MCS College Council
November 19, 1999

In Attendance:
Susan Henry
David Owen
William Brown
Richard McCullough
Robert Swendsen
Eric Grotzinger
Sharon McCarl
Amy Kennedy
Gordon Rule
Karen Gibson
Mingxin Xu

I. PROPOSED NEW GRADUATE COURSE 33-790 BAYESIAN STATISTICS AND PHYSICS
(R. SWENDSEN)

The main focus of this new course is to introduce physicists and
statisticians to one another's statistical methods, including how the
same terms are used in different ways in the two disciplines. The course
will be taught jointly by Robert Swendsen and J. Kadane.

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The proposal for the new course was passed unanimously.


II.  PROPOSED NEW SOPHOMORE LEVEL COURSE 09-220 SUPRAMOLCULAR ORGANIC
CHEMISTRY (R. MCCULLOUGH)

This course, focusing on an introduction to supramolecular chemistry, is
intended to provide chemistry majors a chance to participate in a small
course and introduce them to research methods at an early stage. Since
the course size is to be limited to 15, College Council discussion
centered on the selection process.  The terms of the proposal called for
chemistry majors to have first priority, including exceptional freshman
who might not have had 09-218 Organic Chemistry.

Issues for discussion included determining who the course was most
suited for and whether or not the students taking the course
concurrently with 09-218 Organic Chemistry II would have an advantage
over the  09-218 students not taking the course.  Concern was also
voiced over how non-majors could be given a fair chance at enrolling in
the course.

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:  It was proposed that the new course be offered
as a pilot in the spring semester to only chemistry majors, and 09-218
Organic Chemistry II be a pre or corequisite for all students, including
freshmen.  Following the pilot semester, the Chemistry department will
report back to College Council, and a decision will be made about
whether to open the course up for general enrollment.  This proposed
action passed unanimously. 


III.  PROPOSAL FOR MASTERS IN COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY (William Brown)

Research supporting the potential success of a Masters in Computational
Biology and a sample curriculum for the program were presented to and
discussed by College Council.  The program is to be limited to about 5
students in its first year.  For a student who attended CMU as an
undergraduate, completing the program will take about one year plus one
summer; for non-cmu students, four semesters plus one summer.  

College Council discussed the future expansion of the curriculum to
include a statistics course and possibly courses from the Heinz School
in the area of Information Management.  College Council also recommended
that the prerequisites for Biology be listed in the curriculum, since
many of the program's core biology courses require prerequisites.  Also,
an error in the proposed curriculum was identified: the course 15-451
Algorithms appeared twice--both in the core requirements and in the
undergraduate prerequisites.  It should be in the core curriculum only,
and be removed from the prerequisites.

Concern was voiced over including 15-451 Algorithms as a core
requirement for the program, since Computer Science normally reserves
most of the seats in this course for its majors.  It was recommended
that negotiations with CS should take place and that some form of
compensation might need to be offered to CS in return for space in the
course.  

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:  The program was voted upon with the following
conditions:  1) 15-451 Algorithms be removed from the list of program
prerequisites and left only in the core requirements.  2) Biology
prerequisites be included in the list of program prerequisites.  3)
Computer Science is to be consulted regarding space in 15-451
Algorithms.  The proposal for the Masters in Computational Biology with
these conditions passed unanimously. 

IV. PROPOSAL FOR NEW COURSE 21-357 SEQUENCES AND SERIES OF FUNCTIONS (D. OWEN)

The purpose of this course is to relieve some overcrowding in 21-355
Advanced Calculus I and to expand undergraduate courses in the
Mathematical Sciences department.  The topic of "sequences and
functions" and "uniform convergence" will be removed from 21-355
Advanced Calculus I and be put into the new course 21-357 Sequences and
Series of Functions.  The new course will be an alternative for students
coming out of Advanced Calculus I who would normally proceed into 21-356
Advanced Calculus II.  For students who wish to go to graduate school,
all three courses--Advanced Calculus I, Advanced Calculus II, and
Sequences and Series of Functions--are recommended. 

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The proposal for the new course was passed
unanimously. 


V. REQUIREMENTS FOR MINOR IN SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING (E. GROTZINGER)

The final version of the curriculum for the minor in Scientific
Computing was presented and reviewed by College Council.  This version
incorporated all recommendations for changes made at the last meeting of
College Council on October 7, 1999. 

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: Final version of the Minor in Scientific
Computing was approved unanimously.