August 2009
Minutes of the Graduate Council Meeting
August 17, 2009
Members Present: Andrew Carnie,
Members Excused: Dennis Doxtater, Ivy Pike, Stephanie Fryberg, Matt Cordes, Karen Morrisey, Gautam Gowrisankaran, Molly Hunter, Carl Maes, Andrei Sanov,
Invited Guests: Thomas Rhodes, Research Specialist, Graduate College
Dorian Voorhees, Assistant Dean, Graduate College
CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES. The meeting was called to order at 3:07 by Chair Carnie and a sign-in sheet was passed in lieu of roll call. Member Cherrington moved that the minutes of the Graduate Council meeting of April 17, 2009 be approved. The motion was seconded by Member Lomawaima, and the vote taken. The minutes were approved as read.
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS. Chair Carnie welcomed the members of the Council to this first meeting of the academic year. Introductions were made around the table.
Chair Carnie reported that the Graduate Council is now part of Faculty Governance and that this particular meeting is the first meeting with a faculty member as the Chair of the Council. Graduate Council meetings for this academic year will be on the 3rd Friday of each month, with the exception of December and March. There is no meeting in December and the March meeting was moved up a week due to a holiday on the 3rd Friday. Chair Carnie also reported that the Council is short one representative from the College of Engineering and one from the College of Humanities. Additionally, we need all three representatives of the Graduate and Professional Student Council.
Member Horgan distributed an “Information for Graduate Council Members” handout. The handout included the mission of the Graduate Council, the link to the Graduate Council website, and other resources that would be of interest to the Membership.
Member Comrie introduced administrators of the Graduate College and each administrator spoke about the areas which fall under them: Associate Dean
Dean Comrie introduced Guest
All of the administrators from the Graduate College encouraged Graduate Council membership to contact them if they have any questions or concerns.
DEANS’ REPORT. Dean Comrie reported that numbers in the Professional Master’s Program are up and reiterated that UA application and admission numbers are good. He also gave the membership an update on recent budget cuts.
Member Horgan distributed a handout describing the Mosaic project. Student records will go “live” around the middle of October and training for coordinators and staff will begin soon. The module for online recommendation letters has been implemented and other modules will be added incrementally so that the entire application package will be online. In response to a question regarding the level of security in the PeopleSoft system, she indicated that there will be a very high level of security; the MOSAIC team is currently evaluating permission levels.
A handout with some of the highlights of the NRC study/assessment of research doctorate programs across the country was distributed. Twenty key variables are assessed, including such categories as research activity, student effectiveness and outcomes, diversity, and others. Member Horgan reported that NRC plans to have the entire results out approximately September 1, 2009.
Member Horgan distributed a handout of a new Academic Renewal option, which basically allows students to have all grades for a particular period of time (up to four consecutive semesters of coursework completed with a 24-month period) excluded from the calculation of their graduate GPA, academic standing, and eligibility for graduation. However, in order to have an accurate academic history, the coursework and grades will remain on the record.
The Grade Replacement Opportunity Policy has gone to the Faculty Senate and portions of the policy related to undergraduate transfer students are being reworked. Under this policy, graduate students would not be allowed to GRO.
Member Horgan also reported that the moratorium on new degree programs has been lifted. The Graduate College is seeing a lot of proposals for new programs, which should move forward more quickly now due to a streamlining of the approval process.
GPSC REPORT. There was no GPSC Report as no representatives from GPSC were present at the meeting.
NEW BUSINESS.
Change in GRE. The quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning and analytical writing portions of the policy are roughly the same as in the past; however, the Personal Potential Index (PPI) will also be considered. The PPI is a way to measure non-academic skill sets and personal attributes that can be determined from letters of reference. Additional information can be found on the GRE website 9ets.org, under products or http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.435c0b5cc7bd0ae7015d9510c3921509/?vgnextoid=822d25d339fcd110VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD)
for Graduate Council members and their departments to review and decide if their graduate program wants to use it.
Committees. Discussion took place about the establishment of several committees and/or subcommittees:
A committee or subcommittee authorized to approve certain routine issues, items, and proposals without bringing them before the Council as a Whole. After discussion, the consensus was to bring all items before the Council as a Whole. Member Horgan stated that she anticipates many more requests and proposals for new programs than in the past because of the recent transformation activities. This issue will be revisited if the number of proposals for new programs becomes unmanageable.
An Awards Committee, a Grievance Committee, and a committee to look at second graduate degrees will be established fairly soon. Chair Carnie asked Council members to contact Associate Dean Horgan if they are interested in serving on either subcommittee and/or if they know of faculty members who might be interested in participating.
OLD BUSINESS.
Re
Graduate Council Secretary