S-97-21 FACULTY OF SCIENCE Meeting of Faculty Tuesday, January 27, 1998 Leacock Council Room - L232 ATTENDANCE: As recorded in the Faculty Appendix Book. DOCUMENTS: S-97-18 to S-97-20 Dean Shaver called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m., and thanked members for coming to the meeting. (1) MINUTES OF DECEMBER 2, 1997 S-97-18 Prof. Barrette moved, seconded by Prof. ThÇrien, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried. (2) BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES Minute 404.8-404.9, Biochemistry 507-454A (AC-97-67) 502.1 With regard to the description for this course, Associate Dean de Takascy said he had not yet consulted with the Department of Biochemistry, but that he would report back at the next Faculty meeting. (3) ANNOUNCEMENTS 503.1 Dean Shaver said that members should keep track of losses from the ice storm, and report them. 503.2 Dean Shaver mentioned the communication that had been circulated regarding the rescheduling of classes on weekends. 503.3 Dean Shaver said that at the Chairs' meeting the previous Friday, there had been a request that departmental safety committees consider the implications of the ice storm with respect to policy, particularly with respect to limiting damage to temperature-sensitive materials, such as those of a chemical and biological nature. The safety committees should also be involved in the creation of telephone chains, and in the generation of a plan to monitor buildings with the aim of limiting damage. The safety committees would therefore be integrated into the disaster response. The safety committees would also be integrated with the Physical Plant and Security personnel. There were not enough Security personnel to respond to all the requests from faculty members who wished to check on various items in McGill buildings. Moreover, these requests were not coordinated. Telephone chains would be created to coordinate the times of faculty members' entering buildings. These chains would possibly involve departmental chairs, chairs of safety committees, and building directors. Some sort of security clearance should be given to such people to facilitate entry to buildings; they would also serve as a liaison with Security personnel. 503.4 In response to a question concerning the chances of receiving payment for damages, and whether it was worthwhile for faculty members to put in time filing claims, Dean Shaver said he thought that if an invoice for damaged items was available, it would be worth filing a claim. He said that he did not know who would be paying for any claims - it could possibly be Hydro Quebec, the federal or provincial governments, or McGill's insurance. 503.5 In response to a member's suggestion that there should be a clearing house to coordinate requests for and availability of equipment such as generators, Dean Shaver mentioned a 500 kW generator in Burnside Hall that had not been used in the last two blackouts. He said that departmental safety committees should coordinate the availability of generators with Physical Plant. 503.6 In response to a member who said he found "appalling" the university's communication with its staff concerning McGill's being open/closed, Dean Shaver said that the deans had already made such representation to the higher levels of the university's administration, and that the university was vowing to do better in the future. Dean Shaver said that by Thursday evening the university was not in control of the situation, nor in control of its electric power. 503.7 Several members, as well as the Dean, mentioned admirable efforts made by various university staff in dealing with the crisis and its aftereffects. 503.8 It was generally agreed that lines of communication and coordination, as well as procedures for dealing with emergencies should be vastly improved. Dean Shaver said that improvements should be initiated on a departmental level, by safety committees. In any emergency, a safety committee representative could then coordinate with McGill's Security staff. (4) REPORTS OF COMMITTEES a) Committee on Student Standing (CSS) S-97-19 504.1 Associate Dean de Takacsy said there had been a CSS meeting on December 16, 1997. He said there had been two requests for readmission, both of which had been refused by the committee. Associate Dean de Takacsy thanked Prof. Crawford for chairing the Committee on Student Standing in Associate Dean de Takacsy's absence. b) Academic Committee S-97-20 REPORT ON MINOR COURSE CHANGES (AC-97-71) (for information) AD HOC JOINT MAJOR IN BIOLOGY & RELIGIOUS STUDIES (AC-97-72) 504.2 The question was raised as to whether this should indeed be an ad hoc joint major or two separate major programs. Prof. Kramer moved, seconded by Prof. Barrette, that the above ad hoc joint major for Ms. Caroline Kim be approved. 504.3 Dean Shaver suggested that after approval of the motion, Associate Dean de Takacsy could consult with Professors Farrell and Rigelhof to work out the most appropriate means of handling this particular case. The motion carried. SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE Course retirement: 308-100A,B Popular Computing (AC-97-73) 3 credits Prof. ThÇrien moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above course be retired. The motion carried. 308-350A Numerical Computing (AC-97-74) 3 credits Change in administering faculty. Prof. ThÇrien moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above change in administering faculty be approved. The motion carried. New Course: 308-560A Graph Algorithms and Applications (AC-97-75) 3 credits Prof. ThÇrien moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above course be adopted. The motion carried. - BSc Major/Honours/Minor (AC-97-77) Prof. ThÇrien moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above changes be approved. The motion carried. New Course: 308-700A Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination (AC-97-78) 4 credits Prof. ThÇrien moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above course be adopted. The motion carried. New Course: 308-701A,B,C, Thesis Proposal and Area L,T Examination (AC-97-79) 4 credits Prof. ThÇrien moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above course be adopted. The motion carried. MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY - Major, Honours & Faculty (AC-97-80) Prof. GowriSankaran moved, seconded by Prof. Mysak, that the above changes be approved. The motion carried. PSYCHOLOGY 204-333A Personality and Social Psychology (AC-97-81) 3 credits Change in course description. Prof. White moved, seconded by Prof. ThÇrien, that the above change be approved. The motion carried. - BSc (Major, Faculty & Honours) (AC-97-83) Prof. White moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above changes be approved. The motion carried. GEOGRAPHY (for information) - BA Major Concentration in Geography (AC-97-84) - BA Major Concentration in Geography(Urban Systems) (AC-97-85) - BA Minor Concentration in Geography (AC-97-86) MINORS OFFERED BY OTHER FACULTIES (AC-97-87) (for information) Associate Dean de Takacsy briefly outlined document AC- 97-87. SCIENCE MINORS WITHIN THE BSC 504.4 The following motion had been approved at the Academic Committee meeting of December 9, 1997. 504.5 "Minor programs would normally consist of at least 18 credits. Normally, no overlap with the degree program is allowed, except as otherwise specified in the specific Minor." Prof. Barrette moved, seconded by Prof. GowriSankaran, that the above motion be approved by Faculty. The motion carried. MINOR CONCENTRATION IN SCIENCE FOR ARTS STUDENTS (AC-97-88) Prof. Kramer moved, seconded by Prof. Rigelhof, that the above changes be approved. The motion carried. ARTS MINOR CONCENTRATIONS FOR SCIENCE STUDENTS (Approved by APPC) (AC-97-92) - Art History (AC-97-38) - Classics (AC-97-39) - English - Literature (AC-97-89) - Drama and Theatre (AC-97-93) - Cultural Studies (AC-97-94) - Langue et LittÇrature Franáaises (AC-97-61) - Lettres - Lettres et traduction - Langue et LittÇrature Franáaises - Langue et traduction - ThÇorie et critique littÇraires - Sociology (AC-97-90) Prof. GowriSankaran moved, seconded by Prof. Mysak, that the above Minor Concentrations for Science students be adopted. The motion carried. EARTH & PLANETARY SCIENCES New Course: 186-225A Properties of Minerals (AC-97-95) 1 credit Prof. Mysak moved, seconded by Prof. Rigelhof, that the above course be adopted. The motion carried. BIOLOGY New Course Not Approved: 177-453B Neotropical Environments (AC-97-98) 3 credits 504.6 Dean Shaver suggested that the course be tabled until the next Faculty meeting, when it should be submitted with an appendix providing the course descriptions of all the corequisites. (5) DEAN'S BUSINESS There was no Dean's business. (6) MEMBERS' QUESTION PERIOD 506.1 The issues of the reorganization of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and of the untimely death of its president were raised. Dean Shaver directed members to a Web site (http://www.innovation.ca), and to Professors D. Burns and B. Marchessault, both of the Department of Chemistry. (7) REPORT ON ACTIONS OF SENATE* Prof. Rigelhof - Senate Meeting of December 3, 1997. Professor Rigelhof commented that because of the lateness of the hour, he would give an abbreviated report. Senate considered the 295th and the 296th reports of the APPC. With respect to the 295th report of the APPC, Senate approved guidelines for the development of a teaching portfolio. Senate also approved the new program, Minor in Agricultural Economics. The 296th report of the APPC was concerned mainly with the new multitrack programs in the Faculty of Arts. 33 programs were presented and approved. In the discussion which followed, some senators expressed concern about the ability of the faculty to provide adequate course offerings. They noted the large number of bulleted courses in the calendar and expressed concern about resources for academic programs. Senate approved the report of the nominating committee and received the reports on the administrative and support staff counts and full-time academic staffing changes. Senate also received a report from the Board of Governors containing regulations concerning complaints of sexual harassment and the new conflict of interest policy. *Senate documents are available in the Dean's Secretariat for consultation. (8) OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business. The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m. f:\usr\josie\facsci\fmn7jf