Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee

                Minutes from January 24, 2007

 

Present:

 

Jeff Durgee                                                                 Lee Odell       

Prabhat Hajela                                                 Dick Smith     

David Hess                                                                 Dave Spooner

Sharon Kunkel                                                            Sam Wait                   

Chris McDermott                                                        Ken Warriner             

John Schroeder                                                           Mike Wozny, chair

Les Gerhardt                                                               Kevin Craig

 

Guest: Iftekhar Hasan

 

1)      The minutes from December 6, 2006 were approved unanimously with the following modifications:

o       Item 3, 3rd bullet should read “DSIS and MGMT students”

o       Item 3, 5th bullet comments regarding the MS in MGMT degree refer to the proposal for the Financial Systems MS in MGMT.

 

2)      Mike Wozny reminded the Committee that there were still many issues to discuss once the usual catalog business is completed. He mentioned 1) no grades in the first year, 2) grade modifiers at the graduate level.

 

3)      Lally School of Management and Technology (SoM&T) - Jeff Durgee distributed a revised proposal for the proposed MS in Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship. Based on the feedback he’s received a number of changes have been made to the proposal. It’s now a 30 credit hour program and the pre-requisite issues have been addressed. The official degree is a Master of Science in Management. The School sees this as a feeder to the MBA program. He believes there is a lot of interest among our undergraduates.

 

Committee members had several questions about the curriculum. The SoM&T is working with Albany Law School to determine where the law courses will be taught. Both schools are in the Hudson Mohawk Consortium so it may be arranged through the cross-registration process.  Dick Smith pointed out that anyone can take this curriculum a student really doesn’t need to take one of the minors. It’s important to be very clear on the admissions criteria because this may be an issue for undergraduates.  The language in the admissions information should say “strongly recommended”.  It’s a question of telling students what they have to vs. the reality of what we will accept.  The issue is to state the criteria that distinguishes the focus on the continuum from undergraduate to graduate student. How the pre-requisites for the degree are stated will be important. One way would be to couch this as BS/MS program and present it that way to NYS for approval. The proposal needs to clearly say that the degree is a MS in Management not Technological Commercialization and Entrepreneurship. A flow chart that lays out the path from undergraduate to graduate might be helpful. The motion to approve the program was approved unanimously subject to the determination of whether NYS approval is needed and clarification of the questions about the admissions criteria and how the pre-requisites will be stated.

Iftekhar Hassan distributed and provided an overview of a proposal for an MS in Management in Financial Technology.  This focus on financial systems is not new. The School has offered a popular minor in this area.  A focus group has voiced their support for this initiative.  SoM&T is trying to do what they can with the courses they have in order to provide a better program that meets the demand for more financial emphasis.  They’ve created options to address the various backgrounds of their students (i.e. some more technical, some more analytical).   A short course will be offered before classes begin to provide students with the required mathematical background. The School is proposing a 6 credit thesis as an option for some students.  They expect a very few students would need to do a thesis. Committee members suggested an Independent Study would be more appropriate.

 

Les Gerhardt asked what financial technology means to potential students? Is it the same as financial engineering?  Financial engineering is more focused on modeling.  There are already courses offered in DSES and perhaps in the School of Science that might be appropriate.  We need to make sure we are offering students the best that we can. I. Hasan indicated that the focus is on a MS in MGMT but they are open to other courses that fit.  L. Gerhardt asked Professor Hasan to comment on the emphasis on promoting masters programs when the Institute has been focused on PhD program.  He responded saying top notch business schools have elite masters programs. It’s important to have a flagship master’s program in order to have a good business school. The SoM&T will continue with their PhD program.  Will the MS with this financial system emphasis be offered at Hartford? Not the first two years but they will revisit the question at that point. 

 

Some of the courses are offered at the graduate and undergraduate level and it appears that they will meet together. Can a student get credit for both MGMT 4XXX Financial Statement Analysis and proposed MGMT 6/7XXX?   After some discussion I. Hasan agree that the students can’t get credit for both.  The FSCC recommended a different title to distinguish the courses and a statement needs to be added to the description saying a student can’t get credit for both.  The proposed 6XXX Math and Stat Foundation course covers topics offered at the 1000 level courses. The material isn’t appropriate for a 6000 level course. I. Hasan indicated that they will offer it at 1000 or 2000 level instead of a 6000 level.

 

The degree is a MS in MGMT with a concentration in Financial Technology.  There are 5 courses listed in the catalog for the MS, but they are not listed in the proposal. The Committee suggested a different layout in the catalog would make it easier to understand the requirements. They suggested listing the MS core requirements with the separate concentration areas specified. The program was approved unanimously. The course changes and new courses still need to be reviewed and approved by the FSCC. All new courses must include an Academic Integrity statement.

 

4)      School of Science- Sam Wait distributed a packet with a number of course changes and deletions. The courses are being deleted because the faculty have left or the course hasn’t been taught in some time. 

  Course changes presented for information:

o       PHYS 6110 Methods in Theoretical Physics              Title, description and cr hrs

o       PHYS 6410 Electrodynamics                                     Description and cr hrs

o       PHYS 4510, 6510 Quantum Mechanics I                  Description and cr hrs

o       PHYS 6520 Quantum Mechanics II                           Description and cr hrs

o       PHYS 6590 Statistical Mechanics                              Description and cr hrs

  Course Deletions presented for information:

o       BIOL 4870     Environmental Toxicology

o       BIOL 6720     Molecular Biology of Plants

o       BIOL 4360     Introductory Virology

o       BIOL 4410     Plagues, Politics and People

o       BIOL 4310     Industrial Microbiology

o       BIOL 4430     Aids: Paradise Lost

o       PHYS 6310     Advanced mechanics

o       CHEM 6070   Advanced Inorganic Chemistry II

o       CHEM 6470   Photochemistry

o       CHEM 6790   Protein Chemistry: Design and Modification

     

P. Hajela asked if BIOL 4870 should be deleted given the Institute’s focus on energy. The department has no one to teach the course.

A template change in Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology was also presented. There are no changes in overall credits required for the degree. The revised template in Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology was approved unanimously.