AC-05-64

FACULTY OF SCIENCE
ACADEMIC COMMITTEE

Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, December 13, 2005, at 2:30 p.m. in Arts Council Room, Arts 160.

PRESENT:	Associate Dean Leighton (Acting Chair), Associate Dean Hendren (Vice-Chair); Professors Green (in place of Prof. Abouheif), Baines, Drury, Fabry, Martin, Precup (in place of Prof. Panangaden), Shultz, Wechsler, Yau; E. Gibb; T. Ebanks, J. Pasternak; J. D’Amico.

REGRETS:	Dean Grant; Professors Andrews, Chmura, Cline, Mandato, Silvius; Associate Dean Hendershot; L. Das, J. Gale, M. Lagodich, Y. Lu, J. Zhai.

DOCUMENTS:	AC-05-32K,L
		AC-05-60	to	AC-05-63

Associate Dean Leighton called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.

(1)	ADOPTION OF AGENDA

-	CHEM 396 (AC-05-32L) to be considered after Item #5, ENVR 396 (AC-05-32K) of the Agenda.

	Prof. Fabry moved, seconded by Prof. Drury, that the amended Agenda be approved.

	The motion carried.

(2)	MINUTES OF DECEMBER 13, 2005						AC-05-60

	Prof. Precup moved, seconded by Prof. Drury, 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-05-61
		(for information)

(5)	UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECT COURSES

	New Courses (3 credits):
	ENVR 396 (À¦°óSMÉçÇø School of Environment)					AC-05-32K	
	CHEM 396 (Chemistry)								AC-05-32L

405.1	Prof. Fabry said that the MSE did not feel that ENVR 396 should be restricted to Science students.  ENVR 396 would be offered to students in the Faculties of Arts and of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, as well as to Science students.  Thus ENVR 396 would also have to be approved by the other faculties.

405.2	Associate Dean Leighton said that Dean Grant and the Dean of Medicine had agreed to provide financial support on a per project basis to units offering 396 courses.  Associate Dean Leighton asked Prof. Fabry if he could ask the Deans of Arts and of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences to consider financially supporting ENVR 396 courses given by their faculties.

405.3	In response to a member, Associate Dean Hendren said that the Faculty of Medicine would match Science's contribution to the four biomedical departments. 

	Prof. Fabry moved, seconded by Prof. Precup, that the courses be adopted.

	The motion carried.

Secretary’s Note:  The Dean of Science will contact the Deans of Arts and of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences regarding financial support for 396 courses.

(6)	DEAN’S MULTIDISCIPLINARY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH LIST (DMURL)
		INCLUDING COURSES						AC-05-22(Revised)
		
406.1	Associate Dean Leighton asked representatives of units to briefly comment on each unit's courses, and to justify the inclusion of the courses on the DMURL.

406.2	Associate Dean Hendren said that it should be clear from a course's title and description whether the course involves reading or research, and she asked units to modify titles and descriptions accordingly.  Courses eligible for the DMURL must involve research.  

	Associate Dean Hendren moved, seconded by Prof. Green, that the DMURL document including the research course listing be approved.

	The motion carried.

(7)	COMPUTER SCIENCE

	New Course:
	COMP 598		Topics in Computer Science 1				AC-05-62
				3 credits

	New Course:
	COMP 599		Topics in Computer Science 2				AC-05-63
				3 credits

	Prof. Precup moved, seconded by Prof. Fabry, that the above courses be adopted.

	The motion carried.

(8)	LIBRARY RESEARCH

408.1	Ms. Elizabeth Gibb, Liaison Librarian, Schulich Library of Science and Engineering, said that the various Area Librarians wished to provide training to undergraduate students in researching scientific topics, including interdisciplinary topics.  The focus would be on finding journal articles using specific journal indexes.  Students would learn where to find articles within À¦°óSMÉçÇø's system, or if necessary via interlibrary loans.  Ms. Gibb also mentioned using the library web page in searching for information.

408.2	Ms. Gibb said that the training in library research could be made available specifically to students in the 396 courses.  However, it was felt that any student doing undergraduate research would benefit from the training, and it was suggested that a mailing list of students taking DMURL courses could be used to publicize the library training.  It was further pointed out that any undergraduate student would benefit immensely from training in the use of library facilities.   

408.3	Training in library research should start near the beginning of a term, and the sessions should be flexible.  This training would not be for credit.  Space for the sessions would be limited, and it was preferable to have groups with similar research interests.

408.4	Associate Dean Leighton said that the discussion had been interesting and that more details could be brought out at a future meeting.
	
(9)	OTHER BUSINESS

	There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:40 p.m.




3







ACMinutesDec13.doc