Academic Programs Committee Reports

UNIVERSITY COUNCIL
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS COMMITTEE
FOR INFORMATION ONLY

PRESENTED BY: Geoff Hughes, Chair, Academic Programs Committee
DATE OF MEETING: October 24, 2002
SUBJECT: Academic Programs Committee Report
COUNCIL ACTION: For information only

New Philosophy Minors
Under the policy approved by Council at its April, 2002 meeting, the Academic Programs Committee now approves new Minors in a new field of specialization, and reports this to Council.
APC has approved the following new Minors to be offered by the Department of Philosophy, College of Arts and Science, in new fields of specialization:

Philosophy, Science and Technology A Minor in Philosophy, Science and Technology provides a basic cross-disciplinary grounding in thought pertaining to the origins, nature, ethical dimensions, and social impact of science and technology. Course requirements: PHIL 226, 236, 251, and 15 cu selected from PHIL 234, 455, HIST 283, 284, 383, 483, SOC 292, 323.
Philosophy, Science and Biotechnology A Minor in Philosophy, Science and Biotechnology provides a basic cross-disciplinary grounding in thought pertaining to the nature of biotechnology, its social impact, and the ethical issues it engenders. Course requirements: PHIL 236, 226 or 234, BTECH 200, 300, and 9 cu from PHIL 226, 234, 455, BTECH 301, 400, AG EC 292. COMM 346. SOC 292, 323.
Students may receive recognition for only one of the department�s minor programs.

Other items for information

1. Curricular changes
The following curricular proposals are under review by Council committees:
New programs
Principals� Diploma (College of Graduate Studies and Research)
PhD in Community Health and Epidemiology (College of Graduate Studies and Research)
BA Four-year and Honours in Indigenous Peoples and Justice in Sociology (College of Arts and Science)
BA Four-year and Honours in Aboriginal Public Administration (College of Arts and Science)

Program revisions with budgetary implications
MBA (College of Graduate Studies and Research)
Recommendations on these proposals will be presented to an upcoming Council meeting.
For regular updates on the progress of curricular change proposals through Council committees, see the Update chart - Academic items on Council committee agendas 2002-2003 which is now posted in the Reports section of the Academic Programs Committee website
[http://www.usask.ca/university_council/acad_prog/reports/09-25-02.shtml]
2. Service Courses
At the request of a college, the committee is reviewing policies related to service courses, including issues of authority for course content, instruction and administration, and resolution of disputes. Any recommended changes in policy will be brought to Council for discussion.
3. Registration in two colleges
The College of Graduate Studies and Research asked APC to review whether students should be allowed to register in two colleges at the same time. APC agreed that it would not recommend a change in university policy at this time, and confirmed that the existing procedures used by CGSR to handle occasional students who are taking both graduate and undergraduate programs should be maintained.
4. Aboriginal language instruction
As requested by Council in its approval of the Aboriginal Goal report last May, APC is beginning a review of Aboriginal language instruction on campus.
_______________________________
G.R. Hughes, Chair
Academic Programs Committee of Council

Committee members:
G. Beck, Economics
J. Brooke, Mathematics and Statistics
R. Cooley, English
R. Kushwaha, Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering
S. Reid, Chemistry
S. Robinson, Education
N. Senior, Languages and Linguistics
R. Warrington, Biochemistry
TBA (Sessional lecturer)
Blair McDaid (USSU)
Robert Peterson-Wakeman (GSA)
Associate Vice-President David Hannah
Acting Registrar Richard Schick
P. Melis, Office of the Vice-President Academic
C. Fornssler, secretary