January 2009
Graduate Council Meeting
January 16, 2009
3:00 P.M.
Room 402, McClelland Park Building
Minutes
Invited Guests: George Gehrels, Chair, Undergraduate Council; Susan Richards, Director, Business Intelligence; and Doug Taren, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Public Health
Members Present: Andrew Carnie, Nathan Cherrington, Andrew Comrie, Matthew Cordes, Steven Dvorak, Dianne Horgan, Molly Hunter, Kathie Insel, Lane Kenworthy, A, Quadir Khan, Suzanne Knosp, K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Lisa Ordonez, Betul Ozkan, Andrei Sanov, Tim Secomb, Don Slack, Gail Varin, Kevin Vinson, Rose Ylimaki
Members Excused: Zhao Chen, Stephanie Fryberg, LouAnn Gerken, Perry Gilmore, Gautam Gowrisankaran, Maria Teresa Velez, Carl Maes, Chuck Hutchinson, Dennis Doxtater, Emily Connally
Call to Order and Roll Call. The meeting was called to order by Chair Comrie at 3:05 p.m. A sign-in sheet was passed in lieu of roll call.
Dean’s Report. Chair Comrie reported that the Graduate College had an old internal rule that a student could be admitted provisionally to the Graduate College. The student would need to achieve a GPA of 3.25 the semester following their provisional admit, and would then be converted to regular status. This GPA requirement is higher than that required to be removed from probation – which is a 3.0. “Provisional admits” will be eliminated in the future and students will be either admitted or not admitted. This would streamline processes by eliminating the tracking required for provisional admits. If a department wants to do a special admit for a person with a GPA below a 3.0, the student will still need Graduate College permission.
Chair Comrie reported that the electronic vote taken after the November 2008 meeting to establish a “multidisciplinary minor” was unanimously approved by the Graduate Council.
GPSC Report. Member Khan expressed the concern of the GPSC about the impact of budget cuts on graduate and professional students. He wanted to know what procedures the graduate college is going to take in case of massive budget cuts. Chair Comrie indicated that cuts will not apply equally to all colleges but will be distributed based on evaluation and assessment of the various programs.
New Business.
Request to Change the CIP Code assigned to the Master of Science in MIS. After discussion, the Graduate Council membership present at the meeting approved by a vote of 17 to 0 for Member Horgan (Associate Dean of the Graduate College) to act on the Council’s behalf on any future votes on issues pertaining to changing CIPs.
Course Drop Fee Proposal. Guest Gehrels attended the meeting to present this proposal, which was approved by the Undergraduate Council on December 2, 2008. A $25 late drop penalty for all undergraduate and graduate courses is proposed to encourage students to release courses early if they do not intend to complete them, beginning AY 2009-10. Students will be notified as soon as the policy has been approved by the Faculty Senate, UA Fees Committee, and the UITS/Mosaic Committee that would program affected systems. The Late Drop Fee Policy will be published in the Dates & Deadlines section of the online Schedule of Classes where other fees are published. The fees will be charged beginning on Monday of the second week of the Fall Semester, and beginning on Thursday of the second week of the Spring Semester. A motion to approve the Proposal was made by Member Cherrington and seconded by Member Lomawaima. The motion passed with a vote of 16 to 1.
WebReg Access Proposal. The Course Drop Fee willencourage students to release unwanted courses early. This will provide more seats to become available to students. Extending the WebReg Access will give student additional time to add classes that they may not add otherwise. The vote was taken and with 17 ayes and no nays or abstentions.
Implementation Proposal for MS, PhD in Environmental Health Sciences. Doug Taren, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Public Health, was present at the meeting to respond to questions from the Graduate Council about the Implementation Proposal for an MS and PhD in Environmental Health Sciences.
Concern was expressed that the implementation proposal contained limited information on demographics. It was recommended that the proposal place a greater emphasis on the impact on diverse populations and the environment. There was also concern expressed about implementing new programs that require new resources during these uncertain times when some programs will probably have to be eliminated.
With the proviso that the Proposal include a greater emphasis on demographics and the impact on diverse populations and the environment, Member Nathan Cherrington made a motion to approve the Implementation Proposal for the MS, PhD in Environmental Health Sciences. The motion was seconded and passed with a vote of 16 ayes, 0 abstentions, and 1 opposed.
OBIEE + Demonstration. Susan Richard, Director for Business Intelligence attended the meeting and gave a brief demonstration on the reporting and analytical, capabilities of OBIEE +.
Graduate Program Assessment 2009. Chair Comrie distributed for comments a draft of the overview of the UA Graduate Programs Assessment 2009. A Graduate Programs Assessment Committee will be formed very soon. It was suggested that any Council member who wishes to participate on that Committee call Chair Comrie.
There was no old business.
Announcements. The next meeting of the Graduate Council is Friday, February 20, 2009 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Room 402 of the McClelland Park Building.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Nultemeier
Graduate Council Secretary