Biology Articulation Committee
University of British Columbia – Okanagan, Kelowna
May 13-14, 2010
9:30 Welcome by Provost Dr. Alaa Abd-al-Aziz
9:36 Meeting called to order by David Blundon, Chair
In attendance: Barbara Moon, John Newman, Dave Mossop, Emelia Kirkwood, Allan Gibson, Christine
Hodgson, Richard Stride, Val Collins, Betty Mosher, Germaine Mistry, Dennis Venema, Dezene Huber,
Paul McMillan, June Williams, Carol Pollock, Ellen Pederson, Frank Williams, Keng Graal, Ann McDonald,
Paula Vaananen, Bruce Millen, Todd Harper, Annie Prud’homme Genereux , Blythe Nilson, David
Blundon
Regrets: Cindy Broberg (NLC), Greg Beaulieu (UVic), Monica De Boer (BCIT), Gordon McIntyre (VCC)
1. Introductions
2. Housekeeping
3. Approval of Agenda
-changed typo on agenda item #4: approval of 2010 minutes to approval of 2009 minutes
-Christine Hodgson: changing minutes on BCCAT website
4. Approval of 2009 minutes
- Christine Hodgson asked to have any changes to 2009 minutes e-mailed to her
- Minutes will be edited and then reposted on BCCAT website
5. Business Arising from the Minutes
5.1 – Checking of outstanding Articulation Requests – all
- There are several courses that drop off the articulation request list each month
- continue to encourage members to monitor pending requests on BCCAT
5.2 – Motion to support in principle that UBC, UVic, SFU, UNCB and UBCO be both sending and
receiving institutions for 1st and 2nd year courses
- nothing has happened with this as of yet
- Carol Pollock – it is doubtful that it will happen as UBC would have to go through and change
all of its agreements
6. Editing of Minutes – Christine Hodgson
- the Minutes should be submitted and posted on BCCAT within one month so should be edited
immediately
-Christine asked that reports be submitted electronically to her so that written information can be taken
out and inserted into the minutes with additional information recorded by the scribe
-Suggestion to bring laptops so that electronic reports could be given to save paper; a suitable room
would be needed (plug ins).
-message will be posted on listserv with who to send them to, when, etc. in the future
Action: In preparation for next year’s meeting, the Chair will identify how to provide copies of reports
(hard-copies, on a thumb-drive, etc.) and to whom to send the electronic files
Action: Annie Prud-homme Genereux will look for a suitable room for next year’s meeting to present
reports electronically.
General Discussion about List-serve
- Christine Hodgson – we moved to a new list-serve in April and there are a few things to sort out;
you are unable to send a message to the list-serve from your home email address
Action: Send any comments/concerns regarding the list-serve to Christine Hodgson
7. Systems Liaison Person (SLP) - Richard Stride
-BCCAT has had changeover at top so in transition
-working on reforming BC transfer system and a lot of discussion about sending/receiving; nobody wants
to do it because it’s costly and there are no resources to do it; content with flurry of course outlines to
review and evaluate as a receiving institution is very costly; finding centralized way of doing it,
-articulated at the table that has a provincial curriculum that has all learning outcomes
-1st year English and stats: no 2 institutions will agree across the board to agree on this
-interest in Ministry in collaboration and partnerships:
- dual admission model: Douglas college and SFU have dual admission; NIC and VIU now dual
admission; allow students to take courses at multiple institutions and makes certain that credits
will transfer
- other types of partnership: laddering, flexible pre-majors: BCCAT and ministry are very
interested in these
- flexible pre-majors: being developed or are already in place for English, Psychology and
Sociology; essentially a system-wide articulation agreement for a 2-year block transfer so
students can move freely between institutions to do that; BCCAT been putting money into these
initiatives
Q: (John) Are then any formal agreements under the flexible pre-majors?
A: Yes, check BCCAT website; there are 18 institutions signed under a Flexible pre-major agreement
Q: (Annie) with so many new teaching universities, 3rd and 4th year transfer concern: research
universities haven’t accepted transfers at upper levels, but new ones are. Does BCCAT see grids expand
to take in 3rd and 4th year courses
A: I can’t speak for what BCCAT is planning, have heard that most new universities have taken stance to
maintaining brand through residency requirements rather than year of transfer; it’s up to each
institution to put up transfers
8: Report of 2009 First Joint Annual Meeting (JAM) – David Blundon
The first Joint Annual Meeting (of AC Chairs, SLPs and ICPs) was a great success. A summary and
feedback on the day with links to the presentations is at bccat.bc.ca/jam/JAM2009Summary.cfm. Be
sure to advise BCCAT of contact information for any new chairs so that they can be invited to the 2010
JAM.
- a reminder that you can look at articulation committee companion book and best practices online
Action: Committee members are encouraged to view resources The Companion was updated in 2009,
please view the new version at bccat.bc.ca/articulation/companion/index.cfm.
9: Pending and Expired Requests in the Transfer Credit Evaluation System (TCES)
The one-year time-limit for pending requests that was implemented last year has been very successful in
reducing the TCES back-log. Like last year, BCCAT staff will send the AC chair a list of pending requests
for circulation at the meeting; members from receiving institutions with courses on the list may wish to
follow-up with the ICP/TCC at their home institutions. This year the list will also include expired
articulation requests (those passing the one-year time-limit which were purged from the queue). Any
expired requests that were appropriate and remain of interest can be resent; members from the
sending institution should consult the ICP/TCC at their home institution although any ICP/TCC in
attendance at the AC meeting can address general questions and protocol around the TCES and pending
or expired requests.
- pending requests were posted on May 5th; will now be able to view pending requests and expired
requests
Q: (Dennis): for courses transferring to Trinity, we need a lab, but for non-lab course we prefer not to
have articulation agreements and deal with on one-by-one basis; many sitting in limbo because of lab
issue doesn’t want to commit on paper; would like option for “yes, we’ve dealt with this, would like to
wait until complete”
Q: (Carol): Articulation agreement for unusual course (forestry etc.); trying to work out a way to put a
flag on some of these courses so they can be dealt with individually
- Pam: would like to see unassigned credits go into general science category so that they can use it for
requirement etc.
- Emelia: there is a way to make notation (math: need specific grades) notes that requires make
department decision
-Dennis: would prefer not to have students think it’s an option because it confuses student who thinks it
counts but don’t understand why it doesn’t transfer; only want the clean ones on the grid, but no
mechanism to deal with the ones in pending requests
Action: Committee members are urged to work with their Institutional Contact Person (ICP) and/or
Transfer Credit Contact (TCC) to clear any backlog of transfer requests.
General Discussion about Transfer Grid
Carol Pollock reminded the Committee to submit any changes to her by mid-June, will do a second
round of updates in December if necessary. She identified there were problems with some of the
changes requested last year in that some were not incorporated. Look at grid to make sure correct for
your institution, send Carol any info that needs to change. A reminder that the grid is used by people
across Canada; Alberta is trying to set up a grid similar to ours; UBC is entering an international transfer
grid
Action: Committee members are asked to view Transfer Grid and submit updates to Carol Pollock by
mid-June for entry in July. Be careful to read carefully and update any links as necessary.
10: Best Practice for Course Outlines – written report from Raili McIvor, BCCAT
Course outlines should include transfer information relevant to that particular course. This could be
simply the URL for the BC Transfer Guide web site, which is bctransferguide.ca, or it could include details
from the guide whichever you prefer. You may also wish to use our Transfer Friendly Course Outline
form at bccat.bc.ca/outline/index.cfm either as a template or as a checklist to ensure that your outline
contains all of the necessary elements.
Action: Committee members are encouraged to encourage faculty at their institution to include transfer
information in course outlines.
11: New Transfer System Member Institution – David Blundon
Alberta’s Athabasca University is the first new member of the BC Transfer System admitted under the
“Inclusion of Alberta Institutions” policy (originally passed by Council in December 2008). It’s not clear
yet how quickly or extensively they will begin to attend AC meetings but be aware that chairs may be
contacted either by BCCAT staff or Athabasca University staff to be added to membership lists. Also,
members may begin to see articulation requests for AU courses.
12: Online BIOL 100 Laboratory – David Blundon
- see Attachment 1
- discussion main points:
- Biol 100 was referred to as a non-majors course; would be suitable for an online lab component
- promoted no-guidelines option; the system is based on trust, expect institution that wishes to
engage in virtual labs is fully capable of deciding if they can deliver that product (better than no
lab at all)
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online could be less expensive than face-to-face labs; however, it is more likely they could be
more expensive
- RWSL (Remote Web-based Science Lab) is a web-based associate of science degree project
supported by BC-Campus; has 1st year majors Chemistry, Physics, Biology; physics articulation
agreed in principle to support web-based labs; BC-Campus will pay for 1st running of online
physics course to see how those student do. After that, it is up to the institution to decide
whether to offer it; online labs are not cheap. RWSL cost almost $750,000 and requires two
technicians to maintain the equipment, far more expensive than face-to-face labs; more people
involved (technical on top of lab techs) and so is still very expensive. The intent of online labs is
to allow access to people located in remote areas; capacity is limited, probably not more than
six students at a time; intended to provide access to those unable to have access to resources at
a major institution. This project does not threaten to replace mainstream labs in major
institutions.
- students need to learn the physical skills to manipulate samples etc.; this is not achieved with
online lab activities
- could allow access to those in remote areas or to specialized equipment not available in
community
- in remote communities, dial-up is the only internet available and some communities have only 1
or 2 computers for the whole village so those students are not computer literate; it may not be a
viable choice for connecting students in remote areas
-Carol: found that students not taking labs plummeted in self-confidence; impact of labs has statistically
significant trend
-one of the biggest reasons for labs is to develop practical skills, hard to develop if you don’t practice
them
-the goal is to teach them practical skills so they can apply that in later years in honours programs etc.
-students can’t learn about lab safety, sterile technique etc., in their homes
Motion: Move that the Committee not reconsider position on web-based courses. Moved by Pam;
seconded by Christine.
-June: for motion, wants to reserve full support because works for open learning and would like to see
where it goes and see what kind of tools/techniques/mechanisms evolve with remove labs; not all just
manipulating computer screen, potential for good stuff, and potential for problems that may or may not
be resolvable, could not support at this point
-Keng: meaningful for this motion only if we come up with rationale for not supporting web-based labs,
it suggests a poorly-designed traditional lab is no better than a well-designed remote lab; chemistry has
fairly well-designed remote lab kit, use webcam for final exam to correct for instructor absence
-Barbara: offered to, over the next year, do a literature survey, look at lab skills vs. another type of goal
(learning to be a scientist) and will put together a report
-David: accept courses but not labs for remote and web-based courses
Amendment to Motion: Move that the Committee not consider remote and web-based labs as
equivalent to face to face labs.
Vote: Passed . Abstain: 1 No one opposed
13. Writing as a component of the curriculum - Dezene Huber
- Dezene presented five discussion points regarding the teaching of writing in the curriculum:
1) Standardization of marking – In classes with large enrolments, students are often grouped into lab or
tutorial sections and are taught and assessed by different instructors or TAs. How can a primary
instructor ensure consistent marking between class sections?
2) Workload issues – Providing meaningful feedback to students on writing assignments takes much
more time and effort than marking, for instance, a multiple choice exam. In a time of stretched
resources, how can departments encourage and support instructors in the use of effective writing
assignments, while also ensuring that the complete curriculum is taught effectively? How can
instructors design writing assignments and feedback methods that are both effective and
efficient?
3) Variation in student ability – Our classrooms are usually very diverse in terms of the writing abilities of
incoming students. While in some instances students who have learned English later in life are
better writers than native speakers because they have obtained a systematic grammar education,
it is not always the case. And, even among native speakers, writing ability can differ dramatically
between students. How can instructors effectively teach writing in large classes that contain
students with diverse writing abilities? How can an instructor push excellent writers on to even
better things while also bringing students with lower-level abilities up to a satisfactory level of
competence?
4) Academic Ethics – The internet has made both finding information and simple cut-and-past plagiarism
easier than ever. How can instructors catch plagiarism or, better yet, nip it in the bud? How can
instructors include discussions of plagiarism in their curriculum? Should minor infractions be used
as teachable moments? How can this be done? Plagiarism detection can also become a workload
issue; what can be done to alleviate this?
5) Standards – Students at different stages in their academic development should be expected to
perform to different (and improving) standards. How should an instructor structure writing
assignments for different levels? What sort of standards should be applied at different levels?
- see Attachment 2 for discussion
12:00 – Presentation - Textbook Accessories by Nelson Publishers – Bijhan Shariff
-developed for marking; more info for instructors to see where students struggling; engaging tool for
students
-pre and post test; builds personalized study plan based on pre test
-can remove certain sections and assign pre and post tests
-students can buy stand-alone access code for about 50% of new price; includes e-book so they don’t
have to buy physical text
-access to ebook for 365 days; workarounds exist for those who have to repeat the course etc.
-instructors can get info about pre tests to change their lectures
-their test bank has more research than others and gets to root of understanding rather than recall
15:30 – Presentation - Textbook Technology - Jenn Cawsey, Freeman and Worth Publishers
-everything is fully integrated, everything is one or two click assignable; customization
- eBOOKs: profs like them, but students aren’t buying them,
-buying paper copy gives them access to electronic copy; access for 365 days from when they log in but
can be extended for circumstances; can buy just portal access for about half of textbook
-can include cartridges into Moodle/WebCT etc.
-considering online access for life of edition; no decision yet
-prep-U adaptive quizzing helps all students end up at the same level
14. Flexible pre-majors - Christine Hodgson
- BCCAT is keen for Committees to consider flexible pre-majors; currently there are ones underway for
English, Psychology, Sociology
-set of courses that all receiving institutions will accept in lieu of their 1st 2 years; not identical but
appropriate; pre-requisites are still necessary
-Frank asked everyone who’s interested in forming a subcommittee to look at it to e-mail him; it would
be helpful to have a representative from a small college, medium-sized college/university, and a large
university
Action: Christine Hodgson to distribute handouts received from BCCAT on Flexible Pre-majors
Action: Betty Mosher and Frank Williams will form subcommittee to look into the possibility of a Biology
Flexible Pre-Majors
15. Institutional presentations
UBCV (Carol Pollock):
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Curriculum changes: We are continuing with curriculum changes. Genetics 334 will be offered
in one section as a 2nd year pilot course. In future years, once the course becomes BIOL 234,
transfer students will be able to get direct credit. There will also be 200 level ecology and
physiology courses in addition to the organismal courses. Existing courses may have to be rearticulated.
Changes in Faculty: Ellen Rosenberg and Terry Crawford retire next month and Sandra Millen in
Dec. We are hiring 3 new instructors to add to 4 in 2009: Greg Bole, Liane Chen, Jennifer Klenz,
Kathryn Zeiler.
Community service learning projects: (BIOL 121 and 201) these get course credit but this may
change.
Peer tutors: successful in BIOL 111, 121, 200 and 201; this year we also had TAs assigned to
each lecture section of BIOL 111 and 121.
Transfer of non majors biology courses: working with Paul Harrison to come up with a way to
distinguish the non majors biology course transfer credits.
Biology majors: Students wanting to major in Biology have to apply for admission. They can do
so before beginning 2nd or 3rd year. There are no changes to the procedure. In the future
(students entering 3rd year in 2011) there will be no more program options, all students will
receive a biology degree.
Requirements for admission after 1st and 2nd year standing with at least BIOL 112/121/140 (or 7
transfer credits of first year biology) and CHEM 121/123 or equivalent. Entrance will be
adjudicated based on sessional average. Students can apply for admission to: Biochemistry,
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Biology, Microbiology, Pharmacology or Physiology (students get three choices). Numbers in
these programs are limited and anyone who doesn’t get into one of their choices will be placed
in General Science, concentration in Life Sciences. The application form will be available on the
website in June and students are encouraged to apply early to ensure placement before their
registration date. Applications will also be accepted in August for students taking required
courses in the summer. If students take required courses during their 2nd year, they will have to
apply for admission as 3rd year students.
Requirements for admission after 2nd year: In addition to the 1st year requirements, at least
CHEM 233/235/205 OR CHEM 203/204; BIOL 200, 201; plus organismal courses, any two of:
BIOL 204, 205, 209, 210, MICB 202 (note that 3 credits of organismal biology may be deferred to
3rd year as long as they are not prerequisites for the required 3rd year courses). Entrance will be
adjudicated based on sessional average.
Applications will be accepted in May, August and January. Transfer students who do not have all
their 2nd year courses have two options:
o they can take the courses they are missing in the summer and apply to major in Biology
as soon as they are registered in the courses OR
o they can register for the courses as 3rd year students and can apply to major in Biology in
August or January. Students who choose option (b) will have to complete their
physiology course DURING THE SUMMER before they enter 4th year. Students with
specific questions about applying to major in Biology can contact Tammy Tromba
(tromba@zoology.ubc.ca).
Students continue to be advised to complete their first two years before transferring to UBC,
especially if they do not have an organic chemistry course in first year. For questions about
transfer courses in chemistry, contact Gordon Bates: flip@chem.ubc.ca .
10% of BIOL 121 grade for community service learning, spend about $500/peer tutor and very
well-spent; students asking for transfer credits for bio-like courses from technical programs,
trying to change so that they can’t get through 1st year without taking a bio majors course;
change for 2nd year phys chem. course so students who want to take ecology courses won’t have
to take it;
UBCO (Blythe Nilson):
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UBCO Biology offers BSc, MSc and PhD programs. It also offers service courses to Nursing,
Health Sciences and Human Kinetics and shares a Biochemistry program with Chemistry. Some
of our courses are cross-listed with Biochemistry or Freshwater Science.
The Unit of Biology and Physical Geography offers the following programmes:
o Biology Majors: General Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Microbiology,
Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, Zoology
o Biochemistry (shared with Chemistry for the time being) - options in: General
Biochemistry, Wine and Plant Biochemistry, Medical Biochemistry
For 2010 our sessional hiring budget has been severely reduced. We are not hiring any tenuretrack people this year.
The new Arts and Sciences II building, along with the new Engineering building will open his fall.
The medical building will be open in 2011.
Our enrollment has increased by about 10-15% from last year.
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within 2 years complete revamp in how we do 1st year lectures and labs; stats course (BIOL 304)
should be 2nd year course BIOL 202, Data Management Analysis
SFU (Emelia Kirkwood)
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Initiatives: Science Cohort (60 students) – CHEM 121, MATH 154 and BISC 102; Kinesiology
Cohort (20 students) – CHEM 121, MATH 154, KIN 142, BISC 101
Proposals in the Works:
o Minimum GPA for upper division mandatory courses, physiology and organismal lab
courses.
o Require students to complete at least one upper division W BISC course.
enrollments up, especially in 1st year; discussion to split lab from lecture for boil 101 but huge
resistance; can’t keep up with 1st year course
new course – BIOL 413, Fisheries Ecology
stayed with Campbell for bio texts
can never keep up with enrollment demand of microbiology; physiology stream now belongs to
cell molecules and physiology
soon there will be science labs in Surrey so they don’t need to travel to Burnaby to go to
distance education; distance education has a kitchen lab with one lab has to be done on
campus.
UVIC (written report provided)
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New senior instructor – Dr. Barbara Ehlting
New Department Chair – Dr. Kerry Delaney
New courses – Biology 248 (Topics in Organismal Biology) was offered for the first time in the
fall of 2009. Its aim was to keep organismal biology alive in our students’ second year of
biological study, and it consists of six faculty members each giving a 6-class section on a current
topic in integrative biology. It is not a require course. The course was considered a success, and
will be offered again in fall 2010.
UNBC (Dezene Huber):
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New course – BIOL 318-3 (Fungi and Lichens) has been added to the 300-level of the Major in
Biology
FSTY 307-3 (Disturbance Ecology and Forest Health) now replaces FSTY 309-3 (Fire Ecology and
Management) in the “Subject Requirements” category in the Major in Biology
There have been changes in the Minor in Biology and Conservation due to related changes in the
overall BIOL curriculum. BIOL 303-3 (Plant Physiology), 305 3 (Plant Morphology and Anatomy),
and BIOL 401-3 (Plant Microbioal Interactions) have been removed (having been deleted from
the main BIOL curriculum) and have been replaced with BIOL 304-3 (Plants, Society and the
Environment) and BIOL 318-3 (Fungi and Lichens)
TRU (Val Collins)
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Starting September 2010, will be offering a revamped second year program featuring labs in
Cell biology (BIOL 213) and Genetics (BIOL 234), as well as three new organism courses focusing
on the evolution of those groups
Are also introducing Ecology to 2nd year.
Are introducing a 1 credit course to provide mentorship and communication skills to students;
students will take 1 hour/week for one semester in each of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years.
major changes in 2nd year; new communication course to start in fall; Invertebrate and
Vertebrate condenses into evolution of animal body plans and only 1 plants (evol of flowering
plants) 2 terms of micro condensed to 1, now all students have to take all and ecology;
TRU-O (June Williams)
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All courses, except for the lab courses and BISC 313 (Biochemistry I), are self-paced. Students
are allowed 30 weeks to complete a course; Students may also get an 18 week extension for an
additional fee. Lab courses are done over 4.5-5 days.
BISC 120, 121 (first year majors) are undergoing major revision including new text and a
rearrangement of the topics between the courses. Start date of revised versions not yet set.
New courses: BISC 313 – Introduction to Biochemistry I; F2F labs for the HLSC 158/159.
New courses in development include: BISC 300 – Biometrics, using Crawley, M. (2005), Statistics,
An introduction using R. Wiley & Sons, Ltd. England.; BISC 314 – Biochemistry II (ready soon;
same text as BISC 313); BISC 414 – Evolution (no course text, variety of materials including
research articles, websites, multi-media content).
Cancelled course: BISC 230 (Humans in the Ecosystem).
OL is still moving towards offering more courses as online, paced cohorts with the instructor
having more responsibility and freedom with respect to course materials, making the courses
less ‘pre-packaged’.
Enrollments, overall, are up over last year with the largest gain from Anatomy and Physiology
courses. Also had a noticeable gain in BISC 120. The BISC 030 enrollments are continuing to
decline. The remaining courses are relatively stable. Overall enrollments of longer standing
courses are still below the levels seen 4-6 years ago.
moving towards more paced instructor-lead courses, but enrollments are low compared to selfpaced, open learning wants to claim copyright for everything instructors post online
TWU (Dennis Venema):
- Enrolment levels in 1st and 2nd year courses is increasing
- Service courses for Nursing are strong; nursing has expanded to 50 seats/year, up from 45
- Sciences stronger as a whole; chemistry courses at all-time high; had first biotech grad this year;
UFV (Sharon Gillies)
- Summer enrolments are in Abbotsford only; 2nd and 3rd year courses are strong
- 23 biology majors are graduating in June, some with concentrations in Pre-Medicine, Cellular
and Molecular Genetics, Ecology, Pre-Vet., or Biology of Organisms
- Have a new Honours program
- Have hired a vertebrate physiologist, Dr. Gregory Schmaltz, and environmental microbiologist,
Dr. Stephen Thomas
- May be able to hire another environmental biologist for January 2011
- Rank and tenure still in discussion stages
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BIO 105 – online section, kitchen lab taken by local students; some 3rd year courses not offered
every year rather than every other year; when format is changed or there’s a section of kitchen
lab etc., there’s no difference for articulation
Discussion about how online courses can be designated from face-to-face courses
-some assumed that major changes in delivery went to re-articulation
-no standardized mechanism for change in delivery (has same course number etc.
-should have different number so that it’s known if it’s a major online portion
-components are coming in as hybrids so some labs online and some face-to-face; need a designation
for how much has to be face-to-face
-suggestion for section designation, but sections don’t show up on transcripts
-possibly not as much concern for non-majors course
Dennis: put on agenda for next year
-students can take just lab as an overload
-Germaine: ecology doesn’t have labs but classes are used as field trips to collect data etc.
Action: Distinction of lab delivery (online, face-to-face, home-based) on course descriptions to be added
to 2011 Agenda
VIU (Allan Gibson)
- The transition of MUC into VIU continues and has for the most part been very well received by
faculty and community; recent budget cuts have thrown many plans for upgrades and expansion
into disarray; projected plans for graduate programs in Biology have been put on hold until the
current fiscal climate changes
- In 2009/10, about 180 students enrolled in BIOL 121 (Intro Zoology), of which about 45 are
students in Fisheries and Aquaculture and RMOT programs; these students do not continue in
Biology
- BIOL 123 (Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology) was introduced in spring of 2010 and had
an enrolment of 145; most of these students intend to continue in the Biology Program
- Our 2ndyear course have 48-60 students and our 3rd and 4th year courses usually have 14-18
students
- Each year about 18-25 students graduate with a B.Sc. in Biology
- In 3rd year, students choose to enter one of three streams: Molecular/Genetics, Microbiology or
Ecology
- New course in fall 2009 – BIOL 365 (Introduction to Biotechnology); is a non-lab course; very
popular
- In 2009/10, the 4th year undergraduate research project was made optional due to inadequate
funding; 22 of 33 students completed the course and wrote short theses
launched new 1st year broad survey; faced with questions about whether necessary; moved old
BIOL 122 (1st year botany) into second year but still compulsory for all students; VIU doesn’t
require arts students to take any science or math at all, but science pushing to get requirement
for arts students to take sciences
Capilano U (Paul McMillian):
- Enrolment was up in all Biology courses this year; summer course offerings in May-June are full
- Have developed three 3rd year courses to serve as science electives for the new Bachelor of Arts
degree being developed at Capilano
- labs in all 2nd year courses except genetics
Kwantlen PU (Pam McDonald):
- This last year has been challenging as Kwantlen converts into a “Polytechnic University”. The
three degrees I reported on last year: BSc in Psychology, BSc in Health Science, and“Bachelor of
Sustainable Science in Sustainable Horticulture”, are still being developed, although only the
Health Science degree is slated to be offered by the Science division.
- The Science faculty is developing a new BSc in Biology. It is planned that the degree proposal
will be completed by next January, as we have been told there will be cuts to our programs if it
is not.
- The proposed BSc in Integrated Pest Management has been abandoned.
- The proposed introduction of Biology courses on our Langley campus has been postponed.
- The change in our course format for the first year majors courses from audio-tutorial to
standard 2-lecture format has been delayed until fall 2011
- Enrollments have been strong in all of our Biology courses, but numbers remain low in other
sciences.
- new president; major turnover in admin; lab science not required for arts degree
Quest University (Annie Pru’homme Genereux):
- Quest offers one degree for all registered students: Bachelor of Arts & Sciences. Since it is a
liberal arts degree, students are exposed to 16 different disciplines (or “ways of questioning the
world”) in the first two years of their degree. In collaboration with their advisor, they must then
develop a Question, a topic that will organize their enquiry for the next two years of their study.
There are no pre-set majors at Quest, and therefore no “biology major”. Most of the students
registering in life sciences courses have an interest in either pre-med, epidemiology & infectious
diseases, or ecology & environmental sciences. Our first class will graduate in April 2011.
- no articulation with anyone; graduating first class next April; just reviewed by American
Association of Liberal Arts
- looking for new president; offered chemistry for the first time this year; finally have labs;
- for students transferring to Quest from elsewhere, give up to a year of transfer courses;
currently 200 students overall
Yukon College (Dave Mossop):
- brand new Bachelor of Conservation Sciences which was mentioned at last year’s meeting; have
struck a formal partnership with University of Alberta; Dr. Fiona Schmigalo on staff with UofA
has been assigned to produce curriculum and course content; first intake occurred in fall 2009
- due to this partnership, courses in biology from UofA will become part of the articulation
‘package’ that Yukon College brings to the process; are still waiting the final decisions about
what exactly the curriculum will look like but can expect our 1st and 2nd year biology offerings to
stay the same, 3rd year courses will be added
- enrolment is generally up in most biology courses, mostly female students
- new courses in 2009-10 – BIOL 225 (Introduction to Northern Ornithology) and BIOL 230
(Conservation Biology) was upgraded to a 3rd year level
-
students registered in it think they want to finish at a BC school, have U of A credits and other
credits from them, so transferring would be on a course-by-course basis; Bachelor of
Circumpolar Studies coming this year
VCC: not present
Selkirk College (Paula Vaananen):
- Enrolment was up this year in prep level, first and second year courses.
- The College has cut lab sections in all first-year Biology courses and made them “subject to
enrollment”, which has led to workload reductions.
- Administration is now discussing “harmonizing” low-enrollment courses with other institutions,
but not in Biology as of yet.
Okanagan College (Ellen Pedersen):
- New Dean, Dr. Dianne Crisp, quit after less than one year; looking for a new Dean
- New Associate Dean, Dr. Douglas McLeod
- The 2-year diploma program in Human Kinetics is being offered in Penticton; had 10 graduates
this year
- Have two continuing HKIN faculty members (Wendy Wheeler and Greg duManoir); also have
three part-time people
- New faculty – Sandra Rosenberg, based in Penticton
- Construction of the $28 million Centre of Excellence in Green Building Technology is underway;
will include trades, classrooms, and a gymnasium
- Conservation Technician program is still being developed
- 1st year enrollments about the same, 2nd year down; 112 and 122 has labs; had to add lab
section to A&P last fall and is full;
General Discussion about the Generic Reporting Form
-Ellen asked for a place on the report form to put program (not just course) changes
-Annie asked to have instructors added to list, but Blythe commented that it’s too hard to do this far in
advance
-Ellen has document with embedded links to different university’s requirements; will send to Dennis
NWCC (Germaine Minstry):
- Dr. Norma Kerby is retiring after many years at NWCC; the search for her replacement is
currently underway.
- BIOL 213 – Microbiology I (3) will be offered in September 2010, and will replace BIOL 214 –
Microbiology II: Human/Microbial Interactions (3). This is an introductory course covering the
biology and ecology of bacteria, viruses, protozoans, and fungi. The course will consist of three
hours of lecture per week and three hours of lab per week. Pre-requisites are BIOL 101/102 and
CHEM 121/122 or CHEM 101/102.
- new dean; over 100% turnover in upper admin in past few years; last dean wanted all certificate
programs in place but resisted because 2 years only gives fundamental skills
- population is dropping so could affect enrollment
- $17M building at Smithers campus for School of mining exploration but laid off all university
transfer faculty at Smithers
-
many first-year students don’t take a full course load so they’re missing chem pre-requisite for
many 2nd year courses; offering Integrated BSc degree with UNBC
NLC: not present
NIC (Christine Hodgson):
- New course - Bio 215 (Microbiology) – offered for first time in January 2010
- 2nd Year Courses being offered in 2010/2011 = Bio 200, 201, 202, 215, and 230.
- A change in instructors teaching 2nd year courses: 201 to be taught by Will Hunter; 202
to be taught by Debby Howard
Douglas College (Tod Harper):
- Many administrative changes have occurred at Douglas College over the last year. We have a
new President (Dr. Scott McAlpine), a new Vice-President Education (Dr. Kathy Denton) and a
new Dean of Science & Technology (Dr. Thor Borgford).
- Biology laboratory facilities at Douglas continue to be improved. This summer a new teaching
and research greenhouse will be built at the NW campus.
- Douglas College has been approved for its first NSERC grant. The grant is funded through the
College & Community Innovation program to study biological control of insect pests in BC
vegetable greenhouses.
- Dr. Rob McGregor will be the research coordinator for the projects which will be sited at
Douglas College and the new Insect Biocontrol Lab at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Langley
campus. Several other Biology faculty will also be involved in the research.
- dual admission means second year student enrolled in 3rd year at TRU and considered on same
standing as TRU students; student has to request dual admission, meet requirements for both
universities, then pay registration fee for both and get 2 student numbers;
Coquitlam (Bruce Millen):
- no changes to courses; enrolment is steady
- there has been a slight decrease in the numbers of science students from China, but is made up
by an increase in students from Saudi Arabia who are interested in engineering
Columbia College (Keng Graal):
- there is a shift in demographics with more students coming from India; due to an increase in
number of study permits being issued by CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada)
- marks look really high but basic math test scores are low; education system for Saudi students is
not geared towards the academic system here
COTR (Betty Mosher):
- the $12 million construction project on campus is underway
- Biology numbers have been quite strong; numbers were up in 1st and 2nd year courses
- Will be offering four 2nd year courses next year: Cell, Biochemistry, Ecology and Vertebrates
- The new Biology of the Environment course for non-majors was well received
- The health programs are doing well; Biology Department teaches the 1st year Anatomy and
Physiology courses and two 2nd year health science courses.
-
-
-
Our foundations offerings are still leaning heavily toward the Biology 90 (Grade 12) as this is a
pre-requisite for health-related programs; BIOL 80 (Grade 11) is only being offered as Directed
studies.
The College established a University Studies Math and Science Advisory Committee this past
semester and held their 1st meeting in April. Also, COTR partnered with the East Kootenay
Conservation Program in February. The hope would be that students might be able to tie in with
some of the partners if we continue with the environmental emphasis.
COTR has signed a dual admission agreement with TRU. It should result in a seamless transfer of
our students after a minimum of 30 credits are received at COTR.
CNC (John Neumann):
- Biology 111/112 (Human Anatomy and Physiology) has 37 seats available
- One section of Biology 112 will be offered in spring 2010.
- 2nd year enrollment in crisis
- New program - medical radiography technology; Biology Department will give a few A&P
courses, one is online
- horticulture technician foundations program is new
toughen admission requirements for practical and bachelor of nursing in English and Math;
increasing BIOL mark requirement because too many failing; also saying can’t repeat a course
more than once
- CNC received a NSERC grant for research forest, proceeds from harvests intended to support
natural resources programs
- hoping to start 2nd year genetics with lab
12:00 – Presentation - Mastering Biology, Alice Ripko, Pearson Publishers
www.masteringbiology.com
-access when they purchase text
-standalone access is $94 with e-text, $42 without e-text
-access for 24 months
Langara College (Frank Williams):
- 3 new dean positions, shuffling of positions, things haven’t changed much as far as courses go
- new health science program is running with good enrollment, so successful that part of the
reorganization is that health sciences moved out of the science division and is now in health
science division with nursing and kinesiology, but most people teaching are from biology
- new president with new strategic plans so looking into more degree-granting situations
- record enrollment for the past 2 terms
- new library, new student union building on geothermal grids
- limitation right now is new lab space, but there is a plan for more lab space in the future; nonmajors courses have labs except nutrition that’s done online
Camosun College (David Blundon):
- 2 campuses, 10,000 students, eco-village addresses needs of environmental program
- Biology Department provides a lot of service course for environmental program, articulates only
to UVic
- advanced placement biology lab; lab for high school kids run in evenings; receive credit
BCIT: not present
Alexander College (Barbara Moon):
Biology 100 has run every semester since it was first offered in the fall, 2009; very popular;
planning to put on 2 sections of Biology 100 this fall.
Alexander College enrolls mostly international students.
- Students who do not meet the required college entrance English standards take English for
Academic Purposes (EAP) courses while taking academic courses. One of these EAP courses
focuses on reading and writing about science and psychology.
We are in the throes of designing a new Biology-Chemistry lab for the new downtown campus
(across the street from SFU Harbourside); building a lab for combined biology and chemistry;
course with SFU in fall; 3 sessions, on evolution and creation and develop into a course for
teachers
16. Quest 2011 meeting and venues planning
-BC Bio May 11 (Wed)
-Articulation May 12 and 13 (Thu and Fri)
-Annie will forward information about accommodations etc., over the coming year
17. College of the Rockies 2012 meeting and venue planning
-still going ahead
-not doing BCBio
18. Capilano U 2013
-no representative present
19. NorthWest Community College 2014
-probably at Terrace campus
20. Election of Chair of Biology Articulation Committee
-David Blundon has been doing it for 5 years
-Nomination for Chair: Blythe Nilson; moved by Ellen Pedersen, seconded by Allan Gibson
-Blythe accepted nomination
-voted unanimously in favor
- many thanks to David Blundon for his unwavering dedication to the Committee
Meeting adjourned