Graduate Studies Committee
Minutes of September 11, 2012
Members present: Sandra Chong, Amine Ghanem, Beth Halaas, Lesley Krane, Richard Moore,
Bruno Osorno, Jared Rappaport, Abraham Rutchick, Merril Simon, Jackie Stallcup, Mary-Pat
Stein, Mary Woodley
Executive Secretary: M. Helena Noronha
Guests: Tami Abourezk, Kamiran Badrkhan, Nagwa Bekir, Darrick Danta, David Gray, Dan
Hosken, Bessie Karras-Lazaris, Juana Mora
Staff: Hedy Carpenter, Lani Kiapos, Gloria Roberts
I.
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 2:04 p.m.
II.
Senate Executive Committee Representative for the GSC
Sandra Chong from the Elementary Education Department has been appointed to
serve on the GSC and will continue to be the Senate Executive Committee
representative. Chong is assigned to report any new policies or policy changes
approved by the GSC for the Senate Executive Committee to review. She thanked
the members for serving on the committee.
III.
Announcements
Merril Simon welcomed Helena Noronha, the new Interim Associate Vice President
to the committee and also announced that Lani Kiapos, the DARS Coordinator would
begin attending the GSC meetings.
Hedy Carpenter announced that the Distinguished Visiting Speakers Program
application deadline is September 17th and the Thesis Support Program application
deadline is September 24th. Carpenter also announced that the New Online Graduate
Student Orientation was launched through Moodle in August. She reported that 310
students logged into the online orientation.
Helena Noronha announced that she would like to meet with graduate coordinators to
discuss ideas concerning recruitment, enhancing the quality of programs, and any
other issues relating to graduate studies. Noronha invited the GSC members to
participate in the meetings if they are available.
IV.
Curriculum Assignments and Schedule
The committee received curriculum from seven colleges. Consistent with GSC
practices, two members were assigned to lead the review and discussion of
curriculum from each of the colleges. Additionally, the month/meeting of the review
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was determined. Following is a listing of the colleges, GSC representatives, and
month of review.
College of Arts, Media, & Communication (ART, CTVA proposals) and College
of Health & Human Development (FCS proposal) – Sandra Chong (Elementary
Education) and Mary Woodley (Oviatt Library) – October
College of Arts, Media, & Communication (MUS proposals) – Amine Ghanem
(Civil Engineering & Applied Mechanics) and Bruno Osorno (Electrical & Computer
Engineering) – October
College of Education and College of Humanities – Sloane Burke (Health
Sciences)* and Mary-Pat Stein (Biology) – October
*Sloane Burke was appointed as the new presidential appointee to replace Lesley
Krane after she resigned her position on the GSC.
College of Business & Economics and College of Engineering & Computer
Science – Beth Halaas (Social Work) and Abraham Rutchick (Psychology) –
November
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (GEOG, HIST proposals) – Richard
Moore (Management) and Jared Rappaport (Cinema & Television Arts) – November
MPA proposals were withdrawn.
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (PAS, PSY, SBS, SWRK proposals) –
Jackie Stallcup (English) and Merril Simon (Educational Psychology & Counseling)
– November
V.
Program Review Assignments
Anthropology – Mary Woodley
Computer Science and Software Engineering – Sloane Burke
English MOU – Merril Simon
Geology – Amine Ghanem
History – Bruno Osorno
Mathematics – Jackie Stallcup
Physics and Astronomy – Jared Rappaport
Political Science – Richard Moore
Public Administration – Mary-Pat Stein
Tourism, Hospitality, and Recreation Management – Beth Halaas
Spanish – Abraham Rutchick
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VI.
Experimental Topics Courses
GSC approved the following new and previously offered experimental topics course
proposals for Fall 2012:
College of Arts, Media, and Communication
Cinema and Television Arts
1. CTVA 496G-Genres in Cinema and Television Arts (1st offering) for Fall 2013
implementation
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Electrical and Computer Engineering
1. ECE 695DFP-Microelctronics Device Fabrication Principles (1st offering)
College of Humanities
English
1. ENGL 595LW-Life Writing (2nd offering)
College of Science and Mathematics
College of Science and Mathematics
1. SCI 495-Ultra Microscopy (1st offering) – one opposed and one abstention
Geology
1. GEOL 595GC-Principles and Applications of Geochronology (1st offering)
VII.
Discussion Items
Carpenter reported that the Office of Graduate Studies is discontinuing the 12-unit
rule starting in Spring 2013. The 12-unit rule states that students must achieve full
Classified standing prior to completing more than 12 units of graduate course work
on the program of study. She explained that graduate students do not comply with the
rule since it cannot be enforced through SOLAR. She also explained that the 12-unit
rule is not part of Title V, it simply causes unnecessary paperwork for graduate
coordinators and the Graduate Studies Office. Carpenter spoke with several graduate
deans and several reported that their campus does not have a 12-unit rule.
Departments have the option to create their own practice or regulation pertaining to
classification.
Simon reported that in Spring 2012, the committee approved the proposals to waive
the UDWPE for the doctoral programs in Educational Leadership, Physical Therapy
and the graduate programs in business. The GSC and the associate deans agreed to
create a university policy for meeting the Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement
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(GWAR). Merril Simon, Deborah Cours, Richard Moore and Mary-Pat Stein drafted
a proposal for the GRE Analytical Writing Score to satisfy the GWAR for CSUN
graduate students for the committee to review. Moore and Simon explained that
departments could have higher standards and propose an alternative by having a
departmental writing requirement. The GSC and associate deans discussed the
benefits for implementing the proposal and suggested some revisions. Simon
requested that the GSC and associate deans share the proposal with their
colleges/departments to receive feedback. Chong will check with the Faculty
President to see if the proposal will need to go through the Senate Executive
Committee.
Bessie Karras-Lazaris, Director of the Intensive English Program (IEP) discussed the
Graduate School TOEFL Waiver Three Year Pilot Study Final Report. The proposal
recommends that students who complete the highest level of the IEP, University
Bridge B (level 10), with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 be granted a TOEFL
waiver for admission to graduate programs at CSUN. She also reviewed the data
from the report, which shows a comparison of the university GPA’s for TOEFL
waiver students and non-IEP matriculated CSUN students. She requested the GSC to
approve the TOEFL Waiver since the proposal is in the final semester of the threeyear pilot study. The committee discussed their concerns with the proposal and
requested additional data for further discussion before moving to a recommendation
for approval.
Carpenter discussed the issue of students enrolling in the culminating experience
without being classified in their program. She described an example where a student
took the comprehensive exam and passed, but the Graduate Studies Office was unable
to confer the degree since the student was not classified. She explained the need for
assistance at the department level to verify that the student is classified before giving
the student the permission number to enroll in the culminating experience. Nagwa
Bekir suggested a prerequisite for classified status to be built in SOLAR for
culminating experience courses. Lani Kiapos will contact Admissions and Records to
see if it would not be a programming issue.
Carpenter reported that there is no limit to the number of times a graduate student can
be disqualified. Undergraduate students can be disqualified up to three times. The
Graduate Studies Office would like to propose a disqualification practice at the
graduate level. She recommended that graduate students be eligible to seek
readmission to the University only two times. The committee will continue the
discussion at the October meeting.
VIII. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
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