The Faculty Senate held their weekly meeting on Thursday, Feb. 19, in ChemSci 102. The primary agenda item was Proposal 07-26, which recommends establishing a Department of Data Science within the College of Computing. The proposal was approved, with one vote against. The proposal will need to be approved by both the University President and the Board of Trustees before it is established.
If approved, the Data Science B.S./M.S., Health Information M.S., and Computational Science and Engineering PhD programs would be transferred from the College of Computing to the new Data Science department. A proposed Artificial Intelligence (AI) B.S. degree would also join the department. The College of Computing has included data science education as a key part of its growth strategy for several years, in response to the steady growth of the data science industry.
After passing the motion of support, the senate addressed unfinished business. Update to Michigan Tech’s Procedures for Responding to Allegations of Misconduct in Research, Scholarly and Creative Endeavors, Proposal 20-26, was retabled due to contradictory language. The proposal stated that self-plagiarism both is and is not considered a form of research misconduct. An updated proposal is available on the senate website.
Proposal to Establish an Associate of Science in General Studies, Proposal 14-26, was passed unanimously. This new Associate will replace the current Associate of Arts in Humanities offered by the university, the rationale being that the recently created A.S. in Engineering can benefit Engineering students, while the currently offered A.S. in Arts and Humanities can not.
Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence, Proposal 15-26, was tabled due to contingent discussion within the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Shelving the Computational Fluid Dynamics Graduate Certificate, Proposal 19-26, was passed due to declining enrollment over several years. The Aerodynamics certification is similar, with overlapping course requirements. Students currently enrolled in the program will be able to complete their certificates without issue.
The next Faculty Senate meeting will be held on Feb. 26 in ChemSci 102.
The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) was unable to hold their weekly meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 18, due to the University closure. The next USG meeting will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 15, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the MUB Alumni Lounge. Elections for USG have opened up. The positions include the next Executive Board and the general representatives. Voting closes at 5:00 p.m. Sunday with transitions occurring on Apr. 1. Any students interested in voting can visit usg.mtu.edu/current-election.
