BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
MINUTES OF THE April 20, 2015 MEETING OF THE GRADUATE COUNCIL
PLACE:
Couper Administration Building - Room148
PRESIDING:
Susan Strehle, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
MEMBERS:
Serdar Atav, Subimal Chatterjee, Mark Fowler, Fernando Guzman, Kevin Hatch, Adam
Laats, Michael Lewis, Patrick Madden, Elizabeth Mellin, Rosmarie Morewedge, Chuck
Nelson, Sara Reiter, Daryl Santos, Linda Wong
GSO:
Alysa Pomer (for Alison Coombs), Jason Gallia, Jiarui Han,
EX OFFICIO
MEMBERS:
Sarah Lam, Paul Parker,
EXCUSED/ABSENT:
Alison Coombs, Mary Beth Curtin, Shelley Dionne, Susannah Gal, Jenny
Gordon, Norah Henry, Matthew Johnson, Gerald Kutcher, Kristina Lambright,
Ricardo Laremont, Pam Smart
I. CALL TO ORDER:
Dean Susan Strehle called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm.
II. MINUTES
The minutes from the March 16, 2015 Graduate Council meeting were approved as written.
COMMITTEES
Academic Standards Committee This committee has not met.
Advisory Committee for Scholarship and Research This committee met on April 16, 2015. ACSR continues to
meet on a bi-weekly basis to review data on reports and will be meeting with the Vice President on funding for the next
year.
Budget Advisory Committee This committee has not met.
Clark Advisory Committee This committee met to review additional nominations received toward the end of March
and early part of April during spring break. A total of 9 additional offers have been made, and as of this meeting 10
have accepted; seven declined and 6 are pending, waiting for response.
Curriculum Committee This committee met on April 13, 2015. There were two permanent course proposals
discussed; the first one for Bioimaging, BME 525. This is a 3 credit core course in the Biomedical Engineering
Department. The next is SSIE 613, Advanced Statistical Methods for Data Analytics, a 3 credit course covering
advanced data analysis. No questions were raised and both courses were approved. Comments were raised
regarding the desirability of greater information sharing between departments that offer similar versions of courses (i.e.
math may not have been aware that a new statistics course is being offered).
The next items discussed were program changes in the MSE, ISE, and SS departments. These items will go to SUNY
for approval once approved by the graduate council. Materials Science and Engineering Program (MSE) proposes
two minor changes: to remove the word “track” from the listing in the Bulletin and to change the requirements for the
capstone experience for the MS in Materials Engineering. Instead of a required thesis, students may choose to
complete a thesis or a research project or to pursue an all-course option; these choices make the program similar to
the master’s program in Materials Science.
The MS in the ISE program has four required courses. The program proposes to replace the fourth required course
(SSIE 561 – Quality Assurance for Engineers) with greater flexibility for students, allowing them to choose SSIE 561 or
SSIE 553 (Operations Research).
The final program changes alter the MS in Systems Science, removing the requirement for SSIE 506 (Systems
Problem Solving) and replacing it with SSIE 500 (Computational Tools). This course will include a component on
Information Theory and it will introduce programming languages. The second minor change revises SSIE 523, adding
greater emphasis on linear dynamics. There were no questions raised and all changes to these programs were
approved unanimously.
A proposal was submitted for a combined degree in LACAS + MPA (a five year program) which allows students to
double count 20 graduate credits of MPA courses taken during the senior year toward the BA and MPA degree.
Students will only need to complete 22 remaining graduate credits of MPA courses during the 5 th year. This was
approved unanimously.
A new program proposal for an Advanced Certificate for Social Work in Healthcare (ACSWHC) was discussed. It is an
entirely online program that prepares practicing social workers and current students in the social work master’s
program for practice in healthcare settings. It requires a minimum of 13 graduate credits. Courses will be delivered in
both synchronous and asynchronous format. The program was unanimously approved.
A new program offering two master’s degrees in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) (MA and
MSED) was discussed. The MA is designed for students who seek a master’s degree in TESOL without NY state
teaching certification. This program requires 10 courses, including a capstone course, and can be completed in three
semesters of full time study; it prepares graduates to teach English language learners both in the US and other nations
with a curriculum stressing cultural global competence, international perspectives, intercultural proficiency and global
awareness. The MSED program for TESOL requires similar courses but adds coursework and in-school teaching
experience required for NY state certification. A suggestion was made to clarify the proposal with a full title instead of
the acronym. Both progams are designed to meet the standards of the international TESOL organization. All members
of the council were in favor of the new program and it was unanimously approved.
Student Affairs Committee This committee met two times. The first was March 30th to review a grievance appeal to
the graduate school. The committee met again on April 20th for a hearing on this grievance case. The report will be
drafted and submitted.
Strategic Planning Committee This committee has not met.
III.
NEW BUSINESS
The first item of new business was a letter of intent to establish a master’s of science in Human Rights and Community
Research, coming from Human Development. The LOI was presented for information, since faculty approval is not
required for letters of intent.
The graduate student advising guidelines returned to council for discussion. At the suggestion of members in a
previous meeting, these guidelines were sent to all graduate directors for their feedback. These guidelines were
adapted from Ohio State and attempt to clarify responsibilities of the program, the student, and the advisor. No
comments were received back from any of the graduate directors. Discussions regarding this document ensued with
concerns regarding the word “guidelines” and whether the document holds the advisor to certain responsibilities.
Accordingly, the title was changed to “graduate student advising principles”. A vote was taken and all approved the
posting to the graduate school webpage.
Nancy Abashian, representing the Libraries, discussed the issue of limited carrel space for graduate students. They
have notified former single occupants that their carrels will be open for double occupancy beginning in the fall. They
are looking into ways to incorporate expectations regarding further space availability.
The final item discussed was a proposal by the school of Education to replace the current EdD degree with a more
research-intensive PhD. Additional research requirements will add credibility and strength to the doctoral degree and
help doctoral graduates compete for jobs in higher education. The members of the curriculum committee agreed to
look at the materials and vote via email on the proposal.
IV. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:38 p.m. after a motion by Daryl Santos.
_____________________________
Minutes recorded by Melissa Spencer,
Secretary to the Vice Provost and Dean
of the Graduate School