Item #5, Faculty Business (B.A.Sc.), to be moved to the end of the Agenda. - Item #7, Minor in Computational Molecular Biology, to be postponed to the next Academic Committee meeting. Prof. Bennett moved, seconded by Prof. Kramer, that the amended Agenda be approved. The motion carried. (2) MINUTES OF APRIL 29, 2003 AC-02- 159 Prof. Kramer moved, seconded by Prof. Bennett, that the Minutes be approved. The motion carried. (3) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES There was no business arising from the Minutes. (4) REPORT ON MINOR COURSE CHANGES AC-03- 1 (for information) 104.1 In reply to a member's question, Associate Dean Mendelson said that the changes in course number for BIOL 568 and BIOL 575, and in credit weight for COMP 667, were not major changes. To a degree this is a judgement call, depending on the changes and the circumstances. (5) FACULTY BUSINESS: - Bachelor of Arts and Science (B.A.Sc.) AC-03-2 105.1 Associate Dean Mendelson gave background information, described the program outline, and mentioned the modifications that had been made to the program since it was last examined by the Academic Committee. He said the B.A.Sc. takes advantage of the Arts multi- track program, and that all students would be required to take a new course, BASC 201. 105.2 Associate Dean Mendelson answered members' questions. 105.3 Dean Shaver joined the meeting, with Associate Dean Mendelson remaining as Chair. 105.4 Dean Shaver said that there had been a lot of interest from alumni and business people, in graduates with an education spanning arts and science. He said a graduate with a B.A.Sc. would be better equipped for a generalist-type career in society than would a graduate with a B.Sc. or B.A. Prof. Bennett moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, that the B.A.Sc. as described in Document AC-03-2 be approved. New Course BASC 201 Arts & Sci Integrative Topics AC-03- 3 3 credits 105.5 Associate Dean Mendelson introduced the above course, and said that it was an example of the type of course envisioned specifically for the program. 105.6 There was a lengthy discussion concerning the breakdown of the course, a one-hour tutorial and a two-hour lecture per week, and whether the tutorial should be counted as one credit. Some members felt that tutorials were supplemental lectures and should not be counted towards the credit hours. While some members felt that a discussion involving students would be very beneficial, others questioned the logistics of this with large classes, and whether tutorial leaders would necessarily have sufficient background in the course topics. It was agreed that the proposal could stand as is, but with it being made clear to the course coordinator and staff that the Academic Committee recommended that the course emphasize discussion of topics among students, and that the integrative aspect of the course should be realized by students in their discussions, as opposed to students simply being lectured on integration. Prof. Bennett moved, seconded by Prof. Kramer, that the course be adopted with the above recommendations. The motion carried. Major Concentrations in Science: 105.7 Associate Dean Mendelson introduced the following Major Concentrations for the B.A.Sc. - Major Concentration in Chemistry AC-03- 4 - Major Concentration in Biology: Organismal Option AC-03- 5 105.8 Changes: - Page 1, Item 6.7 should read 36-37 credits - Page 2, Required Courses (28 credits) should be listed together, without division into U1 and U2 - Page 2, If students have taken the equivalent of CHEM 212 (4 credits) at CEGEP, this must be replaced by a three-credit course from the Complementary Course List, with a note to this effect on the proposal - Page 2, BIOL 413 should be removed from the list of Complementary Courses - Major Concentration in Biology: Cell/Molecular Option AC-03- 6 105.9 Changes: - Page 1, Item 6.7 should read 36-38 credits - Page 2, Required Courses (29 credits) should be listed together, without division into U1 and U2 - Page 2, If students have taken the equivalent of CHEM 212 (4 credits) at CEGEP, this must be replaced by a three-credit course from the Complementary Course List, with a note to this effect on the proposal - Page 2, at least 7 credits must be taken from the list of Complementary Courses - Major Concentration in Biomedical Sciences AC-03- 7 105.10 Changes: - Page 3, under Biochemistry, "Any 3 credits of BIOC 400/500 courses" should read 3 credits from BIOC 450, BIOC 454, BIOC 455, BIOC 458 - Page 4, under Pharmacology & Therapeutics, PATH 300 should be removed 105.11 A member pointed out that the Department of Microbiology & Immunology would not be able to accept additional students in MIMM 212, due to the already strained resources for this laboratory course. 105.12 It was agreed that the Major Concentration in Biomedical Sciences be sent back to the Biomedical Curriculum Committee. - Major Concentration in Earth, Atmosphere and Ocean Sciences AC-03-8 - Major Concentration in Geography: Physical Geography Option AC-03-9 - Major Concentration in Physics AC-03- 10 105.13 Changes: - Page 2, Remove "or 300-400 level course chosen with an advisor with the appropriate prerequisites". Add to bottom of Complementary Course List "Any 300-400 level course approved by an advisor." Prof. Kakkar moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, that the above Major Concentrations, with the exception of the Major Concentration in Biomedical Sciences, be adopted. The motion carried. (6) MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS MATH 580[from MATH 586] Applied PDE 1 AC-03- 11 4 credits Changes in number, title and description Prof. Schmidt moved, seconded by Prof. Kramer, that the changes be approved. The motion carried. New Course: MATH 581 Applied PDE 2 AC-03-12 4 credits Prof. Schmidt moved, seconded by Prof. Kramer, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. 106.1 Prof. Schmidt tabled two proposal forms with minor changes to programs, resulting from the above proposals. - Honours Program in Applied Mathematics AC-03-16 - M.Sc. Program in Applied Mathematics AC-03- 17 Prof. Schmidt moved, seconded by Prof. Kramer, that the changes be approved. The motion carried. Secretary's Note: For information - the changes to the M.Sc. Program in Applied Mathematics are due to be considered by the Faculty of Arts as M.A. changes. The Following Proposal Was Postponed to the Next Academic Committee Meeting. (7) COMPUTER SCIENCE Program Change: - Minor in Computational Molecular Biology AC-03- 13 (8) NEUROLOGY & NEUROSURGERY New Course Approved by SCTP in May 2002: NEUR 550 Free Radical Biomedicine AC-03-14 3 credits 108.1 Associate Dean Mendelson explained that the proposed course was being considered by the Academic Committee because the Faculty of Medicine did not have administrative mechanisms for undergraduate courses. Approval by the Faculty of Science would allow the course to be listed in the Science Calendar and open it to Science undergraduates as a course within the Faculty. 108.2 It was pointed out that the prerequisites for the course should be BIOC 312 and PHGY 209 and PHGY 210, or Permission of Instructor. Prof. Bennett moved, seconded by Prof. Wechsler, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. (9) MAJOR REVISIONS TO THE CONCURRENT BSC/BED PROGRAM AC-03- 15 109.1 Prof. R. Harris, Science Coordinator of the Concurrent B.Sc./B.Ed. Program, gave a brief background to the program. He explained that the changes were due to modifications to the requirements for teacher certification, and said that he would like the Academic Committee to approve the changes in principle before detailed proposals were submitted. Prof. Harris highlighted the changes, answered members' questions, and asked members for comments. 109.2 It was pointed out that there were two Options for Major Concentrations in Biology, with slightly different credit requirements. 109.3 Associate Dean Mendelson asked for a straw vote to see whether or not there were any objections to the principle of the proposed changes. There were none. 109.4 Associate Dean Mendelson thanked Prof. Harris, and said that if members later thought of any complications or problems, they could contact either Prof. Harris or the Associate Dean himself. (10) OTHER BUSINESS There being no other business, the meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.