UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE(1993-94)
Information Providers:
(Chair) Muhammad Ishaq Zahid (ZAHIDI), MACS, 953-7895
(Secretary) Conway Saylor (Saylorc), PSYC
NOTE: The mission statement is at the end of this file.
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MINUTES OF THE FEB. 15, 1994 MEETING
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BY Dr. Conway Saylor
(need approval from the committee)
IN ATTENDANCE:
Patrick Briggs, Joe Epple, Kathy Haldane, F.D. Frohlich, Lisa Zuraw,
Josey Templeton, Conway Saylor, John Murden, Clark Bowman, Betsey Carter,
Ishaq Zahid, Col. Askins, Jack Rhodes
ABSENT: James Rembert, JH Wittschen, Bill Rhett,Tod Baker
SESSION TIME: 11:05 AM - 12:23 PM
LOCATION: CAPERS HALL, 207
1. Minutes (actions) of Dec. 13 meeting were approved as presented.
2. Proposal for new course HIST 435, "Scotland Since 1707" was introduced
by the History Department as an elective. The motion to approve passed
unanimously.
3. The request for the deletion of HIST 471, 472 and 474 was granted
unanimously. These topics may be covered under HIST 492, Special Topics
in American History.
4. The following changes in course numbers and name were also unanimously
approved:
Change HIST 271, The Old West, to HIST 403, The American West
Change HIST 261, History of Naval Warfare, to HIST 482, same name
5. Dr. Rhodes, Director of Honors Program presented HONR 400, Honors
Directed Research Project, 3 credits. The course can be taken in more
than one semester per agreement with advisor and research mentor.
Discussion focused on how credit hours were determined for research in
different departments. Motion was unanimously approved.
6. The Electrical Engineering Department requested approval of a series of
changes in their curriculum, with changes to become effective in the
1994-95 year. The proposal was presented by Dr. Askins, the Department Head.
Item 5.b was ammended on recommendation of Dr. Templeton of PE to read
"250(2,0) and RPED 251(2,0) respectively."
Dr. Briggs from the Physics Department raised concerns about item 2, dropping
PHYS 211 and PHYS 261. He pointed out that 211 is exactly the course EE majors
could most use due to the fact that the most relevant content to an EE major
is in that segment. The question is whether ELEC 318, an already difficult
course, can "absorb" knowledge missed. If this is the case, perhaps a course
revision for ELEC 318 should be required to show how this can be accomplished.
An excerpt from a book was distributed by Dr. Briggs to underscore the
importance of having the theoretical underpinnings adequately covered.
Another concern was that PHYS 211 is the center piece in a sequence meant to
be seen as a whole. Curricula for other programs in state (Clemson, USC) and
Ga. state were cited to demonstrate that the content of PHYS 211 is a
standard requirement for EE majors.
Dr. Askins responded by emphasizing that this decision is not made lightly.
The problem with EE majors having heavy academic loads is enormous, and
has to be dealt with. Because this material can be compensated in other courses
dropping this was seen as the way to accomplish load reduction while doing
least harm. The Physics Department considered possibility of condensing
3 segments into 2, but would not want to lose depth of other 2 segments.
Clarification was requested from Dr. Briggs re: whether PHYS 211 was a
prerequistite and under what circumstances a student can go from PHYS 210
to PHYS 212 without special permission. Catalog does not indicate that 211
is mandatory in the middle spot of the sequence. Dr. Briggs restated his
concern that Physics faculty are best prepared to introduce crucial background
info. Five weeks or whatever part of another EE course would not , in his
opinion, be adequate time to teach this material. Dr. Briggs also mentioned
that dropping PHYS 211 will also effect the Physics Department by a 1/4 FTE.
He also said that Physics was not consulted early on. It was requested that
if other departments (e.g. CE) are considering same or similar action to
please infrom Physics with time to respond. Dr. Zahid (Chair) indicated a
CE proposal did come in late and is similar.
Dr. Briggs made a motion to table the EE proposal. It was seconded by Dr.
Frohlich. The motion passed with two opposed.
It is expected that the Physics, EE, and perhaps CE will try to meet to
discuss further.
The motion to adjourn passed unanimously at 12:23 pm.
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MINUTES (ACTIONS): DEC. 13, 1993 MEETING
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IN ATTENDANCE:
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Patrick Briggs, Joe Epple, Kathy Haldane, F.D. Frohlich, Lisa Zuraw,
Josey Templeton, Conway Saylor, John Murden, Tod Baker, Clark Bowman, Bill
Rhett, Betsey Carter, Ishaq Zahid.
Steve Comer and Margaret Francel (non-members to present Math &
Computer Sc. Department proposals)
ABSENT: James Rembert, JH Wittschen
SESSION TIME: 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM
LOCATION: CAPERS HALL, 207
1. Minutes (actions) of Nov. 11 meeting were approved as presented.
2. The form for "PROPOSAL FOR A NEW COURSE" was approved with amendment
with one abstention, See attached.
3. The form for "PROPOSAL FOR A NEW MINOR" was unanimously approved, as
amended. See attached.
4. BIOL 424, 4 credits, 3 lecture hours, 3 lab hours, was approved as
presented with 1 abstention, 1 against.
A concern was raised by Pat Briggs about having the lab and lecture type
of course under the same course number.
5. SOCI 210, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SOCIAL LIFE, 3 credits, by the Political
Science Department. This new course will be a social science core curriculum
option. It was approved with one opposed. A comment by Bill Rhett was made
that the title is very broad and does not adequately reflect the content.
Perhaps a suitable title is SOCIAL SCIENCES and Its Research Methods.
6. Several proposals from the Math and Computer Sc. department were taken
up. Some minor changes in course numbers, titles, and pre-requisite changes
were unanimously approved. For Math 381, it was recommended to add Math
234 as a possible pre-requisite as well. These proposals were unanimously
approved.
Another set of proposals for description changes with a minor
editorial change in Math 105 were also unanimously approved.
Proposal for description and name change in CSCI-450 was unanimously
approved. Proposal for content switch for Math 343 & 344 was also approved
unanimously. Proposal to change the credit hours from 3 to 4 with an editorial
change in contents for CSCI-201 & 202 were also unanimously approved.
MATH 480, a new course, Readings in Math, 3 credits, was approved
unanimously.
MATH 485, a new course, Topics in Math, 3 credits, was approved
unanimously.
CSCI 485, a new course, Topics in Computer Sc., 3 credits, was approved
unanimously.
CSCI-205, a new course, Programming in C with Unix, 3 credits was
approved with 2 opposed. A comment by Joe Epple was made about removing
Unix from the course, since it may present an added difficulty to the
students.
CSCI-490, a new course, Internship, was approved unanimously.
The proposal for a minor in Applied Math was then presented by Prof.
Comer. Lisa Zuraw felt that students with Math 106/107 background may not
be adequately prepared to take up the higher level courses as compared to
students who take Math 131/132. The minor was approved with one abstention.
7. PSYC 463, a new course, Special Topics in Psycology, 3 credits, was
unanimously approved.
8. Request by the Chemistry department to delete CHEM 414 was unanimously
granted.
9. HONR 400, a new course, Honors Directed Research Project, 3 credits,
was tabled. Prof. Rhodes will be invited to present the course in the
next meeting.
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Please note:
*Next meeting will be held on Feb. 15 at 11:00 am in Capers 207.
Deadline for proposals is set to Feb. 7, 1994.
* Pat Briggs will chair the subcommittee on the Assessment Issues of the Core
Curriculum.
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MINUTES (ACTIONS): NOV. 11, 1993 MEETING
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IN ATTENDANCE:
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Patrick Briggs, Joe Epple, John Coussons, Kathy Haldane,
James Rembert, F.D. Frohlich, Lisa Zuraw, Josey Templeton, Conway Saylor,
John Murden, Tod Baker, Clark Bowman, Betsey Carter, Ishaq Zahid.
SESSION TIME: 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM
LOCATION: CAPERS HALL, 207
1. A subcommittee to consider issues relating to the assessment of the
Core Curriculum was formed. Members of the subcommittee are:
Bill Rhett, F.D. Frohlich, and Patrick Briggs
The members were chosen so as to represent the three "clusters".
2. A new course, BIOL 423, Medical Microbiology, was unanimously approved.
3. A new course, BIOL 424, Molecular Genetics, was unanimously conditionally
approved, with the restraint that the breakdown of contact hours for lecture
and lab be provided by the next meeting.
4. A new course, SOCI-210, Social Sciences and Social Life, was proposed by
the Political Science department. Further discussion will be taken up in the
next meeting.
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Next meeting will be held on Dec. 13 at 1:00 pm in Capers 207.