BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
MINUTES OF THE December 11, 2006 MEETING OF THE GRADUATE COUNCIL
PLACE:
Couper Administration Building, Room 148
PRESIDING:
Nancy E. Stamp, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
MEMBERS:
Ben Brewster, Jim Constable, Maria-Theresia Holub, Maneesha Lal, Tom
McDonough, Weiyi Meng, Karen Salvage, Eugene Stevens, Marilyn Tallerico,
Diane Wiener, Tom Wilson
EX OFFICIO
MEMBERS:
Susan Currie, Gerald Sonnenfeld, Lindsay Tremain
EXCUSED:
John Bridge, David Campbell, Cheryl Foster, Stephen Gilje, Theresa Grabo,
Susan Pollock, Steve Tammariello
ABSENT:
Murali Jagannathan, Ed Kokkelenberg, Steven Schwartz
GUESTS:
Prof. Jacques Beaumont, Prof. Pamela Mischen
I. CALL TO ORDER:
Vice Provost and Dean Nancy Stamp called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m.
II. MINUTES:
The minutes of the October 30, 2006 meeting were approved as written.
III. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Academic Standards Committee
The committee has not met.
Advisory Committee for Scholarship and Research
The committee met to review the proposals for the Provost’s Interdisciplinary Symposia and
made their recommendations.
Budget Advisory Committee
The committee met to allocate the graduate student travel awards for fall 2006. There were 29
applicants and 12 were awarded for a total of $5,007.96.
Curriculum Committee
1. BME 530: Biomolecular Techniques I
2. BME 531: Biomolecular Techniques II
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
BME 550: Intellectual Property Law in Biomedicine
BME 560: Human Cardiovascular Regulation
BME 580: Human Physiology
BME 610: Theory and Application of Agent-Based Modeling
BME 620: Modeling of Bioelectric and Biomagnetic Phenomena I
BME 621: Modeling of Bioelectric and Biomagnetic Phenomena II
All BME courses Approved
9. Biomedical Engineering MS & PhD Proposal
Prof. Jacques Beaumont attended to explain the proposals and to answer any
questions. Dean Stamp gave some background on this proposal. A Letter of Intent
was submitted to SUNY in December 2004 and approved. The full formal proposal
was approved by Graduate Council in April 2005. The proposal was then sent on to
the Faculty Senate. At the same time Faculty Senate requested that the
Bioengineering Department have an external review of their undergraduate program.
The EPPC asked that the graduate proposal not be reviewed until the undergraduate
review was completed. In November 2005 SUNY changed its guidelines and the
department decided to rewrite their proposal because they now had additional faculty
members and it is more focused on what that faculty can bring to this program. An
external review of the graduate program is to be scheduled soon. Approved (Yes-11
No-0 Abstentions-1)
10. Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Administration
Prof. Pam Mischen attended to explain the Certificate and answer questions.
Approved (Yes-12 No-0 Abstentions-0)
11. Proposal for MPA-MSW Dual Degree
Prof. Mischen explained that the dual MPA/MSW program will prepare students for
both degrees and allow the students to complete the dual degree in three years.
Approved (Yes-12 No-0 Abstentions-0)
12. Proposal for a PhD Major Field in History of Science, Technology and Medicine—Prof.
Lal explained that the department is revamping their major and minor fields. In
recent years there have been new faculty members added to the department that
specialize in these fields.
Approved (Yes-12 No-0 Abstentions-0)
13. MSW 575: Advanced Standing Seminar--Approved
14. SOC 634: Macrohistorical Method--Approved
Grievance Committee
The committee has not met.
Strategic Planning Committee
The committee has not met.
IV. NEW BUSINESS:
Maria-Theresia Holub distributed a response from the GSO regarding the Five-year limit for
degree progress.
Dean Stamp gave an update on the National Research Council (NRC) Study. Data collection will
be continuing through January.
Dean Stamp distributed a document “Binghamton University Organized Research Centers and
Institutes for Advanced Studies”, that defines organized research centers and institutes on
campus. Dean Stamp explained that the Braudel Center submitted a course to the Curriculum
Committee. The Braudel Center is an Institute for Advanced Study. The Curriculum Committee
had questions whether ORC’s and IAS’s can offer courses or degree programs. Vice President
Sonnenfeld gave some background and explained that ORC’s do not offer courses but Institutes
can offer courses but must go through the proper academic channels. The Braudel Center has
proposed having their own rubric and is planning on putting forward a proposal for a new degree
program. Dean Stamp has suggested to the Braudel Center that they need to identify the faculty
and governance structure to develop a curriculum and then it would come to the Graduate
Council for approval. There was discussion on interdisciplinary programs on campus and it was
decided that this would be an agenda item at the next meeting.
V. ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 4:25 p.m. on a motion by Professor Stevens and seconded by
Professor Wilson.
_____________________________
Minutes recorded by Alta Hooker,
Secretary to the Vice Provost and Dean
of the Graduate School