S-97-15 FACULTY OF SCIENCE Meeting of Faculty Tuesday, November 11, 1997 Leacock Council Room - L232 ATTENDANCE: As recorded in the Faculty Appendix Book. DOCUMENTS: S-97-13, S-97-14 Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. (1) MINUTES OF OCTOBER 7, 1997 S-97-13 Prof. GowriSankaran moved, seconded by Prof. Paquette, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried. (2) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES There was no business arising from the minutes. (3) ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements. (4) REPORTS OF COMMITTEES a) Academic Committee S-97-14 AD HOC MINOR IN ENGLISH LITERATURE (AC-97-9) Prof. Paquette moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the ad hoc Minor in English Literature for Ms. Alison McCook be approved. The motion carried. MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS 304.1 Dean Shaver said that the purpose of the following B.A. program proposals was to conform with the new multi- track curriculum approved by the Faculty of Arts, and that these were presented to the Faculty of Science for information only. - B.A. MAJOR CONCENTRATION IN MATHEMATICS (AC-97-10) (for information) - B.A. MINOR CONCENTRATION IN MATHEMATICS (AC-97-11) (for information) - B.A. MINOR CONCENTRATION IN STATISTICS (AC-97-12) (for information) 304.2 Associate Dean de Takacsy said that the above programs had been approved by the Faculty of Arts, and by NRCP. McGILL SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT (MSE) - PROF. N. ROULET New Programs: - A MAJOR IN ENVIRONMENT, B.A. (AC-97-13) (for information) - A MAJOR IN ENVIRONMENT, B.Sc. (AC-97-14) 304.3 Prof. Roulet described the programs, and answered members' questions. Prof. Roulet moved, seconded by Prof. Mucci, that the B.Sc. Major in Environment be adopted. The motion carried. - A MINOR IN ENVIRONMENT, B.Sc. (AC-97-15) 304.4 Prof. Roulet briefly described the proposed B.Sc. Minor in Environment program. 304.5 In response to a question, Dean Shaver said that there were ongoing discussions within the Academic Committee concerning the current 24-credit requirement for Science Minors, versus the 18-credit Minor requirement for Arts programs. Dean Shaver said that the MSE was a tri-faculty initiative, and that the proposed 18-credit Minor in Environment would be consistent with the credit requirements in the Faculty of Arts. Prof. Roulet moved, seconded by Prof. Mucci, that the B.Sc. Minor in Environment be adopted. The motion carried. - A DIPLOMA IN ENVIRONMENT (AC-97-16) 304.6 Prof. Roulet said that the proposed Diploma program has been adapted from the current Diploma in Environmental Studies program, and he clarified members' questions. Prof. Roulet moved, seconded by Mr. Bales-Kogan, that the Diploma in Environment be adopted. The motion carried. - LIST OF APPROVED COURSES (AC-97-21) 304.7 Prof. Roulet said that the List of Approved Courses was derived from the current Environmental Studies Program, and that the MSE had been instructed by the Academic Committees of the Faculties of Science, and of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and by the Curriculum Committee of the Faculty of Arts, to modify the list. He said that the MSE would be working together with the Environmental Studies Program Committee and with relevant departments. 304.8 Prof. Roulet recommended that the list be updated in the next two to three months; this amount of time would be needed, since there are 36 departments involved. The MSE will then present the final list. 304.9 Prof. Roulet moved, seconded by Prof. Kramer, that the List of Approved Courses be adopted, pending redesign. The motion carried. New Courses: MSE-200A/B The Global Environment: A Systems Approach (AC-97-17) 3 credits MSE-201A/B Society and Environment (AC-97-18) 3 credits MSE-202A/B The Evolving Earth (AC-97-19) 3 credits MSE-203A/B Knowledge, Ethics & Environment (AC-97-20) 3 credits 304.10 In reply to a question concerning possible overlap/equivalency of the proposed MSE courses with the current Environmental Studies courses, Prof. Roulet said that the MSE had met with the Environmental Studies Program Committee to examine the existing courses and the proposed MSE courses. Prof. Mucci moved, seconded by Prof. Bell, that the above MSE courses be adopted. The motion carried. 304.11 Dean Shaver thanked Prof. Roulet and the MSE for arranging such a comprehensible approach. 304.12 In response to Associate Dean de Takacsy regarding the future status of the Environmental Studies (ES) program, Prof. Roulet said that it would be inappropriate for him to discuss it in detail, since he is not the Coordinator of this program. He said that the Coordinator of the ES program, Prof. M. Lechowicz, had sent a letter to the four deans involved with the ES program to notify them of the general concepts that had been discussed concerning winding down the ES program, and beginning to work on incorporating it into the MSE program. The departments (Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, Biology, Earth & Planetary Sciences, and Geography) involved with the current ES joint majors programs have been informed about phasing out the joint majors; all these departments are involved in bringing in domains to the MSE. (5) DEAN'S BUSINESS There was no Dean's business. (6) MEMBERS' QUESTION PERIOD There were no questions. (7) REPORT ON ACTIONS OF SENATE* Prof. de Takacsy - Senate Meeting of October 15, 1997. Resolutions were adopted on the deaths of Professor Edward Furcha and George Zames. Senate briefly resumed the discussion of the report of the Workgroup on the Management of the Bookstore. Professor Archibald presented a two page annual report of the Senate Bookstore Committee. One page summarized the discussions of the Committee regarding the management of the bookstore, including a motion which the Committee had adopted last April to the effect that "the University shelve any proposal to outsource the management of the bookstore sine die" and a second page consisted of quotations from three members of the committee. Professor Noumoff and Mr. Ham moved the Committee motion. After a lengthy discussion, the motion was withdrawn. Vice-Principal Heaphy presented the 1996-97 Financial Report. Senate approved a number of honorary degrees. The Board Committee on the Regulations Concerning Sexual Harassment introduced a change to the regulations. After a thorough discussion, an amended motion was approved which changes the composition of the hearing committee (Articles 10.4.x of the Regulations Relating to the Employment of Academic Staff) in cases where the complainant is a student. The member selected by Principal will now be selected on the advice of the Dean of Students from among the student members of the Committee on Student Discipline. Professor Jane Glenn presented the 15th Annual Report of the University Appeals Committee. Case 1: failure to follow proper procedures; hearing on the merits; tenure granted. Case 2: failure to follow proper procedures; hearing on the merits; tenure denied. Case 3: appeal deemed abandoned because the appellant had moved to another institution. Among the lessons to be learned are the following: Communications between the Chair, the Dean and the Principal must be governed by the Regulations. Committees must provide sufficiently clear reasons for 'tending negative' to allow the candidate to prepare adequately for the hearing. Committee members who are absent for a substantive meeting cannot participate in the subsequent decision making. Items, including minority reports, cannot be added or subtracted from a committee report without having been seen by all the signatories of the report. Senate adjourned at 5:45. Prof. Baines will report on the Senate Meeting of November 5, 1997, at the Faculty of Science meeting on December 2, 1997. *Senate documents are available in the Dean's Secretariat for consultation. (8) OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business. The meeting adjourned at 3:35 p.m. f:\usr\josie\facsci\fmn7nf