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MCS College Council
May 14, 2008

In attendance:
Fred Gilman
Gregg Franklin
Eric Grotzinger
Sharon McCarl
Hyung Kim
Roy Nicolaides
Steve Garoff
Amy Burkert
David Yaron
Rea Freeland
Michael Picollelli

  1. Approval Request for new Undergraduate Courses
    • Independent Study in Chemistry (09-435) (handout)

    Hyung Kim presented a proposal for a new independent study course in Chemistry. The number of units is variable from 1-12. Currently, Chemistry students who want to do an independent study sign up for Research in Chemistry or take the Independent Study course offered through the Department of Biological Sciences.

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The proposal was approved unanimously.
  2. Approval for new Undergraduate Courses
    • Modern Organic Chemistry I & II (09-219 & 09-220) (handout)

    Hyung Kim presented a proposal for two new organic chemistry courses: 09-219 Modern Organic Chemistry I and 09-220 Modern Organic Chemistry II. The Chemistry Department currently offers 09-217 Organic Chemistry I and 09-218 Organic Chemistry II. These courses are required for Chemistry students, Biological Sciences students, and students in the Health Professions Program (HPP). The enrollment in these courses is currently too large to be taught in a single session, so the Chemistry Department offers two sections of the course.

    The new Modern Organic Sequence will replace the section section of the original 09-217/218 sequence. It will be required for Chemistry majors. Biological Sciences students and HPP students will have the option to take either organic chemistry sequence. Both sequences will be taught in parallel and the same text will be used.

    The difference between the two sequences is that the Modern Organic courses are 10 unit classes with 4 hours of lecture per week and one non-mandatory recitation. The additional lecture will be used to present research topics related to concepts that are presented in class. Since the Modern Organic sequence is required for all Chemistry majors, students who transfer into the Chemistry Department after taking the 09-217/218 sequence will be required to make up the additonal lecture by enrolling in one unit of Independent Study. It has not been decided how the additional material will be made up (i.e. supplemental materials/readings, exams, watching online video of the additional lecture, etc.)

    The following questions were addressed:

    Is it essential that students who transfer into Chemistry after taking 09-217/218 make up the additional unit?

    • If students are not required to make up the additional unit, there may be students who will wait until after they complete 09-217/218 to declare Chemistry as their major.
    • In the Physics department, students who take Physics for Science Students rather than Matter & Interaction are not required to make up the additional work, but in this case both courses are the same number of units.

    Will this have significan impact on the chemistry facult teaching load?

    • It should be essentially the same teaching load because currently there are two section of Organic Chemistry and they are taught by two different faculty members.

    Will the lectures from Organic Chemistry and Modern Organic Chemistry cover the same material?

    • While the same textbook will be used, the course content will be slightly different.
    • It would be too difficult to coordinate the two courses.
    • The courses will have different exams.

    Is it possible for students to switch from 09-219 to 09-217?

    • Since Chemistry majors are required to take the Modern Organic sequence, they will not be allowed to switch.
    • Non-Chemistry majors may switch, but the courses are not offered at the same time, so it may be hard for them to fit it into their schedules. This problem may be minimized by scheduling 09-217 at 8:30am

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: Approved a one and a half year pilot. The courses will be reevaluated in January 2010
  3. Approval for new Undergraduate Courses
    • New Degree Program, Combined BS/MS in Bioorganic Chemistry (handout)

    Hyung Kim presented a proposal for a new combined BS/MS program in Bioorganic Chemistry. This proposal came before College Council on May 14, 2007 and was sent back to the department with the request to benchmark against other Masters programs and to increase the rigor of the program.

    This is a 4-year program in Bioorganic Chemistry. Students in this program are required to take 5 graduate-level courses. Students must complete 30 units of research and two summers of 8-12 weeks of full time work. Research begins in the sophomore year and must be of substantial quantity to write and defend a Masters level thesis during the senior year.

    the structure of the program is similar to the BS/MS degree in Chemistry, which is already in existence. Students can typically earn the degree in 4 years. Students who graduate from this program will have a B.S. in Chemistry and a Masters in Bioorganic Chemistry.

    The following concerns were raised:

    • The requirements for this degree may not fall within the University's guidelines for a Masters degree.
    • Students who do summer research must be paid; therefore, students in this program must choose advisors who will be able to pay them during the summer.
    • 2 of the 5 graduate courses can be taken at the undergraduate level. This makes the program less rigorous. The wording that the program requires 5 graduate courses on the first page of the proposal should be changed to state that only 3 of the 5 graduate courses need to be at the 09-7xx level or higher.
    • The total number of units to graduate with a BS/MS degree is 400. However, in order to receive two Bachelors degrees from Carnegie Mellon, a student must have a minimum of 450 units.
    • If this degree program is approved, there could be a proliferation of other degree programs similar to this one. Is this the right direction for MCS?
    • Is there any difference between this degree program and the existing BS/MS but choosing to take Bioorganic elective courses?
    • Are students more marketable with this degree?

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The council requests that the proposal be revisited in Fall 2008 with the following information in mind:

    1. What are the University's rules regarding Masters programs?
    2. What purpose does this sort of degree program serve across the college?
    3. Do students receive one degree or two?
    4. Are students more marketable with this type of degree? Will this help our students get jobs?

  4. Approval Request for new Graduate Courses
    • Ethics & Communication Issues in Scientific Research (09-217) (handout)
    • The Chemistry of Gene Expression (09-803) (handout)

    Hyung Kim presented two new courses for Chemistry:

    09-712 Ethics & Communication Issues in Scientific Research will be offered every other year and will be taught by Catalina Achim and Rongchao Jin. The content will deal with ethics issues related to conducting scientific research and result reporting.

    09-803 The Chemistry of Gene Expression is an advanced course that was piloted by Subha Das in Fall 2006. This course will examine the basis of biological reactions required for the propagation of genetic information stored in DNA. The only concern that was raised is that this course is currently being offered at the same time as Molecular Biology, and there are students who are taking Molecular Biology who are also interested in taking this course.

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The new courses were approved unanimously.

  5. Renumbering of 21-229 (Set Theory) to 21-329 (handout)

    Roy Nicolaides presented a proposal to change the Set Theory course number from 21-229 to 21-329. The motivation behind the switch is that a large number of sophomores were enrolling in this course and doing poorly. The content of the course is taught at a junior level. It was suggested that a higher course number might not deter students from registering. Junior standing will be added as a prerequisite for the course.

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The proposal was approved unanimously with the modification that junior standing be added as a prerequisite.

  6. New graduate level courses in Discrete Mathematics

    Roy Nicolaides presented a proposal for two new graduate level courses in combinatorics.

    The two proposed courses will be offered in alternating years in the spring and provide students in the Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization (ACO) PHD program with more courses in the are of Discrete Mathematics. The target audience is ACO students from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, the School of Computer Science, and Tepper School of Business, as well as undergraduates in the honors program.

    Michael Picollelli, a current ACO student, stated that he belives that these courses would be widely received and that they would be useful for students who want to do research in these areas.

    COLLEGE COUNCIL ACTION: The courses were approved unanimously.