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CONTACT PERSON FOR THE FOLLOWING COURSE INFORMATION:
Dee Holisky, College of Arts and Sciences, 3-8721, dholisky@gmu.edu

New courses for approval

PSYC 615. Language Development (3:3:0)
Prerequisites: Three credits of graduate developmental psychology or permission of instructor.
Covers current threory and research on the topic. Issues addressed include biological and environmental influences and constraints, research methods, the role of parents, individual and cultural differences, links between language and other domains (cognitive, behavioral, social, emotional of development, language of the brain, animal language, bilingualism, and atypical language development.

WMST 699. Capstone Portfolio (0:0:0)
Prerequisites: Students must have completed their course work for the WMST certificate or be in their last semester of their course work.
Prior to graduation, students, in consultation with their advisor, will reflect on and synthesize their work in the Women's Studies certificate program by selecting three items taken from their work in the program and discussing these items in a 7-10 page essay. Work selected may include the student's course papers, videos of their performance(s), photos of their exhibit(s), music recordings and other items as agreed upon by the student and his or her advisor.

Modified courses for approval

PSYC 527. Developmental, Evolutionary, and Systems Neirobiology (2:2:0)
Change course title to: Introduction to Neurobiology.

PSYC 646. Issues and Methods in Developmental Psychology (3:3:0)
Change course title to: Issues and Methods in Longitudinal/Developmental Research.

Modified degree programs for approval

The Psychology faculty has approved changes in the Clinical MA and PhD concentrations that allow students to select from a menu of general core course requirements. These menus were approved by the department several years ago and were adopted by the other MA and PhD concentrations, but the Clinical faculty decided at the time not to adopt these menus. The Clinical faculty recently decided to adopt the menus to allow Clinical students greater flexibility in scheduling and designing a curriculum to meet their special interests and needs.

MA in Psychology, Concentration in Clinical Psychology
(see page 112 of the 2001-2002 catalog)

Current:

2. Three of the following courses:

• PSYC 701 Cognitive and Affective Bases of Behavior (3)
• PSYC 702 Biological Bases of Behavior (3)
• PSYC 703 Social Bases of Behavior (3)
• PSYC 704 Life-Span Development (3)
• PSYC 705 Historical and Philosophical Issues in Psychology (3)

Proposed:

2. Three courses, each from a different set below:

• Cognitive core (PSYC 701, 766, or 768) (3)
• Biological core (PSYC 702, 558, or 559) (3)
• Social core (PSYC 703, 667, or 668) (3)
• Developmental core (PSYC 704, 666, or 669) (3)
• Historical core (PSYC 705) (3)

PhD in Psychology, Concentration in Clinical Psychology
(see page 114 of the 2001-2002 catalog)

Current:

Thirty-six credits of required general core courses:

• PSYC 701 Cognitive and Affective Bases of Behavior (3)
• PSYC 702 Biological Bases of Behavior (3)
• PSYC 703 Social Bases of Behavior (3)
• PSYC 704 Life-Span Development (3)
• (NOTE: CATALOG LISTS ADDITIONAL HOURS ADDING UP TO 36)

Proposed:

Thirty-six credits of general core courses:

• PSYC 701, 766, or 768: Cognitive core
• PSYC 702, 558, or 559: Biological core
• PSYC 703, 667, or 668: Social core
• PSYC 704, 666, or 669: Development core
• (NOTE: ADDITIONAL COURSES TOTALING 36 HOURS UNCHANGED)

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CONTACT PERSON FOR THE FOLLOWING COURSE INFORMATION:
Stephen Nash, School of Information Technology & Engineering, 3-1654, snash@gmu.edu

New courses for approval

OR 619/STAT 619. Computational Models for Probabalistic Inference (3:3:0)
Prerequisites: STAT 544 or permission of instructor.
Examines theory and methods for building computationally efficient software agents that reason, act and learn in environments characterized by noisy and uncertain information. Covers methods based on graphical probability and decision models. Studies approaches to representing knowledge about uncertain phenomena, and planning and acting under uncertainty. Theory, practical tools, and hands-on experience are provided. Students learn graph theoretic concepts for representing conditional independencies among a set of uncertain hypothecies. Students apply what they learn to a semester-long project of their own choosing.

OR 640. Global Optimization and Computational Intelligence (3:3:0)
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.
Introduction to global optimization in the context of large-scale, non-convex mathematical programs and to numerical methods for the solution of global optimization problems. Topics covered include: high-level survey of traditional mathematical programming algorithms; critical comparison of metaheuristics and artificial intelligence, algorithms to traditional mathematical programming algorithms; probabalistic search, multi-start methods, statistical tests of performance and confidence, simulated annealing, genetic algorithms, neural networks, Tabu search, homotopies and tunneling; the traveling salesman problem, the Steiner problem, Stackelberg-Cournot-Nash mathematical games and other classical non-convex optimization problems.

Modified course for approval

TCOM 547. Project Management in Telecommunications (1.5:1.5:0)
Change from 1.5 credits to 3 credits (3:3:0).

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CONTACT PERSON FOR THE FOLLOWING COURSE INFORMATION:
Jim Finkelstein, School of Public Policy, 3-2269, Jfinkel@gmu.edu

New course for approval

PUBP 734 Administrative Law and Public Policy (3:3:0)
This course covers administrative discretion, rulemaking and agency proceedings, public participation, political accountability, regulatory processes, oversight, formal adjudication and informal action, lobbying agency administrators and the political and legal nature of the administrative process.

PUBP 735 Lobbying and Interest Representation (3:3:0)
To work effectively within a democratic political environment, the policy analyst must understand contemporary methods used by interested parties to influence policy. This course focuses on the roles and techniques of organized influence and its impact on policy.

Modified courses for approval

MNPS 700 The New Professionalism: Theory and Practice (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:0)

MNPS 702 The New Professional as Reflective Practitioner (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:0)

MNPS 703 Technology and Learning in the New Professions (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:0)

MNPS 704 Research Methodologies in the New Professionalism (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:0)

PUBP 700 Theory and Practice in Public Policy (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:0)

PUBP 702 Comparing Political Institutions (3:3:0)
Change name, credits, number to PUBP 502 Comparative Political Institutions (4:3:0)

PUBP 703 Organizational Informatics (3:3:0
Change name and credits to PUBP 703 Organizational Dynamics in Public Policy (4:3:0)

PUBP 704 Statistical Methods in Policy Analysis (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:0)

PUBP 715 Transportation Systems (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:1)

PUBP 716 Transportation Operations & Logistics(3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:1)

PUBP 717 Analysis for Transportation Managers (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:1)

PUBP 718 Transportation Planning & Policy (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:1)

PUBP 722 Practicum in Transportation Policy, Operations & Logistics (3:3:0)
Change credits to (4:3:1)

Modified certificate for approval

Certificate in Knowledge Management

The following four courses are the core requirement for the Masters of New Professional Studies: Knowledge Management:

• MNPS 700 The New Professionalism: Theory and Practice (4:3:0)
• MNPS 702 The New Professional as Reflective Practitioner (4:3:0)
• MNPS 703 Technology and Learning in the New Professions (4:3:0)
• MNPS 704 Research Methodologies in the New Professionalism (4:3:0)

Request that these four courses be used for the existing Graduate Certificate in Knowledge Management, together with two electives from existing courses for a total of 18 credit hours.

Modified degree program for approval

MA in Public Policy

In January 2002, SCHEV approved the Master in Public Policy (MPP). This document proposes the specific steps to move from the Master in New Professional Studies in Public Policy (MNPS) to the new, SCHEV-approved MPP.

Degree Requirements
Consistent with the SCHEV-approved document and the stated objectives of the MPP:

Required core courses for a total of 22 credit hours:

• PUBP 700 Theory and Practice in Public Policy (4:3:0)
• PUBP 502 Comparative Political Institutions (4:3:0)
• PUBP 703 Organizational Dynamics (4:3:0)
• PUBP 704 Statistical Methods in Policy Analysis (4:3:0)
• PUBP 720 Managerial Economics and Policy Analysis (3:3:0)
• PUBP 741 Government Finance in the U.S.: Policies and Processes (3:3:0)

Select two of the following analytic courses for a total of 6 credit hours:

• PUBP 705 Advanced Statistical Methods for Policy Research (3:3:0)
• PUBP 712 Policy Analysis and Management Science (3:3:0)
• PUBP 713 Policy and Program Evaluation (3:3:0)
• PUBP 731 Macro Economic Policy Assessment

The changes result in a total of 8 courses and 28 credit hours in the required core curriculum

Change the Professional Experience Requirement from 0-3 credit hours to 0-2 credit hours.

Summary

• Public Policy Core 28 credit hours
• Substantive Policy Sequence (concentration) 9 credit hours
• Professional Experience Requirement 0-2 credit hours

Total 37-39 credit hours

Course Electives in the Ten Concentrations

• Add PUBP 703 Organizational Dynamics as an elective in the Concentrations on Collaboration and Learning in Public Policy, Governance Systems and Policy Management, and Culture, Values and Social Policy.
• Add PUBP 746 Administrative Law and Public Policy to the concentrations in Governance Systems and Policy Management and in Culture, Values and Social Policy
• Add PUBP747 Lobbying and Interest Representation (3:3:0) to the concentration in Governance Systems and Policy Management
• For the concentration in Transportation Policy, Operations, and Logistics, remove PUBP 722 Practicum in Transportation Policy, Operations and Logistics.
• To the concentration in Regional Economic Development and Technology Policy, add ITRN 769 International Entrepreneurship (3:3:0) and PUBP 780 Evolution of the Washington Metropolitan Economy (3:3:0).
• For the concentration in Science and Technology Policy, remove LRNG 612 Economics, Technology and the Regulatory process.
• To the concentration in Organizational Informatics in the Policy Enterprise, remove ITRN 730 Information Technology for International Business and Trade.
• To all concentrations add PUBP 710, Topics in Public Policy; ITRN 701, Special Topics; ITRN 702, Special Topics; and PUBP 550 Topics in Public Policy in those cases where they are related to the subject matter of the concentration.

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CONTACT PERSON FOR THE FOLLOWING COURSE INFORMATION:
Peter Becker, School of Computational Sciences, 3-3619, pbecker@gmu.edu

New course for approval

CSI 777. Principles of Knowledge Mining (3:3:0)
Prerequisites or corequisites: INFS 614 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.
Presentation of principles and methods for synthesizing task-oriented knowledge from computer data and prior knowledge, and presenting it in human-oriented forms, such as symbolic descriptions, natural language-like representations, and graphical forms. Topics include fundamental concepts of knowledge mining, methods for target data generation and optimization, statistical and symbolic approaches, knowledge representation and visualization, and new developments such as inductive databases, knowledge generation languages, and knowledge scouts.

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