AC-03-172 FACULTY OF SCIENCE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, May 4, 2004, at 3:00 p.m. in Arts Council Room, Arts 160. PRESENT: Dean Shaver (Chair), Associate Dean Mendelson (Vice- Chair), Professors Arkani-Hamed, Baines, Bennett, Cline, Fabry (replacing Prof. Roulet) Kemme, Meredith, Silvius, Stewart (replacing Prof. Yau); E. Gibb; J. D'Amico. REGRETS: Professors Baker, Kakkar, Kramer, Schmidt, Wechsler; Associate Dean Hendershot DOCUMENTS: AC-03-152(Rev) AC-03-162 to AC-03-171 Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:06 p.m. (1) ADOPTION OF AGENDA - Advanced Level and Advanced Subsidiary Examination Equivalences to McGill Courses (Document #AC-03-171), to be considered under Item #9, Other Business. Prof. Silvius moved, seconded by Prof. Bennett, that the amended Agenda be adopted. The motion carried. (2) MINUTES OF MARCH 16, 2004 AC-03- 162 Prof. Bennett moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, that the Minutes be approved. The motion carried. (3) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES - Minute 704.3, Online Course Evaluations 803.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said that Deputy Provost Masi had announced that the pilot project for online course evaluations had been a success, and that the project would be continued through the summer. Associate Dean Mendelson reminded members that the Faculty of Science had agreed to participate in the pilot project, with the exception of courses taught by assistant professors, and with the exceptions of multi-section and multi-instructor courses. (There was concern about a possible adverse impact on tenure for assistant professors, and concern about potential problems with multi-section and multi-instructor courses.) 803.2 Associate Dean Mendelson said that a student (Mr. Christopher Lee) had been named to the Faculty of Science workgroup to study online course evaluations, and that two professors would be named at a later date. (4) GEOGRAPHY New Course GEOG 380 Adaptive Envr. Management AC-03-152(Rev) 3 credits 804.1 One consultation report mentioned that there could be some overlap between the course, and NRSC 382 and WILD 437. 804.2 It was also mentioned that the prerequisites should perhaps be listed as corequisites, since they can be taken in the same term as GEOG 380. 804.3 Prof. Meredith moved, seconded by Prof. Arkani-Hamed, that the course be adopted, subject to the above issues being resolved before the next Faculty of Science meeting, May 18, 2004. The motion carried. GEOG 503/AGEC 503 Location & Spatial Development AC-03-163 Changes in title & description 3 credits 804.4 Associate Dean Mendelson pointed out that GEOG 503 is a double-prefix course. (The proposal for AGEC 503 had not been circulated to members.) 804.5 Associate Dean Mendelson said with regard to Page 2 of the Course Outline, that there was a Faculty policy concerning reassessments in Section 8.3 of the Calendar. The statement in the Course Outline should mention the Faculty policy. 804.6 It was suggested that the course instructor contact Associate Dean Mendelson with regard to the proposed grading of the course, which could present problems. 804.7 Prof. Meredith moved, seconded by Prof. Arkani-Hamed, that the changes be approved, pending resolution of the above issues. The motion carried. (5) ATMOSPHERIC & OCEANIC SCIENCES/MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS New Course: ATOC 669 CSE Seminar AC-03- 164 1 credit Prof. Stewart moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. MATH 669 CSE Seminar AC-03- 165 Change in description 1 credit Prof. Kemme moved, seconded by Prof. Silvius, that the change be approved. The motion carried. M.Sc. Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences; CSE Option AC-03- 166 Prof. Stewart moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the program changes be approved. The motion carried. M.Sc. Mathematics & Statistics; CSE Option AC-03- 167 Prof. Kemme moved, seconded by Prof. Silvius, that the program changes be approved. The motion carried. (6) MINOR IN EDUCATION FOR SCIENCE STUDENTS AC-03- 168 Prof. Fabry moved, seconded by Associate Dean Mendelson, that the program change be approved. The motion carried. (7) COMPUTER SCIENCE New Course: COMP 655 Distributed Simulation AC-03- 169 4 credits 807.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said that Item #12 on Page 2, should read "..or permission of instructor", since COMP 655 is a graduate course. 807.2 Associate Dean Mendelson said that the course outline did not conform to University requirements for a course outline that would be distributed to students. Prof. Kemme moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. For Information: - Minor in Computer Science for Engineering Students (8) CENTRE FOR ADVANCED SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES IN COMMUNICATIONS (CAST COM) AC-03- 170 Prof. Kemme moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the above Centre be approved. The motion carried. (9) OTHER BUSINESS - ADVANCED LEVEL AND ADVANCED SUBSIDIARY EQUIVALENCES TO McGill COURSES AC-03-171 809.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said that the document was being brought to Academic Committee in order to put in place an interim policy that would apply to admissions for Fall 2004. 809.2 Associate Dean Mendelson said he would provide for the next Faculty of Science meeting, the numbers of students to whom the policy applies. 809.3 Associate Dean Mendelson thanked departments for their work in evaluating Advanced Level and Advanced Subsidiary Examinations. He answered members' questions. 809.4 The proposal involves three parts: (1) The exemptions that students receive should be based on a McGill evaluation of the examinations they write. (2) Students may receive up to only 30 credits of exemptions. (3) Exemptions and credits will be given for Advanced Subsidiary Examinations where appropriate. Associate Dean Mendelson moved, seconded by Prof. Arkani-Hamed, that the above proposal be adopted. The motion carried. There being no other business, the meeting adjourned at 3:55 p.m. 4 ACMinutesMay4.doc