Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee
Minutes from the November 23, 2005 Meeting
Present:
Nancy Campbell
Amir Hirsa, chair
Mike Hanna
Prabhat Hajela
Sharon Kunkel
Lee Odell
Wally Morris
Guests:
Mark Mistur
David Hess
Sharon Anderson-Gold
Mark Steiner
Dick Smith
Dave Spooner
Sam Wait
Ken Warriner
Jeff Durgee
John Schroeder
Langdon Winner
Daniel Walczyk
Ron Eglash
1) The minutes from the meeting of November 9, 2005 were approved with the following
minor revisions: 1) Michael Wozny should be added to the list of attendees 2) pg 2, item 5,
“Jim Watt presented an overview” 3) pg 2, item 5, bullet 3, “ensure the broad background” and
“What is the management”.
2) The minutes from the special meeting held November 16th will be approved after the
Committee reviews the revised wording in the minutes related to the proposed BS degree
program in Games and Simulation Arts.
3) School of Architecture (SoA) - Mark Mistur distributed a revised proposal for the Built
Ecologies concentration which includes 2 sample curricula in response to the FSCC’s
recommendations The SoA is already receiving inquiries although no advertising has been
done. The SoA has developed some new courses but they would prefer to list them the first
year as topics courses so they can fine-tune them. M. Mistur indicated that if the Committee
prefers they will submit them now for approval to include them in the catalog. M. Mistur
presented an overview of the new courses and how they would fit into the concentration. He
indicated that they have the buy-in for the concentration from other departments. A number of
faculty from the other departments are working with the SoA faculty including Michael Jensen,
MANE, Achille Messac, MANE, Jim Napolitano from Physics, John Gowdy from Economics
and the Civil Engineering department.
Committee members had a number of questions about the proposal. The following summarizes the
issues raised:
 Is it the School’s intent to have the topics courses approved as regular catalog offerings? M.
Mistur indicated that was the intent of the SoA.
 Several courses listed have pre-requisites that students would not have taken. For example,
would a mechanical engineering major from RPI be able to take one of the new courses,
Advanced Topics in Ecological Design?
Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee
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Minutes from November 23, 2005
ARCH 6420- There is a typo. The text says also offered at the 6000 level but it should read
at the 4000 level.
MANE 6540 is listed as an option but it’s only been offered once in the past 10 years
MANE 6720 is also listed but most students would not have the pre-requisites. A better
choice is MANE 4110 Advanced Fluid Mechanics
M. Mistur promised that the SoA will carefully review the courses listed as options in the
proposal to make sure the courses are current as well as looking carefully at the prerequisites.
A close review of the MGMT and the STS courses listed is also recommended. It’s
important that the courses listed are current.
J. Schroeder stressed the importance of basic preparation in mathematics. The Plan of Study
will be key to outlining a successful program.
M. Mistur indicated that there are job opportunities for the students. It’s a “hot” area.
A motion to approve the curriculum for the Built Ecologies concentration was approved
unanimously subject to the changes discussed today. M. Mistur will incorporate the changes
into the proposal and send the revised version to A. Hirsa and S. Kunkel.
4) School of Humanities and Social Science (SoH&SS) - David Hess provided an overview of a
new BS degree program to be offered by the Science and Technology Studies Department
called Design, Innovation and Society. This new degree will be a stand alone major and will
replace the current STS major as a dual major in the Product Design and Innovation (PDI)
program. The existing PDI program is not a degree program, but offers students the opportunity
to complete the requirements for a dual degree in STS and either Mechanical Engineering,
Building Sciences, Management or ITEC. In the new proposal, the templates for a dual degree
in Building Sciences and ITEC will be phased out.
D. Hess addressed the key issues in the proposal:
 Basic concept of the degree is to emphasize technical, social and design skills
 There are jobs available in this area
 There are no comparable programs
 Design is a key component of the requirements
 The program is already at capacity with an estimated steady state of 25-30 students each
year
 Projects are the basis of the studio work required. The students will build a portfolio as part
of their course work. There are both team and individual projects. The faculty will consult
and guide the student projects. The projects will combine and integrate sociological
methods, focus on society and manufacturing, life cycle design, domains of knowledge,
sociological sides of a design, and a variety of ways of thinking about design.
The FSCC offered several suggestions:
 Add Intro to Biology to the degree template instead of using the more generic Science Core
Elective
 NYS must approve a stand alone degree program first so the department should focus on
those requirements in the proposal rather than the dual programs
http://rpinfo.rpi.edu/dept/fscc/
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Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee
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Minutes from November 23, 2005
Pg 29 in the handout, there’s a typo, MANE 4020 Thermal and Fluids Engr II should be
4010 not 4020
Sociology is included in the Introductory course STSH 13XX
Pg 28 Physics I and Physics II- update to reflect the current titles
Pg 28 It should be Chemistry 1300 not Engr 1300
D. Hess will update the proposal to reflect these changes.
Students decide which is the “first named” major in a dual program. The diploma shows both the
first named and second named major.
Only 1-2 students per year completed a dual major with STS and Building Sciences. No students
have graduated with a dual major in STS and ITEC.
The motion to approve the stand alone BS degree in Design, Innovation and Society with the
changes recommended was approved unanimously 10-0.
http://rpinfo.rpi.edu/dept/fscc/
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