Graduate Programs Committee
MINUTES
February 20, 2012
NSF 2137, 1:30-3:00 PM
Attending: J. Rebers, S. Imdieke, R. Prather, M. Strahan, D. Rayome, H. Munsche, J. Suksi, P. Watts, B. Cherry
Absent: D. Haynes, S. Smith
1.
Approval of Agenda Stands as amended
2.
Approval of minutes – January 30, 2012 Approved as amended ( Rayome /Imdieke )
3.
Assistant Provost’s Report (Brian Cherry) a.
Met with graduate program directors February 16. New forms are up on the website, especially Plan of study developed between faculty member & student. Will also talk to consultants about these online forms. Same forms as available now, but all of them online, and will generate overnight into the system. E-mail will also be sent to faculty advisors. Grad office prefers students submit all forms to their office, not individual department offices. Grad office is not dictating how departments make this work, but rather to make the entire process more efficient. Plans of study can be customized for each department. This should solve the problem of viewing documents on WebExtender.
Imdieke asked about students who are not currently taking courses—they do not show up on advisee list. Asst. Provost Cherry is working on creating a non-GRA, non-GTA grad student e-mail list. There are about 121 (about 20%) non-degree-seeking grad students. Working on getting these students attached to a department/program. b.
Turnover in Graduate Office support staff – Georgia Tillotson & Kathy Maki have quit. Kaitlin Hares is a temp in replacing Georgia, and LuAnne Crupi is taking over in Kathy's position. c.
Graduate Bulletin has been updated every two years. Request that because bulletin is online, it becomes updated annually.
4.
Chair’s Report (John Rebers) a.
Question about Excellence in Education (EE) awards. In the past, have accepted unofficial transcripts.
Website ambiguous on this aspect. Will continue accepting unofficial transcripts as part of EE proposals. b.
At the last meeting, Committee conditionally approved many graduate faculty. Have received all information requested, and changed their status to Approved. Sent along with Senate Report. c.
Reminder that the March meeting is consumed with EE review. Proposals are divided into programs
(English, Biology, Other) and assigned to GPC member groups (determined by the Chair). In order to avoid conflict, members do not review from their own department. Evaluate the applications using the primary criteria that they meet the guidelines. In the past we have not needed to rank; instead,
Recommend, or Not Recommend funding. d.
Discussed platform for distributing proposals, as WebExtender is difficult to use. Chair Rebers will contact Andrew Smentkowski regarding getting proposals loaded into Share. e.
Will send out proposed EE review groups this week.
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5.
Graduate Student Association Report (Heather Munsche) a.
Last meeting two weeks ago postponed to this week. b.
Members assisted in UP 200. c.
Housing & Residence Life asked GSA for assistance with housing survey (various problems including using TO: instead of bcc: ). Received help from Asst. Provost Cherry and Carl Holm. As a result, received many more responses to the Survey. d.
Looking for additional Service Learning opportunities.
6.
New Business a.
Secretary for Winter 2012 GPC meetings i.
Mike Strahan has volunteered to act as secretary; need election
Elected by acclamation. b.
Report from Outcomes Assessment meeting i.
Dave Rayome, David Haynes attended different sessions
2:30pm meeting David Rayome
Had a consultant doing a report & research on Student Outcomes Assessment. Geared towards undergraduate types of assessment. Was unable to provide much input for grad student outcomes assessment. Focused a lot on CUP, but even that group did not provide much information.
Asst. Provost Cherry shared Political Science portfolio 3-panel review process. He felt
Outcomes Assessment is looking for a more-structured instrument, such as a rubric. It will be up to individual departments. Sandi Poindexter wanted more details, as it was thought that testing was not enough. Want even more details than what is currently provided. c.
Deadlines for graduate student Applications i.
Graduate Bulletin currently states: ii.
Applicants for admission to the College of Graduate Studies must submit complete application forms, all official undergraduate and graduate transcripts from all institutions attended, test scores, and other required supportive papers to the College of Graduate Studies by the following dates:

Fall semester - July 1

Winter semester - November 15

Summer session - March 17

(Note: Applications submitted after these dates will still be accepted, but admission cannot be guaranteed.) iii.
However, most departments set their own dates. If there are no objections, this section will be removed from the bulletin. Departments should work with Asst. Provost Cherry to insert appropriate dates into departmental sections of the Graduate Bulletin.
Came up at the grad directors meeting. Asst. Provost Cherry does want to remove this section, as some dates are too late (e.g., July 1). Will also create a matrix.
New language will state: Check with individual department for application deadlines, etc. iv.
Committee preference form due to CEC by February 29. See the end of the agenda for current terms on GPC. According to Senate and CEC policy, those who are completing a second twoyear term (highlighted) are ineligible to apply for a third term.
Information only. Highlighting corrected for Minutes.
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d.
Graduate Faculty approval (list below)
Faculty Member
Olga Hocking
Department
Nursing
Level
1
Term
3 years
Dates Action
2012-2015 APPROVED
Chair Rebers will add this to the Senate Report.
7.
Old business a.
Review of policy for continuing enrollment for graduate students. Current policy is listed below. However, for several years, students have been required to register for GD593/693 in the semester they graduate, but not in semesters prior to graduation if not using University resources (see email from Nancy Ohman). We need to decide if we wish to amend this policy. i.
This issue was discussed at November meeting but not resolved. Mike Strahan was asked to provide information from AIS about impact of policy change.
AIS Dean Darlene Walch wrote a multi-page memo (distributed via e-mail in January) describing the policy and history of these courses.
Discussion included different types of situations from programs. One of the deciding factors to keep the courses was that students must be registered for at least one credit in order to sign up for graduation.
Referred to the GPC Policy Committee to make suggested changes including: access to library resources & university services, changes to bulletin description including renaming the courses and the last sentence will be moved to another section.
Other sections of Bulletin which mention GD 593/693 will also need language rewording. b.
Change in description of graduate faculty status; previously discussed by email. Consensus was: i.
Change the description of Level 2 to read: “Level 2 status is for members of the faculty who have just attained their terminal degree or have not taught at the graduate level within the last seven years. A person at this level can teach graduate courses and serve on thesis committees, but they cannot chair a thesis committee. This status can be requested for 1 to 3 years. Level 2 status can also be granted for 1 year to members of the faculty who have not yet attained their terminal degree; this appointment may be renewed. If a faculty member without a terminal degree applies for Level 2 status, the cover letter from the Department
Head should explain the proposed role of the applicant, including courses to be taught.
Referred to Policy Committee for further review of all 3 levels. They must also address contingent (adjunct) faculty who become part of the bargaining unit. This will also change Level 1. ii.
This change needs to be reported to the Senate. If they approve, the policy on the Graduate
Studies web page will need to be amended.
Meeting adjourned at 3:03 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Strahan, GPC Secretary
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