Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee

      Minutes from February 21, 2007

 

Present:

Kevin Craig                                                                 Dick Smith

Mike Hanna (for Prabhat Hajela)                                Lee Odell

Sharon Kunkel                                                            Ken Warriner

Chris McDermott                                                        Sam Wait

Wally Morris                                                               Mike Wozny, chair

John Schroeder

 

Regrets from Les Gerhardt

 

Guests: Russ Leslie

            Brandon Freitas

            Captain O’Hara

 

 

1)      The minutes from the meeting on February 7, 2007 were approved unanimously.

 

2)      Faculty Senate –Mike Wozny reported on the discussion at the Faculty Senate of the proposal for a 72 credit PhD program. This will be on the agenda for further discussion at the Spring General Faculty meeting. No action or endorsement yet from the Faculty Senate.

 

3)      School of Humanities and Social Science- Lee Odell presented a number of changes and course proposals.

Economics Department

New Courses:

·         ECON 4260 and ECON 6360, Environmental and Resource Economics. At the 6000 level the proposed course title is Advanced Environmental & Resource Economics. The Committee suggested deleting courses from the catalog that are not being offered. Courses should not be kept in the catalog unless the department is committed to offering them regularly. 

·         ECON 6120 Advanced Quantitative Analysis –This represents a growth in the graduate area in Economics. The Committee raised a number of questions asking why the course is needed if there is a 4000 level version (Quantitative Analysis). What distinguishes the graduate level version? The syllabus details the additional assignments and the project required for the graduate level. The Committee suggested listing the 2000 level pre-requisite for the undergraduate course and deleting it for the graduate level version.

·         ECON 6190- International Economics & Globalization-   Why are we offering a 400 and 600 together?  Is it a graduate course with undergraduates invited or vice versa? What about designating these courses as 5000 level courses?

·         ECON 6260 Advanced Environmental and Resource Economics

Course Change:

·         ECON 4190- International Economics and Globalization- Pre-requisite and title change. This course has the same issue with a 2000 level pre-requisite listed for a graduate level course. The pre-requisite should be listed only for the 4000 version.

The Economics additions and changes were approved unanimously contingent on the Committee’s recommendations.

Language, Literature and Communication Department (LL&C) - L. Odell again provided an overview of the package from the department. LL&C is trying to find a niche which meets their faculty interests and a changing discipline. A memo from Ellen Esrock detailed the rationale for the changes.

·         Delete the Web D&A concentration for BS Communication students

·         Delete the COMM/IHSS 1969 Communication and Information Technology from BS Communication template

New courses:

·         COMM 4XXX Designing Interactive Characters for Digital Games

·         COMM 6XXX Digital Rhetoric -The pre-requisite should indicate a competency or add permission of the instructor.

·         COMM 6XXX-Ethnography and Cultural Analysis- This course provides a research based background. The Committee suggested adding a competency or pre-requisite to the description and being more specific when the course will be offered.

·         COMM 6XXX Media Studies- This provides an option in the PhD program. The FSCC suggested changing the title to better reflect the content of the course.

·         COMM 6XXX- Rhetoric, Culture and Communication Technology- This course represents the shift in the field, student and faculty interest. If it’s a seminar, permission of instructor may be needed.

·         COMM 6XXX Social and Human Computer Interaction- The FSCC asked the department to check for possible overlap with other HCI courses offered in other departments. This will be tabled until we have the information.

Course Changes:

·         COMM 4400 Cross-Cultural Design Research                      title and description

·         COMM 6400 Cross-Cultural Design Research                      title and description

·         LITR 2310 The Human Mind in Fiction                                description

Deletions:

·         LITR 6330 Critical Theory

·         LITR 4450 Non-Western Fiction and Film

The LL&C courses and changes were all approved unanimously with the exception of the proposed course Social and Human Computer Interaction. L. Odell can send the information to S. Wait, M. Wozny, K. Craig and S. Kunkel for review.

 

4)      School of Architecture (SoA) - Russ Leslie provided some background on why the School is proposing a change of name for the PhD program. The PhD in Architectural Sciences does not reflect the “content, mission and goals” of the degree for students who are completing Lighting concentration. Applicants are confused and concerned that the name of the degree does not reflect the work they’ve done or what the degree represents.  This is a growing field and this change will help to showcase our program in this field. There are no changes in the curriculum or resources, only a name change. This request is unique because the SoA wants to continue to award a PhD in Architectural Sciences but for students in the Lighting concentration, the degree awarded would be a PhD in Lighting. It’s not clear if the NYS Department of Education would consider this a new program. Their approval will be needed. The Committee asked if we will see requests for changes to reflect the other concentrations. That is not planned at this point in time. This proposal was approved by the SoA faculty. The motion to approve the request to change the name of the PhD in Architectural Sciences with a concentration in Lighting to PhD in Lighting was approved unanimously with the caveat that NYS approval must be granted.

 

5)      School of Science (SoS) - Sam Wait presented several course deletions and a change for information. Deletions:

·          CHEM 6790, BCBP 4790 and BCBP 6790-Protein Chemistry

Course Change

·         BIOL 4990 Senior Research Thesis- credit hour change to 4 credits to be consistent with most other departments.

 

6)      School of Management and Technology- Chris McDermott provided overview of the changes.

·         MGMT 6070 Business Implication of Emerging Technologies II            pre-requisite added

·         MGMT 7040 Strategy, Technology and Competition II                          pre-requisite added

·         MGMT 7050 Developing Innovative New Products and Services I       title change to better                                                                                                                     reflect content

·         MGMT 7060 Developing Innovative New Products and Services II      title change

The changes were accepted as presented.

 

7)      Air and Space Studies- Brandon Freitas and Col. Christopher O’Hara from the Air and Space Studies ROTC unit distributed a proposal for a minor in Air and Space Studies. The minor would be available to all students. Currently, there are approximately 46 students enrolled in the Air and Space program. The SoS allows students to use ROTC courses as free electives to meet their degree requirements. There is no limit on the number which can be used. The School of Engineering has a limit on the number of courses that can be used.  The minor is based on leadership courses offered by the unit. A different title, “Air and Space Leadership studies” would be more appropriate and might improve recruiting. The Committee suggested explicitly stating in the description that non-ROTC students may take the courses. The write-up for the catalog must reflect the actual course numbers and titles as they appear in the catalog. The motion to approve the new minor was approved unanimously. (Note: C. McDermott and S. Wait left the meeting prior to the vote but indicated to M. Wozny their support of the proposal.)