Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators Meeting Minutes
January 23, 2013
3:00-5:00 PM
Mendenhall 244
Present: Arnd-Caddigan, Margaret; Ashley, Robin; Atkinson, Terry; Avenarius, Christine; Bishop,
John; Bonner, Ashley; Cope, John; Cox, Kathy; Decker, Jim; Ding, Qin; Dingfelder, Michael; Donica,
Denise; Franklin, Richard; Gares, Paul; Gemperline, Paul; Huener, Thomas; Jones, Annette; Jones,
Terry; Keiper, Brett; Lamson, Angela; Long, Patrick; Mahar, Matt; McConnell, Thomas; Meyer,
Ingrid; Mott, Vivian; Novick, Lloyd; Patterson, Belinda; Pressler, Jana; Siegel, David; Sorensen,
Jonathan; Sua, Lou; Swanson, Carl; Teleki, Williams, Tina; Jane; Woods, Terri;
1.
Call to order:
3:00 PM
2.
Approval of minutes from September 9, 2012, October 26, 2012
Approved
3.
New staff announcements

Graduate School processor replacement -Telisha Perry for Farah Sharifi

Telisha does not currently have any letters of the alphabet assigned to her and will train with and assist the other processors
4.
Blackboard new student orientation course – for discussion, Belinda Patterson

Orientation course was piloted in the fall with the help and contributions from many individuals on campus

Dr. Belinda Patterson reviewed the current course modules

Clinical information module is still under construction

The only difficulty with the pilot course was the number of students enrolled in the course (1,700) and Bb capabilities

The Graduate School, with the help of ITCS will be building feeds for each college
(fall/summer/spring) and/or for large programs

Each college will need to appoint a course manager to monitor the Bb gradebook

Goal is to have course available for students by May 1 s

Colleges can choose to not use the course (course will not be populated although the course shell will be in place)

Within the next month programs and colleges should decide whether or not they will be using the course along with the appointed instructor o Forward this information to Dr. Belinda Patterson
5.
Early summer new student orientation a.
Proposal: June time frame, Summer 1


Last summer, due to student suggestions, orientation was held on Friday (instead of
Saturday)

Students have also suggested to hold orientation earlier because information presented is needed sooner

A June Orientation course may have much greater participation if presented as an online course, as opposed to a face-to-face course, though offerings for June are undecided at this time
6.
Changes in program review a.
Review of capstone or other student products, theses and dissertations will be randomly provided by the Graduate School

The program review committees will begin reviewing student products

The graduate school will provide reviewers with randomly selected copies of theses and dissertations

Dean Gemperline will send a memo to the campus community regarding this change

Units will be responsible for keeping libraries of capstone projects or other comprehensive assessments and providing randomly selected ones for reviewers
7.
Update on recruiting and marketing efforts a.
GRE search tool for prospective students i.
New ECU account and graduate school resource for program directors- for discussion,
Paul Gemperline & Tom McConnell o Graduate school enrolled in this service (cost $750 total, with test cases) to provide a list of potential graduate students to programs; cost of $0.43/student email to program o Currently running test cases and working out details o GRE search tool service collects email addresses from targeted graduate students
(in-state students, intended majors etc.) and populates students’ self-reported information into a spreadsheet o The purpose of this service is to increase recruiting by targeting selected groups of students ii.
Gradschools.com – for discussion, Paul Gemperline o Basic information about program is displayed o Dean Gemperline stopped this service in 2009 because the company’s funding model switched to a flat subscription rate to a cost-per-click rate ($5.50 per click) o Dean Gemperline has recently received information from sales about various subscription levels o Although still skeptical of this service, if there is widespread interest to renew this subscription Dean Gemperline will try to find funds to do so
Advantageous for programs with students around the country iii.
LikeLive – asynchronous video interviewing system

o $10-$15 per interview o Dean Gemperline will send out information to GPD’s about this service o Would subscribe centrally and buy a package
8.
Announcements a.
New career counselor and increased services for graduate students

The more information students know about career opportunities the more likely they are to stay in their degree program

The Career Center traditionally provide services for undergraduate students

New director Karen Thompson is hiring a career counselor – a significant part of this job’s responsibility will be to serve graduate student needs

Dr. Belinda Patterson head of the search committee reported the committee will begin interviewing by mid-February and will make a recommendation for a hire by mid-March

This position will identify career information by discipline for graduate students in various programs and develop communication strategies and information packets to share with new students regarding career options (as students’ progress through their graduate program information will continue to be updated and shared)

Important retention strategy

Dean Gemperline will ask Karen Thompson if this position can help with graduate internships b.
New faculty mentor award

Dean Gemperline is waiting to find out a dollar amount for awards

First awards will be given out at Research and Creative Achievement Week c.
Deadlines i.
Thesis and Dissertation awards – February 6 th ii.
RCAW abstract deadline – February 1 st iii.
NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students Survey (GSS) – February 14 th
9.
Next meeting – Thursday, March 28, 3:00
Meeting adjourned,
4:30 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Tripp