GRAD COUNCIL MEETING
February 5, 2014
MINUTES
Attendees:
H-P. Bischof, C. DeFilippo, H. Flores, D. Jacobs, J. Hornak, C. Licata, J. McCluskey, J. Perkins, H. Sagar, B.
Smith (for A. Savakis) T. Trabold, L. Underhill (phone), D. Wilson
Agenda:
1. Thesis Embargo
2. 400-500 Level Courses
Meeting begins: 10:05 a.m.
Thesis Embargo (Hector Flores)
Currently RIT theses and dissertations are registered with ProQuest and are accessible to anyone on the web. A thesis embargo
would allow a student and his or her advisor to place a temporary embargo on the thesis to protect IP being patented or results
being published. The RIT Library can use guidelines on when an embargo is acceptable and what an acceptable embargo
duration is.
Current RIT policy stipulated the publication of required graduate dissertations and theses in the interests of open
dissemination of research results and scholarship. Occasionally, a request may be made to the dean of graduate studies to
embargo a dissertation or thesis for up to 12 months. In such cases, the Intellectual Property Management Office (IPMO) and
dean of graduate studies will coordinate a dissertation/thesis content review, in consultation with the thesis advisor, for
potential RIT patentable material. Patentable material review is to take no longer than 90 days from the time a completed set of
material is received by the IPMO.
Suggested guidance for embargo requests:
Permission for a thesis embargo may be granted when:
1) The student (or his or her collaborators) is applying for a patent on research contained in the thesis/dissertation.
2) The thesis/dissertation includes information covered for a limited period of time by a confidentiality agreement or contains
third-party proprietary information.
3) The thesis/dissertation is subject to review by the sponsor or grantor prior to publication.
4) The thesis/dissertation is considered for partial or full publication (book chapter/book) and the publisher considers open
access electronic thesis/dissertations to be a prior publication.
5) The thesis/dissertation includes data generated through research that will support other publications from people on the
research team (e.g., graduate advisor, fellow graduate student).
The graduate student is encouraged to consult with his/her dissertation advisor and with the appropriate offices (e.g.,
Intellectual Property) if he/she believes the thesis embargo request to be covered by one or more of the above guidelines. The
graduate student should provide the appropriate information to support his/her request. Embargo requests are considered on a
case by case basis.
Undergraduate Courses at the Grad level (Joe Hornak)
Grad Council decided last year that no undergraduate courses would be allowed in the credit count for graduate degree
programs. Franz Foltz, James Winebrake, Ron Hira presented their proposal to allow inclusion of 400/500 level courses at the
graduate level. (Attached.) Discussion centered on the hardship created by the change in this policy, number of students
involved, NYS requirements, how other Universities address the NYS requirements, independent study options, and double
numbering. JW asked if GC’s objection was philosophical or regulatory? The answer was both. Discussion will continue at
the Feb 19th meeting. Chris Licata will report on NYS’s interpretation of grad courses in grad programs.
Adjourned: 11:00
R.I.T
Roch e ster In s ti tu te o f T ech n o lo gy
De p art m en t o f Pu b li c Po lic y
Co l le g e o f Lib era l Art s
Ro c h es ter, N Y 1 4 6 2 3
www.rit.edu/cla
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO:
FR:
DT:
RE:
Joe Hornak, chair of Graduate Council
Franz Foltz, Graduate Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy
January 24, 2014
Request for Re-adoption of Policy to allow the use of 400-500 level coursework
A statement of the problem.
During conversion, the explicit language that allowed the use of 400-500 level courses toward a graduate program
was removed from Policy and Procedures. This change significantly affects the graduate students in my program.
Our MS program due to the small size of the faculty and the diverse range of domains that students wish to study
has always used courses from other departments within the college and across the Institute to fulfill elective
requirements. If a student is interested in internet policy, he or she might take some courses from Computer
Science. If they would like to use GIS in their thesis they might take a GIS course from Environmental Science as
an elective. If they are interested in a state and local issue they might take State and Local Government from
Political Science. In all cases these would be electives that support their thesis work. Many times the department
that offers the course does not have a graduate program (e.g. Political Science) and thus has no reason to offer
graduate level courses. The benefit of the old policy was that if there was not a graduate course option the
students could still use 400-500 level courses to support their thesis. The alternative to the old policy becomes a
paperwork nightmare that does not guarantee that the students can take the appropriate courses to support their
thesis.
The current RIT policy from the policy manual.
There is no policy. The explicit language was removed from the current policy during conversion.
A proposed change.
Return the removed policy to D.3.C.
It went something like what is below (I modified it for semester credits).
The proposed new policy for the RIT manual.
(To be added at the end of D.3.C:)
Matriculated and non-matriculated graduate students may register for undergraduate level courses with the
understanding that these courses may not always apply to the graduate program. In certain cases, where
educationally sound programs will result, appropriate undergraduate courses as approved by the faculty advisor
and by the department may be included in a master’s program. However no more that 20% of the courses work
can be 400-600 level (6 credits of a 30 credit program). Where undergraduate work is allowed, it must be well
planned and closely controlled. Careful and Well informed advisement should be employed to assure a quality
program. In the majority of cases most, if not all, course work will be at the graduate (700-900) level.