Attendance: Joseph Bernt, Scott Carson, Leona Cibrowski, Edith Dashiell, GlennDoston, David Kidder, Bhavin Mehta, Jerrel Mitchell, Tootie Overby, ,Josep Rota, Maureen Weissenrieder
Staff: Raymie McKerrow, Katherine Tadlock, Anne Walker, Michael Mumper (incoming Associate Provost)
Excused: HarveyBallard, Judith Edinger, Katherine Jellison, Paula Popovich, EdwinRowland, Arvind Singhal, Scott Sparks, Andrea McClanahan
Absent: John Day, Charles McWeeney, Marilyn Poeppelmeyer, Michael Willits, Ed Yost, Julie Zimmerman
Guests: (none)
Convened: 2:20 p.m.
v Chair Report: A motion was made and approved unanimously to approve the May 9, 2003 minutes as written. Approved.
Joe Bernt/Chair --- Comments:
ü Joeopened the meeting recognizing Raymie, as this was his last gradcouncil meeting before he leaves his interim position in the office ofgraduate studies. Joe remarked that he appreciated the way Raymie“pushed” programs through the system.
ü Joealso commented that he thought Raymie was particularly helpful withGraduate Student Senate, i.e. that body is far stronger and moreassertive than two to three years ago.
ü Funding and graduate recruitment and developing programs for TA’s was helpful
ü ETDhas grown. Statistics are showing that OU is among the universitiesleading the state in its use; students generally are in favor of thisprocess and had positive experience with it. It will probably bemandatory at OU in the near future.
ü Raymiehas been extremely supportive of graduate students. He has made theGraduate Studies web site a great source for information and expectsthat will continue in his absence.
ü Last,Raymie has had a great respect for the role of Interim AssociateProvost, has kept graduate council informed and has worked well with,and not against graduate council concerning various issues
Joe also remarked on Provost Kopps’ last visit at the May 9thGrad Council meeting. He felt that Kopp did not seem to have a cleardirection for where he wanted graduate studies to go, but he didencourage GC to address current domestic and international impacts andrecruitment materials we use, as what is used now is inefficient. Aswell, the university needs to identify ways to better utilize tuitionwaivers. Noting that GC members had commented about taking the provostup on his suggestion that GC develop strategies for graduate studies atOU, Joe recommended that next year whoever is GC chair establish an adhoc sub-committee of the council to work with Michael Mumper, KatieTadlock and others in developing new recruitment strategies as well asa strategic plan for graduate studies.
1) Associate Provost for Graduate Studies Report: (see handouts)
a. TOEFL Scores: Raymieshared information with Joe Bernt and Maureen Weissenreider (rePolicies and Procedures Committee). OPIE’s new policy no longerrequires testing if a student’s score is above 250. It may be that thisinformation was not widely circulated to the departments and that iswhy the requests were made.
b. POST-BACC Inventory Data: (see handout) Raymieattached an inventory list and shared this information with AssociateDeans during its construction. The data is probably about 90% accurateas these do change often. It is a broad base of information regardingvarious programs. A Dean’s group requested this data and is continuingto work on strategies for improving graduate education efforts.
c. GRADUATE PROGRAM DATA: (see handout) A Graduate student credit hour report was submitted as a handout. It is a broad base of information regarding various programs.
2) KATIE TADLOCK: (see handout) Draft #1was submitted regarding changes to international graduate applicationprocessing. Also, 4,205 applications were processed which is a ten yearhigh compared to the last three years. International is 11% over lastyear alone. There is a problem now regarding mail delays and the factthat the state has a rule regarding international students being oncontract. She will be brainstorming with Alan Boyd, Joe Rota, andMichael Mumper regarding what we to better manage internationalapplications. Maureen wondered if there was anything we could do toput pressure on the State Department. Katie stated that even travelagencies are experiencing problems because the person needing the visahas to go themselves now to obtain it. Raymie stated that Joe Rota isstill sticking to a 30% reduction in international matriculations thisfall, possibly 50%. It is, as Katie said, a political issue we aredealing with and perhaps OU needs to talk to the Ohio CongressionalDelegation.
ü Katie isalso proposing changes regarding how we manage applications in regardsto initial screening processes. For example: perhaps passing theapplications to the departments before they are completely processed byGSS and have the departments forward back the applications for thosestudents they are most interested in. Maureen wanted to know ifdepartments could do the processing themselves because most departmentsdeal with the same institutions. Katie's’ concern in this case wasfraud, as it is a problem even from the most prominent universities,and felt GSS must maintain “quality control” however, some departmentsalready have requested they receive all applications to begin with;they then send the ones they are interested in to GSS. Katiediscouraged this because of the phone calls and questions etc. andreally prefers everything to initially come to GSS. Katie is trying tofind ways to speed up the processing of applications and is open to anyideas you might want to share with her.
3) Scott Sparks --CURRICULUM COMMITTEE REPORT: )Lee Cibrowski, member, stood in for Scott Sparks who was excused)
a) The Graduate Council Curriculum Committee (see handout) supports the Memorandum of Understanding between Kristen Maranatha, Bandung, Indonesia and Ohio University. Presented and approved by council.
b) Educational Studies Seven Year Review: (see handout) The overall rating for this program was voted acceptable. Presented and approved by council.
c) IIP Program: (see handout) Thiswas reviewed and the committee agreed that the IIP Program serves animportant role. There were some concerns regarding the lack ofstructure, however the level of creativity and flexibility is verygood. A few minor edits were discussed. Presentedand approved by council with the idea that an addendum be added tocreate an advisory committee to review the program next fall.
Discussion: GlenDoston wondered what the overall numbers were. Raymie stated that itdoes vary—a summary report was handed out at the March GC meeting re.present enrollment. Maureen wondered if we are doing any recruiting. Raymie said no but encouraged an advisory committee review the programand decide what changes are needed. Perhaps faculty could develop oneor two prototypes and use those instead of having students create theirown. We could develop these based on what students have created in thepast. In addition, we might put a moratorium on the doctoral portion ofthe program until a review is completed. Joe Bernt questioned howdifferent our IIP programs are compared to those in specificdisciplines. Raymie said around 25 to 30 percent, not an extreme.Bhavin Mehta stated he himself is a graduate of the IIP program andstated a downside is that there is no funding and no real departmentand proper guidelines regarding what is the next step. Maureen hates tosee the program reviewed without a clear indication of GC views, hencesupported the idea of a review committee being created. Joe Bernt saidhe will work on writing an addendum.
4) POLICY AND PROCEDURE (first reading) Maureen Weissenrieder (see handout) Ahandout was given with regards to the rationale and proposed changesfor graduate students who are no longer taking classes but continuetheir relationship with the university.
a) First reading of the Dual Master’s Degree policy was given. (council voted to suspend the rules; that was approved; the GC then approved the policy as presented)
b) Firstreading of the second policy was given. This was in regards to thecontinued registration policy. The handout listed various problems.There was some discussion.
Discussion: Internationalstudents will be required to enroll continuously, so may as well makeit mandatory across the board. One question was raised regardinggeneral fees: “are they included?” It was decided to use only residentfees and no general fee with approval of the Provost. With respect tocharging students in-state tuition only, state law prohibits this whereout-of-state students are concerned. We can waive in-state tuition butwill need to pay the surcharge out of the graduate studies tuitionscholarship account. Katie wondered if the fee could be attached to aLife-Long Learning program to address concerns about registrationeligibility. Joe Rota agreed that might be a better solution anddidn’t think that would pose an INS problem. Assuming we consider 1credit under LLL as “full-time, and the Feds continue to accept thatjudgment, we would be OK. Raymie stated we may get around the issuesof in-state and out of state tuition by moving to LLL. Maureen thoughtfavorably of this and if this idea had a positive impact, she wouldlike to see it go before the council. Joe Bernt questioned howsomething like this would affect teachers in the summer. Maureen felt aneed to go out to regional campuses as well to see how they define afull time and a part time student. It was suggested perhaps we have anappeal board, if so, where will it come from and who does theadministrative work? Perhaps GSS would be a logical choice? Joe Berntsuggested this is a very complex issue and that perhaps Maureen needsto put out more detailed information, incorporate feedback, and perhapsGraduate Student Senate should review as well. Maureen was in agreementwith this. Bhavin Mehta questioned how we can keep track of a studentwe say is full time but is only registered for one hour. Katie repliedthat as along as the student reports an address as to where they are,then it is not against the current regulations. And besides this samestudent could register for 15 hours and still disappear.
5) Ed Rowland --ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS COMMITTEE: (see handout)
a) Thecommittee (Ballard, Dashiell, Rowland) reviewed the cases of fouremployees who desire to enroll in graduate courses. The committeeagreed with the “no conflict” recommendation of GSS for all four ofthem. There was no discussion. (presented and approved).
6) MICHAEL MUMPER: (incoming Associate Provost for Graduate Studies) Michael offered the following comments:
a) A thank you to Raymie for his help regarding several issues during this transitional time period.
ü There are (3) priorities he is bringing with him in his new position as Associate Provost.
ü 1) Need to redesign the graduate applications and admission process; the discussion will include graduate chairs and deans etc.
ü 2) Move more quickly to put the graduate contracts on-line
ü 3)Develop a system regarding the myriad of phone calls to GraduateStudent Services asking what the status is of their contract.
b) Michaelannounced that Graduate Studies offices were merging in to onebuilding, the McKee House by the end of summer. This would includeGraduate Appointments, Graduate Student Services and Minority StudentGraduate Affairs, who are currently all in different locations aroundcampus. This will in some ways cut in half the files to be managed andphone services and be a better convenience for the student, as thestaff will be better used. Michael commented that as we move forward,we can evaluate the staff size.
c) Anothergoal is to expand the number of Masters degrees and especially thenumber of available programs for those who work full time. We need todevelop more creative ways to make certain programs are available forexample, on-line, weekend programs. Poli Sci developed this and grewfrom 20 to 120 students. It is important to note that these studentswill be fee paying students and they understand about paying for agraduate degree and do not expect funding. While we talk about theissue of tuition waivers, we are really concerned regarding the numberof fee paying students going down. However bringing in the student whopays, we can put the money back in to new programs and improve thequality of existing programs. Programs need to develop from thedepartment on up but can be supportive as well, as graduate councilsuggested the approval of several programs.
d) Michaelhas a concern, as Raymie does, regarding minority recruitment. What weare currently doing may not be the best strategy. While Michael is notsure yet where to go, he hopes Raymie will continue to work with him onthis issue. It might help Dan Williams once Graduate Studies combinesand moves to the McKee House. Raymie suggested bringing Dan Williamsto a grad council meeting to hear some of the concerns of Grad Counciland discuss the recruitment philosophy.
7) NEW BUSINESS:
ü Raymie wished Michael good luck in his new position and Graduate Council.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm
Next Meeting: Friday, Oct. 10th, 2003
