COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES FACULTY MEETING Wednesday, October 28, :00-5:15 p.m. CAS 522 AGENDA

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1 Boston University College & Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Office of the Dean 725 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA T COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES FACULTY MEETING Wednesday, October 28, :00-5:15 p.m. CAS 522 AGENDA Items listed for approval on the automatic consent agenda list are fully described in documents that are posted on the web at Any faculty member who wishes to discuss a particular item, or hear a discussion on a particular item, or call for a vote on an item on the automatic consent agenda list is invited to contact Nancy Geourntas at (casdean@bu.edu) no later than noon on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, to flag that item. No explanation is necessary; the item will be raised for discussion and a vote at the meeting. 1. Development Update, Scott Nichols, Sr. V.P. Development and Alumni Relations 2. Proposal from the CAS Academic Policy Committee for "Strengthening CAS Faculty Participation in University Process for the Development and Approval of University-wide Academic Policies" APC Chair and Professor Biology Ed Loechler will present this proposal for discussion and vote of the Faculty. The proposal is posted in full along with an annotated copy of the University policymaking chart at 3. Draft "Policy on Grade Grievances for Undergraduate Students in Boston University Courses" Professor Loechler will summarize APC's discussion of the proposed grievance process and lead consultation of the Faculty on this draft policy, for which Undergraduate Council is the drafting body and there is no CAS-specific precedent. Full proposal text is available here: 4. Faculty & Staff Assistance Office, Bonnie Teitleman, Director and Karen Brouhard, Counselor 5. Dean s Report 6. New Business 1

2 Automatic Consent Business Minutes of the September 16, 2015 Meeting Recommendations for Approval: The Academic Policy Committee recommends approval of the following proposals: A proposal from the Department of Earth & Environment to establish a major in Earth & Environmental Sciences Summary of Requirements and Rationale: A total of 16 four-credit courses are required, completed with a grade of C or higher, and distributed as follows: 1) three core courses in climate and earth system science, environmental change and sustainability, and data, models, and analysis; 2) six required related courses in calculus, biology, general chemistry, and physics; and 3) seven additional principal courses chosen from Ecosystems, Earth and Climate, and Earth Observations groupings, with five of those seven courses in a single group and any two from outside that group. At least one course in Ecosystems, Earth and Climate, or Earth Observations must be at the 500-level or above. The proposed new EES major capitalizes on the combined faculty expertise and curricular offerings that the two former Departments of Earth Sciences and Geography & Environment brought to their merger in 2012, as well as two years of strategic planning to restructure and streamline E&E s academic programs in accordance with student interests and goals, emerging national trends, and distinctive strengths of Boston University. The new major will replace four largely overlapping majors (Earth Science, Environmental Earth Science, Physical Geography, and Environmental Science) with a single robust, yet flexible framework for understanding Planet Earth as a series of interconnected systems. Similar in its tripartite design to majors at peer and peer-plus institutions, EES at BU stands out for requiring more coursework than most in the allied sciences, striking a distinctive balance between broad foundations and in-depth focus at the junior-senior level, offering remote sensing and earth observations as a major area of inquiry, incorporating options to study abroad on three continents, and maintaining a strong emphasis on knowledge and research skills in the geosciences. Contact: David Marchant A proposal from the Department of Earth & Environment to establish a minor in Earth & Environmental Sciences Summary of Requirements and Rationale: A total of 5 courses (20 credits) are required, all completed with a grade of C or higher. Students take the Department s three core courses plus a pair of electives chosen from one of the major s Ecosystems, Earth and Climate, or Earth Observations groups. At least one elective must be at the 400-level or above. Background and rationale for the major also obtain for the minor as a subset of it. Separate current minors in 1) Earth Sciences and 2) Environmental Science will be discontinued in favor of the new minor s emphasis on connecting Earth s natural science systems with the environmental forces that shape human populations and society. Contact: David Marchant A proposal from the Department of Earth & Environment to revise the requirements of the major in Environmental Analysis & Policy 2

3 Summary of Requirements and Rationale: Four specific changes are proposed to this social science major: 1) Replace the requirement of one introductory course in any of several related natural sciences with the requirement for all students of ES 107, the Department s new integrated core course in Climate and Earth System Science, as a means of building cohort identity and common intellectual foundations; 2) Rename required core course GE 100 (currently Introduction to Environmental Science ) as Environmental Change and Sustainability, to more accurately convey its focus and complementary relationship to ES 107; 3) Add the Department s new core course GE 270 (Data, Models, and Analysis) to current options for fulfilling the EAP major s statistics requirement, to motivate acquisition of basic techniques and lay groundwork for taking advantage of the mathematical and statistical content of upper-division courses; and 4) Replace the specific requirement of BI 306 with a choice between BI 306 (Biology of Global Change) and GE/BI 307 (Biogeography) to fulfill the major s requirement of one course in ecosystems science, as will create greater scheduling flexibility and an opportunity for interested students to focus on species distribution. Contact: David Marchant A proposal from the Latin American Studies Program in the Pardee School of Global Studies to revise the requirements of the MA in Latin American Studies Summary of Requirements and Rationale: Proposed are four specific changes to the MA: 1) The total number of credits required is reduced from 48 to 32, in line with most Boston University MA programs, as well as Latin American MA programs at peer and peer-plus institutions, particularly NYU and Stanford, with which BU LASP competes for applicants; 2) a new 4-credit interdisciplinary core course (GRS IR 713: Latin America Past and Present) replaces a 2-credit introduction to contemporary issues, providing a broader, deeper common foundation for all students in the program; 3) a specifically required (IR) methods course is replaced with the requirement of a methods course approved by the advisor, to accommodate disciplinary variability in students research needs; and 4) the one-semester (12-credit) Study Abroad requirement is removed, as is necessary to enable completion of the program, like those at NYU and Stanford, in one year. Unchanged are requirements in addition to coursework for demonstrating a high level of competence in Spanish or Portuguese and completing a Master s Paper. Contact: Adela Pineda A proposal from the Department of Mathematics & Statistics to establish an MA and PhD in Statistics Summary of Requirements and Rationale: Currently, the MA and the PhD in Mathematics each comprise two tracks: one in pure and applied mathematics, and the other in statistics. Proposed is, without any changes to degree requirements, to establish an MA in Statistics and a PhD in Statistics as separate degrees. This change will make BU graduates in Statistics more competitive on the job market, especially the non-academic market, with those graduating from stand-alone departments of statistics. Separate BU degrees in statistics will also make it easer to recruit top students into those programs. Contact: Tasso Kaper The GRS Graduate Academic Affairs Committee recommends approval of the following proposed new courses: GRS AH 805 GRS CH 623 GRS CH 648 Professional Development and Placement Seminar Chemical Biology Contemporary Drug Discovery 3

4 GRS IR 713 GRS MA 901 GRS NE 741 / GRS BI 741 GRS NE 742 GRS PO 903/904 GRS SO 716 Latin America Past and Present Internship in Statistics Neural Systems: Functional Circuit Analysis Neural Systems: Cognition and Behavior Research Workshop Macro Organization Theory The CAS Humanities Curriculum Committee recommends approval of the following proposed new courses: CAS AH 546 CAS AH 554 CAS AH 574 CAS CL 332 CAS EN 150 CAS EN 177 CAS EN 180 CAS EN 331 CAS EN 344 CAS EN 514 CAS LJ 450 CAS LK 450 CAS LT 304 CAS PH 445 / GRS PH 645 Places of Memory: Historic Preservation Theory and Practice Boston Architectural and Community History Workshop Topics in African Art The Ancient Novel (in English translation) Children s Literature: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Imaginary Spaces Introduction to Asian American Literature Post-Apocalyptic Narratives Topics in Nineteenth-Century British Literature Modern British Fiction Topics in the Linguistics of Language Topics in Advanced Japanese Topics in Advanced Korean Turkey in the Middle East: A Content-based Language Course The Philosophy of Love The CAS Natural Sciences Curriculum Committee recommends approval of the following proposed new course: CAS CC 212 Core Natural Science II: Science and the Modern World CAS EE 195 & EE 196 Earth House Sustainability Practicum 1 & 2 CAS ES 107 Introduction to Climate and Earth System Science CAS ES 305 Rock Deformation and Structure CAS ES 510 Introduction to the Atmospheric Boundary Layer CAS ES 520 Modes of Climate Variability CAS GE 270 Data, Models, and Analysis in Earth & Environment [Also endorsed by SSCC] CAS NE 404 / CAS PS 404 Senior Honors Seminar in Psychology and Neuroscience [Also endorsed by SSCC] CAS NE 499 Human Functional Neuroanatomy through Clinical Cases CAS NE 521/ CAS PS 521 Animal Models in Behavioral Neuroscience CAS PS 340 Introduction to Computational Models of Skilled Decision and Action GRS AN 730 From Conception to Death The Evolution of Human Life History Integrated Science Experience I (ISE I), comprising CAS CH 116 General Chemistry 2 with Integrated Science Experience 1 Lab CAS BI 116 Biology 2 with Integrated Science Experience 1 Lab CAS NE 116 Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology with Integrated Science Experience 1 Integrated Science Experience II (ISE II), comprising CAS BI 218 Cell Biology with Integrated Science Experience II Lab CAS CH 218 Organic Chemistry 1 with Integrated Science Experience II Lab CAS NE 218 Fundamentals of Neuroscience with Integrated Science Experience II Lab 4

5 The CAS Social Sciences Curriculum Committee recommends approval of the following proposed new courses: CAS AA 313 CAS AA 404 / GRS AA 804 CAS AA 513 CAS AA 517 CAS CC 211 CAS ES 107 CAS HI 331 CAS HI 399 CAS HI 523 CAS HI 545 CAS HI 546 CAS HI 569 CAS IR 343 / CAS PO 373 CAS IR 526 CAS IR 532 CAS IR 584 CAS PO 569 / GRS IR 630 CAS PS 510 The Politics and Policy of HBO s The Wire Seminar: The Family Readings in American Politics Urban Politics and Policy Core Social Science II: Power, Political Forms, and Economics Introduction to Climate and Earth System Science Drugs and Security in the Americas Introduction to Latin American Politics and International Relations U.S.-Latin American Relations The Arctic and Global Politics Places of Memory: Historic Preservation Theory and Practice Boston Architectural and Community History Workshop African Politics Today National and Homeland Security Law Trade Law and Development The United States and Sub-Saharan Africa Money, Guns, and Power The Psychology of Decision Making Implications for Business and Public Policy Reports to the Faculty: The Academic Policy Committee reports final approval of the following: WR 150 equivalency for CC 211 (Core Social Science II: Power, Political Forms, and Economics) for students who have also taken CC 112 (Core Social Science I) Social science (SS) divisional studies credit (short list) for CAS CC 211: Core Social Science II: Power, Political Forms, and Economics Natural science (NS) divisional studies credit (short list) for CAS CC 212: Core Natural Science II: Science and the Modern World Humanities (HU) divisional studies credit (short list) for CAS EN 150: Children s Literature: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Imaginary Spaces Humanities (HU) divisional studies credit (short list) for CAS EN 177: Introduction to Asian American Literature Natural science (with lab) (NS) divisional studies credit (short list) for CAS ES 107: Introduction to Climate and Earth System Science Humanities (HU) divisional studies credit (expanded list) for CGS HU 425: Trauma in History, Art, and Religion) The Academic Policy Committee reports review of two new Kilachand Honors College freshman seminars, with assignment to CAS curricular divisions as follows: KHC AR 101 KHC TH 101 Broken Bones, Buried Bodies: Forensic Anthropology and Human Rights (social science) The Ethical Leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. (humanities) 5

6 Upcoming Meetings held on Wednesday afternoon from 4:00 5:30 PM in CAS 522 unless otherwise noted: CCD Meetings Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Wednesday, January 20, 2016 Wednesday, February 3, 2016 Wednesday, March 2, 2016 Wednesday, April 6, 2016 Wednesday, May 4, 2016 CAS Faculty Meetings Wednesday, October 28, 2015 Monday, November 16, 2015 Wednesday, December 16, 2015 No CAS Faculty Meeting in January Wednesday, February 17, 2016 Wednesday, March 30, 2016 Wednesday, April 27,