Excused: Pat Beamish, Angie Bukley, Carolyn Cardenas, Lee Cibrowski, Peter Johnson, David Juedes, Mark Mecum, Tootie Overby, Robert Roe, and Yingjiao Xu.

Convened: The meeting was convened at 3:10 pm.  Packets with agenda were distributed. 

1.      Approval of Minutes:

Catherine Axinn said that her name was omitted from the list of attendees of the June 3^rd meeting.  With that correction made the minutes were approved.

2.      Chair’s Report (Dr. Duncan Brown):

1. New Member List: Duncan passed the new member list to all present. 

2. Committee Assignment Forms: Duncan passed the new committee assignment forms to all members.  He said that one of the committees has only two members left, since the term of all the other members is over.  He said, it does help to have at least one or more same members from the previous year, to serve as an institutional memory.  He also added that sometimes members are moved from one committee to another to balance the departmental influences.

3. Meeting times and days: Duncan said that the Provost would attend the October and the April meetings.  The President will attend the January meeting.  Duncan informed the members that he was waiting to hear back from the Provost, if Graduate Council could meet in the Governance room for future meetings. 

4. Conflict of Interest Resolution: Duncan informed Graduate Council that the resolution passed by the Faculty Senate was signed by the Provost.  He thanked the Policies and Regulations Committee and Carolyn Cardenas for their work towards it. 

5. English Proficiency: Duncan said the English Proficiency proposal was passed over the summer via an electronic vote.

3.      Associate Provost for Graduate Studies, Michael Mumper:

1.  Welcome Message: Michael welcomed everyone and said that he is looking forward to getting the year started.

2. Graduate Enrollment: Michael informed Graduate Council that graduate enrollment was down by 230 students earlier in the week and then it was up by 50 this morning.  He said that since students are still being registered for their classes, so it is hard to say if we are actually higher or lower than last year’s numbers.  He talked about the problem that had occurred with some students’ registration being dropped as a result of an error that occurred while processing their change of status. 

Joe Rota said that Ghanaian students form the third largest international student population at OU.  This year, there were too many visa rejections by the U.S. Embassy in Ghana.  He added that Steve Howard has evidence of a U.S. Consulate Officer stating why someone from Ghana would want to study African Studies in a second-rate institution in the U.S. Joe said that most visas this time were rejected for inappropriate and non-academic reasons. 

Michael continued to inform Graduate Council that the total number of international students who have checked in at ISFS is the same as last year.  He added that if someone is interested in tracking our numbers the institutional research website updates numbers every day.  It is possible to check enrollment by College, by majors and so on and also how it compares to numbers from last year. 

3. Strategic Planning: The strategic planning process moved along well over the summer and the document does not seem to be as controversial as it did earlier.  Some more research foci have been added.  A fifth area of focus titled Arts and Humanities was added.  David Drabold said that it was an excellent idea to eliminate the descriptions of the foci.  There are going to be some more conversations in October about it and then an implementation team will be put together and many of you might be asked to be on it.  Some of these conversations Michael said would focus on identifying growth opportunities in graduate education.  He said that he and Mike Williford have been talking to Deans about the Enrollment vision for the next ten years.  He added that it is hard to do it without knowing the size of the undergraduate class, availability of stipends and so on.  Also, the planning for physical facilities needs to take place too. 

4. International Recruitment Funding: Michael announced that the Provost had approved $100,000 for the purpose.  He added that it was not just for graduate recruiting, for when recruiters travel they take along the undergraduate application and admission information along with them as well.  Michael handed out the new tri-fold brochure and the new flier.  Chester Pach said that in the degree programs offered by OU listed in the flier, the Ph.D. degree for History was missing.  Michael thanked Chester for bringing that to his attention and said that he would let Printing Services know about the change. 

5. OPIE: Michael said that significant changes have taken place in the structure and functioning of OPIE.  It has now merged with Linguistics.  The role that OPIE played in the placement of graduate students in remedial English courses as well.  As opposed to testing all international students who came to OU, only a subset of those students will be tested.  International students who did not provide TOEFL scores will be tested upon arrival.  There is a change in the OPIE curriculum as well, there is more part-time study versus the full time study that was the norm earlier.  Micahel said that this way a graduate student could take 12 credit hours in their department and take one OPIE class.  And, in this case the cost of the OPIE course will be covered by their stipend (any of the university provided fee-waivers, be it scholarships or assistantships).  This will save the students from paying for the OPIE classes.  Michael said that there are changes in the Speak test as well.  Ohio Law (Pringle Law Compliancy) requires international students who have classroom responsibilities to be certified.  Previously OPIE used a panel comprised of faculty and students to determine the Speaking proficiency.  Students who need proficiency in speech will take a speaking course along with their academic course load in the Fall quarter.  They will in essence be a probationary instructor.  They would be tested again in December to evaluate progress.  David Drabold said that this is a dramatic improvement in the situation and he appreciates it.  Michael said thanks are due to the College of Arts and Sciences for taking on the responsibility.  Maureen added that these changes are significant and cited an example, in job interviews with foreign nationals who had graduate degrees from the U.S. she said she was not impressed by their speaking abilities. 

Katie Tadlock, Director Graduate Student Services:

Electronic Thesis and Dissertations: Katie informed Graduate Council that Elizabeth Koonce will continue to be the Interim Director for ETD, she is also returning to her teaching assignments this quarter.  To ensure that ETD processing does not suffer, Andrea DeMott will be working with Elizabeth Koonce this quarter.  Terrie Bruscino is continuing to work from Virginia as well.  Katie said that they plan to have the position filled by Thanksgiving.

Assistant Director of International Admissions: Katie informed Graduate Council about Neng Chang Yang’s resignation from the above mentioned position.  She said that Graduate Studies will fill the Credential Evaluator part of the position quickly on a temporary basis and then do a national search in the Winter or Spring quarters next year. 

Graduate Catalog: The new graduate catalog for 2005-2007 will be ready by late October.  She said that two of her Graduate Assistants, Malinda and Lisa will contact departments to collect some baseline information about orientation for new graduate students.  This is in preparation for next year and will help to improve the initial experience of new graduate students. 

4.      Graduate Student Health Insurance Costs (Jacqueline Legg, Business Manager, Student Health Services):

Duncan introduced Jacqueline Legg to Graduate Council members and requested Jacqueline to explain the situation with the high costs of student health insurance.  Duncan said that the cost is so high now that it is almost prohibitive for international students.  Dave Drabold added that this is a problem for not just new students, but, retention is also an issue in his department (Physics) due to the high health insurance premium. 

Jacqueline began her presentation with a brief history of Health Insurance at OU.  In 1960 the Board of Trustees determined that all OU students should have insurance.  In 1964 it was adjusted so that this requirement could be waived if a student was not registered full time.  She said that International Students and Faculty Services had seen increasing number of international students with health insurance plans that hardly covered anything.  In 1998, it was decided (by many administrators across campus) that all international students must have OU insurance.  Students received a drug card and there was a vision plan as well.  The deductible was $50. 

Jacqueline noted that she came to her present job from OUCOM and was aware of the other side of this process (collecting money).  She said that many international students came from countries with a National Health Care system and were not used to paying anything.  She said that four to five years ago the question whether students should have insurance came up again and it was felt that the plan exists to protect students.  Every five years (unless there is a reason to do it earlier) the university bids for a plan and picks the best option.  The plans usually have a five year term since that enables them to spread their risks.  She said that she prepares documents for student representative groups so that they get a chance to evaluate the plans as well.  She takes quotes from the insurance companies and talks to them about changes that can be made.  She then presents the information back to student representative groups.  Jacqueline cited an example, she said that students were charged once a year and they asked if it could be spread out over the course of the year instead.  So, the decision was made to charge students three times a year, but each payment would cover four months.  Students are also provided with a drug discount card that they can use when Hudson Health Center is closed.

She said that the domestic students have a few options to pick plans from.  Catherine Axinn asked why the spouse charge was so high.  Jacqueline responded that the student health centers are usually not set up or equipped to treat spouses, specially female spouses.  She added that to lower the spouse rate they spread the cost by adding $6 to each student.  Chester Pach raised the question about the disparity between the insurance costs for domestic and international students.  Jacqueline said that the plan used for domestic students pays at 80% of the costs incurred, whereas the international student plan pays at 100%.  She said that students are offered options every year, they have picked this plan because it pays 100%.  Insurance companies do not like this plan, because it involves payment of large sums of money.  David Drabold asked if students could pick individually what plan they want.  Jacqueline said that student representatives vote on this and then a plan is selected.  She said that she works with insurance companies to ensure that the premium is not high, given the finite nature of the assistantship money received by students.  Domestic students have a choice of two plans to pick from. 

Joe Rota asked if it was possible to find another plan with better prices.  He added that the Inter University Council also felt that the premiums were too high.  Jacqueline said that none of the universities in Ohio have a plan resembling ours.  Michael Mumper confirmed with Jacqueline if domestic students could pick their own plans and that it seems strange that we let one group (domestic students) pick their own plan and not the other.  Jacqueline said that international students can waive the requirement if they are sponsored by their government or if they are Fulbright recipients.  She added that ISFS makes these decisions.  Responding to the issue of domestic students she said that many of them are on family plans and that has more to do with parents insurance than about individual choice.  Michael added that at OSU, if a student has as assistantship, the university pays the insurance costs.  Duncan asked if we can compare our plan with our aspirational peer institutions.  Jacqueline said that they are mentioned in the handout she passed to members and that it would be unlikely that we can find a plan similar to ours.  David Drabold asked if departments could pick up the cost of the insurance for students.  Michael said that departments can opt to pay the General Fees and the Health Insurance costs, but most of them do not do so. 

Duncan expressed his thanks to Jacqueline for explaining the system.

5.      Conflict of Interest Reviews:

Duncan said that one of the reasons for having a September meeting was to be able to process the conflict of interest reviews received all summer.  He added that with the new resolution passed that states that faculty cannot receive a degree from their own college will reduce the number of cases for us and will also simplify the process.  Duncan asked members to take a few minutes to read them before beginning the discussion.  Katie said that some of the names might be familiar to members because some of the people had earlier been processed as non-degree and they are now again before Graduate Council to be processed as degree seeking.  Maureen proposed the move to pass all conflict of interest reviews.  David Drabold seconded the proposal.  Duncan thanked everyone and said that we could think about a two step process like the Institutional Review Board process (detailed review and an expedited review). 

6.      Admissions Requirements Committee (Josie Bloomfield):

Josie requested members’ attention to two letters included in the package.  She said that Elahu Gosney and Ryan Clark came to see her in the summer to try to understand why their cases were being considered as having a conflict of interest.  Catherine Axinn said that both letters are very similar and that reading one of them would give members a good idea of the contents of both.  Katie said that Graduate Council has approved similar requests in the past with the caveat that the concerned faculty member (who is the administrative supervisor) not be a member of the student’s graduate committee.  Catherine Axinn said that since the classes that the student and faculty member are teaching together are team-taught classes and since other faculty are involved as well, an inherent system of checks and balances seems to be in place.  Ryan Clark is just interested in taking a few classes, he has no intention of being in Athens, long term.  Duncan said that the new Faculty Senate policy does not apply to both of them.  Graduate Council ruled both as no conflicts with the condition of Dr. Kopchik not being either the academic advisor or being on the graduate committee of both students. 

7.      Topics for the coming year:

Duncan said that two issues that were not addressed much last year but he would like to see addressed this year are: structure of the standing committees and a policy to allow graduate degrees to be granted posthumously.  Duncan said that he would like the spheres of influence of all standing committees to be explained and to ensure that the workload of Council is spread evenly among these committees.  The good part is that the peak work load for most committees happens at different times during the year.  Regarding the second issue Duncan said that he would like to see a policy akin to that the undergraduate office has about granting degrees to students posthumously.  He said that in a similar initiative a few years ago, an effort was made to reword the undergraduate policy, but that did not work out well.  David Drabold asked how many times a year would we see something like this.  Duncan said it was more about getting a policy in place and that many schools in England also have a similar policy. 

Joe Rota said that he would also like a discussion about the Bologna agreement and not considering the three year bachelor’s degrees equivalent to the U.S. degrees.  He added that most European countries have a three year bachelor’s degree.  Katie said that it is hard to consider it in such broad terms, for example the three bachelor’s degree from England is considered U.S. equivalent because it comes after thirteen years of education. 

Chester Pach said that it would be helpful to the new members to have a little bit of information about the nature of all the committees.  Duncan said that the Policies and Regulations Committee worked on the enrollment maintenance and the leave of absence policy.  Admissions Requirements Committee works with the implementation of policy stated in the graduate catalog.  The Graduate Student Affairs and Fellowships Committee presents potential grievances from students about faculty and administrators.  It also nominates (after reviewing submitted materials) students for the five named fellowships.  And, it also acts as a university clearing house for any national or regional competitions that we might seek to participate in.  The Curriculum committee deals with the seven year reviews of academic programs (the graduate component).  This is usually in Spring quarter.  Many of those from last spring did not get completed and will be up for discussion soon.  The Planning and Strategy committee became a standing committee for the first time last year.  Prior to that, it was an ad-hoc committee.  This committee was involved in the Vision Ohio plan for the university. 

Judith motioned to adjourn the meeting at 4 pm.

Next meeting on October 14, 2005 at the Governance Room in Walter Hall, 2-4 pm.