Graduate Council Minutes
October 24, 2013
Present: Rashida Banerjee, Matt Birnbaum, Linda Black (ex-officio), Paula Conroy, Jennifer Harding-Dekam, Brian
Iannocchione, Jaime Ingrisano, Melissa Malde, Rutillio Martinez, Lori Peterson, Carissa Reddick, Rhonda Squires, Tina
Stoody, Joyce Weil, Stephanie Wiegand (ex-officio), Stephen Wright, Frances Braafhart (recording secretary)
Absent: Jack Barbera, Marcus Embry, Tod Sedbrook, Stephen Wright
I.
Approval of Agenda
The meeting was called to order by Matt Birnbaum. Matt asked for a motion to approve the agenda. Hearing no additions, there was a motion to approve the agenda; motion was seconded – motion carries.
II.
Approval of Minutes
Matt asked for all to review the minutes from September 19, 2013. Jaime asked that an email address be corrected under the GSA report. Rashida asked that under the Standards Committee report, that faculty names not be included in the Standards report. Minutes are posted to the Council website and will also be shared via the
Graduate Faculty listserv. Frances will update the minutes with the corrections. Matt asked for a motion to approve the minutes. A motion was made to approve the 9/19/2013 minutes with corrections. The motion seconded. Motion carries.
III.
Announcements
A.
Dean’s remarks – Linda Black
 Linda spoke on the President’s $1 million Request for Proposal (RFP) for innovative projects. The
Provost has called a meeting tomorrow, Friday, October 25 th to take a final pass as the proposal. The RFP will be posted to the website next week and provide information on how faculty and staff can participate and submit their proposals; the call for papers will be in early January 2014. The team to review the initial proposals will include Provost Robbyn Wacker, Tom Smith and Linda Black. Watch for more information.
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There are ongoing conversations regarding Compliance Issues such as Student Financial Aid.
2 positions have been approved: the Assistant Dean for the Graduate School and the Associate Dean position for Community and Civic Engagement.
 Linda called for a short discussion regarding the publishing of a doctoral student’s dissertation and the embargo process. Linda would like to see faculty have a discussion with their student about copyright and the student’s dissertation.
B.
Chair remarks – Matt Birnbaum
IV.
Standing Committee Report
A.
Faculty Senate/APC Report – Rashida
Rashida did not have a report, but did ask Council if both Graduate Council and the Graduate School can identify better ways to communicate with Graduate Faculty. Senate sends out monthly agenda and minutes.
Do you think this approach is effective in keeping faculty informed? It was suggested that rather than receiving minutes (which can be lengthy) from Faculty Senate, perhaps FS could provide a summary of discussion items? There was also discussion on how to deliver Graduate Council minutes to faculty. The minutes can be sent to Graduate Faculty but also post to the Council website.
.
B.
Standards Committee – Melissa
Melissa reported that Standards reviewed 19 applications. There were few technical problems as those were addressed prior to the applications coming to the committee. Melissa thanked Marlene Schuman for notifying faculty in advance of any issues or missing materials.

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One applicant did not meet several of the criteria for GF status. The committee recommended that the applicant apply for exception to the Dean of the Graduate School, enabling him/her to serve on committees with GL status.
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Another applicant was denied DRE – must attend a DRE Workshop Session. Approved GF renewal.
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All other applicants were approved status they requested.
Melissa asked that the review of the two (2) forms brought forward for review at the September meeting be tabled until the next meeting in November. Frances emailed copies of Melissa’s proposed revisions the
“Results of the Dissertation Defense” form before the meeting but most people did not have a chance to review the revisions. Melissa would like to have people review the changes for discussion at the full Council meeting next month.
C.
Program Review Committee – Jack
Jack was unable to attend the meeting but provided the following report via email:
The committee met on October 10th to discuss updates/edits to the New Program Proposal document.
Updates were made to align this document with the Hallmarks for Graduate Education approved by the
Council for inclusion in the Comprehensive Program Review. The PRCs updates will be shared with the
Council once we learn more about the updates being proposed by the Provost's office. The PRC is currently working on two Comprehensive Program Reviews, one for Gerontology and one for Human Rehabilitation
Services. The reviews will be completed by November 1st and summary reports sent to Linda and Frances.
Linda is checking on the status of the other programs due for Comprehensive review (Educational Leadership,
Educational Technology, English, ESL/Bilingual, School Librarian, and Special Education) so that the committee is aware of when to expect their reports.
D.
GSA Representative – Jaime
Jaime had no updates. Linda Black commented on the initiatives Jaime is involved in and how GSA is doing great work to reach out to graduate students.
E.
Library Representative – Stephanie
Stephanie is the new representative to Council from the Library. Stephanie will also provide Council with updates on Library matters of importance to Graduate Council and the Graduate School.
V.
Old Business
No old business.
VI.
Action/Discussion items
A.
Student Intellectual Property – Linda
Linda talked about the motivation behind the development of a policy regarding Student Intellectual Property.
Linda stated that it is best to have policies in place that will address any conflicts that may arise regarding a student’s work or project and who owns the data in the case where the student is engaged in research for faculty. The policy that is developed should be transparent.
Linda asked that Council provide a document with recommendations regarding Student Intellectual Property.
Lori Peterson suggested that we identify issues to help in the development of a policy. Linda Black also suggested that a contract be developed that is signed by both faculty and student.
Matt will put something together and forward to the Council for review. The next conversation for Graduate
Council will be Graduate Faculty workload.
B.
PEC Council Agreement w/Graduate Council
Marsha Stewart forwarded an agreement between PEC and Graduate Council. She wanted to confirm that the agreement will continue for the 2013-14 academic year. Council will send a representative to PEC should there be discussion on the PEC Agenda relating to graduate education. The issue has been that both PEC and
Graduate Council meet during the time each month. Matt will speak with Marsha.

C.
Graduate School Award Nominations/Summer Grads
Frances received a nomination for Outstanding Dissertation from a summer graduate who had been nominated and awarded the dean’s citation for excellence spring 2013. Because there is no summer graduation ceremony, summer graduates can be nominated either spring or fall. Can a student be nominated for 2 different honors during 2 different semesters? Because there is no policy in place – student should be eligible to be nominated but Council may want to consider making a change in the guidelines. Linda asked
Frances to provide the number of graduates and number of awards given over the last 4 semesters.
A.
Updating Graduate Faculty Guidelines – Include DRE Workshop Language
Melissa was informed that the current Graduate Faculty Guidelines do not include the new information regarding the DRE Workshops. Melissa suggested the following be updated in the Guidelines (page 4; b.
Graduate Faculty with Doctoral Research Endorsement):
1) Standards for Appointment
1
To qualify for a full-term appointment the faculty member must fully meet the criteria for Graduate
Faculty and the following: a) DRE Workshop
The faculty member must have prior attended a DRE Workshop within 6 months prior to their application date.
New DRE Workshops will be scheduled for spring semester. Dates will be sent to all graduate faculty via the graduate faculty listserv. DRE Workshop dates will also be posted to the Graduate School/Council website.
D.
Adjournment
Matt asked for a motion to adjourn. Stephen motioned to adjourn and Rashida seconded. Meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Frances Braafhart
Recording Secretary