School of Computer Science
Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
1:00 – 2:30 p.m., REYN 219
*In attendance* - *Faculty*: Luiza Antonie, David Calvert, David Chiu, Dan Gillis, Gary Grewal, Fatima Hussain, Stefan Kremer, Xining Li, Pascal Matsakis (Interim Director), Judi McCuaig, Joe Sawada, Fei Song, Deborah Stacey, Mark Wineberg, Michael Wirth, Yang Xiang; *Staff:* Deb Byart, Monaliza Gill (Recording Secretary), Jennifer Hughes, Kyle Johnston, Greg Klotz, Lauren Zweep; *Student Representatives:* Nick Beirne, Frazer Seymour
*Regrets* – *Faculty:* Rozita Dara, William Gardner, Blair Nonnecke, Charlie Obimbo *(on sabbatical),* Fangju Wang; *Staff:* Phyllis Reynen
*First, Laura Gatto (Co-op Coordinator) introduced her new colleague and Co-op Coordinator for our computing programs: Kate McRoberts.*
1. Approval of Agenda
Motion to approve the agenda moved by D. Calvert and seconded by D.
Gillis.
All in favour. MOTION PASSED.
1. Approval of Minutes from September 13, 2016
Motion to approve the minutes moved by J. McCuaig and seconded by D.
Stacey.
In favour: all but two. Abstentions: L. Antonie and D. Chiu. MOTION > PASSED.
- Interim Director’s Remarks – Pascal
- *Meetings The meeting with the Provost and the Dean will be on Sep 27 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in REYN 219. The Special Council Meeting with the Dean will be on Oct 4 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in REYN219, but might be cancelled after the meeting with the Provost and the Dean. College T&P Guidelines The result of the vote on the College T&P Guidelines and School Addendum is: 12 yeas, 2 nays, 6 abstentions. In conclusion, the Guidelines and Addendum were not approved. Faculty Search To P. Matsakis’ knowledge, the 2 two-year teaching-focused CL positions are the only faculty positions that have been approved so far. The nomination process for Faculty Search Committee has started. The deadline for submitting the nomination forms is Sep 27 by 4pm. Three members of the School must be elected, including at least two tenured Faculty members. All faculty members are eligible to nominate and vote. The goal is to have the new faculty members start in F17. Staff Hiring There are 20 applications for the 2^nd^ Analyst position; they are being reviewed by the Analyst Hiring Committee, and interviews will be scheduled soon. The 2^nd^ Program Counselor position is still pending, waiting for budget approval. The 2^nd^ Co-op Coordinator, Kate McRoberts, started on Sep 19. Directors and Committees P. Matsakis reminded the Council that the Assistant and Associate Directors are responsible for the operation of the School committees and are the liaison between the Director and the committees. Each committee chair should communicate with their respective Director, who should communicate with the Director. Reporting to the Council Agenda items should be submitted by the committee chairs to the Assistant and Associate Directors, and then by the Assistant and Associate Directors to the Director at least one week prior to the Council meeting. In addition, the committee chairs should report to the Council at least once every other month and the Assistant and Associate Directors at least once a month (i.e., every other meeting). The Staff Interface P. Matsakis expressed that in most cases faculty and students should contact the Administrative Assistant first, not the Director; the Undergraduate (resp. Graduate) Program Assistant, not the Associate Director of Undergraduate (resp. Graduate) Studies; the Office Clerk, not the Assistant Director. He stated that all travel and expense claims will be taken care of by the Administrative Assistant and should be submitted to Phyllis. He also stated that the scope of responsibilities of the Office Clerk included taking the minutes, organizing online surveys, contacting Physical Resources for related issues, managing keys and supplies. J. Sawada inquired who would be responsible of petty cash (e.g., expenses for getting the plaque engraved). P. Matsakis suggested that the contact would be Monaliza —who could then coordinate with Phyllis if necessary. * Council By-Laws and Membership – Pascal P. Matsakis presented the proposed revision of the Council By-Laws and Membership document as discussed in the previous meeting. The revision includes the rewording of the first paragraph as follows: The membership of the School Council shall consist of all *faculty and non-academic staff members in the School of Computer Science, an undergraduate student representative and a graduate representative.* It includes a change in the definition of the Quorum: Quorum is defined as at least ½ (50% or more) of all the *regular* faculty in the School who are not on leave (not on sabbatical, not on parental leave, etc.) during the time of the meeting. It also includes many changes regarding Voting: Motions are passed by *simple* majority rule *(i.e., more yeas than nays)* with two exceptions: (1) If a motion has been defeated, it may not be made again unless a 2/3 *simple* majority *(i.e., at least twice as many yeas as nays)* approves a motion to re-open discussion on the matter. (2) Changes to the bylaws and membership of the School Council will require a 2/3 *absolute* majority *(i.e., at least two thirds of the voting members vote yea)*. > *Proxy voting and online voting must be preapproved.* > > Motion to approve the changes moved by P. Matsakis and seconded by D. > Gillis. All in favour. MOTION PASSED. 1. Information Systems and Human Behaviour (ISHB) – Pascal P. Matsakis reported that B. Nonnecke met with Sofie Lachapelle, Acting Associate Vice President, Academic, to discuss the deletion of ISHB and possibilities for moving forward with HCI. B. Nonnecke was informed that the School would vote today on the deletion of ISHB, and he was fine with that. > Motion to approve the deletion of ISHB moved by P. Matsakis, seconded > by D. Stacey. In favour: all but one. Opposed: S. Kremer. MOTION PASSED. 1. Mobile Computing Major – Dave Calvert D. Calvert advised to discuss this item after the scheduled meeting with the Provost and the Dean on Sep 27. 2. Assistant Director’s Remarks – Michael Moving out from Reynolds > M. Wirth advised that all rooms in Reynolds are being used > effectively. SharcNet has moved all their offices to McLachlan. The > School is anticipated to move out by mid-December. The renovation must > be completed by April 2018 and we are anticipated to move back to the > renovated building in S18. The Physical Space Committee will be > responsible for all room allocations (faculty, staff, students). > > Everyone should start cleaning out unwanted material and planning for > packing. Blue bins have been placed on each floor. > > D. Gillis inquired if there was a regulation for specific length of > time that the faculty should keep the exam papers. M. Wirth answered > they should be kept for 1 semester, then can be disposed of in the > secure bin located in the supply room. Years old exam papers can be > dumped in the blue bins. > > M. Wirth confirmed that moving boxes would be ordered, as inquired by > Y. Xiang. > > It is anticipated that metal containers will be provided to store > non-essential things. > > There was also a brief discussion on how to liquidate the air > conditioning unit that the School owned. Floor Plans of the Renovated Reynolds > There was a brief discussion regarding the floor plans of the > anticipated renovation. > > The staff will be located on the first floor, which will also include > a seminar room where the Council meetings will be held. The lab will > be moved to the expansion building. > > N. Beirne inquired if there will be a room for SOCIS. P. Matsakis > responded that SOCIS will be allocated space in the expansion > building. M. Wirth added that there will be a space in Reynolds SOCIS > can temporarily use. > > G. Grewal inquired if it will be possible to open the windows. P. > Matsakis confirmed that the plan was to replace all the windows and > that it would be possible to open the new ones. Infrastructure > There have been problems with the aging Sunrays, affecting 2030 and > 2430; we will have to look at replacement options in the near future. > The servers will be moved to CCS; S. Kremer asked if the Systems > Analyst will have physical access to them, and K. Johnston responded > that the plan was for remote access only and CCS will take care of all > the hardware support. Web and Wiki > SOCS has a new website, for external viewers. Internal information for > students, faculty and staff (e.g., forms, minutes, course outlines) > will be contained in a Wiki. There was a brief discussion on > accessibility issues. *D. Stacey made a special announcement regarding the Graduate Open House on Sat, Oct 1. * *She encouraged everyone to circulate the event to the students and to register with Kate. * 8. Associate Director’s Remarks, Graduate Studies – Joe J. Sawada presented the recently modified Guidelines for Oral Examination of Thesis: the chair does not serve as an additional examiner; they ensure the examination is conducted in a professional manner, adequate time is allotted to the candidate for presentation and to the examiners for questions, etc. J. Sawada suggested implementing a similar procedure for the QE and advised that the Curriculum Committee has just finished the PhD Thesis Defence Regulation document, now to be voted for approval. J. Sawada emphasized that full-time graduate students should not be permitted to work more than an average of 10 hours per week as quoted in the adopted 10-hour rule of the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies (OCGS) regarding university-related employments. He also presented the different appointment labels and mentioned that the 10-hour rule does not apply to GRA-1 but applies to GRA-2. 9. Policy on Engaging in Research with Other Faculty’s Students –
Joe J. Sawada presented a slide on the Policy on Engaging in Research with Other Faculty’s Graduate Students that was originally approved on September 11, 2012 by the Council. > He mentioned that the last sentence may violate the student’s right to > work and suggested that the policy be removed (given the existence of > the 10-hour rule), or revised as follows: > > As soon as there is interest in planning to work with someone else’s > graduate student, the interested faculty member will talk with the > advisor and specify how much time will be required by the student to > work on such an endeavor. A timeframe should be created so that the > advisor can ensure it will not impede the student’s thesis research. > The advisor must be given an opportunity to participate in and benefit > from the work at no financial cost. In particular, they will be > invited to participate in any resultant publication. P. Matsakis commented that it’s not just about the 10-hour rule but also about the communication between faculty members and the scheduling of the work so that it does not impede the student’s thesis research. There was a brief discussion on the wording of the last sentence. There was also a discussion on the wording of the first sentence. The following change was suggested: > As soon as there is interest in planning to work with someone else’s > graduate student, the interested faculty member will *discuss with the > advisor the time* required by the student to work on such an endeavor. Motion to approve the revised policy with the change above moved by P. Matsakis and seconded by D. Calvert. All in favour. MOTION PASSED. 9. Any other business N/A Meeting adjourned at 1:58pm**