ECE Curriculum Committee 2008-2009 Annual Report

This report summarizes the major accomplishments and activities of the ECE Curriculum Committee during the 2008-2009 Academic Year. More details are available in the weekly Minutes at the Curriculum Committee website, https://my.ece.illinois.edu/currcmte/

1. The Curriculum Committee completed a full review of the ECE Technical Electives list, evaluating many hundreds of courses across the various engineering and science departments. A revised and expanded list of approved Technical Electives was completed, representing a broader range of technical electives than before. The expanded list recognizes that electrical and computer engineering careers span a much greater range of areas, industries, and topics than ever before, and enables students to prepare themselves for this wider range of career paths. In particular, it gives students access to many more paths in the many biology or biomedically related areas, and in engineering careers that fall between traditional engineering departments. It also accomodates students transferring from other science or engineering departments into our curricula, in most cases enabling students to transfer any time within the first two years from other College curricula without delaying graduation.
2. The proposed guidelines for future evaluation of courses for ECE technical elective credit were approved, thus articulating the Committee's philosophy of their role in the curricula:
   
   Courses offered by all natural science and engineering departments are generally acceptable, subject to the following conditions
   • The course is required or is a technical elective for majors in that department's curricula
   • The course content is technical
   • No seminars, individual study or thesis, temporary or variable topics courses are allowed
   • The course does not have significant overlap with courses or material already covered in ECE
3. The concept of an ECE minor was considered favorably, and the Associate Head for Undergraduate Affairs was strongly encouraged to prepare and submit a formal proposal.
4. The Committee made great progress on our several-year agenda for a substantial revision of the ECE Advanced Core ("3-of-5 list", ECE 440, ECE 445) with the intent of having these courses best serve the core needs of third-year students from all areas in ECE. During this year, instructors in all of these courses experimented with new outlines and formats and revised content to address these goals. After much experimentation and discussion, a new outline for ECE 340 (to replace ECE 440) was approved, and course directors of ECE 410, 430, 442, and 450 are converging on syllabi for ECE 310, 330, 342, and 350. Evolution of ECE 445 to a four-hour course satisfying the campus Advanced Composition requirement was discussed and encouraged.

   The Curriculum Committee intends to finalize the course revisions, complete the EE Curriculum revision, and present it as a package to the faculty and College in the coming year, thus culminating a very substantial curriculum revision in progress for more than three years.

5. The Committee made recommendations for the structure and operation of mechanisms for curricular coordination and harmonization between ECE and CS.
6. The Committee performed its ongoing duties of evaluating temporary and permanent course proposals and advising the Associate Head about curricular policy matters.