Bowen Island Retreat

By Morgan Chambers

It is the last Thursday of exams, and all the semester loose ends have been tied up. How am I going to spend my last 3 days before vacation? At the faculty retreat on Bowen Island! I'm sure your next question is "What exactly goes on at a faculty retreat?" Well, let me tell you. All the keeners arrive on Thursday evening. (Including Duhane and I, who would've gotten lost if we hadn't met Albert on the ferry -neither of us thought to print out the directions before we left Vancouver). We spent the evening socializing and informally discussing some of the topics that would be on the table during the next two days. One noteworthy item was that Tim Collings has spend part of the evening at the local Bowen Island brewery helping them fine tune their control system (how's that for applying 280 and 423?). In return they'd given him some sample beer (and of course we all had to try it). Most people arrive Friday morning and with a cups full o' tea and a fists full o' croissant much socializing occurred. Once everyone had satisfied their breakfast craving things settled down and got a

little more serious. The main topics to be covered during the retreat were: the graduate program, the proposed new undergraduate curriculum, aligning the communications program with the new curriculum, and future directions of the school. The first topic up was the graduate program. The main concern was how to improve it, both from the student's and school's point of view. Points under discussion were the withdrawl rates of graduate students, the number of graduate courses available, and the lack of sufficient computing resources, lab equipment, and space. In the afternoon, Susan gave a brief presentation on the challenges facing the communications program in aligning it with the new curriculum. In addition, she briefly covered the benefits students derive from the 10X courses and the communications program in general. The second half of the afternoon was spent in the great curriculum debate. Major changes include: 1) taking the course work covered in 125, 222, 321 and breaking it into 5 smaller courses. 2) (due to changes in what Computing is offering) material currently in CMPT 105, CMPT 290, CMPT 390 and CMPT 391 will now be covered in new ENSC courses. 3) the removal of ENSC 300 from the list of required courses. 4) becoming stricter on which courses satisfy the requirements for science and complementary studies electives as several students have come close to not making the accreditation requirements.

After a day full of meetings, we had an hour off before dinner, and the rest of the evening free! Duhane, Kamal, John Jones and Albert decided to go for a run, and a number of others (myself included) decided that a walk was more our pace. Christine Forget and I fell behind the group when I stopped to take a couple of pictures, which is how at the appointed dinner hour we found ourselves on the far side of a lake with no quick way to get back. We managed to arrive back only an hour late for dinner (which we wolfed down while listening to everyone give us lectures on not getting lost in the woods - just for the record we weren't lost, the trail was just longer than we expected). After dinner had had a chance to settle someone suggested a game of volleyball. The skills of players ranged from rather good to rather out of practice. The conditions were somewhat primitive as our court was slanted towards the ocean (and on more than one occasion someone had to race down to the beach to get the ball). One of the most memorable moments was Doug Girling cursing as he dove out of the way when the ball went straight for his head. I also came out of the evening with new respect for Duhane who played most of the games without shoes. This doesn't sound too bad until you realize that a number of geese appear to live on or very close to the lawn.

"...Doug Girling cursing as he dove out of the way when the ball went straight for his head"

The rest of the evening Duhane and I spent compiling our comments on the proposed curriculum and trying to incorporate them in a modified proposal. We discovered exactly how difficult a job it is to make a change to the curriculum. One little change creates a snowball effect and you end up trying to stick courses in semesters you wouldn't normally. Many of the professors and staff stopped by and gave us their comments and feedback on our suggestions. We also heard from just about everyone that we were working too hard and should take the evening off. Saturday morning saw a continuation of the discussion regarding the curriculum changes and possible directions for the school to take in the future. The possible future directions included offering courses aimed at non-engineering students, allowing non engineering students to take ENSC classes and expanding the size of the program (in terms of numbers). All in all, the retreat gave me a chance to get to know many of my professors a little better and meet several that I hadn't (though I've been at the school for 5 years now!). In addition, I now have a new appreciation for some of the challenges facing the school. I would like to suggest that everyone take the time to read the proposal Duhane and I put together (and Duhane typed out so neatly) and the revised curriculum that the UCC put out on July 6th. There should be copies of both in the lab. If you have any questions or comments I would be interested in hearing them.

Comments on the proposal can be given to any EUSS member through the suggestion box, e-mail or in person. A copy of the proposal by Morgan and duhane can be found in the undergraduate lounge.

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