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FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

ACADEMIC REGULATIONS AND CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

A G E N D A

16 September, 2016

Room F214

  1. Associate Dean’s welcome
  2. Curriculum Proposals
  3. Adjournment

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Arts and Science Executive

FRIDAYS FROM 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM ROOM F303

September 9, 2016

September 30, 2016

October 28, 2016

November 11, 2016

November 25, 2016

December 16, 2016

January 13, 2017

February 3, 2017

March 3, 2017

USC Meetings:

September 27th at 10:00 am - Room F214

October 25th at 10:30 am - Room F214

November 8th at 10:30 am - Room F214

November 22nd at 10:30 am - Room F303

December 6th at 10:30 am - Room F214

January 11th at 2:00 pm - Room F214

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April 28, 2017

May 12, 2017

ARCC Meetings:

Friday September 16, 2016 10:00 am Room F214

Friday September 30, 2016 10:00 am Room F214

Friday October 14, 2016 10:00 am Room F214

Friday October 28, 2016 10:00 am Room F214

Friday November 11, 2016 10:00 am Room F214

Friday November 25, 2016 10:00 am Room F214

Friday December 9, 2016 10:00 am Room F214

Friday December 16, 2016 10:00 am Room F214

CURRICULUM PROPOSALS:

BIOLOGY

Motion #1:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive the removal of the anti-requisite from each of PHIL 2716: Bioethics and BIOL 3557: Genetics and Society: Our Genes, Our Choices.

Rationale:

PHIL 2716 and BIOL 3557 are currently listed in the Academic Calendar as anti-requisites. It is the view of the instructors of each of these courses that there is insufficient overlap in the content of the courses to justify the anti-requisite designation. While BIOL 3557, as the title ("Genetics and Society") suggests, focuses primarily on questions of genetic technologies, PHIL 2716 ("Bioethics") deals in addition with questions of euthanasia, consent, dementia and autonomy, and distributive justice in healthcare. These are all important topics generally, and especially for students interested in medical school; there are no grounds for prohibiting students of PHIL 2716 from gaining more advanced experience dealing with specifically genetic issues, nor for preventing students of BIOL3557 from exploring a range of ethical issues in healthcare that are unrelated to genetic science. Further, the material which may be perceived to overlap between the courses is approached from complementary perspectives.

Indeed, since PHIL 2716 has been introduced, several students have expressed an interest in one of these courses despite having already taken the other. In Fall 2015, several students were permitted by Webadvisor to enroll in PHIL 2716 despite having received credit for BIOL 3557 and then had to drop the course upon discovering the anti-requisite designation.

Motion #2:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and ScienceExecutive to approve the Biotech Pathways credit transfer as described in the attached documents.

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

Motion #3:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive the course title for COSC 1901 from Computer Applications for Digital Scholarship to New Media Tools for Researchers and update the course description as follows:

New Course Title: New Media Tools for Researchers

New Course Description:

In this course, students examine New Media, its core concepts and application to research. Students encounter aspects of digital literacy necessary to support the creation of broadly distributed digital resources. They also gain experience using contemporary tools in this process. Emphasis is placed on the demand for information delivery, using diverse media formats, across multiple operating platforms and digital devices. Students further their grasp of course topics through a series of related lab activities.

Old Course Title: ComputerApplications for Digital Scholarship

Old Course Description:

This course examines core concepts and applications for digital scholarship. A primary focus is the creation of easily distributed, text-based digital resources. Context for such distribution is the Web, thus students are required to design and code suitable, standards-based documents using X/HTML and CSS. Extracting information from data will be explored through a number of important concepts in structured problem solving, database management and programming.

Rationale

These course has undergone two minor revisions since 2003. The current proposal has been undertaken to reflect the following:

  • Much research is conducted exclusively in the digital domain.
  • Collaboration among researchers is an expected activity – even at great distances.
  • A diverse range of digital devices and platforms are being used by researchers.
  • Cloud computing has gained broad acceptance as research becomes a 24/7 activity.
  • There is increasing demand for research results to appear in a range of media formats.
  • Research results require an awareness of structure as they too become part of big data.

Motion #4:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive the course title for COSC 1902 fromScripting Applications for Digital Scholarshipto Coding Techniques for Researchers and update the course description as follows:

New Course Title:Coding Techniques for Researchers

New Course Description:

In the evolving world of new media, it is important that students extract information and meaning from large amounts of data. Students learn how to develop and apply programming skills in support of this objective. They also develop coding literacy skills to create interactive websites, read and explain the code structures and query data sources. Through a series of labs, students engage in hands-on activities that support critical course topics.

Old Course Title: Scripting Applications for Digital Scholarship

Old Course Description:

A logical extension of COSC1901 is the addition of website functionality through scripting. To this end, students acquire a useful set of skills by learning to program with JavaScript. Topics include program structure, data types, sequential, conditional and iterative constructs as well as coding, testing and debugging. Application of these skills are accomplished, in part, by creating simple web applications.

Rationale:

These course has undergone two minor revisions since 2003. The current proposal has been undertaken to reflect the following:

  • Much research is conducted exclusively in the digital domain.
  • Collaboration among researchers is an expected activity – even at great distances.
  • A diverse range of digital devices and platforms are being used by researchers.
  • Cloud computing has gained broad acceptance as research becomes a 24/7 activity.
  • There is increasing demand for research results to appear in a range of media formats.
  • Research results require an awareness of structure as they too become part of big data

Motion #5:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive that the contact hours for MATH 2076 Probability & Statistics I be changed from “three hours of lecture and one hour of tutorial per week for one term” to “four hours of in-class instruction per week for one term.”

Rationale:

The present contact hours language implies that the course is scheduled with two 80 minute lectures plus one 50 minute tutorial session per week. With the proposed change, the course will be scheduled with two 110 minute lecture sessions per week. This change will simplify scheduling, and will allow the instructor(s) greater flexibility in structuring the course material and incorporating in-class examples and practice problems, so as to maximize the learning benefits and outcomes for the students. The same contact hour format is already being used in other lower level math courses.

Motion #6:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive that the contact hours for MATH 1070: Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics for Teachers be changed from “three hours of lecture and one hour of tutorial per week” to “four hours of in-class instruction per week.”

Rationale:

The present contact hours language implies that the course is scheduled with two 80 minute lectures plus one 50 minute tutorial session per week. With the proposed change, the course will be scheduled with two 110 minute lecture sessions per week. This change will simplify scheduling, and will allow the instructor(s) greater flexibility in structuring the course material and incorporating in-class examples and practice problems, so as to maximize the learning benefits and outcomes for the students. The same contact hour format is already being used in other lower level math courses.

GEOGRAPHY

Motion #7:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive that the courseGEOG 4997: Human Geography Field Campbe unbanked and restored to the Academic Calendar.

Rationale:

Returning GEOG 4997-Human Geography field camp to active service will increase the variety of our offerings in Geography and may help to attract new students to Nipissing University. Conversations with Student Recruitment-External Relations at Nipissing University suggest that prospective students believe field camps are attractive options.

HISTORY

Motion #8:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executiveto approve the minor modification to the description of hours in HIST 3705: The Holocaust: Nazi Germany, World War II and the Genocide of European Jews from "two hours of lecture and one hour of seminar per week" to "three hours of lecture per week."

Rationale

The modified description of the delivery pattern reflects how the course is actually taught.

GENDER

Motion #9:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executivethat GEND 3306: Ideas of Power be removed from Group 2.

Rationale:

As a required course for GESJ majors and honours students, GEND 3306 should not be included in any of the groups.Students who do a specialization can still count the course toward their upper level requirements.

Motion #10:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executivethat GEND 1025: Introduction to Gender, Equality and Social Justicebe listed as an anti-requisite for GEND 1006: Introduction to Gender, Power and Justice.

Rationale:

GESJ’s introductory course was originally a 6-credit course. We have since changed this to a 3-credits course (GEND 1006), but there is considerable overlap in content.GEND 1006 uses many of the same readings and assignments as GEND 1025.

Motion #11:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive that GEND 2036: Gender and Environmental Justice be changed to “Environmental Justice.”

Rationale:

This course focuses equally on race, class, gender and sexuality, therefore we would like the course title to reflect these intersectional priorities.

Motion #12:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive that the Degree Requirements for Honours Specialization and Specialization degrees in Gender Equality and Social Justice be changed from 6-credits at the 1000-level and 27 credits of GEND upper level courses to 3-credits of GEND 1006 and 30 credits of GEND upper level courses.

Rationale:

GESJ’s 1000-level course was changed from 6 credits to 3 credits. This change to the degree requirements reflects this modification.

Motion #13:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive that the Degree Requirements for Majors in Gender Equality and Social Justice be changed from 6-credits at the 1000-level and 12 credits of GEND upper level courses to 3-credits of GEND 1006 and 15 credits of GEND upper level courses.

Motion #14:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive that the requirements for a minor in Gender Equality and Social Justice changes from 6 credits at the 1000-level and 12 credits upper level to 3 credits of GEND 1006 and 15 credits GEND upper level.

Rationale:

GESJ’s 1000-level course was changed from 6 credits to 3 credits. This change to the degree requirements reflects this modification.

Motion #15:

______, seconded by ______that ARCC recommend to the Arts and Science Executive that the Department of Gender Equality and Social Justice change its name to the Department of Social Justice Studies.

Rationale:

Over time, the Department of Gender Equality and Social Justice has come to focus equally on race, class, gender, sex, sexuality and colonization. We no longer believe that it is necessary to single out one category as a departmental priority, although gender and feminist analysis will remain integral to our course offerings. We believe that the Department of Social Justice Studies better reflects our current courses and future vision for the department. This name change will not require any changes to the department’s graduation requirements, program requirements, breadth requirements, courses, learning objectives or learning outcomes.

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