S-01-20 FACULTY OF SCIENCE Meeting of Faculty Monday, November 12, 2001 Redpath Museum Auditorium ATTENDANCE: As recorded in the Faculty Appendix Book. DOCUMENTS: S-01-15, S-01-16, S-01-18, S-01-19 Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. (1) ADOPTION OF AGENDA Prof. Derome moved, seconded by Prof. Leighton, that the Agenda be adopted. The motion carried. (2) MINUTES OF OCTOBER 9, 2001 S-01-15 Prof. Derome moved, seconded by Prof. Mucci, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried. (3) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES 303.1 There was no business arising from the minutes of October 9, 2001. - Minutes of September 11, 2001 (S-01-8) - Modification to Minutes S-01-16 303.2 Dean Shaver noted the above document. (4) REPORTS OF COMMITTEES a) Committee on Student Standing (CSS) 304.1 Associate Dean Mendelson said there had been no meeting of the CSS. b) Academic Committee S-01-18 SECTION A: NEW PROGRAMS None SECTION B: MAJOR PROGRAM CHANGES Physiology - Honours Program in Physiology (AC-01-24) - Joint Major in Physiology & Mathematics (AC-01-25) - Joint Major in Physiology & Physics (AC-01-26) Prof. Derome moved, seconded by Prof. Drury, that the program changes be approved. The motion carried. SECTION C: NEW COURSES (1) Psychology 204-301 Learning (AC-01-12) 3 credits Prof. Moore moved, seconded by Prof. ThÇrien, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. 204-317B Genes and Behaviour (AC-01-13) 3 credits Prof. Mucci moved, seconded by Prof. Moore, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. 204-529 Music Cognition (AC-01-15) 3 credits Prof. Leighton moved, seconded by Prof. Derome, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. (2) School of Computer Science 308-252B Data Structures and Algorithms (AC-01-19) 3 credits Prof. ThÇrien moved, seconded by Prof. Drury, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. 308-362A Honours Algorithm Design (AC-01-20) 3 credits Prof. ThÇrien moved, seconded by Prof. Drury, that the course be adopted. The motion carried. SECTION D: MAJOR COURSE CHANGES Physiology 552-461D Experimental Physiology (AC-01-23) 9 credits Change in credit weight from 6 to 9 Prof. de Takacsy moved, seconded by Prof. Mucci, that the change be approved. The motion carried. SECTION E: MINOR PROGRAM CHANGES (1) School of Computer Science - Honours Program in Computer Science (AC-01-21) Prof. ThÇrien moved, seconded by Prof. Drury, that the program changes be approved. The motion carried. SECTION F: Other (1) CGPA Calculations After Inter-Faculty Transfers (AC-01-8[Rev2]) (Approved: Academic Committee, September 25, 2001) 304.2 Associate Dean Mendelson made a presentation on the topic. He described the legacy system and the advantages of the proposed system for CGPA calculations after inter-faculty transfers. Prof. de Takacsy moved, seconded by Prof. Moore, that the recommendations described in Document AC-01-8 (Revised 2) be adopted. 304.3 Associate Dean Mendelson moved an amendment that for the second point under the heading "Courses shall be included or excluded...according to the following rules:", the following sentence be added: However, the rule limiting courses outside of Arts and Science to six credits per academic year shall be waived for courses taken prior to the IFT. 304.4 The amendment was accepted as friendly. 304.5 A member observed that no allowance had been made for students who had been in two other faculties before transferring to Science. Associate Dean Mendelson agreed that the wording should be changed to address this concern and suggested that the wording be revised later. The amended motion carried. 304.6 Associate Dean Mendelson made slight changes to the wording after the meeting. For the third point under the heading "Courses shall be included or excluded...according to the following rules:", the first sentence has been changed to read: Courses outside of Arts and Science that have not already been credited toward another degree shall be evaluated,... (2) Admissions for 12th Grade Ontario Students (AC-01-27) 304.7 Associate Dean Mendelson introduced the above document, which was a result of the fact that grade 13 will be eliminated in Ontario in the near future. Thus McGill's admissions criteria for Ontario students had to be translated to allow for the admission of grade 12 students. Prof. de Takacsy moved, seconded by Prof. Moore, that the proposed admissions requirements be adopted. The motion carried. (3) Criteria for Making Standing Decisions (AC-01-28) 304.8 Associate Dean Mendelson made a presentation on the topic, in which he described the current system and the advantages of the proposed system. Prof. Mucci moved, seconded by Prof. Moore, that the proposal described in document AC-01-28 be adopted. The motion carried. SECTION G: Other (For Information Only) (1) Nomenclature for Arts Programs (A motion concerning this topic was approved at the Academic Committee meeting of May 1, 2001, and at the Faculty of Science meeting of May 22, 2001.) 304.9 Associate Dean Mendelson briefly described the issue, but said it would be preferable to discuss it at a future Faculty meeting. (2) Science Minor in Music (Program Retirement) (AC-01-11) 304.10 Associate Dean Mendelson said that although this program was being retired, Science students would be able to register for the 18-credit Minor Concentration in Music. c) Committee on Scholarships - New Scholarships S-01-19 Alfred David G. Arthurs Scholarships in Chemistry Value: minimum $2000 304.11 Prof. Leighton described the new scholarships. Prof. Leighton moved, seconded by Prof. Das Gupta, that the scholarships be approved. The motion carried. (5) REPORT ON ACTIONS OF SENATE (Full Senate Minutes may be found at http://www.mcgill.ca/senate/agdmin.html) Senate Meeting of October 10, 2001 - Prof. J. Derome 1. Senate adopted a resolution on the death of Professor Donald Bates of the Faculty of Medicine and one on the death of Emeritus Professor Norbert Schoenauer of the School of Architecture. 2. In response to a question from a Senator regarding gender differentials in academic salaries and other salary anomalies, V.-P. Vinet said that in 2000-2001 two merit exercises resulted in an anomaly envelope of two times $200,000. It is now planned to increase the anomaly envelope to $800,000, the plan to unfold over 3 years, commencing this year, with $350,000 being reserved for female faculty adjustments. The key element in the criteria is merit. The plan is, over 3 years, to correct the full defect that has been identified. 3. At a previous meeting, Senate had been advised that McGill had agreed to join some other universities in Universitas21 and the Thompson Learning Company to establish U21global, the purpose of which is to offer university-level courses on the Web. McGill has committed US$500,000 to the project. Senator Roger Prichard had submitted to the Principal a series of questions on McGill's involvement in this project. In his absence, V.-P. Vinet read the Principal's answers. The following are the highlights: (i) Whether the courses and programs offered by U21global will lead to university degrees will depend on the policies of each university. That is, recognition of these programs as credit towards a McGill degree will depend on McGill's standard policies on transfer of credits - each case will be considered separately. (ii) Copyright for courses will be vested in U21, not the faculty member. Faculty are under no obligation to participate in the development of programs or courses. iii) The arrangement provides for an opting out by an institution after 5 years. 4. Then the Ombudsperson for Students, Professor Carol Cumming Spears, presented her annual report. The report made a number of recommendations, which Senate asked V.- P. Vinet to take to the appropriate body in the university for further consideration and possible action, and to report back to Senate in one year. One of them deals with Graduate Student research supervision, and more specifically with establishing a mechanism to ensure that graduate students understand what is expected of them, that their progress is evaluated, communicated to them and recorded in the student's departmental file. Senate Meeting of October 24, 2001 - Prof. N. de Takacsy U21 The Principal responded to another question about U21Global and U21Pedagogica and the relation of this commercial/educational enterprise to McGill. Financial Report The financial report for 2000-2001 was presented. It was agreed to hold a committee-of-the-whole discussion of long term financial planning. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Graduate Studies - The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research was abolished. - The position and responsibilities of the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies was approved. - A compact Council on Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies was approved. Science senators were supportive of these changes and of the principle of strong role for the teaching faculties in graduate programs. The PGSS representatives would have like a stronger student representation on Council which is down to 21% from 33% on the old and huge FGSR Council. The Council reports to Senate through APPC. Graduate students would now be formally registered in the teaching faculties, but would be administered through an Office under the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Senate Meeting of November 7, 2001 - To be reported at the next Faculty of Science meeting scheduled for December 4, 2001. (6) MEMBERS' QUESTION PERIOD 306.1 Several questions were asked concerning Universitas 21, and these were responded to by Dean Shaver and Associate Vice-Principal de Takacsy. Universitas 21 is an international association of research-intensive universities. Among other collaborative undertakings, these universities may participate in offering education globally through the Internet. However, the situation is very much in flux, and mechanisms, procedures, policies, and such, have yet to be established. 306.2 Dean Shaver added that there could be a discussion of distance education in the future. Secretary's Note: For more information on Universitas 21, see www.universitas.edu.au (7) OTHER BUSINESS There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:20 p.m. FacMinsNov2001