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Minutes of the Graduate Council
March 10, 2009
GRADUATE COUNCIL
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Minutes of Meeting Held on March 10, 2009
Present:
Dean Vogelsang-Coombs, Professors Bathala, Goodell, Simon, Weinstein,
Weyman, Rudd, Smith, Bill Bowen, Chieh-Chen Bowen, Mensforth,
Delgado, Thornton, Bailey
Absent/Excused:
Professors Medina-Rivera, Karem, Dixit, Ingersoll, Gatica, and Holcomb
Guests:
Provost Mary Jane Saunders, Dr. Xu, Dr. Flynn, Dan Arthur
Dean Vogelsang-Coombs called the meeting to order at 2:01 p.m.
1. Approval of the Agenda. Dean Coombs went over the agenda items briefly.
2. Approval of February 2009 Minutes. The minutes from February 12, 2009 were approved as
written.
3. Guest Speaker. The Dean welcomed Provost Saunders. The Provost engaged in an informal
conversation with members of the Council on the following issues.
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The Graduate Assistantship budget will be held harmless for cuts for the next budget year.
Also, the Honors Program will not have budget reductions.
She noted the shift in the numbers of graduate assistants in the three categories: more
administrative, less research, more teaching assistants in FY 2009.
4. Dean’s Remarks
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RACGS re-approved the MBA to be held at the Cleveland Clinic site in February 2009.
Graduate Admissions category changes (Conditional & Provisional) were submitted to
the Admissions & Standards Committee for approval.
The Faculty Senate President notified the Dean that Graduate Faculty elections cannot
proceed by electronic ballot until it is approved by Faculty Senate and the Board of
Trustees. Graduate Council approval was necessary but was not sufficient. We shall
continue with the paper process until approval is given.
Data on graduate assistantships, domestic vs. international, was shared as requested.
Data on hard vs. soft money will be provided at the next meeting.
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Minutes of the Graduate Council
March 10, 2009
5. Continuing Business
a. Marketing Representative – Graduate Studies web site
Dan Arthur responded to a concern expressed at a previous Council meeting that graduate
applicants experience too many “clicks” when trying to access the Graduate Studies’ web
site for admission and program information. Broken links and application history reports
were also discussed.
b. Cross listed courses—Dean Coombs shared the RACGS guidelines that stated graduate
degree programs must involve a course of study beyond the baccalaureate degree. A crosslisted course must have “clearly defined expectations…that go well beyond the expectations
of the undergraduates.”
The Council identified the following issues concerning cross-listed courses::
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Graduate students in some dual-listed courses are not required to do additional work.
Graduate students might not be given additional work but different standards apply
in grading graduate students.
A term paper may be assigned to graduate students, not undergraduates.
Cross-listed courses may not be a policy issue but may be breaking ethical standards.
How much different is the course? Often 60-80% is the same content in cross-listed
courses.
The focus/problem appears to be undergraduate/graduate cross-listings, not dual
listed graduate courses.
Some undergraduate/graduate cross-listings are for graduate students to make up an
undergraduate deficiency, as a pre-requisite, since many can come from various
backgrounds.
It is possible for the same student to take the same course twice—
undergraduate/graduate, Master’s graduate/Doctoral graduate.
Cross-listed courses are a way academic units address faculty/staffing shortages. In
some departments, courses may be offered every other year.
Council discussion:
How well are students being served? Should Graduate Council take a future role in this issue or
should it be addressed in the program review process? Step 1 would involve fixing the process to
prevent a student from taking the same course twice, and done quickly to prevent a continuing
problem. It would be helpful in the audit process if course titles were listed as well as course
numbers to prevent a student from taking the same course twice. Professor Goodell will work with
Dean Coombs to develop guidelines for the cross-listed process.
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6.
Minutes of the Graduate Council
March 10, 2009
New Business
a. Collaborative MS in Chemistry between CSU & four universities in China
This document was sent from Admissions & Standards Committee to the Graduate Council
for review because the current University policy only allows a transfer of 9 credits. This
proposal requests 12 credits.
Professor Xu presented the collaborative proposal and answered questions.
After lengthy discussion a motion was made to approve the document pending minor
language revisions agreed upon between Dr. Xu and Dean Coombs.
The motion to approve the proposal was tabled to discuss increasing the cap on transfer of
credit hours from 9 to 12 hours. This increase is proposed to allow the Chinese students to
attend CSU for only one year. A motion was made to increase the transfer credit limit from
9 to 12 with respect to the Collaborative MS in Chemistry. This motion was approved, with
one no vote and one abstention.
The tabled motion was brought forth for voting. The proposal for a Collaborative MS in
Chemistry between CSU and four universities in China was approved.
b. Proposal to change the name of the OMS Department
Dr. Flynn spoke of the changes in the Operations Management field and proposed changing
the name of the department from “Operations Management and Business Statistics” to
“Operations and Supply Chain Management.” The motion was unanimously approved. A
note will be sent to University Curriculum Committee to verify that Graduate Council and
seen and approved this proposal.
7. Committee Reports: 3 reports were presented
a. University Admissions & Standards—Cheryl Delgado reported Admissions &
Standards did not disagree in principle with Graduate Council’s approval of the changes in
admissions categories but asked for clarification before voting on it.
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b. University Curriculum Committee--Dr. Meiko Smith gave a report from UCC.
The proposal for a non-thesis track in Environmental Science was discussed and supported.
The 3+1+1 Biomedical Engineering proposal between CSU and Bahcesehir University was
discussed at length and supported.
The proposal to change the name of the OMS Department was supported by UCC but UCC
asked for formal action by the Graduate Council (see above.)
c. Scholarship Committee—Dr. Bailey reported that the OBOR Fellowship was cancelled
this year due to budget cutbacks at OBOR.
Also, the Committee met and reviewed 4 applicants for the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship but
felt none of the candidates met the requirements of being an outstanding graduating senior
with exemplary record. Therefore, the Committee recommended no applicants this year.
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Minutes of the Graduate Council
March 10, 2009
8. Announcements or Information, FYI: The annual Graduate Faculty meeting is scheduled for
Friday, April 17th, 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. in Fenn Tower, room 303. This will be a working
lunch.
9. Applause & Accomplishment: None
10. Next Meeting: The next Graduate Council meeting is scheduled for April 6, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.
in Room 200 of Parker-Hannifin Hall.
11. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.
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