Graduate Council Meeting
Minutes
February 8, 2002
Attendance: Joseph Bernt, Mehmet Celenk, Walter Dekeseredy, Howard Dewald, Katherine Jellison, Bhavin Mehta, Averell Overby, Edwin Rowland, Arvind Singhal, Scott Sparks, Edward Yost, Leona Cibrowski, Eddith Dashiell, Judith Edinger, Glenn Doston, Maureen Weissenrieder, Julia Zimmerman, Derek Bleyle, Holly Rivers.
Staff: Raymie McKerrow, Katherine Tadlock, Jennifer Francone, Anne Walker
Excused: Paula Popovich, Charles McWeeney, Josep Rota
Absent: Harvey Ballard, Marilyn Poeppelmeyer, Daniel Innis, Roger Radcliff, Danielle Johnson
Convened: 2:08 P.M.
Chairs Report: Rowland moved to pass the January minutes. The motion was seconded. January minutes were passed.
Associate Provost for Graduate Studies Report: As of now, the fee reduction plan is in the 2002-2003 budget. The goal would be to cut the amount paid by students on stipend support to the $200 per quarter range within the next 4-5 years (even with increases in the general fee).
The minimum stipend level for the 2002-2003 academic year will increase by $50 per quarter. Now it will be $2100 per quarter or $6300 for Fall, Winter, and Spring.
Again this year, there will be two levels of mini-stipends for summer: $470, $375. These two levels are designed to help accommodate departmental budgets since the general fee increases at a greater rate than the stipend pool, which houses the mini-stipend dollars.
Graduate Studies personnel and Payroll are meeting with graduate directors and graduate staff to review processes, time lines for contracts, etc.
The Office of Graduate Student Services is experiencing more transfer problems in relation to late contract signing/cancellation than in the past. The Office of Graduate Studies will be re-evaluating current policy to see if changes need to be made in how cancellations and charges to the student are handled.
The Doctor of Physical Therapy proposal has undergone initial review. The full proposal will be reviewed later this Spring. It should be before the Regents Advisory Committee on Graduate Studies (RACGS) in June.
The Graduate Councils Policies and Procedures Committee is looking at a number of policy changes. These include catalog copy issues as well as web-based policies. Dr. McKerrow is in the process of working on new policies and procedures to bring before the committee. Some are:
- Graduate Faculty: A policy based on a 1989 memo from Provost Bruning has been written and is currently being reviewed by Deans. This memo dissolves a policy from 1986 that is currently on the web. Dr. McKerrow will be sharing the policy with Graduate Council for review. In essence, the policy indicates that the designation of who teaches/directs at the graduate level is determined by departments/schools in consultation with the Dean.
- OPIE test policy: Charles Mickelson has drafted a policy change with respect to TOEFL testing. Currently, all international students are required to take both the TOEFL and the Test of Written English (TWE). The new policy would be that students who meet a baseline or above would not have to take the TOEFL but would still have to take the TWE. The hope is to reduce the discrepancies between test scores taken off-campus and on-campus. Charles Mickleson is asking for Graduate Council?s consideration of this change.
- Degree Equivalency: Drs. McKerrow and Tadlock are working on a set of procedures to handle those cases where an international student's degree does not meet BA/BS equivalency. Once this is finalized in draft form, they will present it to Graduate Council.
- New Programs Procedures: Dr. McKerrow has drafted and shared with the Graduate Council Curriculum Committee Chair and Graduate Council Chair a more comprehensive policy and procedures document in introducing new graduate programs. The document addresses internal procedures, and follows the guidelines for a preliminary development plan with respect to the program rationale, outline, etc., as required by the Regents Advisory Committee on Graduate Studies.
- International Agreement Review: Dr. McKerrow handed out a potential policy and procedures for Graduate Council?s review of international agreements. Elizabeth Clodfelter from the Center of International Studies has reviewed the document and approved it. There are loose timelines built into the procedures. When there is not enough time for Graduate Council to review an international agreement, the Associate Provost for Graduate Studies and the Director of Graduate Student Services would respond and then report their decisions to Graduate Council. Dewald inquired about what would occur with existing agreements. Dr. McKerrow responded that the University International Council is reviewing current policies and trying to determine who the initial parties were.
Admission Requirement Committee Report: The committee reviewed Dawn Bikowski, Catherine Cutcher, Douglas Grammer, Michael Lafreniere, Diane Lucas, Todd Myers, Christopher Sandford, Robert Capuozzo, Amy Collins, and Monica Silverthorn for potential conflict of interest. It was passed that no one had a conflict of interest.
Adjourned: 2:33 P.M.
