Dean’s Office
750.450.70.1
BSc. PROGRAMS COMMITTEE MEETING
DIVISION OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES, COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Monday, November 9th 2009
3:00pm - 4:40pm
Dean’s Conference Room (B103.11), Health Sciences Building
In Attendance:
Dr. M. Pato (Chair)-Biochemistry; Dr. N. Ovsenek-Assoc. Dean, BMSC; Dr. C. Havele - Microbiology; Dr. K. Desai- Pharmacology; Dr. P. Lee -Physiology; Dr. B. Verma-Research Coordinator, Arts & Science; Dr. K. Anderson; -Physiology; M. Webster- Administrative Coordinator; L. Ferguson-Clerical Assistant
Apologies:
Dr. P. Krone-Anatomy & Cell Biology
The following changes to the agenda were suggested:
· Item 3 (Business Arising from the Minutes) - “Experience US” and “Fact Sheet and Pamphlet Revision” are now to be discussed under Item 4 (Items for Discussion - “Recruitment”).
· Item 5 (Other Business) – discussions will take place on:
the Biotech interdisciplinary courses;
the e-mail received from Paige Links relative to promoting our programs to 1st year students;
Arts and Science changes and our relationship to them; perhaps inviting Kevin Schneider to the next meeting.
Dr. Lee proposed a motion to adopt the amended agenda. The motion was seconded by Dr. Havele.
All in favour – motion carried.
Dr. Desai proposed a motion to approve the minutes, once the requested amendments have been made to Item 2. The motion was seconded by Dr. Lee.
All in favour – motion carried.
· Experience US
To be discussed in item 4.
· Fact Sheet and Pamphlet Revision
To be discussed in item 4.
· ACB Program Changes Update
To date, due to an extremely heavy workload, the changes have not yet been submitted to Arts & Science. It is anticipated that, although the changes won’t make the first calendar cut-off, they should make the second cut-off in March.
· Physiology/Pharmacology BSc. Programs Update by Dr. Desautels
Both Departments met last week to discuss consideration given by various interested groups. The decision was made that no major changes were needed to the structure of the proposed programs that had been circulated to the stakeholders committee. There were some concerns raised by stakeholders and this committee, which were addressed as follows:
how would people taking double honours cope with such a heavily prescribed program? However, it was felt the programs should still be submitted to Arts Science, and any fine tuning can be done along the way. Whether the various other Departments can be accommodated, in terms of delivering the program, and the possibility of the double degree could be considered at that time and taken to the Arts and Science Programs Committee.
the BMSC label for what is, essentially, a Neuroscience course. After consultation with Dr. Devon, it was decided this would remain as HSC 350. However, the group was advised that this would be something it would have to address at some time, particularly with the proposed move toward more integrated courses among the Biomedical Sciences. If a course becomes shared among various Departments, how do you label it?
the stringency of the program. It was looked at from the perspective of the numbers of courses needed to offer a Physiology/Pharmacology program, with comprehensive coverage of Physiology, comprehensive coverage of Pharmacology, and then integration in the 4th year level course – how many courses would be needed to do this? This resulted in the proposed Physiology/Pharmacology program.
are 69 credits beyond the usual limit? It had been established that 60 credits was the limit, so CHEM 250 and BIOL 226 had been moved to program requirement number 7.
prerequisite issues. Physical Therapy require 6 credit units of Physiology as prerequisites for admission to their program, but the Physical Therapy Admissions committee met and would be happy to have PHPY 302 plus 3 credit units of PHPY 300-level courses as a requirement. Toxicology, at the moment, has a requirement of either HSC 208 or BMSC/BIOL 224 plus BIOL 317.3. In the coming year, the students will take BMSC/BIOL 224 plus either BIOL 317.3 or PHPY 301.3. Essentially, for all Physiology/Pharmacology 3rd year courses, BMSC/BIOL 224 is a prerequisite.
miscellaneous. Concerns were raised about access to 226.3.
There will be a monitoring committee for the program, consisting of two Physiologists and two Pharmacologists, who will monitor the program on a regular basis to ensure everything is running well, as well as recommending changes, course evaluation, etc.
Both Departments were congratulated on putting the program together.
Experience US: Everyone was thanked for their input, and the sub-committee thanked for their additional time. 4 sessions took place over 2 days, but it was recommended that, for next year, perhaps 2 sessions would suffice. It was pointed out the afternoon sessions appeared to be more interactive. The sessions were listed only under Health Professions, so didn’t necessarily capture a full audience. Perhaps, in future, the sessions could be listed under Natural Sciences/Basic Sciences as well, to ensure attracting as many potential students as possible. M. Webster to make enquiries.
Fact Sheet: Thanks went to Dr. Desai for making revisions, and to the rest of the group for their input. Once this committee has approved the document, M. Webster will submit it to Recruitment for printing. Once submitted, it will take 10 working days to print. The Recruitment office will ensure it is distributed to High Schools. Everyone was in agreement with the content.
Pamphlet: Kelly Arsenault (Recruitment Office) had been contacted to establish if a template existed for a pamphlet. In those discussions, Kelly explained the recruitment procedure and it was discovered fact sheets already exist for programs within BMSC. The sub-committee decided the fact sheets available from the Recruitment Office could be distributed, instead of producing a pamphlet and duplicating information already available. However, M. Webster felt the pamphlet would still be a handy tool, is neatly packaged, explains how to approach applications to professional programs, and is clear and simple. Also, there had been lots of good, positive feedback from students, Arts & Science and the recruiters. In response to whether the fact sheet could be produced in the same format as the pamphlet, the group was informed that, due to consistency across the board, this would not be possible. The group agreed to wait until Dr. Krone is present before making a decision.
Enrolment: The group reviewed and discussed the document distributed by M. Webster. The Division is very close to the projected enrolment figure, and it was felt it was important to demonstrate, in 2012, that the number of students has increased.
Recruitment: The question had been raised as to whether it should be the responsibility of the Department or the Division? It was felt it should be a co-owned responsibility but, due to time constraints today and the importance of the issue, it should be given more consideration at a later date.
Biotech Interdisciplinary Courses: Affects Microbiology & Immunology, and Biochemistry. Enquiries had been made in August, and Tom Steele had e- mailed a response suggesting courses be looked for and to let him know what is decided on. Drs. Havele and Pato will look into the courses and report back to the group.
Program Promotion: Paige Links (Interdisciplinary Programs Coordinator, Arts & Science) had sent everyone an e-mail regarding “Major Discovery Week”, where the Departments can promote their programs to 1st year and undeclared students. The event is taking place on February 1st through 5th and there are 3 sessions per day in the afternoon. The feeling was that the programs within BMSC should be together.
Arts and Science Changes and Our Relationship to Them: To be discussed at the next meeting, due to time constrictions today.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, December 7th 2009 at 2:30pm in the Dean’s Conference Room.
The meeting adjourned at 4:40pm.
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