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Minutes of the Graduate Council
September 8, 2011
GRADUATE COUNCIL
____________________________________________________________
Minutes of Meeting Held on September 8, 2011
Present:
Interim Dean Weyman, Professors Shelton, Medina-Rivera, Monaghan,
Zhao, Talu, Ray, Bubenik, Shukla, Foster, Pettey, Spicer, Delgado, Marino,
Mensforth, Bagaka’s
Absent/Excused:
Professors Dixit, Thornton
Guests:
Professors Brian Harper (Education), Pamela Rutar (Nursing), Brian Yusko
& Judy Stahlman
Interim Dean Weyman called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.
1. Welcome and Introduction. Council members introduced themselves around the table.
2. Approve Agenda: One amendment was made to the Agenda:
™ Reverse items “b” and “c” under New Business in order to accommodate the
attendance of the guests, Drs. Yusko and Stahlman
™ The Agenda was approved as amended
3. Approve minutes from May 3, 2011 meeting: The minutes were approved as written.
4. New Business
a. Graduate Council member replacements
i. Council APPROVED Brian Harper as a replacement for Marius Boboc’s
last year of service while Dr. Boboc is on sabbatical.
ii. Council APPROVED James Marino as a replacement for Bette Bonder’s
first year of service as the Graduate Council representative to Faculty Senate
while Dr. Bonder is on administrative leave.
b. Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) Concentration
i. The department is proposing a grouping of courses for undergraduate and
graduate students in Special Education to take to help prepare them for the
PRAXIS II content exam.
ii. These “groupings” will create optional math, science and social studies
concentrations to help students achieve the HQT (Highly Qualified Teacher)
status upon passing the PRAXIS II.
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Minutes of the Graduate Council
September 8, 2011
iii. Council has objections to the listing of 100/500, 200/500, and 300/500 level
courses. There is some question as to whether these are truly cross-listed
courses. After discussion, Council recommends the proposal be resubmitted with corrected course listings. This motion was approved.
c. Graduate Council elections – Committee members appointments
i. A listing of volunteer graduate faculty willing to serve on the standing
Graduate Council Committees was circulated.
ii. The following faculty were nominated and approved for the Committees:
• Petitions Committee: Vicki Johnson, Ivan Soprunov, Ralph Mawdsley
• Grade Dispute Committee: Chansu Yu, Jose Sola, Mary Hrivnak
• Graduate College Admissions & Standards: Elizabeth Lehfeldt, James
Marino, Selma Vonderwell
• Graduate Faculty Review Committee: Christine Brown-Mahoney,
Girish Shukla, John Oprea, Stephen Cory
• Service will be 2011-2013
5. Continuing Business
™ Program Review
i. Program review summaries have been completed for four departments—Art,
Physics, Political Science, and Sociology
ii. Dean Weyman will submit comments from Graduate Council on each review
iii. Comments included shared concerns over 300/500 level cross-listed courses
(Art) and cancelled courses due to low enrollment (Physics). Council also
agrees with the recommendation to consider future faculty hires in alignment
with the Sociology department’s movement towards Criminology.
™ Graduate Council Representation
i. Dean Weyman gave a brief summary of last year’s discussion to make
changes to Graduate Council representation in order to include the new
School of Nursing and allow for college/program increases/decreases
ii. Council members agreed to the following proposals:
• “Special” Council members (representatives to Faculty Senate, UCC,
and the University Admissions & Standards Committees) will be picked
from the general Council member body and elected by all voting
graduate faculty.
• Total graduate faculty per College/School will be re-worked to include
‘regular,’ tenure-track faculty. This new chart will be emailed to
Council members before the next meeting. The presented options will
be subject to a vote.
• At the next meeting the actual wording revisions of the By-Laws will be
finalized to put forth for a vote by all graduate faculty members.
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Minutes of the Graduate Council
September 8, 2011
6. Graduate Council Representation & Standing Committees – Available reports
a. Faculty Senate – No report, has not met.
b. University Admissions & Standards – No report, has not met.
c. College of Graduate Studies Admissions & Standards –No report, has not met.
d. University Curriculum Committee – No report, has not met.
e. Graduate Faculty Review Committee
• Twenty applications were received for Summer 2011
• The Committee recommends 19 approvals and one denial, due to lack of a terminal
degree
• Graduate Council APPROVED the Committee’s recommendations for 19
new/renewed applications and upholds the denial.
f. Petitions Committee – the Committee has reviewed and acted on 109 petitions since May
g. Grade Dispute Committee – Three grade disputes are currently pending in the University.
h. Program Review Committee – No report
i. University Research Council Committee
• Volunteers/suggestions for a new Graduate Council representative to the University
Research Council were taken.
• Peter Bubenik was suggested and he accepted.
7. Items for Future Discussion
a. Cross-listed courses
b. Written nepotism policy
c. What is the role of the Graduate College/Graduate Council/Dean in enforcing rules set by
individual programs/Colleges?
8. Next Meeting: The next Graduate Council meeting is scheduled for October 11, 2011 at
2:00 p.m. in Parker-Hannifin Hall, Conference Room #200.
9. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
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