ECE Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes for 15 Sept, 2006

1. The Curriculum Committee adopted a resolution of appreciation to Erhan Kudeki for his service as Chair for the past few years.
2. The Head of ECE, Prof. Richard Blahut, welcomed the Committee and made a few remarks regarding the Committee's task.
   • Professor Blahut reminded the Committee that our task is to design a curriculum that we think best serves the students, not necessarily the curriculum that the faculty would most like to teach.
   • Since for the forseeable future the Bachelor of Science degrees will be four-year degrees, we must design the best four-year education that we can.
   • Professor Blahut noted that many of our students go on to other fields, such as medicine or law, and implied that our curriculum must well serve students following multiple career paths.
   • Dick remarked that we should teach fundamentals: non-perishable information that will serve our students well throughout their careers.
   • Our graduates are recognized as leaders, and we should emphasize the education of future leaders, both within and beyond the profession.
   • Our graduates are noted for their simultaneous strength both in theory and in its application in the laboratory; our strong laboratories are a unique strength we should continue to foster.
   • In Professor Blahut's opinion, more biology should be in our curriculum, given the increasing applications of our field in, for example, medicine. He noted that this could be accomplished by inclusion of biology-oriented material in current courses, not necessarily by requiring additional biology courses.
   • He believes that more exposure to world culture and languages would serve our students better professionally.
   • Professor Blahut asked us to consider whether, and in what role, we should invite student representation or participation in the Curriculum Committee
3. The Chair listed unfinished business carrying over from last year
   • Submitting report on Biology course options
   • Proposal to reposition all required and semi-required courses in the EE curriculum other than ECE 445: Senior Design at the 3rd-year (300) level
4. The Curriculum Committee approved proposed changes to the ECE 316 Course Description.
5. The Curriculum Committee approved the ECE 398 course proposal by Patrick Chapman and George Gross for Spring 2007.
6. The Curriculum Committee approved the ECE498 Biosensors course proposal by Brian Cunningham for Spring 2007, subject to minor additions to the course syllabus to account for all hours.
7. The Chair requested that each committee member suggest major, longer-term curriculum issues that the Committee should consider during the coming year; the suggestions will be discussed at an upcoming meeting.
8. The Committee adjourned at 11:40 AM.