ECE Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes for November 9, 2007

1. The Minutes of the October 26, 2007 meeting were approved.
2. The Committee briefly discussed whether the current consensus-based or a more formal procedural style was preferred. There was a strong consensus supporting the current approach, but the Chair reminded the Committee that we will revert to a Roberts Rules of Order process on any point at any time at the request of any committee member.
3. The ECE 416 course proposal by Brian Cunningham was approved with minor revisions to the document.
4. The Promoting Undergrad Research in ECE proposal from the Eta Kappa Nu student branch was introduced to the Committee and discussed. Erhan Kudeki spoke as Associate Head for Undergraduate Affairs in giving his support for the general idea and emphasizing that it reflects student interest and experience. The Chair summarized the proposal and emphasized the novel element of more formal involvement of graduate students and the suggestion of departmental support for participating graduate students. Kudeki pointed out that this may be a good means of enhancing graduate student participation in undergraduate teaching. He said that Steve Franke, Associate Head for graduate affairs, is also supportive, and that he and the Graduate Committee are awaiting feedback from the Curriculum Committee before proceeding.

   Donna Brown and others stated that the opportunities for undergraduates in the first two years should not be limited to interactions with graduate students, and that faculty should be free to engage students at any level; this met with general agreement. Jont Allen emphasized the role of faculty in overseeing the graduate students in their interactions with the undergraduates. In particular, the question was raised whether the graduate students or faculty would assign grades (if applicable); there seemed to be a consensus that the faculty should assign grades, presumably with input from the graduate students involved.

   The issue of whether or not credit would be granted was discussed. Some were concerned that the maximum of six hours of credit for independent study would be insufficient across four years. Donna Brown suggested creating ECE 196 or 296 specifically for the freshman and sophomore years, with an additional two hours of technical elective credit allowed. The question was raised as to whether credit would be necessary or even desirable.

   Erhan Kudeki emphasized that this proposal is merely a starting point, and that the proposers (Kuang Xu and David Jun) would be open to other ideas. The Committee decided to discuss this at another meeting to collect and consider ideas; all Committee members were charged with reading the proposal more carefully and formulating ideas before our next meeting.

5. At Erhan Kudeki's request, the Committee discussed revision of the Technical Elective list for the EE Curriculum. Kudeki stated that the list has not been reviewed for several years, and that course numbers and content have changed in some areas. Some requested guidance as to the standards to be applied; the current and prior Chairs suggested that courses in any relevant technical discipline that involve a substantial level of expertise (e.g., that students in that major area would take as part of their technical education) are appropriate. It was agreed to divvy up the various areas among Committee members, who would review offerings in those areas and make their recommendations for the next meeting.
6. The Committee adjourned at 11:56 AM.