Undergraduate Studies Committee Minutes 10/13/09
Attending Voting Members: M. Bauer (CS), K. Ellington (Psych), A. Glodowski (BCPS), L Goldstein (SGA), G. Fasshauer (Math), L. Hosman (SocSci), C. Koehler (MSED), R. Krawczyk (Arch), J. O'Leary (CAEE), V. Perez-Luna (ChE), J. Snapper (Hum), K. Spink (BCPS), A. Tower (ROTC), R. Trygstad (CPD), J. Twombly (SSB).
Attending IIT Guests: J. Dorr (Library), J. Doyle (Admissions), D. Geiger (Student Affairs), B. Kibbe (Tech News), C. Roberts (Tech News), G. Welter (Ed. Serv.), P. Zachocki (Registrar).
The meeting is chaired by John Kallend. The minutes are recorded by John Snapper.
The Chair notes that there is a quorum for business. Convene 1:15 PM. Adjourn 1:45 PM.
The minutes of the Sept 8 meeting are accepted by unanimous consent.
It was moved and seconded on Sept 8 that
The UGSC recommends to the Calendar Committee that IIT shorten the Add period
to one and one-half weeks.
It is moved and seconded that the motion be amended to read:
The UGSC recommends to the Calendar Committee that IIT instructor permission be required for adding a course after one and one-half weeks after the start of a semester.
The amendment passes (7-5). The amended motion passes (11-0)
Dr. Kallend will relay the content of the motion to the Calendar Committee.
Mr. Welter describes the process for the preparation of a new Undergraduate Bulletin. The sections relating to unit programs have been sent to the units. The deadline for return of those sections is the end of November. The Bulletin Committee will be able to accommodate small changes after that deadline. Mr. Welter asks the UGSC to review the statement of the general education requirement. The Bulletin will be sent to press in June 2010.
Dr Ruiz informs the UGSC that revisions to the Mechanical Engineering program will be presented to the UGSC at the November meeting.
Dr Twombly asks the UGSC to endorse the following revisions to the BS in Bus. Admin.
Require math-151 or equivalent, and no longer offer business math.
Reduce the science requirement to the gen ed minimum 11 credit hrs.
Reduce the Technical Elective requirement from six to three credit hours.
Eliminate the requirement of BUS 402 (one credit hour).
Require a course in Sustainability (three credit hours).
Require course in Strategic Competitiveness (three credit hours).
The degree requirement will remain at 126 credit hours.
The UGSC is advised of the revisions and may vote on the revisions in November.
Dr. Koehler informs the UGSC that the programs offered by BSME will be reviewed for accreditation this academic year. She asks the units to be prepared to meet with the accreditation team. The UGSC suggests that BSME formally define an undergraduate minor for inclusion in the Bulletin.
Dr. Spink asks the UGSC to endorse the following revisions to BCPS course offerings.
Split Biol-115 into a section for majors and a section for non-majors.
Renumber Biol-320 (Biological Literature) to the 400 level.
Require a literature course for the Biochemistry BS
Require Physical Chemistry-2 for Biochemistry BS (not the option of Physics-3)
Require that Biochemistry BS statistics be met with either Math-474 or Math-425.
Require statistics (most likely Math-425) for the Biology BS.
Make Biol-305 (Anatomy) and Biol-430 (Physiology) into an integrated two semester sequence. The UGSC is advised of the revisions and may vote on the revisions in November.
Dr. Perez-Luna asks the UGSC to endorse the following revisions to the BS in Chem-E.
No longer require Chem-344 (Physical Chemistry II)
No longer require Biol-403 (Biochemistry Lectures)
Require Biol-401 (Introductory Biochemistry)
The UGSC is advised of the revisions and may vote on the revisions in November.
The subcommittee (created 9/13/09) to review undergraduate registration in internet courses moves that:
Undergraduate registration in internet courses requires instructor permission.
On UGSC policy, the vote is put off until the next UGSC meeting. The UGSC members are urged to poll their units on this matter, in preparation for the vote.
Dr. Kallend reports on the action of the subcommittee (created 9/13/09) to review the general education requirements. The committee is gathering information about the general education requirements at peer universities.
Dr. Bauer informs the UGSC of a pilot modification to the objectives of CS-105 and of a pilot course to be offered in Spring 10 which will test the success of a course directed at the modified objectives. On the proposed New CS105 Objectives for Engineering/Science Majors, students should be able to:
1) Demonstrate problem solving approaches. (i.e. break problems into logical pieces that can be
solved (programmed) independently; including approximation approaches, solving a continuous problem with discrete approach, randomness approach, vector/matrix approaches are key in many
engineering/science majors)
2) Develop and evaluate algorithms. (i.e. for solving problems in a suitable language and environment; concern with accuracy, efficiency)
3) Demonstrate a knowledge of the limits and capabilities of computational approaches to problem solving, including accuracy, overflow, and computational limitations.
4) Develop and apply test cases that can be used to verify the accuracy of programmed solution.
5) Implement their design and algorithms in an appropriate programming language and environment utilizing the following fundamental programming constructs: arithmetic statements (both scalar and vector/matrix), I/O (including file I/O), selection, iteration, functions (both external libraries and their own), and linear data structures. Documentation of their code and good programming practice are also required.
6) Identify and correct both syntactic and semantic errors in code and use a debugging environment to resolve them
7) Present data in a meaningful way using predefined plotting and graphing systems.
The UGSC notes that it will be asked to vote on an endorsement of the new objectives
Dr. Gosz responds to the UGSC request that the Provost appoint a director of the writing-across-the-curriculum program who will establish and enforce standards for courses receiving a ìCî classification. Noting the generally acknowledged observation that the program does not now function well, and that it has not functioned well in some time, Dr. Gosz expresses reluctance to spend the significant resources that would be demanded by the appointment of a new director. Dr. Gosz accepts an invitation to join the Gen Ed subcommittee, and discuss this matter with that committee.
J. Snapper, Secretary to the UGSC