Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee
Minutes from the Meeting on December 7, 2005
Present:
Nancy Campbell
Jeff Durgee
Prabhat Hajela
Mike Hanna
Mike Goldenberg
Amir Hirsa, chair
Sharon Kunkel
Julia Leusner
Lee Odell
Dick Smith
Dave Spooner
Sam Wait
Mike Wozny
Guests:
Jim Watt
Len Kelly
1) The minutes from the meeting of November 16, 2005 were approved unanimously with one
abstention.
2) The minutes from the November 23, 2005 meeting were approved with one abstention and with
the following amendments:
a. pg 2, item 4, revised paragraph to read - “... 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.”
b. Pg 1, item 3, “curricula” not curriculums
c. Pg 2, item 4 “25-30 students each year”
d. Guests: Daniel Walczyk
3) School of Science- S. Wait presented several new courses from Computer Science.
CSCI 4650- Networking Lab I
The course has been offered at least three times. The Cisco examination for certification is separate
from the course. The Committee asked about the grading policy and specifically what it meant to
lose one half letter grade. They suggested clarifying the grading policy. The FSCC also
recommended revising the Academic Integrity (AI) policy because the penalty for cheating on exams
is too light. The Committee approved the course unanimously with the stipulations noted above.
CSCI 4660- Networking Lab II
CSCI 4670- Networking Security
The Committee offered the same comments on AI policy and the grading practice. David Kotfila is
the primary instructor although others have taught it. He is a fulltime employee of Cisco Academy.
Both courses were approved unanimously with the stipulations noted above.
4) School of Humanities and Social Science- Jim Watt was back to update the FSCC on the revised
proposal for the BS degree program in Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences. The revised
proposal includes several changes:
 The program is now stand alone without a required dual major
 It includes a separate 36 credit hour concentration
 36 credit hours are required in the major area, Games and Simulation
Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee
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Minutes from December 7, 2005
Students can choose to complete a dual major by using their free elective slots
Advisers will assist students seeking a dual major in their course selections
Depending on the dual major a student may need to take an overload
After a brief discussion of the proposal the motion to approve the BS degree program in Games and
Simulation Arts and Sciences was approved by a vote of 9 in favor and one abstention.
5) School of Management & Technology (SoM&T) - Jeff Durgee presented an overview of a new
proposed degree program to be offered in Hartford. The school is focusing on programs designed for
executives with an emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship. Len Kelly, professor at the
Hartford campus in the School of Management and Technology, provided the FSCC with some
background on the proposal. The program, Innovation and Corporate Entrepreneurship (ICE), is
based on the 30 credit hour MS in Management degree currently offered at Hartford. The students
will attend class taking 2 courses simultaneously for 5 days, ½ day per course. Students will return to
work and then come back for another week of classes, ½ day for each course. Each class will have
approximately 40 contact hours. The students must complete a very structured set of assignments
when the classes are not meeting. This structure is very similar to what they are doing now with their
executive masters program. Hartford has had experience with what L. Kelly calls “learning
laboratory” and the feedback from companies has been positive. The FSCC offered a number of
suggestions and comments on the proposal.
 Credit hours should be included in each course description
 The AI statement in the syllabus should be more specific regarding penalties
 Companies will sponsor students. It is not intended for self-pay students. The marketing will be to
corporations not individuals.
 M. Wozny asked about the class trip to Singapore which shows as only 5 days which doesn’t allow
enough time for class. L. Kelly indicated that they’ve made some revisions to the proposal and the
Singapore trip is now 9 days. In Singapore, the students will visit faculty in the region and as well as
visit corporations.
 Will it detract from the current executive master’s program? The current MS program is regional.
The new program will be marketed nationally so it will not diminish the existing program.
 D. Rainey and others are working on commitments from corporations so they will have support
before the program is announced.
 What about facilities? There are hotels in the area and VP Minasian is working to identify executive
retreats around the country.
 This is not really a new degree since Hartford already offers a MS in MGMT. This is essentially a
different concentration for the MS in MGMT. The courses are not exactly the same but the content
resembles existing courses.
 Faculty support? Some faculty at the Troy campus have volunteered to teach so this is an opportunity
for faculty in both departments to collaborate.
 The structure is a good model.
The FSCC would like to see the following:
1) Syllabus corrected with revised AI statements
2) Details on what will happen in the weeks following the week of classes, the asynchronous
activities.
3) All courses should have credit hours included in the course description
4) Course descriptions with 75 words or less
5) Clearly state the structure: each module of 2 courses lasts 10 weeks and on site time as well as
off site time
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Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee
Minutes from December 7, 2005
6) Make it clear that these courses are offered only for students in Rensselaer’s ICE program
In a quick straw vote, the Committee voted to support the proposal. The SoM&T will plan to bring the
revised course descriptions and other information requested to the next FSCC meeting.
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