BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
MINUTES OF THE May 10, 2010 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, Christopher Bishop, Elizabeth
Brown, Michael Conlon, Carmen Ferradas, Mark
Fowler, James Fang, Brandon Gibb, Robert Guay,
Wayne Jones, William Heller, Sarah Lam, Edward Li,
Charles Nelson, Beverly Rainforth, Cagri Idiman;
Gamze Bedirharoglu
EX OFFICIO
MEMBERS:
Stephen Gilje, Dara Silberstein, Lindsay Tremain
EXCUSED:
Wendy Martinek, Andrew Merriwether, Pamela
Mischen, Max Pensky, Gerald Sonnenfeld, Nan Zhou
ABSENT:
Dina Maramba, Debi Mishra, William Haver, Olga
Shvetsova, Pamela Stewart Fahs, Max Pensky
Guests:
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 March 15, 2010 and April 19, 2010 were approved as written.
III. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Curriculum Committee
This Committee approved the following course:
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MUS 520 Theory Review
GRD 595 Fundamentals of Budget and Finance
Proposal for a Graduate Certificate in Local Government in the Department of Public
Administration
Graduate Certificate in German Cultural Studies
The motion was made to accept the new course and graduate certificate proposals and all were
in favor. The course proposal in Sociology – “The Worlds Sugar and Coffee Made: Markets,
Politics, and Nature” was tabled pending clarification from the department on whether or not this
will be taught as a graduate course coupled with an undergraduate course, and if so, how these
would differ.
Academic Standards Committee
This committee met on May 3, 2010. The committee reviewed the Carnegie Initiative on the
Doctorate, which was a national long-term study conducted by the Carnegie Foundation and
represented 44 universities. The results of the survey have resulted assessment tool and have
resulted in valuable feedback from faculty and doctoral students. The committee felt that
because graduate programs vary so much that the results of the survey should be evaluated in
terms of individual department’s needs and goals.
Dean Stamp showed a few key slides from the Carnegie Survey in a power point presentation.
Discussion ensued as to the importance of career planning with doctoral students, as this was
one area of the survey that the students reported needing more help. It was felt that more
professional development would be helpful to the students.
Another area of concern was students needing help with defined teaching objectives.
Discussion was that each graduate program may have different criteria in defining teaching
objectives; therefore, this should be taken into consideration by each program.
In conclusion of the discussion regarding the Carnegie surveys, Dean Stamp stated that she is
encouraging programs to volunteer to participate next fall.
Dean Stamp shared with Graduate Council information on the PREP (planning, resilience,
engagement, professionalism) program that Michigan State University designed. They gathered
information from all of their programs and created a document that provided information about
campus resources for graduate students. Next year, The Graduate School will be collecting
data from each department to develop a spreadsheet similar to the PREP program.
Budget Advisory Committee
This committee has not met.
Advisory Committee on Scholarship and Research
This committee has concluded their business for the year.
Clark Fellowship Advisory Committee
The Clark Fellowship Advisory Committee has awarded all of the Clark Fellowship Awards for
next year.
Grievance Committee
This committee has not met.
Strategic Planning Committee
This committee has not met, however, Dean Stamp provided Graduate Council with a copy of
the Strategic Planning Chart. The Strategic Planning Committee developed this chart many
years ago to align with the Graduate School’s Strategic Plan and the University’s Strategic Plan.
Given the revision of the University’s Strategic Plan, further discussion will continue during the
2010-11 Graduate Council Meetings.
IV. NEW BUSINESS
Professor Nadia Rubaii-Barrett, (Chair, Department of Public Administration), Laura
Bronstein, (Chair, Department of Social Work and Josephine Allen and Dean Patricia
Ingraham were in attendance to discuss their proposal to develop an interdisciplinary
Doctoral Degree Program in Community & Public Affairs.
Dean Stamp reminded Graduate Council that the first step in developing a new program is
the letter of intent. The Letter of intent is then reviewed by Graduate Council and forwarded
to SUNY. SUNY will then post the LOI for all the other SUNY campuses for their review
and/or comments. She explained that letter of intent does not obligate us to go forward with
the proposal, it is simply a notification.
CCPA is made up of Four Departments – Department of Public Administration, Department
of Social Work, Department of Student Affairs and Administration, and Department of Human
Development. Currently, these departments consist of strictly masters programs. The LOI
in CCPA would build on the strength of these departments to create an interdisciplinary
program.
Professor Allen stated there was a real need for an interdisciplinary approach in terms of
meeting the needs of the community and the current needs of graduate studies.
Patricia Ingraham, Dean of CCPA, expressed her support for the program and felt that it
would have an enormous potential for both students and the community.
The motion was made to forward the LOI for the interdisciplinary Doctoral Degree Program in
Community & Public Affairs to SUNY. All were in favor.
V. ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 on a motion by Professor Gibb and seconded by
Professor Jones.
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Minutes recorded by Cheryl McGowan,
Secretary to the Vice Provost and Dean
of the Graduate School