ECE Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes for October 13, 2008

1. The Minutes of the October 2, 2008 meeting were approved.
2. Following the recomendation of Pramod Viswanath, all 300- and 400-level courses in ABE and TSM (Technical Systems Management), with the exception of ABE 440 and TSM 435 (which have too much overlap with courses in our required core) were approved for technical elective credit.
3. ENG 491, Interdisciplinary Design Project, was approved for technical elective credit. The need for additional discussion as to when and whether it should be approved in place of ECE 445: Senior Design Lab was noted and recommended for a future meeting.
4. Jones proposed that GE 400: Engineering Law, and GE 461: Technology Entrepreneurship, be approved for technical elective credit, following a recommendation by Andy Singer. Jones argued that the courses fit the broader definition of "technical" as pertaining to specialized knowledge on a particular subject, and he argued that the material is both advanced in its domain and highly relevant to the careers of many engineers. The majority of the Committee felt that this material is outside the scope intended by our technical electives, and that approval would require a substantial reevaluation of our technical elective philosophy or a new category other than our current technical electives. The motion to approve GE 400 and GE 461 for technical elective credit was rejected by a substantial majority.
5. Greg Timp joined the meeting at about 3:35 to answer questions about his ECE 498 course proposal. In response to questions regarding prerequisites, he stated that ECE 486 as merely a recommendation worked and enabled students from other departments to take the course, so he preferred to keep it as a recommendation. It was decided that Math 286 should be listed as a required prerequsisite. The course was approved subject to this change.
6. The Committee adjourned at 3:52 PM.