S.08-22
S ?
OFFICE OF THE
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT ACADEMIC AND ASSOCIATE PROVOST
MEMO
NTION ? Senate
FROM ?
Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies
RE ?
Faculty of Applied Science -school of Computing Science (07-56A)
I
DATE ?
January 16. 2008
Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies at its
meeting of January 8, 2008, gives rise to the following recommendations:
S ?
Motion:
"that Senate approve the WQB Requirement Substitution Request for
Computing Science Dual Degree Program."
S
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
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THINKING OF THE WORLD
12/01/2008
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WQB Requirement Substitution Request
Computing Science Dual Degree Program
Applicable to students entering SFU beginning Fall 2006
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This is to request that special consideration be given in applying the Breadth component of the
new WQB requirements to the Computing Science Dual Degree Program (DDP).
SFU students admitted to the University beginning in the Fall 2006 semester must meet writing,
quantitative, and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake, as
specified in the SFU calendar. All undergraduate degree programs, including the Computing
Science DDP are expected to harmonize with this policy to enable students to meet the WQB
requirements. This would include DDP students admitted through ZU. The first group of
students from Zhejiang University (ZU), China, will come to SFU for their two years of studies as
early as May 2008.
One of the unique features of the DDP is the international component in which students study at
ZU for two years. Students are expected to build competency in learning and living in diverse
environments in this integrated curriculum. DDP students complete more than the normal
program requirements when compared with regular degree students, as they need to fulfill
requirements of SFU and ZU.
The DDP curriculum for both SFU and ZU students is a diverse program that has a strong
cultural component consistent in philosophy with the new breadth requirement. Due to the built-
in breadth of the DDP and complexity of the curriculum, students have limited flexibility to select
additional electives.
For the above reasons, we request that students completing the DDP curriculum in China be
deemed to meet 2 B-Social Sciences and 2 B-Humanities requirements for the SFU degree.
We believe this request supports the DDP mandate and ensures students' successful
completion of their SFU degree requirements.
The following section explains how courses in the DDP curriculum will meet WQB requirements
for both SFU and ZU students.
SFU Students
This table illustrates current WQB courses in the DDP curriculum as well as WQB substitution
requests for B-Hum and B-Soc courses in
Italic.
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SFU Equivalents ?
I ?
WQB Requirement
Year O(SFU)
PHIL 120W-3 ?
I ?
- ?
I
W and B-Hum
Year lto2(ZU)
Chinese Language & Culture Courses-12
20 credits
B-Soc
2 x B-Hum
Chinese course for International Students-6
Academic Chinese course-2
Discrete Math-4
MACM 101-3
Q and B-Sci
China Survey-3
3 credits
B-Soc
Remaining WQB Requirement
CMPT 376-3 (SFU)
-
w
Science course (SFU or ZU)
-
B-Sci
Undesignated Breadth course (SFU or ZU)
-
B-undesignated
12/01/2008
W—
Requirement
PHIL 120W is
a
'W' and 'B-Hum' certified course required for the Dual Degree Program (DDP).
DDP students take this course to fulfill 3 credits of lower division 'W' requirement, and will
complete the upper division 'W' requirement by taking CMPT 376-3 "Technical Writing and
Group Dynamics" in the fourth or fifth year of their program at SFU.
Q - Requirement
As many Computing Science core courses are quantitative based, DDP students will have no
problem fulfilling the SFU quantitative requirement.
B - Requirement
PHIL 120 serves as one 'B-Hum' course as mentioned in the 'W' requirement above. MACM
101 equivalent serves as one 'B-Sci'. We believe the program structure and culture courses in
the DDP implicitly satisfy some breadth requirements. DDP students taking the above courses
should be deemed to fulfill 2 B-Soc and 2 B-Hum courses for their SFU degree. As a result, the
remaining 'B requirement' is one B-Sci and one B-undesignated course to be fulfilled at SFU or
zu.
ZU Students
This table illustrates current WQB courses in the DDP curriculum as well as WQB substitution
requests for B-Hum and B-Soc courses in
Italic.
I ?
SFU Equivalents ?
I ?
WQB Requirement
Year I to 2 (ZU)
Moral Education and Foundations of Law-2.5
Cultural, Social
Science and
Humanities
2 x
B-Hum
2 x B-Soc
Study of Marxist Theory-2.5
Overview of modem Chinese History-2.5
Selection of "General Knowledge" electives
adding up to 7 credits— Literature & Arts-3,
Economics & Society-3, History & Culture-3
Discrete Math-4
MACM 101-3
Q and B-Sci
Science-6 (Example: Physics, Chemistry)
Science
B-Sci
Remaining WQB Requirement (SFU)
PHIL I0OW-3 or PHIL 120W-3
__
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___________________
Wand B-Hum
CMPT 376-3
-
W
Undesinated Breadth course
-
B-undesignated
W— Requirement
All DDP students, including the ZU group will enrol in CMPT 376-3 "Technical Writing and
Group Dynamics" to earn 3 credits of upper division W' credits. In addition, ZU students must
complete 3 additional 'W' credits to fulfill the SFU writing requirement. The DDP curriculum
encourages students to complete PHIL 100W or PHIL 120W as these fulfill both 'W' and 'B-
Hum' requirements.
Q - Requirement
Since many Computing Science core courses are quantitative based, DDP students from ZU
will have no problem fulfilling the SFU quantitative requirement.
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12/01/2008
B - Requirement
ZU students study at Zhejiang University in year
I
and 2 to complete lower division core
Computing Science and elective courses specified in the DDP curriculum. From the curriculum,
ZU students must complete Science course(s) and a MACM 101 equivalent. The combination
of these courses is equivalent to 6 credits of B-Sci, therefore the 'B-Sci' requirement is fulfilled.
Some courses in the curriculum, General Knowledge courses in particular, clearly have implicit
breadth components. Therefore, students are deemed to fulfill 2 B-Hum and 2 B-Soc courses
for their SFU degree. The remaining 'B requirement' will be fulfilled at SFU by taking PHILIOOW
or PHIL 120W, and one B-undesignated course.
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