Agenda GAC Nov. 27, 2015

Item 1. [Sponsor ACG] Whether non-DCS graduate courses should be allowed to count towards MSc and PhD breadth, such as various ECE, Math, and Stats courses. If this is to be allowed, what are appropriate criteria and what is the process for making such a decision?

See the minutes from the Nov. 13, 2015.  Allan J subsequently received input from the Dept. Chair re streamlining the decision process from the previous proposal.  In order to arrive at breadth decisions within the first two weeks of term, the suggestion is to allow the ACG to decide on the cases s/he feels are clear cut, and only refer the borderline cases to the GAC for consideration.  A revised proposal is below.

Motion to be considered: The GAC recommends forwarding the proposal below to DCS faculty members for broader consideration at a faculty meeting or brown bag. 

PROPOSAL: 

A student together with their supervisor can propose to the Associate Chair, Graduate (ACG) that a particular offering of a graduate course from another department or university be considered for breadth credits.  A detailed course description is required (similar to what is currently required for breadth assessment from students entering our PhD program with a MSc degree from elsewhere), along with a rationale for why this course should be considered sufficient for breadth credit in one of the specific research areas and/or specific methodologies. In addition, the student should submit a brief description of other CSC relevant graduate courses that the student has completed, along with the associated (unofficial) transcripts.

The ACG then seeks the opinion of the research group most closely aligned with the course content (i.e., one of the "Research Areas" 1 through 15 currently listed in the breadth specification, see Appendix B of http://www.cs.toronto.edu/dcs/GradOverview_2015-16.pdf ).  The faculty in the research group are asked if the course offering should be considered suitable for breadth in their research area and, if so, they are asked to recommend the appropriate methodology.  Given substantial support and no dissenting views from the faculty in the research group, the ACG may either: a) decide on her/his own to approve the request; or b) for cases that the ACG considers borderline, the ACG can bring the proposal to the Grad Affairs Committee for a decision.

The student's mark in the course must be the equivalent of at least a B- in order to qualify for a breadth credit. 

Initially these decisions will be based on specific offerings of courses rather than a blanket decision to provide breadth for a specific course number independently of the annual variations of that course.  

To be most useful, decisions would need to be made by before the first or second week of the term the course is offered in.  

Item 2. 
[Sponsor Dept. Chair] Allotment of TA hours to graduate courses.  

Notes: 

TA hours are currently allocated using the same process as undergrad courses:

Allocation Rule

1-14 students: no TA help
15-25 students: 1/2 TAship (27 hours)
26-39 students: 1 TAship
40-49 students: 1.5 TAship
50-53 students: 2 TAships
54+ (2 hours of TA help per student enrolled mostly rounded down to the nearest TAship)

This is roughly enrolment * X / 54 rounded down to the nearest half TA. 
Here:
- X = 2.2 for all 1st year undergrad courses except 104 and list below;
- X = 2.0 for everything else.

Enrolment is measured as of the Friday of the second week of lectures

Ugrad courses that get X = 2.2:  207, 258, 301, 302, 318, 369, 404, 454

Special requests for additional TA support then end up in with the Dept. Chair.

Issue: 

The pertinent issue for the GAC is whether the overall allocation formula we currently use needs to be revised somehow. Can we settle on a fixed formula that works well for all/most courses,rather than the current situation where chairs or designates have to make the call which inherently ends up raising issues of fairness. Of course, chairs will always have discretion to handle one-off situations that arise, but the issue here is dealing with not the one offs but rather the general case.

The GAC needs to explore if a different/deeper allocation rule makes sense, perhaps one that take into account style of course (e.g., lecture vs seminar) etc. 

ITEM 3. [Sponsor CSGSBS] Make the grad skills seminar mandatory for our grad students to take, possibly including attendance of the distinguished lectures.