Minutes of the Undergraduate Studies Committee
2/28/2017

Attending Voting Members: J. Twombly (SSB), S. Hong (CHBE), M. Bauer (CS), X. Guan (CHEM), N. Menhart (BIO), M. Safar (INTM), R. Steffenson (SSCI), J. Hajek (ITM), R. Ellis (AMAT), T. Pan (CAAE), J. Miller (PSYC), S. Lindmark (ROTC), G. Popvic (MSED), G. Pulliam (HUM/CAC), A. Schachman (COA), E. Orklu (ECE), P. Snopok (PHYS), B. Haferkamp (BME), T. Braseky (NROTC)

Also attending: J. Gorzkowski (UGAA), V. Foster (Compliance), G. Smith (UGAA), S. Pariseau (UGAA), K. Spink (PreHealth), J. Hignight (Registrar), G. Papavasioliou (BME), K. Tichauer (BME), J. Snapper (HUM)

Departments with absent voting members:  SGA, MMAE

Quorum declared at 12:46

Adjourn at: 1:40

 

Documents for this meeting are available at:

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

Meeting chaired by Ray Trygstad.

Minutes recorded by Rebecca Steffenson.

 

Old Business

1. Minutes of the 2/24/17 Meeting [Trygstad-Chair]

 (http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/2-14-17minutes.html)

The motion passes with unanimous consent.

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

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

The motion passes with unanimous consent.

3. 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

The motion passes with unanimous consent.

4. 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 was introduced at the February 14th meeting for a vote at this meeting.

The motion passes with unanimous consent.

New Business

5. Modifications to the Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering: [G. Papavasiliou - Biomedical Engineering]

The following changes are being made. a. Increase the ability of our students to solve mathematically complex biomedical problems, across all three BME tracks, without increasing the number of credits required for graduation. This will be accomplished by replacing CS 115 with CS 104 which introduces students to computing through the use of Matlab, and by replacing BME 200, our existing introduction to Matlab, and BME 490 with BME 422, a Matlab-based numerical methods course. This is presented as an information item. b. Enhance the exposure of programming and electrical engineering in the BME Medical Imaging curriculum. This will be accomplished by replacing CS 116 (Java II), a BME Elective, and ECE 216 (Circuits II no lab) (total of 8 credits) with CS 201 (Advanced intro to Java) and ECE 213 (Circuits II + lab) (total of 8 credits) To avoid credit overload in the Medical Imaging track, 3 credits of BME Elective were dropped from the curriculum, as enhanced exposure to programming and circuits was determined to be of more educational value to Medical Imaging students than the BME Elective. This change applies to the medical imaging track only and is presented as an information item. c. Further enhance the BME Cell & Tissue curriculum with more relevant foundational courses that will be applied to solve engineering problems in required BME courses. This will be accomplished by replacing CHEM 237 (Organic Chemistry I + lab) with CHEM 235 (Organic Chemistry I, no lab) or CHEM 237 (for the Cell & Tissue track only) and replacing CHEM 239 (Organic Chemistry II) with BIOL 403 (Biochemistry). Due to recent MCAT prerequisite requirement changes, BME students are unlikely to finish both degree and pre- med requirements within four years. These changes recognize this and allow a more logical curriculum progression when there is no longer an expectation that pre-med students will complete their undergraduate studies in four years. This is presented as an information item. d. Full details and complete justification of these BS in Biomedical Engineering changes are at http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/BiomedicalEngineeringUndergraduateCurriculumModificationsSpring2017.pdf

These changes are presented as an informational items.

Applied Math questioned how these changes might affect incoming students without significant programming experience in high school. CS says they will take 104 as prerequisite for 201. A concern was raised about the implementation of the CS 104 prerequisite which created registration problems for students this semester. BME noted this was a transition semester, and that they have an advising plan for transitioning students.

6. Natural Science or Engineering (N) code assignment review process. [R. Trygstad – Chair]

a. Currently the Undergraduate Core Curriculum requirements in Natural Science or Engineering are met by courses in engineering, biology, chemistry, physics, or courses in architecture, food safety and technology, and psychology marked with an (N). i. Adviser query: do ITP courses offered by the Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics requirements fulfill a Natural Science or Engineering Core Curriculum requirement? (Probably a UGAA question.) b. We need to establish a formal process for review of courses submitted for an (N) designation. Discuss.

UGAA noted that the UGSC had approved the creation of IIT core designation subcommittees in spring 2014. The current UGSC Core Curriculum Subject Subcommittee Chairs are as follows:

Communications-intensive (C) courses: Greg Pulliam

Humanities (H) courses: Greg Pulliam

Social and Behavioral Science (S) courses: Rebecca Steffenson

Natural Science or Engineering (N) courses: Nicholas Menhart

Mathematics courses: Robert Ellis

Computer Science (CS) courses: Matthew Bauer

 

Subcommittees are tasked with evaluating assignment of Core Curriculum subject designation codes or listings in the Bulletin; subcommittee chairs will be standing and convene a subcommittee as necessary.

7. Submission of Revisions to Curriculum: [R. Trygstad – Chair]

Sarah Pariseau, Academic Curricula Manager, is responsible for managing changes to the university Bulletins. She has requested that when a curriculum change is submitted that it be accompanied by revised bulletin pages reflecting the change. a. Producing editable pages: Every page in the online Bulletin can be saved as a PDF file by scrolling to the bottom of the red menu on the right-hand side of the page and selecting “Print Options.” The resulting PDF pages can be made editable by loading the document into Adobe Acrobat and saving as a Microsoft Word file, but to optimally edit the pages, you should install the correct fonts. These fonts are available at http://www.iit.edu/~ugsc/documents/Roboto_font_(for_IIT_Bulletin_PDF_Pages).zip. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, please email Ray Trygstad at trygstad@iit.edu and include the URL (Web address) of the page or pages you would like converted to Word files. He will convert them and email them back.

Some concern was raised about requiring representatives to develop bulletin changes before those changes are approved by UGSC. Many members also noted that they do not have Adobe Acrobat. Trygstad noted it was helpful if members could present changes in a visual format. He has the correct software, and is willing to convert pages for anyone wishing to produce editable pages.

8. Other New Business [R. Trygstad – Chair]

None.

9. Next UGSC meeting will be March 28, 2017. There will be no meeting on March 13 due to Spring Break.