AC-05-111 FACULTY OF SCIENCE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, at 3:00 p.m. in Arts Council Room, Arts 160. PRESENT: Dean Grant (Chair), Associate Dean Hendren (Vice-Chair), Associate Dean Leighton; Professors Ali-Khan (in place of Prof. Baines), Chmura, Cline, Drury, Levine, Mandato, Shultz, Silvius, Straub (in place of Prof. Yau), Wechsler; J. D’Amico. REGRETS: Professors Andrews, Fabry, Kemme, Martin; Associate Dean Hendershot; E. Gibb; L. Das, T. Ebanks, J. Gale, M. Lagodich, Y. Lu, J. Pasternak, J. Zhai. DOCUMENTS: AC-05-92 to AC-05-110 Dean Grant called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. (1) ADOPTION OF AGENDA - Document AC-05-110 tabled for Item #11, Update of Program Review Process. Prof. Cline moved, seconded by Prof. Mandato, that the amended Agenda be adopted. The motion carried. (2) MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 28, 2006 AC-05-92 Prof. Chmura moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, 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-05-93 (for information) Associate Dean Hendren described the changes in the Minor Course Change Report. (5) PHYSICS New Course: PHYS 228 Energy and the Environment AC-05-94 3 credits Prof. Cline moved, seconded by Prof. Chmura, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. (6) GEOGRAPHY New Course: GEOG 555 Ecological Restoration AC-05-95 3 credits Prof. Chmura moved, seconded by Prof. Levine, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. New Course: GEOG 697 Thesis Research (Env’t Option) AC-05-96 18 credits Prof. Chmura moved, seconded by Prof. Straub, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. - B.A. Program Changes (For Information): Minor Concentration in Geography (Urban Systems) Major Concentration in Geography (Urban Systems) (7) COMPUTER SCIENCE New Course: COMP 230 Logic and Computability AC-05-97 3 credits Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Shultz, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. New Course: COMP 521 Modern Computer Games AC-05-98 4 credits Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Chmura, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. - B.Sc. Program Changes: Minor in Computer Science AC-05-99 Major in Computer Science AC-05-100 Major in Software Engineering AC-05-101 Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Straub, that the above program changes be approved. The motion carried. - B.A. Program Changes (For Information): Minor Concentration in Computer Science Minor Concentration in Computer Systems (8) ATMOSPHERIC & OCEANIC SCIENCES New Course: ATOC 551 Selected Topics 1 AC-05-102 3 credits New Course: ATOC 552 Selected Topics 2 AC-05-103 3 credits Prof. Straub moved, seconded by Prof. Chmura, that the above courses be adopted. The motion carried. New Course: ATOC 555 Field Course 1 AC-05-104 3 credits New Course: ATOC 556 Field Course 2 AC-05-105 3 credits Prof. Straub moved, seconded by Prof. Chmura, that the above courses be adopted. The motion carried. (9) PSYCHOLOGY - B.A. & Sc. Major Concentration in Psychology AC-05-106 - B.A. & Sc. Joint Honours in Psychology AC-05-107 Prof. Shultz moved, seconded by Prof. Mandato, that the above program changes be approved. The motion carried. (10) B.A. & Sc. - Freshman Program AC-05-108 810.1 Associate Dean Hendren reminded members that they had previously approved the revised B.A. & Sc. Freshman Program in principle, and said that the B.A. & Sc. PAC had recently approved it. Associate Dean Hendren described the revised program, and said that it would add structure to the Arts component of the Freshman Program. Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Cline, that the program changes be approved. The motion carried. 810.2 Dean Grant thanked Associate Dean Hendren for her efforts in revising the B.A. & Sc. Freshman Program, and in eliminating problems that had existed. - High School Requirements for Admission AC-05-109 810.3 Associate Dean Hendren said that the purpose of the changes was to increase the science background of high school students admitted to the B.A. & Sc. She said that the changes would make the admission requirements for the B.A. & Sc. effectively the same as for the B.Sc. Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Mandato, that the changes be approved. The motion carried. (11) UPDATE OF PROGRAM REVIEW PROCESS - Proposed Degree Requirements and Outline of B.Sc. General AC-05-110 811.1 Associate Dean Hendren reminded members that the Program Review process was ongoing, and currently concerned the Faculty, Major and Honours Programs. She said that a result of the review process was the conclusion that Faculty programs should be retired, and replaced with a more general and flexible program. 811.2 Associate Dean Hendren said that she had looked at the Faculty programs in the Faculty of Science, and at programs at the University of Toronto, Queens University, Université de Montréal, and University of British Columbia. Programs at other universities seemed to contain the option of providing breadth. 811.3 Associate Dean Hendren outlined the proposed B.Sc. General degree described in AC-05-110. The degree would consist of a Core Science Component (45-49 credits) and a Breadth Component (18-36 credits). She asked members for comments. 811.4 There was some discussion about replacing "B.Sc. General" degree with another title. 811.5 In reply to a member who said that Faculty programs were often used as a "fallback" for students who did not do well in a Major program, Associate Dean Hendren said that some Faculty programs required too few higher-level courses. The B.Sc. General degree would have a requirement for higher-level courses, as well as a breadth requirement. 811.6 A member suggested that Option #4 in the Breadth Component should require 24 credits in order to compensate for its lack of formal structure. However, another member said it was a good idea to provide students with the choice of taking a less-structured option. 811.7 A member questioned the flexibility of the proposed program, and suggested that a final version of the program be circulated to departmental undergraduate advisors and coordinators for consultation with regard to problems that might be experienced by individual students. 811.8 Associate Dean Hendren pointed out in Document AC-05-110, the credit and depth requirements proposed for various Science programs, and the proposed overall degree requirements, and asked for members' feedback. 811.9 Some members were dubious about having rigid requirements for 400-level courses, but were more receptive to requirements for 300-level courses. 811.10 Any further comments and feedback may be sent to Associate Dean Hendren. (12) OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business. The meeting adjourned at 4:03 p.m. 4 ACMinutesApril25.doc