Graduate Council Meeting Minutes
Monday, November 26th, 2012, 3-5pm, SURC 135
Laila Abdalla, Jay Ball , Jan Bowers, Chris Bruya, Leo D’Acquisto, Duane Dowd, Janet Finke
(representative for Janet Spybrook), Kara Gabriel, Jim Johnson, Karl Lillquist, Mike Lundin, Chris
Mattinson, Darren Olson, Chuck Reasons, Dion Rivera, Scott Robinson, Gregg Schlanger, Henry
Williams
Guests: Michael Launius, Assistant Vice President for International Studies and Programs, and
Dawn Muzzall
Meeting called to order at 3:05pm
1) Approval of October 29, 2012 minutes without changes.
2) Dean’s report (Holly Johnson)
 Dr. Johnson has been working with Bob Hickey to codify issues relating to graduate
studies in the workload plans (e.g., workload issues relating to teaching graduate
courses, mentoring graduate research, and for members of Graduate Council).
 Dr. Johnson met with Linda Schactler, Office of Public Affairs, to discuss promotion
materials for the Graduate School and the graduate programs at Central. In the near
future, Dawn will be contacting Graduate Council members for information concerning
their programs. Please be prepared with bullet points and a short paragraph highlighting
the points of pride of your program; please do not essentially restate information
available on your program’s website. Members will also be asked to proof and
distribute these promotional materials. The goal is to eventually provide promotional
material for every program.
 Expect an announcement concerning the position of Associate Dean of Graduate Studies
in the next week.
3) Old Business
a) Michael Launius, Assistant Vice President for International Studies and Programs spoke
to the Council. Geoff Foy was unable to attend.
 Topic Overview: Three years ago, the city of Liuzhou, China, approached
Washington state universities to enter a contract to offer Masters programs for
applicants selected by the city; Kevin Nemeth and Roger Fouts subsequently
negotiated with the city and Central entered into a contract with the city. Currently,
Central is in the first year of a three-year extension to the contract/program
(renewed October 2011). A Master of Professional Accountancy (MPA) was offered
during the first year of the program and drew 15-16 individuals. The program has
been expanded to include the Masters of Engineering Technology program and an
Individual Studies-Masters of Public Administration program. These three programs,
combined, drew more than 20 students this academic year with the majority
entering the Individual Studies-Masters of Public Administration program as a cohort
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Todd Schaefer, Chair of Political Science, is currently in the process of submitting
paperwork to shift the Individual Studies-Masters of Public Administration into a
sustained, regular program but he has raised questions concerning the program’s
funding if it shifts into a regular curriculum status.
Michael Launius was aware of contract stipulations that students had to finish their
program in 12 calendar months, the candidates are recruited by the city, and that
candidates had to enroll in English-intensive courses and pass a final English
proficiency test administrated by Geoff Foy prior to coming to Central. Candidates
are not required to take the TOFEL and GRE. Candidate applications are initially
received by Continuing Education, are processed by the Office of Graduate Studies,
and are then distributed with recommendations (conditionally) to the departments
for review (Darren Olson for the Masters of Engineering Technology program; Ron
Tidd for Master of Professional Accountancy; unknown faculty reviewer for the
Individual Studies-Masters of Public Administration program)
There is a share-back/profit-sharing with the departments that participate in the
program and, because the client is a city, offerings are limited to those programs
that are appealing to the city.
Action: A motion was approved that Holly Johnson will review the contract and
confer with the Executive Council to determine if there is language in the contract
that will permit the Graduate Council to address the concerns regarding differential
standards. A copy of the contract will also be supplied to the Graduate Council as a
whole.
b) Graduate Assistantships
 Topic Overview. Discussion concerned graduate assistantship stipend levels, the
number of graduate assistantships, and the use of graduate assistants as instructorof-record. Several suggestions were made included creating a flat-rate graduate
tuition rather than having to provide out-of-state waivers, and redirecting tuitionbased revenue generated by graduate assistants in the lab and classroom to fund
the graduate assistantships. Holly Johnson supported both a level rate and waiving
caps on stipend levels for assistantships that are financially supported by grants.
 Action: A subcommittee consisting of Dion Rivera, Duane Dowd, Scott Robinson,
Laila Abdalla, Greg Schlanger, and Chris Mattinson will explore these issues
(particularly funding issues) and will report back to the Graduate Council with
recommendations.
4) Committee Reports
a) The Academic Standards Committee (Laila Abdalla; Dion Rivera) is working on a draft for
policies and procedures for the independent studies masters and will bring it to the
Council in January. It is not anticipated that the policy will be included in the next
catalogue, given the timeframe.
b) The Curriculum Committee (Jim Johnson) has reviewed 12 course proposals, and
provided feedback to the originators. Recommendations will be provided as soon as
possible via GoingOn.
c) The Procedures Committee (Darren Olson) reviewed a total of 10 applications, approved
seven full applications and two associate status applications, and asked for clarification
on one application. Discussion of the Graduate Council and Holly Johnson focused on
the language of the criteria involved in the approval process and a recommendation was
made to review that criteria and, then once the criteria has been vetted by the Graduate
Council and, possibly updated, to then conduct a thorough review of all the faculty with
current full membership status.
5) No New Business.
6) Adjournment at 4:55.
The next Graduate Council meeting will be Monday, January 7 th from 3-5pm in Barge 412.
Meeting minutes provided by Kara Gabriel, Graduate Council Secretary