Category: 2026

Time: 9:30am
Location: Microsoft Teams. If anyone in addition to the COSCC would like to attend, please email Jen for details.

When available, the meeting minutes will be indicated within bold brackets [ ] and are in draft form until they are approved by the committee.

I. Call to Order [9:30 AM]

II.Approval of the March 20, 2026 Meeting Minutes [Postponed to April meeting]

III. New Business – Undergraduate

New Courses

• COS 303: Introduction to AI Applications in Science [Approved]

IV. New Business – Graduate

New Courses

• COS 503: Introduction to AI Applications in Science [Tabled for further revision.]
• NEUR 560: AI & Data Exploration [Tabled for further revision.]
• NEUR 562: AI Research & Scholarly Communication [Tabled for further revision.]

Modified Programs

• Bioinformatics Management, MS [Approved]
• Bioinformatics Management, Professional Science Master’s [Approved]
• Computational Sciences and Informatics, PhD [Approved]
• Computational Social Science, PhD [Approved]
• Environmental Science, MS [Approved]
• Environmental Science and Public Policy, PhD  [Tabled for admissions criteria, moved to an e-mail vote.]
• Forensics Graduate Certificate* (if time) [Tabled due to time.]
• Geoinformatics and Geospatial Intelligence, MS [Approved pending correction to GGS 662’s placement.]

V. Adjournment [11:03 AM]

*Item added after the agenda was announced.

• *The programs and services offered by George Mason University are open to all who seek them. George Mason does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. After an initial review of its policies and practices, the university affirms its commitment to meet all federal mandates as articulated in federal law, as well as recent executive orders and federal agency directives.

Time: 9:30am
Location: Microsoft Teams. If anyone in addition to the COSCC would like to attend, please email Jen for details.

Items to be considered on this agenda are due by 4/17/2026.

When available, the meeting minutes will be indicated within bold brackets [ ] and are in draft form until they are approved by the committee.

I. Call to Order [9:32am]

II. Approval of the March 20, 2026; March 27, 2026; April 17, 2026 Meeting Minutes [Approved]

III. Announcements/Discussion

• Fall 2026 Meeting Schedule [The COSCC will meet Fridays at 9:30am- exact dates to be distributed later.]
• 2026-2027 academic year COSCC Chair voted on at our first fall semester meeting [Please send recommendations for the 2026-2027 COSCC Chair.]

IV. Old Business

VI. New Business – Graduate

New Programs

• Graduate International Direct to Master of Science in Environmental Science and Policy [Approved]
• Graduate International Direct to Master of Science in Mathematics [Approved]

VII. Adjournment [9:53am]

*Item added after the agenda was announced

• *The programs and services offered by George Mason University are open to all who seek them. George Mason does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. After an initial review of its policies and practices, the university affirms its commitment to meet all federal mandates as articulated in federal law, as well as recent executive orders and federal agency directives.

Time: 9:30am
Location: Microsoft Teams. If anyone in addition to the COSCC would like to attend, please email Jen for details.

Items to be considered on this agenda are due by 4/3/2026.

When available, the meeting minutes will be indicated within bold brackets [ ] and are in draft form until they are approved by the committee.

I. Call to Order [9:30am]

II. Approval of the March 20, 2026 Meeting Minutes and March 27, 2026 Meeting Minutes [Tabled as the meeting minutes were not visible.]

III. Announcements/Discussion

IV. Old Business

• COS 503: Introduction to AI Applications in Science [Tabled pending further discussion to better meet departmental needs. To this end, the COSCC recommended that a subcommittee be formed: Nathan Burtch and Pritha Roy volunteered to serve on this subcommittee alongside Arie Croitoru, William Lamberti, and Jen Bazaz Gettys. Other COSCC members are welcome to join, please email Jen.]
• Forensic Science Graduate Certificate [Approved]

V. New Business – Undergraduate

Modified Courses

• GEOL 404: Field Techniques [Approved pending population of the recommended prerequisite section to match the Justification section.]
• MATH 105: Precalculus Mathematics [Approved pending the addition of MATH 103T]
• MATH 108: Introductory Calculus with Business Applications [Approved pending the addition of MATH 103T]
• MATH 113_Analytic Geometry and Calculus I [Approved]
• MATH 123: Calculus with Algebra/Trigonometry, Part A [Approved pending Justification section formatting]
• MATH 125: Discrete Mathematics I [Approved]
• MATH 214: Elementary Differential Equations [Approved pending Justification section formatting]

Modified Programs

• Government Analytics Minor [Approved pending the removal of inactivated GOVT 311, and adding EVPP and GGS equivalent courses: EVPP 361, 362, 357, and GGS 357, in addition to changing the requirement to eight unique minor credits.]
• Medical Laboratory Sciences, BS* [Approved with a recommendation to move BIOL 430, 431 to the top of the list so they’re prioritized. Also, add the MLAB 300 WI footnote.]

Inactivated Programs

• Physics, BS/Secondary Education, Accelerated MEd (Secondary Education – Science Concentration)* [Approved]

VI. New Business – Graduate

New Courses

• CSI 686: Molecular Dynamics Modeling* [Approved pending update to NR grading and rounding the lecture hours to avoid confusion.]

Modified Courses

• EVPP 682: Principles of Environmental Conflict [Approved]

VII. Adjournment [11:05am]

*Item added after the agenda was announced

• *The programs and services offered by George Mason University are open to all who seek them. George Mason does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. After an initial review of its policies and practices, the university affirms its commitment to meet all federal mandates as articulated in federal law, as well as recent executive orders and federal agency directives.

Time: 9:30am
Location: Microsoft Teams. If anyone in addition to the COSCC would like to attend, please email Jen for details.

Items to be considered on this agenda are due by 3/6/2026.

When available, the meeting minutes will be indicated within bold brackets [ ] and are in draft form until they are approved by the committee.

I. Call to Order

II. Approval of the February 20, 2026 Meeting Minutes [Approved]

III. Announcements/Discussion

IV. Old Business

• February 2026 E-vote: Mathematics, BA or BS/Mathematics, Accelerated MS [Approved]

V. New Business – Undergraduate

New Course

• COS 303: Introduction to AI Applications in Science* [Tabled]

Modified Courses

• BIOL 246: Introductory Microbiology* [Approved, pending outreach to Nursing]
• BIOL 405: Microbial Genetics* [Approved]
• BIOL 486: Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Laboratory* [Approved]
• CDS 403: Machine Learning Applications in Science* [Approved]
• CLIM 103: Global Warming: Weather, Climate, and Society Laboratory [Approved]
• MATH 213: Analytics Geometry and Calculus III* [Approved]
• MATH 300: Introduction to Advanced Mathematics* [Approved]
• MATH 446: Numerical Analysis I* [Approved]

Modified Programs

• Computational Data Science Minor [Approved]
• Geography Minor [Approved]
• Mathematics, BA [Approved]
• Mathematics, BS [Approved]
• Neuroscience, BS* The program is still in CIM process for previous edits. Upon approval, today’s edits would be inserted into CIM once possible. [Approved]
• STEM in Society Minor [Approved]

Program Inactivation

• Biology, BA or BS/Secondary Education, Accelerated MEd (Secondary Education – Science Concentration) [Approved]
• Chemistry, BA or BS/Secondary Education, Accelerated MEd (Secondary Education – Science Concentration) [Approved]
• Geology, BA or BS/Secondary Education, Accelerated MEd (Secondary Education – Science Concentration) [Approved]
• Mathematics, BA or BS/Secondary Education, Accelerated MEd, (Secondary Education – Mathematics Concentration)* [Approved]

VI. New Business – Graduate

New Courses

• COS 503: Introduction to AI Applications in Science* [Tabled]
• GEOL 538: Paleoceanography Seminar [Approved]
• GGS 662: Agentic GeoAI [Approved]
• MATH 546: Numerical Analysis I [Approved]
• MATH 642: Enumerative Graph Theory [Approved, pending catalog description edits]
• MATH 720: Algebraic Combinatorics [Approved]
• NEUR 560: AI & Data Exploration* [Due to time, item moved to a future spillover meeting]
• NEUR 562: AI Research & Scholarly Communication* [Due to time, item moved to a future spillover meeting]

Modified Programs

• Bioinformatics Management, MS [Due to time, item moved to a future spillover meeting]
• Bioinformatics Management, Professional Science Master’s* [Due to time, item moved to a future spillover meeting]
• Computational Sciences and Informatics, PhD [Due to time, item moved to a future spillover meeting]
• Computational Social Science, PhD* [Due to time, item moved to a future spillover meeting]
• Environmental Science, MS* [Due to time, item moved to a future spillover meeting]
• Environmental Science and Public Policy, PhD* [Due to time, item moved to a future spillover meeting]
• Geoinformatics and Geospatial Intelligence, MS [Due to time, item moved to a future spillover meeting]

VII. Adjournment [11:32am]

*Item added after the agenda was announced.

• *The programs and services offered by George Mason University are open to all who seek them. George Mason does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. After an initial review of its policies and practices, the university affirms its commitment to meet all federal mandates as articulated in federal law, as well as recent executive orders and federal agency directives.

Time: 9:30am
Location: Microsoft Teams. If anyone in addition to the COSCC would like to attend, please email Jen for details.

Items to be considered on this agenda are due by 2/6/2026.

When available, the meeting minutes will be indicated within bold brackets [ ] and are in draft form until they are approved by the committee.

I. Call to Order [9:30am]

II. Approval of the January 23, 2025 Meeting Minutes [Approved]

III. Announcements/Discussion

• Update on modifying courses (prerequisites, corequisites) impacted by the decoupling of BIOL 213 (+ new lab 215), BIOL 311 (+ new lab 313), and the new sequence of BIOL 308+BIOL 338.
• Department of Biology* [Approved]

IV. Old Business

V. New Business – Undergraduate

New Courses

• GGS 352: Sport and Place [Approved]
• GGS 355: Cities of the World [Approved]
• GGS 356: Transportation Geography [Approved]
• GGS 421: Remote Sensing of Natural Hazards [Approved]
• GGS 484: Geospatial Intelligence Process & Information [Approved]
• NEUR 585: Transforming Academia with Generative AI [Approved, with modified pre-reqs]

Modified Courses

• CHEM 211: General Chemistry I [Approved]
• CHEM 212: General Chemistry II [Approved]
• COS 315: Science Policy Internship Preperation* [Approved]
• COS 320_Science Policy in Practice* [Approved]
• COS 390: Learning Assistant Seminar [Approved]
• COS 391: Continuing Learning Assistant Seminar [Approved]
• FRSC 325: Molecular Biology [Approved]
• FRSC 326: Molecular Biology Lab [Approved]
• FRSC 460: Forensic DNA Analysis [Approved]
• FRSC 461: Forensic DNA Analysis Lab [Approved]
• FRSC 470:Forensic Genomics [Approved]
• GGS 399: Special Topics in GGS [Approved]

Modified Programs

• Atmospheric Sciences, BS [Approved]
• Conservation Biology Minor [Approved]
• Forensic Science, BS/Forensic Science, Accelerated MS* [Approved pending 3.0 GPA wording correction]
• Geographic Information Systems Minor [Approved]
• Geography, BA [Approved]
• Geography, BS [Approved]
• Urban Informatics Minor [Approved]

Modifications Re: Biology Lecture and Lab Decoupling

• Biology Minor [Approved]
• Bioinformatics Minor [Approved]
• Chemistry, BA [Approved]
• Chemistry, BS [Approved]
• Environmental Science, BS [Approved]
• Forensic Science, BS [Approved]
• Forensic Science Minor [Approved]
• Geology, BS [Approved]
• Medical Laboratory Science, BS [Approved]
• Neuroscience Minor [Approved]
• Paleontology Minor [Approved]
• Pre-Medical Undergraduate Certificate [Approved]

Course Deactivation

• NEUR 406: Zebrafish Neurodevelopment Laboratory [Approved]

VI. New Business – Graduate

New Courses

• GEOL 520: Resource Geology [Approved, pending updating graduate grading scale and “NR” repeat status]
• GGS 621: Remote Sensing of Natural Hazards [Approved, update course objectives to fit a graduate level understanding]
• MATH 515: Advanced Calculus I [Approved pending updating graduate grading scale]
• MATH 521: Abstract Algebra [Approved pending updating grading clarification]
• MATH 531: Topology [Approved pending updating graduate grading scale]
• MATH 742: Differential Geometry [Approved pending updating graduate grading scale and “NR” repeat status]

Modified Courses

• GGS 533: Issues in Regional Geography [Approved]
• GGS 590: Selected Topics in Geography [Approved]
• GGS 684: Selected Topics in Geospatial Intelligence [Approved]
• GGS 787: Scientific Data Mining for Geoinformatics [Approved]

Deactivated Courses

• FRSC 690: Capstone – Moot Court & Expert Testimony [Approved]
• FRSC 799: Master’s Thesis [Approved]
• GGS 777: Remote Sensing Natural Hazards [Approved]

New Programs

• Bachelor’s Degree (Selected), COS/Quantum Science and Engineering, Accelerated MS [Approved pending removal of “pathway specific requirements” as there aren’t any.]

Modified Programs

• Biology, BS/Biology, Accelerated MS* [Approved]
• Forensic Science, MS [Approved]
• Earth Systems and Geoinformation Science, PhD [Approved]
• Geoinformatics and Geospatial Intelligence, MS [Approved]
• Geology and Earth Science, PhD [Approved]
• Mathematics, BA or BS/Mathematics, Accelerated MS [Tabled to e-vote]
• Mathematics, MS [Approved]
• Neuroscience, BS/Biology, Accelerated MS* [Approved]
• Remote Sensing and Image Processing Graduate Certificate [Approved]

VII. Adjournment [11:30am]

*Item added after the agenda was announced

• *The programs and services offered by George Mason University are open to all who seek them. George Mason does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. After an initial review of its policies and practices, the university affirms its commitment to meet all federal mandates as articulated in federal law, as well as recent executive orders and federal agency directives.

Time: 9:30am
Location: Microsoft Teams. If anyone in addition to the COSCC would like to attend, please email Jen for details.

Items to be considered on this agenda are due by 1/9/2026.

When available, the meeting minutes will be indicated within bold brackets [ ] and are in draft form until they are approved by the committee.

I. Call to Order [9:31 AM]

II. Approval of the December 8, 2025 Meeting Minutes [Approved with two abstentions.]

III. Announcements/Discussion

IV. Old Business

V. New Business – Undergraduate

New Courses

• BIOL 215: Cell Structure and Function Laboratory [Approved]
• CHEM 479: Special Topics in Chemistry [Approved]
• NEUR 432: Neural Systems Design [pending common policy link, repeat credit hours, equivalence to BENG course.]

Modified Courses

• BIOL 213: Cell Structure and Function [Approved]
• BIOL 308: Foundations of Ecology and Evolution [Approved]
• BIOL 311: General Genetics [Approved]
• BIOL 313: Human Genetics for the Social Sciences [Approved pending addition of the required prereq.]
• BIOL 338: Lab for Fundamentals of Ecology and Evolution [Approved]
• BIOL 379: RS: Ecological Sustainability [Approved]
• MATH 464: Linear Algebra with Data Applications [Approved]
• MATH 465: Mathematics of Data Sciences [Approved]

Course Deactivations

• NEUR 410: Current Topics in Neuroscience [Approved]

New Programs

• Computational Neuroscience Minor [Approved pending addition of “or” NEUR 350 and 15 (not 20) credits for GPA requirement.]

Modified Programs

• Biology, BA [Approved]
• Biology, BS [Approved pending change to biology courses and labs.]
• Mathematics, BS [Approved pending change to biology courses and labs.]
• Neuroscience, BS [Approved pending addition of NEUR 432/BENG 350 to electives.]
• Bachelor’s Degree (selected), COS/Quantum Science and Engineering, Accelerated MS [Tabled]

VI. New Business – Graduate

Modified Courses

• MATH 665: Mathematics of Data Science [Approved pending update to NR grading.]

Course Deactivations

• NEUR 600: Chemistry and the Brain [Approved]
• NEUR 611: Philosophical Foundation of Neuroscience [Approved]

VII. Adjournment [10:55 AM]

*Item added after the agenda was announced

• *The programs and services offered by George Mason University are open to all who seek them. George Mason does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. After an initial review of its policies and practices, the university affirms its commitment to meet all federal mandates as articulated in federal law, as well as recent executive orders and federal agency directives.