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GRADUATE COUNCIL
____________________________________________________
Minutes of Meeting Held October 17, 2013
Present:
Dean Zhu, Professors Reed, Boboc, Monaghan, Sridhar, Plecnik,
Ziolek, Sotiropoulos, Bubenik, Reinthal, Zingale, Kosteas,
Schultheiss
Absent/Excused:
Professors Wang, Gatica, Regoeczi, Rutar, Resnick, Thornton
Guests:
Professor Vickie Gallagher
Dean Zhu called the meeting to order at 2:03 p.m.
1. Approve Agenda – The Agenda was approved as presented.
2. Approve minutes from September 19, 2013 meeting - The minutes were approved
as written.
3. New Business
 Program Review volunteers needed
i. After a two year suspension to revise the process, CSU has reestablished program review and two departments with graduate
programs will be reviewed--Chemistry and Electrical & Computer
Engineering
ii. Dr. Zhu asked if anyone wished to volunteer for the Program
Review Committees. Dr. Marius Boboc volunteered for the
Chemistry program and Dr. Catherine Monaghan for the Electrical
& Computer Engineering. Graduate Council unanimously
approved the two volunteers.
iii. Dr. Zhu’s two appointed members are Dr. Miron Kaufman
(Engineering) and Dr. Nolan Holland (Chemistry).
 Engineering proposal to suspend the M.S. in Industrial & Manufacturing
Engineering
i. This department originally had an undergraduate and graduate
program. The undergraduate was suspended in approximately
2008, while the graduate was kept.
ii. A loss of faculty over the years and declining enrollment
necessitates suspending the graduate program now also.
iii. Dr. Zhu mentioned that he understood this to be one of the stronger
programs in the Engineering College previously. Dr. Sridhar
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confirmed that it was but without faculty being replaced, the
program began to fade.
iv. A Council member asked a general question on how a
department/College could lose so many full-time faculty members
over the years without them being replaced?
v. From 2006 until the new Dean was appointed, the Engineering
faculty went from approximately 60 to 40.
vi. A brief discussion of the changes in the faculty hiring process
ensued. Previously, open positions were filled within the college.
The procedures changed and open positions were ‘returned’ to the
Provost’s office and a process used to fill the positions.
vii. A Council member felt that replacement of faculty positions
impacts solidly on programs, thus Graduate Council should be
involved in the discussions. Currently, the Graduate Dean does
have input to the latest faculty hiring process implemented
approximately 2 years ago.
viii. A motion was made to approve the suspension of the M.S. in
Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering program. The
motion was approved unanimously.
4. Continuing Business
 New Graduate Certificate in Organizational Change, revisit
i. Dr. Vickie Gallagher responded to the questions Council
previously had on various issues with the new certificate.
ii. Data and information was provided for the following topics:
student demand, the impact on faculty resources, the job market,
prerequisites, entrance and exit requirements, similar programs on
campus, and department faculty support.
iii. A motion was made to approve the new graduate Certificate in
Organizational Change. The motion was approved
unanimously.
 Psychology 4-3 course proposal
i. The 85 Psychology courses involved in the 4-3 course revisions
were divided amongst Council members. Dr. Zhu moved through
the sections asking for feedback from the Council members who
reviewed the courses.
ii. Several issues were raised on the proposal. These include:
 Many courses are listed for a “change in course
description” but it appears that there is no change in
wording compared to the descriptions currently in the
Graduate Catalog. What are the changes? Were the new
course descriptions actually sent?
 Several courses are not clear or do not include sufficient
cuts for a reduction in credits (537, 555, 587, 604, 677)
 Several courses have the undergraduate grading scale (562,
588, . . . 899)
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


PSY 701 is listed as a new Statistics course. Has the
department checked with the Math department to see if
there is a similar course that could be used?
For all the new courses listed, Council needs to know
which are existing courses offered at the University of
Akron and which are true, new CSU courses being created.
These new courses should be sent separately from the 4-3
conversion proposal.
The proposal will be returned to the department for
corrections and additional clarification.
5. Graduate Council Representation & Standing Committees – Available reports
a. Faculty Senate
 The Graduate proposals from UCC did pass.
 Faculty expressed concerns with the time frame of the faculty
hiring process. The Provost is working with HR and the Budget
Office to accelerate this issue.
 The Provost has a new Committee on managing space across
campus that will work together with the Faculty Committee on
Academic Space.
b. University Admissions & Standards
 The 2 Graduate admissions proposals sent were approved.
 The holiday calendar was discussed. Veteran’s day is not a
moveable holiday, by Ohio law. Columbus Day will be substituted
c. College of Graduate Studies’ Admissions & Standards – No report
d. University Curriculum Committee
 The new Master of Taxation PDP was approved.
 The Graduate Entrepreneurship proposal was sent back for
clarification of courses and cross-listing possibilities.
e. Graduate Faculty Review Committee
 A Committee meeting will be scheduled soon for the 16 new
faculty applications pending.
f. Petitions Committee
 From May through September there were from 13 to 36 petitions
each month.
g. Grade Dispute Committee – No report
h. Program Review Committee – No report
i. University Research Council – No report
6. Next Meeting: Dr. Zhu reminded Council members that the next meeting will be a
change of day and time to accommodate other faculty schedules. The meeting will be
Wednesday, November 6 @ 1:00 p.m. in PH 200.
7. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 3:39 p.m.