Senate Document Number 3304S

Date of Senate Approval 03/25/04

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

APC Document 21:     Changes to four CSCI course listings and to CSCI AP exam requirements.

Effective date: Fall 2004

1. Modify course description for CSCI 244 (p. 85) from

Internet Client-Side Technology (3)
An intermediate class extending the fundamentals of Web page design. Topics include advanced HTML and XML, the document object model (DOM), dynamic Web pages and style sheets. Prerequisite: CSCI 107. Fall.

to:

Internet Client-Side Technology (3)
An intermediate class extending the fundamentals of Web page design. Topics include advanced HTML, the document object model (DOM), dynamic Web pages and style sheets. Prerequisite: CSCI 107. Fall.

Impact: There is no impact on departmental resources. Students wishing to learn about XML will have to take CSCI 344.

Rationale: In the Fall 2001 semester, an early version of this course was taught by Walt Turner as a Special Topics offering targeted for Computer Science majors. In Fall 2002, the course was again taught by Walt Turner but now as CSCI 244. However, by 2002 students in Multimedia were allowed to take CSCI 244 rather than the more intensive CSCI 201. This change in the composition of the class has resulted in Walt Turner modifying the course and moving coverage of XML, the Extensible Markup Language, from CSCI 244 to CSCI 344.

2. Modify course prerequisites for CSCI 333 (p. 86) from

Data Structures (3)
Data structures and their representation in programming languages, lists, trees, graphs and networks. Relationship between data structures and algorithm design; analysis of algorithm efficiency. Prerequisites: CSCI 202; MATH 251. Fall.

to:

Data Structures (3)
Data structures and their representation in programming languages, lists, trees, graphs and networks. Relationship between data structures and algorithm design; analysis of algorithm efficiency. Prerequisites: CSCI 202, 255; MATH 251. Fall.

Impact: Very few, if any, students would be impacted by this change because most CSCI majors take CSCI 255 before MATH 251.

Rationale: CSCI 333 students need to understand computer-addressing mechanisms before entering the course. This material is covered in CSCI 255.

Internet Server-Side Technology (3)
An advanced class in the use of servers in Web applications. Topics include active server pages, database integration, and Web site management. Prerequisite: CSCI 244. Spring.

to:

Internet Server-Side Technology (3)
An advanced class in the use of servers in Web applications. Topics include XML, active server pages, database integration, and Web site management. Prerequisite: CSCI 244. Spring.

Impact: There is no impact on departmental resources. Students wishing to learn about XML will have to take CSCI 344.

Rationale: See Rational for CSCI 244.

CSCI 351 Computer Ethics (3)
Philosophical, legal, social, economic and technological issues facing computer usage at home and in the workplace. Topics include privacy and security, economic effects of computerization, and digital copyright issues. Prerequisite: Junior standing in Computer Science. See Department Chair.

Impact: In the Spring terms of 2002 and 2003 and, soon, 2004, Tim Burke, an adjunct faculty member in Computer Science, has taught this as a Special Topics course devoted to this topic. In the Spring 2002 semester, 25 students enrolled in this course. In Spring 2003, there were 17 students. This enrollment indicates strong student interest in the topic.

Mr. Burke has expressed an interest in teaching this course yearly. If he is available, the Department of Computer Science is very interested in his continuing to do so. If he could not teach the course, we would hope that a full-time faculty member would be able to step in and teach the course.

This course will be an elective in Computer Science that may be used to satisfy the major requirement for 9-hours of unspecified upper-level CSCI courses. Hopefully, the course will qualify as a "writing intensive" ILS course.

Rationale: Creators and users of technology need to understand the moral and societal implications of their products and tools. The increased impact of computers on daily life make it necessary for all UNCA students to have an opportunity to study the ethical implications of the computer age. Many computer science departments are adding courses in Computer Ethics, most using the Oxford published text Computers, Ethics, and Society edited by Ermann, Williams, and Shauf.

This course is also a natural candidate for the ILS "writing intensive" designation and will thus offer UNCA students a computer-related course that satisfies this requirement.

A bit more information about Mr. Burke's previous Special Topics offering of this course can be found in his Spring 2002 on-line syllabus stored at the URL: http://www.cs.unca.edu/~burke/csci373/syllabus/373syllabus-2002.html.

5. Modify Advanced Placement course waiver in Computer Science (p. 28) from:

to:

Impact: Only students who score a 3 on the Computer Science AB test would be affected by this change. This year there was one student with this score.

The only programs taught on-campus that require CSCI 202 are the Computer Science major, the NCSU Mechatronics Concentration, and the NCSU 2+2 program; however, students transferring to NCSU will be subject to NCSU's AP Policy.

Rationale: The faculty of the department always thought that a score of 4 on the AB test was required for waiver of CSCI 202. This fall we discovered the catalog only required a score of 3 when a student with that score entered UNC Asheville. UNC Asheville is the only UNC-system school that allows the second programming course to be waived with a score of 3 on the Computer Science AB test.