The Graduate Council received an additional charge from the Faculty Senate on Feb 25, 2012
regarding a range of student issues that might require appeal to the Graduate Council. This
document explains the actions taken by the Graduate Council in response to the additional
charges.
Graduate Student Load
Charge letter says
Revise policy to interpret minimum credits for full-time status in a student’s last
semester to be the remaining required credits in the program.
The Graduate Council discussed the issue on defining the term “full-time student status”. It was
concluded that the issue was really in defining eligibility for graduate assistantships, which
currently requires a student to be full-time (9 credits minimum). The current policy makes it
difficult for students in their last semester to retain their graduate assistantships if they don’t
need 9 credits of coursework in the last semester to finish the degree. So the Graduate Council
revised the policy on the requirements of graduate assistantships. The attached document,
approved by the Graduate Council on March 23, 2012, explains the new policy concerning
graduate assistantships. Accordingly, the individual programs and their departments take
responsibilities to offer graduate assistantships without regard to a student being classified as
“full-time”.
Any exceptions to the policy should be considered by the Program Director, the Dean of the
college and the Director of Graduate Studies.
Graduate Probation and Retention Standards
Charge letter says
Revise the policy to allow either the Director of Graduate Studies or the director
of the program in which the student has taken significant coursework to perform
the role described in the policy. Graduate special students do not have a
designated program and consequently it is unclear who should act as the student’s
program director.
As stated above, for regular students, any issue with probation or retention will start with the
program director which will then be forwarded to the Director of Graduate Studies.
For Graduate Special students, the Graduate Council proposed to assign a specific program or
department at the time of admission depending on the set of courses the student intends to take.
April 12, 2012
Records and Registration and Admissions Office will work on including this information in the
application form.
Transfer of Credits in a Graduate Program
Charge letter says
Replace this policy with a residence credit requirement. For example, at least one
year of credits in a two year graduate program must be taken at UW-L. The
current policy indicates a number of credits which may be transferred into a
program which may not allow for sufficient variation between programs.
The Graduate Council found that there was significantly low number of appeals heard in the past
on this issue (one or two in five years). Since no other concerns were raised because of the
existing policy, the council decided that there is no need to change this policy.
Oversight Responsibilities
Charge letter says
There are several policies for which there is no clear administrative mechanism for
oversight. Graduate Council is being asked to concur with the following designations
for oversight responsibility. Exceptions to the policies listed in the following table
will be allowed for an individual student with the agreement of the indicated
parties. The Office of Graduate Studies will oversee the process for obtaining
approvals and granting exceptions.
The Graduate Council revised the table as shown below (changes in red):
April 12, 2012
Policy
Exceeding the maximum credit load in a semester. Repetition of a course in which a C is earned. Course
Instructor
Program
Director/
Department
Chair
Dean’s
Office
Director of
Graduate
Studies
Director X Director X X X Chair X Undergraduate enrollment in graduate courses. X Director or Chair X Degree requirements (deficiencies, residence requirement, cum gpa, etc.) Director or Chair X X Director or Chair X X Change of incomplete grade. English proficiency requirements for individual students. Graduate Council Oversight
With the adoption of the above proposal Graduate council would retain oversight of, and hear
appeals for, the following policies.
•
•
•
•
•
Time limit for degree completion. Program exception to English proficiency requirements. Requirements for graduate assistantships. Graduate probation and retention. Graduate Council hears as a due process appeal. Continuous registration. April 12, 2012