Minutes of the Undergraduate Studies Committee
2/14/2017

Attending Voting Members: J. Twombly (SSB), S. Hong (CHBE), C. Hood (CS), X. Guan (CHEM), N. Menhart (BIO), M. Safar (INTM), R. Steffenson (SSCI), J.Hajek (ITM), P. Troyk (BME), R. Ellis (AMAT),  T. Pan (CAAE), J. Miller (PSYC), A. Schachman (ARCH), E. Oruklu (ECE), C. Hood (CS), S. Lindmark (ROTC), G. Popvic (MSED)

Also attending: J. Gorzkowski (UGAA), G. Smith (UGAA), S. Pariseau (UGAA), J. Chong (CHEM), K. Spink (PreHealth), K. Spink,(PreHealth), V. Foster (Compliance), N. Novak (Galvin), J. Hignight (Registrar), B. Mandal (CHEM), T Brasek (NROTC)

Departments with absent voting members:  HUM/CAC, PHYS, SGA, MMAE

Quorum declared at 12:48

Adjourn at: 13:43

 

Documents for this meeting are available at:

http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/                                                                                     

Meeting chaired by Ray Trygstad.

Minutes recorded by Rebecca Steffenson.

 

1. Minutes of the 1/24/17 Meeting [Trygstad]

(http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/1-24-17minutes.html)

Minutes from 1/24/17 unanimously approved.

 

2. New Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry [B.Mandal, J.Chong, and R.Guan]

BS in Bioanalytical Chemistry BS in Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry BS in Environmental Chemistry BS in Forensic Chemistry BS in Medicinal Chemistry

http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/Supporting Information_New Chemistry Programs.pdf  
http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/Bioanalytical Chemistry Program_S2017_UGSC_Feb 10 2017.pdf  
http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/Computational Chem Biochem Program_S2017_UGSC_Feb 10 2017.pdf    

http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/Environmental Chemistry Program_S2017_UGSC_Feb 10 2017.pdf  

http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/Forensic Chemistry Program_S2017_UGSC_Feb 10 2017.pdf  
http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/Medicinal Chemistry Program_S2017_UGSC_Feb 10 2017.pdf  

 

The revised proposals for the BS in Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry were voted on and passed unanimously.

3. Change to Bachelor of Science in Psychology [J. Miller] 

The Department of Psychology proposes a new degree to replace the B.S in Psychology, which will be eliminated after the current students finish the program. The new B.S. in Psychological Science will have a new CIP code to reflect a science-orientated degree program.  The new degree increases the number of psychology major hours by three credit hours., and aligns the math requirements with the core curriculum requirements. Students will also have the option of taking either PSYC 100 or LCHS 100. The behavioral health specialization has been created to eliminate the overlap between the clinical and behavioral health specializations. This change has been made in consultation with the clinical program. Complete details are at http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/PSYC 20 JAN 2017.pdf

Psychology will consult with the Math department to ensure its requirements align with the bulletin descriptions.  We will vote on this new degree program on February 28.

 

4. Modification to the Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics: [N. Menhart- Biology]

This change removes CS 105 as a requirement of the degree, due to an identified redundancy with CS 115. This reduces the total credit hours in the degree from a range of 129-130 to 127-128 depending on track options. Details and full justification are at http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/BS BIOINF revision 2017.pdf  

This change alters the number of credit hours and is therefore considered a major change. We will vote on this change on February 28th.

 

5. Modification to the Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry: [N. Menhart – Biology]

The replaces the physical chemistry course requirement from CHEM 344 Physical Chemistry II to (CHEM 344 or CHEM 438 Physical Biochemistry) due to a change in prerequisites to CHEM 344. This reduces the total credit hours in the degree from a range of 127-128 to 126-127 depending on the physical chemistry elective selected. Details and full justification are at http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/BS BCHM revision 2017.pdf  This is a major change and is introduced today for a vote at our February 28 meeting.

This change alters the number of credit hours and is therefore considered a major change. We will vote on this change on February 28th

 

6. Bioinformatics Minor [N. Menhart – Biology]

This new minor, created in cooperation with the Computer Science Department, is presented as an informational item. This interdisciplinary minor is constructed in such a way that it may also be completed by Computer Science and Biology majors. Details of the minor are at http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/Bioinformatics_minor%20to%20UGSC.pdf

This change alters the number of credit hours and is therefore considered a major change. We will vote on this change on February 28th.

 

7. Modification to the Bachelor of Information Technology as a Profession [J. Hajek]

a. Expand ITM 100 Introduction to Information Technology as a Profession from 2 credit hours to 3 credit hours and move it to the third semester for students entering the degree as first-year students. This allows inclusion of expanded material and allows key accreditation requirements more in line with ITP outcomes to be moved to this course from our Senior Capstone course, ITMT 430. This modification also reduces required natural science/engineering credit hours from 11 to 10 as is allowed by the current Core Curriculum when 6 hours of mathematics are required. This offsets the additional hour added to the ITM course requirements by changing a two-hour course to a three-hour course, resulting in no change to the hours required to complete the degree. This course will no longer be waived for transfer students. This is presented as an information item.

b. ITMM 482 Business Innovation is added as a required course in the IT Entrepreneurship and Management specialization, as it is now the prerequisite for ITMM 481 IT Entrepreneurship, which was already a required course in the specialization. This will reduce the electives included in this specialization to 1. BUS 100 and ECON 151 are removed from this specialization as Undergraduate Business has advised us that these are not appropriate courses for the specialization. This is presented as an information item.

c. ITMO 446 Telecommunications Over Data Networks is added as a required course in the Networking and Communications specialization. This is a new undergraduate version of the existing ITMO 546 course of the same title. This will add an actual communications component, which was not a part of the specialization despite the specialization’s title. This will reduce the electives in this specialization to 1. This is presented as an information item.

d. The sample curriculum for transfer students displayed in the Undergraduate Bulletin is reformatted to reflect the addition of ITMT 330 as a required course and to present a curriculum for full-time instead of part-time students. e. Full details of these BITM changes are at http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/ProposedChangesToTheBITMCurriculum2-13-17.pdf

These changes are presented as information items. However, some revisions were suggested and questions raised about having different requirements for transfer students. ITM will gather up changes and represent them. UGAA noted that transfer agreements will need to be updated to match the bulletin.

8. Modifications to the Bachelor of Science in Social and Economic Development Policy [R. Steffenson – Social Science]

a. Add SSCI 389 Urban Planning Analysis and SSCI 390 Methods of Economic Impact Analysis to the research methods options.

b. Add PS 232 Democracy, Dictatorship and Development to the degree to replace an existing free elective.

c. Add SSCI 376 Global Migration and SSCI 318 Global Health as either/or options with SSCI 380 International Development, which is infrequently taught.

d. Add the following statement to Program Requirements in the Undergraduate Bulletin: “Other minors can be substituted with program director approval.” Economics will remain the standard required minor.

e. Replace SSCI 100 (3 credit hours) with LCHS 100 (2 credit hours). Add the extra credit hour to electives.

f. The goal of these modifications is to increase flexibility and choice for students.

This is presented as an information item. There are no credit hour changes and no changes that affect another department. 

 

9. Other New Business [Ray Trygstad]

a. UGSC IIT Core Curriculum Assessment Subcommittee

Rebecca Steffenson will take over chairing the UGSC core curriculum assessment committee. Phil Troyk will join the existing committee (Greg Pulliam and Xiaofan Li) to represent Armour College.

b. UGSC Subcommittee on Curriculum Modification

Discussion stemming from informational items has raised questions about minor versus major curriculum changes. Phil Troyk and Nick Menhart are forming a subcommittee to evaluate the role of the UGSC in reviewing major versus minor curriculum changes (Appendix B and Appendix P of the faculty handbook). Currently, degree programs that do not change credit hours have been treated as minor changes (informational items).

10. Next UGSC meeting will be February 28, 2017.