AC-05-29 FACULTY OF SCIENCE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, November 1, 2005, at 3:00 p.m. in Arts Council Room, Arts 160. PRESENT: Dean Grant (Chair), Associate Dean Hendren (Vice-Chair), Associate Dean Leighton; Professors Abouheif, Baines, Chmura, Cline, Fabry, Mandato, Martin, Panangaden, Schmidt (in place of Prof. Drury), Yau; E. Gibb; M. Lagodich, J. Pasternak, J. Zhai; J. D’Amico. REGRETS: Professors Andrews, Shultz, Silvius, Wechsler; Associate Dean Hendershot; L. Das, T. Ebanks, J. Gale, Y. Lu. DOCUMENTS: AC-05-10 to AC-05-28 Dean Grant called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. (1) ADOPTION OF AGENDA - CHEM 212 (AC-05-26), Minor in Education for Science Students (AC-05-27) and GEOG 221/NRSC 221 (AC-05-28) to be considered under Other Business, Item # 10, of the Agenda. Prof. Chmura moved, seconded by Prof. Panangaden, that the amended Agenda be adopted. The motion carried. (2) MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 AC-05-10 Prof. Chmura moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the Minutes be approved. The motion carried. (3) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES - Minute 111.1 to 111.4, WebCT 203.1 Associate Dean Hendren said that the Faculty's recommendations regarding WebCT would be discussed at the next meeting of APPC's Sub-Committee on Teaching and Learning (SCTL). - Minute 112.1, Online Course & Program Proposal Forms 203.2 Associate Dean Hendren said that the Faculty of Science had been selected as the 'pilot faculty' for the introduction of online forms, and that meetings and feedback had already taken place. Prof. Craig Mandato, Anatomy & Cell Biology, and Ms. Mary Gauthier, Psychology, would provide departmental perspective. (4) COMPUTER SCIENCE New Course: COMP 529 Software Analysis AC-05-11 4 credits Prof. Panagaden moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. B.Sc. Program Changes: - Minor in Computer Science AC-05-12 - Major in Computer Science AC-05-13 - Honours in Computer Science AC-05-14 - Major in Software Engineering AC-05-15 Prof. Panagaden moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the above program changes be approved. The motion carried. B.A. Program Changes (For Information Only - Documents Available Upon Request): - Minor Concentration in Computer Systems B.Eng. Program Changes (For Information Only - Documents Available Upon Request): - Minor in Computer Science for Engineering Students (5) MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS New Course: MATH 122 Calculus for Management AC-05-16 3 credits New Course: MATH 123 Linear Algebra and Probability AC-05-17 3 credits Prof. Schmidt moved, seconded by Prof. Yau, that the above courses be adopted. The motion carried. Course Retirements: MATH 130 AC-05-18 MATH 131 AC-05-19 Prof. Schmidt moved, seconded by Prof. Yau, that the above courses be retired. The motion carried. (6) EARTH & PLANETARY SCIENCES New Course: EPSC 666 Current Issues in Geosciences AC-05-20 3 credits Prof. Martin moved, seconded by Prof. Mandato, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. (7) ONE-CREDIT COURSES 207.1 Associate Dean Leighton said one-credit courses were very useful to students who required only one credit to graduate. He said that a number of units already had one-credit courses, which were typically reading, research or seminar courses, and he encouraged those units without such courses to introduce them. (8) i) RESEARCH PROJECT COURSES – XXXX 396 AC-05-21 208.1 Associate Dean Hendren went over the Undergraduate Research Project courses as described in Document AC-05-21. She asked members for comments and suggestions. 208.2 There was a wide-ranging discussion during which it was agreed that the grading scheme could vary with different Undergraduate Research Project courses, as could the presence or absence of a presentation at the end of the courses. However, the grading scheme must contain a component of at least 50% for the final written report. 208.3 It was further agreed that the Undergraduate Research Project courses should not be graded S/U, that they should be Slot Courses, and that a student could not repeat an Undergraduate Research Project course with the same instructor. 208.4 All the above were accepted as friendly amendments to Document AC-05-21. Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, that Document AC-05-21 as modified above be adopted. The motion carried. 208.5 Dean Grant mentioned that Document AC-05-21 could be serving as a template for other faculties in the university to introduce their own Undergraduate Research Project courses. 208.6 Associate Dean Hendren said that she would modify Document AC-05-21 according to the Academic Committee's decisions, and create a template Course Proposal Form. These would be distributed shortly, in order that units could submit Course Proposal Forms to the November 29, 2005, Academic Committee meeting, which should allow the Undergraduate Research Project courses to appear in the printed 2006-2007 Undergraduate Calendar. ii) DEAN’S UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH LIST (DURL) AC-05-22 208.7 Associate Dean Hendren went over the proposal for the DURL (Document AC-05-22). After some discussion, Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, that the proposal be adopted. The motion carried. 208.8 Associate Dean Hendren said she would soon be asking units to propose courses that should be on the DURL. iii) PROJECT COURSES AC-05-23 208.9 The regulation (Calendar 3.6.2, Project Courses) in Document AC-05-23 limits students to no more than 12 credits of project courses. Associate Dean Hendren said that since some units already require 12 credits of project courses for their programs, the limit would have to be increased to 15 credits in order for students from these units to be eligible for the DURL. Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Panangaden, that the credit limit be increased to 15 credits in Calendar regulation 3.6.2, Project Courses. The motion carried. 208.10 Following the previous motion, Dean Grant said that a more radical solution could also be entertained, i.e., to remove the regulation from the Calendar. Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Chmura, that Regulation 3.6.2, Project Courses, be removed from the Undergraduate Calendar. 208.11 A vote was held: Yes 6 No 4 Abstentious 2 The motion carried. (9) i) NEW TOEFL TEST FOR 2006 APPLICANTS AC-05-24 209.1 Associate Dean Hendren said that a new TOEFL test had recently been introduced. It was proposed that for admission to the Faculty of Science, students must score at least 21 on each of the four components of the new TOEFL test, as well as scoring at least 90 on the composite. Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Chmura, that the recommendation be adopted. The motion carried. ii) SAT RESULTS AC-05-25 209.2 Associate Dean Hendren briefly described the recommendations in Document AC-05-25. Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Mandato, that the recommendations be adopted. The motion carried. 209.3 Associate Dean Hendren suggested that the Associate Dean (Academic) approve minor changes to admissions policies, with the changes being brought to the Academic Committee for information only. Prof. Fabry moved, seconded by Associate Dean Leighton, that the Associate Dean (Academic) be given power to approve such minor changes to admissions policies as those above, and that the changes be brought to the Academic Committee for information only. The motion carried. (10) OTHER BUSINESS i) CHEMISTRY CHEM 212 Intro Organic Chemistry 1 AC-05-26 4 credits Change in restriction Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Mandato, that the change be approved. The motion carried. Secretary's Note: The change in restriction should be modified to read "Not open to students who are taking or have taken CHEM 211." ii) MINOR IN EDUCATION FOR SCIENCE STUDENTS AC-05-27 Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Ms. Lagodich, that the changes be approved. The motion carried. iii) GEOGRAPHY/NATURAL RESOURCE SCIENCES New Course: GEOG 221/NRSC 221 Environment and Health AC-05-28 3 credits Prof. Chmura introduced the above course and gave some background information. 210.1 Associate Dean Hendren said that GEOG 221 was a double-prefix course with NRSC 221, but since a proposal for the latter had not yet been received, the course could be approved pending receipt of a course proposal for NRSC 221. 210.2 Consultation reports from the Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences and the McGill School of Environment should be provided. 210.3 There was some discussion as to whether GEOG 221/NRSC 221 would be part of a program. Prof. Chmura moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the course be adopted pending resolution of the above issues. The motion carried. 210.4 Associate Dean Hendren mentioned that changes intended to be reflected in the printed Calendar should be submitted to Josie D'Amico by November 18 in order to be considered at the Academic Committee meeting of November 29, 2005. This would be the last chance for changes to meet the printed Calendar deadline. 210.5 Associate Dean Hendren reminded members to use the correct proposal forms (July 2004). She said that proposals should routinely be submitted seven working days in advance of Academic Committee meetings. Proposals should be approved by units before submission. There was no other business. The meeting adjourned at 4:45 p.m. 5 ACMinutesNov1.doc