BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
MINUTES OF THE October 19, 2009 MEETING OF THE GRADUATE COUNCIL
PLACE:
Couper Administrative Building - Room148
PRESIDING:
Nancy E. Stamp, Vice Provost and Dean of the
Graduate School
MEMBERS:
Jacques Beaumont, Carmen Ferradas, Mark Fowler,
Robert Guay, Wayne Jones, William Haver, William
Heller, Sarah Lam, Edward Li, Dina Maramba,
Pamela Mischen, Chuck Nelson, Beverly Rainforth,
Olga Shvetsova, Pamela Stewart Fahs
EX OFFICIO
MEMBERS:
Dara Silberstein, Gerald Sonnenfeld, Lindsay
Tremain
EXCUSED:
Christopher Bishop, Michael Conlon, Susan Currie,
James Fang, Brandon Gibb, Stephen Gilje, Wendy
Martinek, Max Pensky, Nan Zhou
ABSENT:
Andrew Merriwether, Debi Mishra,
I. CALL TO ORDER:
Vice Provost and Dean Nancy Stamp called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm.
II. MINUTES:
The minutes of the September 21 2009 were approved as written.
III. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Curriculum Committee
This Committee met on Monday, October 12, 2009. The committee approved the following
proposals:
1) Proposal for new Graduate Courses in Public Administration:
a.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
PAFF 516, Performance Analysis
PAFF 520, 21st Century Governance
PAFF 526, Managing Information and Technology
PAFF 536, Managing Networks
PAFF 553, Nonprofit Innovation & Social Enterprise
PAFF 554, Strategy Development in Nonprofit Organizations
PAFF 580, Introduction to Local Government Mgt & Leadership
PAFF 581, Local Government Financial Mgt
PAFF 582, Emerging Issues in Local Government Mgt
PAFF 590, Praxis Through Case Studies
PAFF 591, Problem Definition
2) Proposal for new courses in Social Work
a. SW 580B - Evidence Based Mental Health Practice
b. Mental Health Practice with Home-bound Elders
c. Trauma Recovery
d. Psychopathology
e. Death and Dying and Bereavement in Social Work Practice
3) Proposal for new course in Biology
a. Biology 580, Topics in Molecular Medicine
4) Proposal for new course in Student Affairs Administration Program
a. SAA 527 Foundations of Multicultural Education
5) Program revisions for two current programs in the School of Education
a. Childhood Education: MSED
b. Inclusive Childhood Education: MSED
c. Instructional Approaches in Mathematics for Special Education
6) Program Proposal for History Department
a. PhD Field in Imperialism and Colonialism
The motion was made to accept the course and program revision proposals and all were in
favor.
Prof. Michael Pettid gave an overview of the formal proposal for a new degree program in Asian
& Asian American Studies. This program will cover six fields: Chinese Studies, Japanese
Studies, Korean Studies, South Asian Studies, Asian American and Diaspora Studies, and
Global Asia Studies. The department will change the proposal to reflect each field having 32
credits. All were in favor of approving the proposal and forwarding it to SUNY-System.
Grievance Committee
The Grievance Committee met on October 5th to review and update current grievance appeal
procedures. In addition to clarifications, the Grievance Committee decided it is no longer
necessary that the Grievance Appeals Committee hold a hearing; instead the committee may
consider the appeal based on the written appeal and evidentiary documents. All were in favor
of accepting the clarifications and procedural change for review of appeals.
Academic Standards Committee
This committee has not met.
Advisory Committee on Scholarship and Research
This committee met and discussed the American Competes Act requirement of NSF (National
Science Foundation) to mandate more responsible conduct of research training for
undergraduates, graduate students and post doctorate associates. Along with federal
agencies, Binghamton University is interested in the best practice in terms of responsible
conduct of research training for everyone. The committee will be reporting recommendations to
Graduate Council in the near future. Gerald Sonnenfeld, Vice President for Research, stated
that the University could set a template for training that everyone would follow, and each
department would then add to the template making it discipline specific. The committee may
implement a survey of departments and programs about what they are doing in terms of
responsible conduct and research. Gerald Sonnenfeld made the announcement that any
survey will have to be reviewed by the University’s IRB. The committee also discussed
fostering interdisciplinary research and how other universities are handling this.
Budget Advisory Committee
This committee has not met.
Clark Fellowship Advisory Committee
This committee has not met.
Strategic Planning Committee
The Strategic Planning Committee will meet following the Graduate Council meeting today.
John Meador, Director of Library Services, will be speaking regarding the changing world of IT
and how it will affect our scholarship and research. The committee will continue to look into
ways to prepare our graduate students for the IT skills for research and scholarship.
Dean Stamp stated that the University’s Division of Academic Affairs sub-committee for the
Middle States Self-Study has mentioned some of these concerns. Professor Mark Fowler
suggested that an important issue for the Strategic Planning Committee to discuss was the use
of open access journals and the impact this would have on researchers at various stages in
their career.
IV. NEW BUSINESS
Dean Stamp discussed the recruitment of the millennial generation. A survey of Binghamton
University graduate students indicated what they thought about the information that was
available to them when they applied to the graduate programs at Binghamton University. When
the survey was first conducted in 2003, the University’s average grade was a C in terms of what
the graduate programs were providing applicants. Some of the questions on the survey were.
Was there information about: placement of graduates, time to degree, and what the program
required. The survey was conducted again this fall, and across the university, departments
scored lower than the 2003 survey. The messages are that departments need to have the
information that students are seeking more visible on their websites. Departments need to
reflect the accomplishments of their department and make that information easily accessible to
the student. Websites need to show their graduate students finding employment after
graduation and what types of employment. Also, websites need to represent graduate
education well on the front page. Dean Stamp stated that the Graduate School is using Intelliresponse (self-service question and answer) which is on the website, so students can get
answers to commonly asked questions.
V. ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 4:32 on a motion by Professor Lam and seconded by Professor
Heller.
_____________________________
Minutes recorded by Cheryl McGowan,
Secretary to the Vice Provost and Dean
of the Graduate School