Graduate Council
November 4, 2015
Marietta Campus, Student Center A216
Minutes
Members Present: Bill Bailey, Tridib Bandyopadhyay, David Baugher, Rich Clune, Mike Dishman, Genie
Dorman, Sheryl Duggins, Sherrill Hayes, Jerry Herbel, Rebecca Hill, Brandon Lundy, Crystal Money, Metin
Oguzmert, Nikki Palamiotis, Svetlana Peltsverger, Walt Thain, Raj Veliyath, Ying Xie
1. Clarification of Time to Degree and Transfer Credit policies – David reviewed the current Graduate Catalog in
response to a discussion at the previous meeting (see below). The two policies working together mean that all
courses presented for the degree (taken at KSU or transferred in from another university) must be within the six
year window.
Time Limit (Age of Credit)
All requirements for a master’s degree must be completed within six years, beginning with the first registration in
graduate-level classes following admission to the degree program. Extension of time may be granted only on
conditions beyond the student’s control. Only courses in which credit has been earned within six years of the date
of graduation will be counted for degree credit.
Doctoral students must meet program requirements as specified in the catalog.
Transfer Credit
Graduate work taken at other Commission of Colleges (COC) regionally accredited institutions must be evaluated
and approved by the program director and/or graduate committee of the respective program in order to satisfy
degree requirements at KSU. Such transfer credit cannot be for courses over five years old and must satisfy the
six-year rule above to count towards degree credit; cannot exceed 25% of the total semester hours required for
the degree, and cannot reduce residency requirements. No grade below B may be accepted. Transfer grades are
not used in calculating semester, summer term, or cumulative grade-point averages. Individual degree programs
may have additional specific requirements or limitations for transfer credit.
Refer to the program descriptions in this catalog for additional information.
Transfer credit is not permissible for any part of the Coles Doctor of Business Administration, Coles Executive
MBA, or the Master of Science in Conflict Management programs.
2. Graduate Student Orientations – Discussion on what the needs are for a university level orientation for graduate
students. Currently, students receive an email directing them to a website with links to various offices on
campus. SPSU formerly had an online presentation in which the Graduate Studies office was notified when the
student completed the orientation. We are trying to determine if there is need to return to an in-person
orientation in conjunction with some online information.
3. Graduate Student Needs Survey Discussion – Discussion of the results of the Graduate Student Needs Survey
distributed by email a couple of weeks earlier. The Graduate College will work towards meeting the needs that
are within its purview. Individual programs are encouraged to look at the results and take them into account as
they work towards continuous improvement in their program.
4. Call for committee members
a. Graduate Student Programming – need committee members to work on creating appropriate
programming for graduate students as guided by survey results.
b. Graduate Student Appreciation Week –Week of April 11-15, 2016, KSU will participate in National
Graduate Student Appreciation Week. Committee members are needed to plan events for that week.
5. Admission Requirement Checklists – Discussion that programs should review their admission criteria and
determine if all documents requested are actually needed and used in the review process. The Graduate
Admissions office is getting numerous calls and emails from students and programs saying that certain items
have been waived for them. This is very cumbersome to track and unfair to those that met the requirements
already. Please determine the most appropriate items needed and bring a program revision through the GPCC if
changes are needed. Otherwise, please limit waiving items to the most exceptional situations and provide
justification.
6. GRA/GTA/GA Reminders and Discussion – Reminder that December 1st is the deadline to hire GRA/GTA/GA for
Spring semester.
7. Violence Prevention training and Web Learners – After discussions with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and
the Registrar’s office it was recommended that if online students register through the Registrar’s office as a
“Web Learner” they are exempted from the mandatory Violence Prevention training.
8. Grad Student Email Accounts (not on the agenda) - There was a discussion about student email accounts,
regarding which one is the official account. Currently all students, grad and undergrad, get an
@students.kennesaw.edu account and all official business, such as financial aid, registrar, etc. goes to that
account. In addition, graduate students have available to them an @grad.kennesaw.edu account. This was
created so that graduate students doing research can come across as more professional without the “students”
designation in their email address. For grad students that are hired as a GRA/GTA/GA, they are receiving a
Zimbra @kennesaw.edu account as they become an employee at that point. A fourth possibility is email
through the D2L system. Thus, there is confusion about which email to use in communicating with graduate
students. For now, the best advice is to tell you students upon entrance to the program which email you will be
using and make it their responsibility to use that email or set up a forward from that email to one that they will
monitor.