Attendance: Catherine Axinn, Joseph Bernt, Duncan Brown, Leona Cibrowski, John Day, Kathrine Jellison, Peter Johnson, David Juedes, Chuck McWeeny, Averall “tootie” Overby, Marilyn Poeppelmeyer, Robert Roe, Josep Rota, Scott Sparks, Ginger Weade, Maureen Weissenrieder
Staff: Michael Mumper, Katherine Tadlock, and Anne Walker
Excused: Harvey Ballard, Scott Carson, Lisa Conrath, Heather Dagnan, Ryan Botts, Judith Edinger, Jerrel Mitchell, Julia Zimmerman
Absent: Eddith Dashiell, Walter Dekeseredy, Velugula Hemakumar, Todd Hoffman, David Kidder,
Guests: Mehta Bhavin, Cynthia Marling, Doug Goetz
Convened: 2:05 p.m. Packets with council agenda were distributed.
Sign in sheet was also distributed.
v Chair Report: Joe Bernt, Chair
n Comments:
ü A motion was made to approve the 05/14/04 minutes. There was a suggestion to correct some wording in Katie Tadlock’s section concerning “OU Participation in CGS Nations Dissertation Awards” which will appear in the final approved minutes after this meeting. (approved)
ü CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY – (see handout) Joe mentioned that he and Michael met with the Provost regarding the question of possible conflict when faculty members take a course in the same department they work in. Joe and Michael apologized that there was no time to meet with council to discuss this issue prior to the meeting with the Provost. Provost Kopp’s answer was that he does not support the action taken by Graduate Council in this matter and believes that there is a substantial distinction between faculty and staff with respect to this issue. Provost Kopp offered further explanation in a handout that Joe distributed at Council’s meeting and he offered to meet with Council to further explain his decision. Michael Mumper mentioned that he thought that one of the things that needs clarification on this issue is that everyone be treated the same.
ü Michael Mumper was then asked to present his remarks to Council today.
1. MICHAEL MUMPER/ASSOCIATE PROVOST FOR GRADUATE STUDIES (see agenda & handouts)
§ REVIEW APPLICATION/ADMIT NUMBERS–(see handout) Graduate Studies continues to track this on a weekly basis. International applications continue to be significantly lower than last year, however this situation is not as desperate as it seems. There are still a number of applications to be decided on by departments.
§ MA PUBLIC HEALTH – RACGS unanimously approved this and it will be effective for the admissions of the 2004-2005 fall quarter.
§ GRADUATE STUDENT SENATE ELECTIONS: Brooke Dagnan is the new President. She was unable to attend this meeting and we will be meeting her in October. She replaces Michael Willits.
§ PROGRESSON GENERAL FEE BUY-DOWN FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS ON CONTRACTS The following is the breakdown for the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 academic years.
2003-2004
General Fee $486/quarter
Buy-down $ 86/quarter
Student portion $400/quarter
2004-2005
General Fee $501/quarter
Buy-down $125/quarter
Student portion $376/quarter
2. KATIE TADLOCK – DIRECTOR OF GRADUATE STUDENT SERVICES –
PETER JOHNSON – CHAIR, GRADUATE STUDENT AFFAIRS AND FELLOWSHIPS SUB-COMMITTEE (see handout) Peter mentioned that he wanted to work on this because he saw a need for uniformity. Some discussion ensued regarding what would be included in an application packet. Katie mentioned that we might want to rethink the work “project.” Catherine Axim suggested we might list in the packet those student’s who have received awards in the past, listing their projects and their fields.
Proposed alterations were made regarding the guidelines for fellowship applications. One proposal was to eliminate the minimum 3.5 GPA criterion, as the committee tends to take only minor note of GPAs and these numbers can vary from other schools. Changes were also suggested regarding the format of the applications package. The handout gives more detail regarding the formats suggested.
Katie said five fellowships would be available through the Office of the Associate Provost for Graduate Studies for the 2005-2006 academic year. Each of the five fellowships provides a service-free stipend and a tuition scholarship. The processes through which nominations are made was given in a detailed handout, however, in brief they include the following. 1) A nominee must have a cumulative graduate GPA of 3.0 and should represent a truly outstanding student. 2) A student must be recommended to the graduate chairperson or department/school chairperson by a faculty member. 3) To nominate a student, the department/school must forward a completed nomination packet to the Director of Graduate Studies no later than Friday, 18 March 2005. (see handout) Katie is bringing back a draft of this in the fall.
3. ADMISSION REQUIRMENTS: Catherine Axinn, Chair (see handouts)
Two “no conflicts,” were submitted and voted on: PASSED
Debra Evans, Master’s, Education/Community Counseling (Education)
Compensation Analyst, University Human Resources (VP Administration)
GS Comments: No conflict. Occasionally consults with Dean’s offices on administrative compensation (Supervisor, Kim Greenfest, 3-1226)
Committee Findings/Comments: No conflict.
Danita Brown, Ph.D., Higher Education (Education)
Assist. Director, Student Activities (VP Student Affairs)
GS Comments: No conflict. Was approved for non-degree status in same department effective Fall 2003, now seeking Ph.D. Staff members in student activities do supervise master’s students in College Student Personnel and Higher Education in practicum experiences on occasion. (Supervisor, Anne Lombard, 3-4024)
Committee Finding/Comments: No Conflict. Danita does not supervise and is not supervised by any individual who may also be in a position to give her a grade, be her classmate or serve on her committee.
Catherine Axim asked council how we might handle students with possible conflict for the summer months when council does not meet. Katie Tadlock said to just send a letter and complete the paperwork with the understanding that if there is a conflict, council does not meet again until October 2004.
4. CURRICULUM COMMITTEE – SCOTT SPARKS – PROGRAM REVIEWS
OF ART AND DEPARTMENT OF FILM (see handouts)
1. This committee agrees with the unit review committee’s report on the School of Art as provided in the Graduate Program Review sections of the Academic Assessment Report (see handout) APPROVED Chuck McWeeney thought a couple of changes should be made in the 5th paragraph regarding the use of MFA in ART/HX/Studio. It was so noted and voted on.
2. This committee agrees with the unit review committee’s report on the School of Film as provided in the Graduate Program Review sections of the Academic Assessment Report. (see handout) APPROVED
3. This committee recommends approval of a new Master of Science degree program in Biomedical Engineering to begin in the fall of 2005. This will be an IIP program administered between the Departments of Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and involve faculty in The Russ College of Osteopathic Medicine, The College of Health and Human Services and The College of Arts and Sciences.(see handout)
4. This committee recommends approval of the MED program in Counselor Education at the Zanesville campus. This is not a new program and has been offered before. (see handout)
Joe Bernt asked if there was any idea how other universities will respond. Scott Sparks said he has talked to OSU and there is enough need for BIO-MED ENGR. and hopefully will not be a problem. Joe Rota suggested that perhaps a full proposal could be sent to Council electronically.
5. AD HOC COMMITTEE ON STRATEGY AND PLANNING: TOOTIE OVERBY, CHAIR. `Committee members are as follows: Joe Bernt, Michael Mumper, Maureen Weissenreider, David Juedes, Ginger Weade, and Peter Johnson. (see handout)
This committee had a relatively late start this year, so it has met only once. It is recommended that this committee continue and possibly become a regular committee of Graduate Council.
Some of the items determined to be of interest were: The 260 hour rule and it’s implications; the number of hours that can be transferred to graduate programs; the number of graduate programs at Ohio University and our capacity/efficiency; the total number of graduate students; the online programs that have developed; how many Ga’s and Ta’s in various units; money spend on graduate recruitment; consistency of graduate programs; the number of international students and programs; how to increase the number of domestic students in graduate programs and the consistency of our graduate policies with benchmark institutions.
Michael Mumper provided the committee members with data that had been collected this year, so that it can begin to be analyzed. It was proposed a survey be developed for graduate chairs across the campus to determine the following:
1) what problems each unit faces with recruitment of graduate students
2) what actions they consider effective in recruiting new graduate students (from money that had been distributed in the past)
3) how many graduate students are supported by faculty research grants
4) as for input from Council on how the money should be utilized this year for recruitment; should we do the small grants again or is there another mechanism that would get us further along?
*COUNCIL DISCUSSION OF GRADUATE STUDENT RECRUITMENT NEEDS AT OHIO UNIVERSITY AND A MISSION STATEMENT THAT STRESSES THE VALUE OF GRADUATE STUDIES AT OHIO UNIVERSITY TO THE STATE OF OHIO* The committee also noted that there is a recurring theme that there is no overall strategic plan for the maintenance or development of graduate programs at Ohio University. It was discussed that perhaps there needs to be a comprehensive mission statement developed for graduate programs. And the basic questions were asked. “What is the role of the Graduate Council and what should it be in the future?”
Joe Bernt said there is X amount of $100,000 per year to use for recruitment and we did not use it all for 2003-2004. He has mixed feelings regarding dolling out little bits of money here and there when the pot is so small. He asked if perhaps this money could be used for a web specialist and web updates? Dr. Mumper said we will be moving this way more after the on-line graduate applications process is finished. Maureen W. questioned, a) what is our goal, b) where are our problems and c) what are our needs? Also that we need to counter-act the idea that OhioUniversity is not a graduate institution.
Catherine Axim motioned that this committee be made a standing committee of Graduate Council. APPROVED – to begin in the fall of 2004-2005 Joe Bernt will send out a memo asking for volunteers. Joe will also check to see if the new incoming Provost could put a Graduate Council meeting on his agenda.
6. NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business at the close of this meeting.
MEETING ADJOURNED: 4:10 pm
Next Meeting: Friday, October 8, 2004
Time: 2pm – 4pm
Place: 104 Walter Hall (The Governance Room)
