GSAB Minutes
September 12, 2011
Greenville Centre 3:30-5:00 pm
Members Present: Atkinson, Terry (for Vivian Mott); Behm, Mike; Decker, Jim; Ericson, Richard;
Gallagher, Margie; Gemperline, Paul; Hough, Monica; Kasperek, George; Pressler, Jana; Prividera, Laura;
Schwager, Paul; and Terry West
Members Absent: Gemperline, Paul; Holte, Jim; Stevens, Marc; and Tony Thompson
Guests: Armstrong, Robin; McConnell, Tom; Patterson, Belinda; and Heather Ries
Ex-Officio Members Present: Allen, Rose; Griffin, Linner; and Mark Sprague
Ex-Officio Members Absent: Dave Cistola
1. Call to order
3:36 PM
Announcements:
 GSAB is scheduled to meet 3 more times before switching to the Graduate School
Council
 9/26 meeting will be held in the Greenville Centre 1511
 10/13 meeting will be held in Rivers Building (Thursday meeting)
 Dr. Jana Pressler was introduced as the new member from the College of Nursing
replacing Dr. Marie Pokorny on the GSAB
 Workshop session on curriculum development and repeatable courses held Friday
September 9th (Dr. Linner Griffin)
o Julie Poorman (Financial Aid) and Angela Anderson (Registrar)
presented information to promote awareness of the US Department of
Education regulations that became effective July 1st
o Training session to be held Wednesday, September 14th, from 1:30-3:30
PM in Mendenhall. This training is specifically designed for
administrative support personnel
2. Approval of July 18, 2011 GSAB minutes
 Minutes – Add Dr. Michael Behm to not attending
 Minutes approved
3. Consent Agenda Items
 Approved: three time extensions – one from College of Business and two from
College of Education, and one excess non-degree credit – College of Education
4. Graduate Curriculum Committee (Dr. Rose Allen)
 Approved, Minutes of August 31, 2011
 Description of Integrated Masters/Doctoral degrees, new type of program to ECU
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o
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Bachelors/Masters integrated degree is the only integrated degree referenced
in the Graduate Catalog
In an integrated masters/doctoral degree program, specific proposals might not
allow for the conferral of the masters degree until the doctoral degree is
conferred
Discussion by GSAB:
 Students may quit programs after receiving the required hours for the
master’s degree without receiving the doctoral degree
 Students are relied on to teach undergraduate students therefore
dropping out would result in a teacher shortage
 Question regarding the funding of students who do not complete the
integrated degree
 While students dropping out of an integrated PhD program that only
confers the masters upon completion of the doctorate would not earn
the masters in a particular field, they might have the option, with
minimal new coursework, to obtain a masters degree in a closely
related field
Notes by GSAB:
 Flexibility should be provided between programs
 Need to define what is meant by “integrated”
 Important to review and follow what is being done in the particular
discipline of the integrated degree
 Policy will be vetted further at a future GSAB meeting
 Dr. Michael Dingfelder will be invited to the next meeting to answer
questions about this type of program, one which has been specifically
considered by GCC and will be in the GCC minutes for GSAB
consideration
5. Minor Graduate Catalog Revisions of “Continuous Enrollment (or Registration)”
a. Continuous Enrollment
 Rewording to provide a clearer description; not a change in practice
 Approved
b. Credit
 Language change to the Graduate Catalog
 Motion to change as proposed
 Approved
6. Suggested change to GCC signature sheet (Dr. Margie Gallagher)
 Signature page should reflect approval of the Graduate Faculty in charge of the
curriculum
 Suggestion made by Dr. Margie Gallagher to change ‘College Curriculum
Committee Chair’ signature field to ‘College/School/Department Curriculum
Chair’ or ‘Code Unit Curriculum Committee Chair’. Each unit can adapt title
accordingly.
 Options discussed including adding another box for signatures instead of
changing the existing second signature, for non-code bearing departments


Motion recommending the GCC to develop a revised signature page as
appropriate that reflects the approval of the curriculum by the unit faculty
Approved
7. Pre-Thesis/Dissertation Research Approval Form, suggested changes to the process
 Form is currently optional for students to submit to the Graduate School
 The form, if submitted, is an excellent checkpoint for confirming graduate faculty
rank of committee members, as well as confirming animal care and use approvals
and IRB approvals, as needed
 There have been instances of students not having appropriate approvals after
submitting their thesis or dissertation (research approvals, appropriate graduate
faculty membership etc.)
 The Graduate School would like this form to be mandatory and to develop a work
flow system so that graduate program directors, faculty mentors, and students can
view the form after it has been submitted and approved
 Approval form would be used to prevent potential problems with a student’s thesis
and dissertation work
 There was general agreement to refine the form, making it mandatory, and
developing a work flow, with the revised version of the form being brought back to
the GSAB (or Graduate Council, depending on timing) for final approval
8. Adjourn
5:00 PM
Next meeting September 26, 2011
Respectfully submitted,
Amy E. Tripp