Minutes
COAH Graduate Studies Subcommittee
8:30am, November 19, 2014
COAH Dean’s Conference Room
In attendance: Kristy Gamble, Randy Hendricks, Elizabeth Kramer, Robert Lane, Kevin Shunn, Nadejda
Popov Williams, Jeffrey Zamostny. Not in attendance: Joshua Masters.
This was the committee’s third meeting of AY2014-15.
1. The minutes of our October 22 meeting were approved.
2. Randy informed us that UWG is planning to ask for a 9% increase in graduate tuition. If this request is
granted, the value of tuition waivers will increase. But even in that event, our grad tuition will still be less
expensive than at other USG comprehensive universities. A 9% increase would amount to an additional
$600,000 for UWG, all of which must be spent on graduate programs. Randy has asked that COAH’s
share of this be put toward a new staff position in History.
3. Randy reiterated the charge of this committee, including that we discuss how soon we should consider
adding new graduate programs and what those programs should be.
4. We conducted a general and wide-ranging discussion of many aspects of and questions concerning
graduate study within COAH, including all of the following:
GRAs in English take only 6 hours per semester, which puts them behind schedule and has a negative
impact on RPG. English must complete an exception form for each GRA to get around the university’s
requirement that GRAs register for 9 hours each semester. In addition to improving RPG, another benefit
of requiring GRAs in English to register for 9 hours is that they could begin teaching in their third
semester rather than having to wait until their fourth. Randy encouraged us to discuss this possibility in
the future when English’s representative is present. But he also pointed out that teaching a FYW class is a
lot of work and that together all of the English GTAs teach a workload equivalent to that of two
instructors, thus more than making up for the stipends paid to them.
Music does not have many waivers or GTAs. Most music students are willing to pay tuition because they
are teachers who are eligible for raises once they’ve completed a graduate degree.
Elizabeth asked whether there are other tuition models that we might consider adopting, e.g., waiving
only 75% of the tuition of students who receive waivers. Nadejda recalled that when Skip Clark was Dean
of the Graduate School, he had the idea of pro-rating tuition waivers and stipends.
We examined the USG’s Core Mission Statement for Comprehensive Universities, which stipulates that a
core characteristic of these schools is that they provide “a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary
academic programming at the baccalaureate and masters levels, as well as a range of professional
programs at the baccalaureate and post baccalaureate levels, including a limited number of professionallyoriented doctoral level programs”.
We examined a list of graduate programs at USG Comprehensive Universities in UWG COAH
Disciplines, compiled by Jeffrey. We agreed that we should investigate what similar grad degrees are
offered by Jacksonville State University (Jacksonville, AL), since so many students from west Georgia
attend that school (the HOPE scholarship is available to Jacksonville State University (Jacksonville, AL)
students from select Georgia counties.) [See addendum to these minutes for an updated list.]
We examined the dollar amounts of stipends and tuition waivers provided to students enrolled in COAH
grad programs during AY2013-14 (Bob received this information from Myrna Gantner and emailed it to
everyone in advance of the meeting). The total dollar amount of COAH graduate stipends was $175,910;
the value of the tuition waivers issued was $118,943.
5. We decided (via email conversation that occurred subsequent to this meeting) on the following
statement regarding graduate studies in COAH:
We are extremely proud of the graduate programs and courses currently provided by the
College of Arts and Humanities and hereby affirm their importance to our college, to the
University, and to the region that we serve.
At the same time, we believe that there is untapped potential within COAH for even wider
graduate offerings. Given this, and given that our comparator peer institutions exceed us
in what they are able to provide, we believe that COAH should be prepared to expand its
graduate offerings. We recognize that such expansion will be impossible without
additional resources. We also believe that any decisions about program expansions or
additions must be informed by market demands and prospects, our commitment to the
arts and humanities, and the obligation to benefit underserved populations.
Addendum:
Graduate programs at USG Comprehensive Universities (and Jacksonville State U.) in UWG
COAH disciplines
Georgia Southern University
College of Arts and Social Sciences
MFA (2D studio, 3D studio, or graphic design)
MA Spanish
MA History
MA Social Sciences (offered within Department of History)
Graduate Certificate in Public History
MA English
MM (concentrations in composition, conducting, music education, or performance)
Masters in Music Technology
Kennesaw State University
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
PhD International Conflict Management
MA American Studies
MA Integrated Professional Writing
MAT Teaching Foreign Languages
MEd Secondary English/Middle Grades Language Arts
EdS Secondary English/Middle Grades Language Arts
EdD Secondary English/Middle Grades Language Arts
College of the Arts
MAT Teaching Art
Valdosta State University
College of Arts and Sciences
MA English
MA History
MEd Spanish Education
College of the Arts
MM Music Performance
MEd Music Ed
Jacksonville State University
College of Arts and Sciences
MA English
MA History
MA Liberal Studies
MA General Music, Music Ed
MFA Visual Communication and Design