GRADUATE COUNCIL MINUTES FOR 14 November 2012
Present: Michelle Baker, Steve Beck, Frank Caliendo, John Eilsweiler, David
Geller, Sheri Haderlie, Dennis Hassan, Paul Johnson, Derri Dee Leonard, Shelley
Lindauer, Mark McLellan, Peter McNamara, Jinni Meehan, Zach Portman
Not Present: Jeff Broadbent, Scott DeBerard, Gene Schupp
Visitors: Scott Bates, Doug Ramsey (subbing for Gene Schupp), Sylvia Read
(subbing for Scott DeBerard), Chris Skousen, Lorraine Walker, Larry Walther
Minutes for October 2012 approved.
Report from the Dean:

Tuition Comparison to Other Institutions. USA Today published a tuition
comparison chart for ten different institutions. Compared to those public
universities, USU is still a tuition bargain.

Sharing Information from Graduate Council to Colleges.
The Council members were encouraged to take every opportunity
possible to share information discussed at Graduate Council with their
respective colleges and faculty.

2014-2015 Mid 5-Year Plan Reviews. This review will come up faster than
we realize. Both the departments and the deans will be engaged in the
reviews.

Presidential Doctoral Research Fellows (PDRF) Process. The first cohort of
nine students is doing well. The emphasis now is to focus on recruitment
and strategies for the future. Ten new PDRFs will be added each year
until there are forty in total.
Old Business:

None.
New Business:

MAcc Admission Requirements. The School of Accountancy proposes
that current USU accounting students, with sufficiently high GPAs in core
accounting classes, who are interested in concurrent degrees be
admitted directly into the master’s program without being required to
take the GMAT. Transfer students and USU students not seeking
concurrent degrees would be required to take the GMAT. This item will be
carried over for further discussion at the next Graduate Council meeting.
The Council members were asked to contact their deans in the meantime
to obtain feedback on this issue.

MAcc Concurrent Degree. Departments may use the split form policy to
allow students to seek an undergraduate and graduate degree
concurrently. A department would file the details of a concurrent
program with the Graduate School for record keeping. Both degrees
can be awarded at the same time, but this does not happen until the
very end of a semester (degrees are not awarded in the middle of a
semester).

R401 SASTE Discontinue Plan C MS. The proposal to discontinue MS Plan C
in Technology and Engineering Education was unanimously approved.

R401 PSC Rename MS and PhD Degrees. The proposal to rename the MS
and PhD degrees of Biometerology to Climate Science was unanimously
approved.

R401 PSC Credit Reduction PhD Plant Science. The Council unanimously
approved the proposal for a degree credit reduction in Plant Science.

R401 PSC Credit Reduction PhD Soil Science. The Council unanimously
approved the proposal for a degree credit reduction in Soil Science.

R401 PSC Credit Reduction PhD Climate Science. The Council
unanimously approved the proposal for a degree credit reduction in
Climate Science.

R401 ART Add Interior Design Specialization to MFA; Discontinue MS in
Human Environments. The proposal to add an Interior Design
specialization to the MFA and to discontinue the MS in Human
Environments was unanimously approved.
Committee of the Whole:

Graduate Faculty. Move item to the next Graduate Council meeting.
Adjournment.