MCS College Council
February 27, 2001

In Attendance:
William Brown (for Amy Kennedy)
Irene Fonseca
James Greenberg
Eric Grotzinger
Fred Gilman
Jason Jordan
Sharon McCarl
Richard McCullough
David Owen
Melissa Pasquinelli
Gordon Rule
William Williams


MCS College Council
Minutes for meeting of Tuesday, February 27, 2001

1. B.S. IN COMPUTATIONAL FINANCE NOW JOINT PROGRAM WITH HEINZ SCHOOL 

Although the B.S. in Computational Finance was initially proposed as a joint degree between MCS and GSIA, it has now been 
modified so that the program is a joint effort between MCS and the Heinz School.  The degree has been approved and required 
courses are currently being offered.  A revised copy of the degree program was distributed.

Bill Brown commented that the wording regarding the MCS core requirements should be clarified so that the required courses 
are not misinterpreted as the complete MCS core.  The following change was recommended to Part A. Science Core 
Requirements:

"Students intending to apply to the BS program in Computational Finance should follow the science curriculum outlined below."


Jim Greenberg agreed to the proposed change and asked that the new program information be published on the web as soon as 
possible.  There is a link to the description of the program available on the Department of Mathematical Sciences page:


http://www.math.cmu.edu/~rw1k/undergrad/ungrd.htm


A link will be added to the MCS undergraduate information pages as well.

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The council voted unanimously in favor of the revised program for a B.S. in Computational Finance, 
provided the wording is changed as indicated above.


2. MINOR IN COMPUTATIONAL FINANCE 

The intended audience for the Computational Finance minor is economics majors, although it is open to students in any major. 
The courses required for the minor are somewhat less rigorous than those required of other minors in the department of 
mathematical sciences.  However, the proposal for this minor was unanimously passed by the Department of Mathematical 
Sciences and also by the H&SS College Council.  Bill Brown expressed concern that there are no economics courses required 
for the minor.  Jim proposed that a third footnote be added indicating that students interested in pursuing a minor in 
Computational Finance are strongly encouraged to have a background in economics.  One or two of the following courses are 
suggested: 73-100 Principles of Economics, 73-250 Intermediate Microeconomics, and 73-300 Intermediate Macroeconomics.  
Note that 73-100 also fulfills a distributional requirement for MCS students.

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The council voted unanimously in favor of the minor in Computational Finance, provided the footnote 
indicated above is added.

3. PROPOSED DESCRIPTION OF THE HUGH D. YOUNG AWARD FOR INCLUSION IN THE FACULTY HANDBOOK 

David Owen distributed a proposal for inclusion of a description of the Hugh D. Young Graduate Student Teaching Award in 
the MCS Faculty Handbook.  The description has been updated so that references to FCE's have been replaced with references 
to TA Evaluations.  Students nominated for the award can still use FCE results from previous semesters in support of their 
candidacy.

A sentence was added to the Guidelines for Student Letters section to give nominees an idea of how many students are 
typically contacted regarding letters of support and how many letters are typically received.  A sample of a request for a 
student letter was also included.

Melissa Pasquinelli suggested that a URL be included in the text of the sample letter that will help student letter writers 
to locate a detailed description of the award.

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The council voted unanimously in favor of adding the modified description of the Hugh D. Young 
Award to the MCS Faculty Handbook.

4. EVALUATION OF INTERDISCIPLINARY CONTRIBUTIONS OF FACULTY

David Owen distributed two proposed additions and one minor change to the MCS Faculty Handbook.  These additions address the 
need for outside participants in order to better facilitate evaluation of interdisciplinary work. 

The first addition states that experts from outside of the department or college can be called in to participate in 
departmental discussions of faculty promotion cases involving interdisciplinary work.  

The second addition states that inclusion of faculty members not in the Mellon College of Science may be appropriate on MCS 
Ad-Hoc committees for the evaluation of interdisciplinary contributions by the candidate.  The department head or the Dean 
may initiate requests for inclusion of non-MCS faculty members.

Page 17 of the MCS Appointment and Tenure Policy section includes a checklist of required documentation in support of an 
appointment or tenure decision.  Item VI on this checklist should be revised to read:

"A statement by the candidate outlining research activities, and if appropriate, interdisciplinary activities, career goals, 
and the role he or she hopes to play in the College or University."

Several recommendations for changes in the wording were made, including clarification of the fact that outside faculty 
members should be called in only for specific candidates and as needed.

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The council voted unanimously in favor of these additions to the MCS Faculty Handbook.


5. PROPOSAL FOR ENRICHMENT COURSES FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS WITH ADVANCED PLACEMENT IN BIOLOGY 

Bill Brown presented a proposal from the Department of Biological Sciences for a change in the MCS core and for the addition 
of enrichment courses.  These courses would provide further study for first-year students who are interested in biological 
sciences but have received AP credit for 03-121 Modern Biology and therefore will not be able to take a biology course 
until the following year.

The proposal requests that a new course number, 03-110 General Biology, be added and that it satisfy the core requirement 
for MCS students who are not interested in pursuing further studies in biological sciences.  Then, students interested in 
other areas of science, and who have achieved a 5 on the AP Biology exam, will still receive credit for a biology course 
that satisfies a core requirement.  Students interested in pursuing further studies in biological sciences may also 
receive credit for the course, but will still need to take  03-121 Modern Biology, as 03-110 General Biology will not 
satisfy the prerequisite for higher level courses in biological sciences.  The AP Biology exam is focused more on 
organismic biology than molecular biology and it has been the experience of the faculty members involved that this 
background does not adequately prepare students for in-depth courses in biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon.  

Fall semester second half mini enrichment courses will also be offered to qualified students to build on relevant topics 
covered in Modern Biology while offering small class size and opportunity for discussion.  Qualified students will have 
an AP score of 5, IB score of 7, Cambridge A-Level Exam grade of A, or an A in Modern Biology at mid-semester.

Please note that the enrichment courses discussed in this proposal are not limited to biological sciences majors, but are 
available to any interested students who qualify.

COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The council voted unanimously in favor of the proposed changes in the core and the addition of 
enrichment courses.