GRADUATE COUNCIL MINUTES 3/11/15
March 11, 2015, GBB 202, 12:10 – 1:00 PM
ROLL CALL
Members Present: M. Alwell, B. Bach, K. Briknarova, J. Hodgins J. Johnson, J. Kacmarcik,
A. Kinch, D. Spencer, K. Swift,
Members Absent/Excused: G. Bryan, I. Crummy, R. Delaloye, S. Ross C. Stanick S.
Williams
Ex Officio Members Present: R. Arouca, M. Berthelson, N. Lindsay
The 3/4/15 minutes were approved.
COMMUNICATIONS

Professor Kacmarcik was welcomed to the Council and members introduced
themselves.

Chair Swift provided an overview of the Bertha Morton review procedure. There are 47
applications and $85,000 in the fund. He suggests the Council think about offering two
fellowships and 25 scholarships. The work distribution is uneven with the bulk of the
applications in the Professional Schools. The Science subcommittee agreed to review
the Forestry proposals. This will make the breakdown (4- humanities, 10- social
Science, 16- science, and 17- professional schools). Professor Kia agreed to help with
the review for humanities.
Since about half the applicants will receive an award, subcommittees should rank their
candidates using the criteria in the procedure. There is then discussion at the Council
meeting to make a case for candidates to receive the Fellowship or that fall in the middle
group. The Council will not meet next week so subcommittees can use this time to
review the applicants.
Raquel will provide information regarding the applicants that previously received the
award. This should be noted on the student’s application. The applications are not yet
available on Moodle. Camie will send the summary list and notification when the
applications are posted.
BUSINESS ITEMS

The late form to change NAS 388 to ANTY 433 UG was approved. This change was
necessary because of complications caused by common course numbering and the faculty
member having a joint appointment in Native American Studies and Anthropology.

The Council approved the attached memo. It describes a practice that has been in place for
MBA students since 1965 to receive a full refund if drop the course. Because these courses
are on a different schedule, the drop date is passed the normal drop date. The Registrar’s
Office is now requiring documentation to continue the practice.

Chair Swift has a meeting tomorrow regarding the UG Issue.

The Chair-elect position remains unfilled.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 12:47 p.m.
Date: March 9, 2015
To:
Graduate Council / Faculty Senate
From: Terri Herron, Associate Dean
Simona Stan, MBA Director
Teresa Beed, MAcct Director
Dawn Hambrick, SoBA Graduate Programs Manager
Re:
MBA Course Program Classification
In the best interst of maintaining student continuity and flexabilty, as it has been since 1965,
it is requested that the School of Business Administration MBA courses be considered under
the guidelines of summer special sessions during the autumn and spring semesters of the
academic year. The MBA program courses are designed so that they meet the following
description, as stated in the registrar’s policy and procedures, “… a course taught over a period of
five weeks is considered a “special session” course if its start and end dates are different than the
published regular term dates”.
This would allow the consideration for graduate students to withdraw from a course that has
not convened without financial penalty or record on their academic transcript.
The MBA is structured in a way that requires students to complete 19 credits of required
courses that are offered varying 5 and 10 weeks within the 15 week autumn and spring
semester schedule. Students are also required to take 13 credits of electives, almost all of
which are 1-credit courses that occur in Missoula in a single weekend format throughout the
semesters. Students in the off-campus program travel to Missoula for the weekend class
sessions. This is a cornerstone of the MBA program and how it serves the off-campus
student population across Montana. Because the off-campus MBA program enrolls business
professionals, their work commitments and unavoidable weather issues require the
curriculum and surrounding policies to allow flexibility in changing courses they attend in a
given semester.
Thank you for your consideration of the proposed change to the registration policy as it
relates to the MBA courses.