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MCS College Council
May 4, 2004

In Attendance:
William Brown
Gregg Franklin
Rea Freeland
Fred Gilman
Eric Grotzinger
Elizabeth Jones
Paul Karol
Hyung Kim
Shiu Fai Li
Richard McCullough
Roy Nicolaides
Ksenija Simic
Michael Widom


  1. Proposed Masters in Biotechnology Management Program (handout)
    Bill Brown presented a proposal for the Master's in Biotechnology Management (MSBM) program. Currently, there is a biotechnology track within the Tepper School's MBA program, but this program would be a stand-alone master's degree offered jointly by MCS, the Tepper School, and the Heinz School.

    Each college or school is expected to contribute one new course for the program. The Principles of Biotechnology course (38-710) created by MCS and approved previously by College Council will begin this fall and will be taken primarily by Tepper School MBA students in the biotechnology track. Students in the proposed MSBM program would also take this course and follow a similar core as that of the MBA track (a detailed discussion of this core can be found in the handout). The Office of Sponsored Research (Susan Burkett) has offered assistance with development of the Biotechnology Regulation, Policy, and Compliance course. It is also possible that corporate sponsors will be involved with development and implementation of this course. PPG has expressed an interest.

    Although course offerings from the Tepper School may change due to a recent curricular review, Bill asked that College Council endorse the program in general and the MCS course offerings. There will be a governing board for the program consisting of members from all three schools, who will review modifications to course requirements as they arise. This means that changes will not have to be brought before all three College Councils. Kannan Srinivasan, a professor from the Tepper School, has also volunteered to be director of the program.

    Qualified undergraduates could elect to participate in a 3-1-1 or 3-2 program that would result in completion of the MSBM, but the details of how the requirements would be filled and how tuition is distributed in such situations are still being finalized. There are approximately 15 interested candidates for the program and the committee would like it to start this fall. Target enrollment is 30 - 40 students per year (not including any 3-1-1/3-2 students).

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:
    The proposal was approved unanimously.

  2. Proposed Changes in MCS Policy on Joint Appointments (handout)
    Gregg Franklin presented proposed changes to the MCS policy on joint appointments. Details can be found in the handout, but several points were reviewed:
    • The new wording in the last paragraph implies that if the appointee wishes to move the appointment to a single department, a written request must be submitted to the Dean and that the Dean and Department Head could then decide whether to allow the request to proceed to the departmental committee for review.
    • Item (4) replaces the Dean's involvement with the Department Head's involvement, though the Dean may be consulted if necessary.
    • Part (b) states that joint appointees are permitted to vote at meetings each of their participating departments but are permitted only one vote in matters where the Faculty Organization of MCS or of the university votes as one body, or for Faculty Senate elections.


    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:
    The changes were approved unanimously.

  3. Request for Approval of New Courses in Chemistry (handout)
    Hyung Kim presented a proposal for the addition of several new chemistry courses.

    The first course presented was 09-341 The Color of Minerals and Inorganic Pigments. This will be an interdisciplinary undergraduate course, targeted at chemistry majors and minors, students in the SHS program, and art majors. It will consist of lectures and a lab/studio component, along with a visit to the Hillman Hall of Gems and Minerals at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. There will be a project component of the course in which students will work in interdisciplinary teams to solve problems that relate to both chemistry and art.

    Concerns included the following:
    • BSA students were not mentioned in the target audience. This course should be available to BSA students, and in particular those with an art and chemistry focus. The course should also satisfy a requirement for these students.
    • The prerequisites of 09-348 Inorganic Chemistry and 09-221 Lab I apply to science students only, but this was not clear in the proposal document. Art student will register separately for a special topics course through their own department and will not be required to meet these prerequisites.

      The question of whether MCS/SHS students could register for the art student version of the course (and thus not have to meet the prerequisites) was raised. Since spaces in the course will be limited and seats allocated for science students and art students, a student in this situation would need to wait until all interested art students were registered and then petition for any available space.
    • The course is heavier on scientific content than on art. However, it is an evolving curriculum and can be modified to include more art related topics in the future.
    • Scheduling presents some difficulties. The Chemistry Department will review possible options for scheduling the course and try to revise the current schedule in order to accommodate more students.

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:
    The proposal was unanimously approved, with the caveat that the schedule is adjusted accordingly.

    Next, four new mini graduate courses were presented:
    • 09-603 Mathematical Analysis for Chemistry (fall, mini 1)
    • 09-611 Chemical Thermodynamics (fall, mini 2)
    • 09-612 An Introduction to Quantum Chemistry (spring, mini 3)
    • 09-604 An Introduction to Chemical Kinetics (spring, mini 4)
    These courses are primarily intended to serve graduate students in chemistry who fail their attainment exams and need additional course work in these areas. Note that the current 12 unit course in quantum chemistry will be taught concurrently. Offering two courses will allow for a better distribution of ability in each course. Currently the wide range of abilities in the quantum course are making it difficult to teach effectively. Students who have failed their attainment exams can take any two of the mini courses. This will offer a broader range of topics to these students than what is currently available.

    Another issue that these courses address is the fact that the department does not have enough faculty to offer a variety of physical chemistry courses. Providing these mini courses will broaden the offering in this area.

    The department also proposed replacing 09-712 Synthetic Organic Chemistry with 09-714 Advanced Organic Chemistry. The change was approved by the chemistry faculty. The change will provide students with a better background in synthetic and physical chemistry. The material covered in 09-712 can be taught as a special topics course in the future.

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:
    The proposal was approved unanimously.

  4. New and Revised Mathematical Sciences Courses: (handout)
    Roy Nicolaides presented a proposal to create several new math courses and change the names and descriptions of several existing courses.

    21-325 Probability is intended to replace 36-325, which was previously offered by the Statistics Department. The department has new faculty members who are experts in this area and can better serve the students. The new course has been designed in conjunction with the Statistics Department. The course is also available to non-math majors.

    21-465 Topology & Geometry will replace 21-460 Topology. The department is weak in this area, geometry in particular and feels that this course will help to build a better foundation for the students that what the current topology course offers.

    21-301 Combinatorial Analysis will be renamed Combinatorics.
    21-355/6 Advanced Calculus I/II will be renamed Principles of Real Analysis I/II.

    The department feels that these names better reflect the content of the courses and are in keeping with modern terminology.

    Course descriptions were modified slightly to better reflect the course s=content of 21-341 Linear Algebra, 21-342 Linear Algebra II, and 21-373 Algebraic Structures. COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:
    The proposal was approved unanimously.

  5. Request for Approval of New Courses in Biological Sciences: (handout)
    Beth Jones presented a proposal for two new courses in biological sciences.

    03-450 Cellular and Genetic Mechanisms of Development will be taught by Brooke McCartney and will be similar to Developmental Genetics, but will offer more cellular content. This would present an additional offering in developmental biology.

    03-744 Membrane Trafficking will be run jointly with the University of Pittsburgh and will be taught by Adam Linstedt and a team of Pitt faculty members. The course has been offered previously at Pitt and the department is asking to have it co-listed as a CMU course.

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:
    The proposal was approved unanimously.

  6. MCS General Education Proposal (handout)
    Most colleges at CMU have followed the HSS model of general education, but there has recently been a move for a university-wide general education program. HSS is in the process of revising its general education program, to be renamed the "Integrative Liberal Studies" (ILS) program. The Committee for Undergraduate Affairs created a proposal for a new MCS general education curriculum that would allow more flexibility for our students and compliment the framework established by HSS. They requested that the revisions be included in the 2004 - 2006 catalog.

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:
    This proposal was tabled until there has been time for further discussion.

  7. MCS College Research Honors (handout)
    Eric Grotzinger presented a proposal for revised criteria to be used in determining whether a student graduates with MCS college research honors. The current requirements leave room for interpretation and the Committee for Undergraduate Affairs is seeking to make them more specific and streamline the process for granting honors. The proposal includes the requirement that students register for 38-455 MCS Research Honors in their senior year and submit a form describing the goals of their project (see copy attached to handout).

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION:
    The proposal was approved unanimously.

  8. College Council Minutes
    After each College Council meeting, members and all other MCS faculty will receive an email with a link to the meeting minutes, which are posted on the web site. The body of the email message will include the meeting agenda.