Attendance: James Archibald, Catherine Axinn, Joseph Bernt, Rathindra Bose, Gary Chleboun, Howard Dewald, Judith Edinger, Kamile Geist, Jennifer Hines, Jennifer Horner, Aimee Howley, David Juedes, Hans Kruse, Jody Lamb, Brian McCarthy, Jim Rankin, Willem Roosenburg, William Shambora, Robert Staron, Katherine Tadlock, and Peter Wickman.

Excused: John Day, JoAnn Dugan, Andrew Escobedo, Keith Gilland, Annette Graham, Jan Maxwell, David Mould, Stephan Oechsle, and Gary Weckman.

Convened: The meeting was convened at 2:10 pm.

1.     Approval of Minutes of the February meeting

The minutes from the February 13^th, 2009 meeting were approved.

2.     Chair’s Report (David Juedes)

1. Reorganization at OU: David informed members that due to the reorganization at OU, Josep Rota has resigned from the Graduate Council.  He thanked Joe for his service to the Council for the last 13 years and wished him well in his new position on campus.

2. Task force on Centers of Excellence: David said that the final report of the Task Force will be issued at the end of this month.  He said that the task force is currently considering appeals.  He added that 23 out of the 87 programs appealed their ratings.  David said that he had forwarded the comments made by this body regarding the professional and interdisciplinary programs to the members of the Task Force. 

3. Seven year review for Chemical and Bio-molecular Engineering: David informed members that the seven review for Chemical and Bio-molecular engineering is complete and has been posted on the Graduate College web site.     

3.     Remarks by Rathindra Bose, Jennifer Hines and Katie Tadlock

1. Task Force on Centers of Excellence: Rathindra informed members that the intent of this review was good and it helped identify the strong programs at OU.  He added that the report also brought to light some programs that are doing well despite the lack of resources.  He said that a typical program review takes place at the department level, but this review was different from that perspective.  He said that as a university we should be careful about not wanting to overly publicize a ‘satisfactory’ rating that a program received.  There could be unintended consequences like being potentially detrimental to recruiting good students.  He encouraged the members to look at the report from a broader perspective as well.            

2. Graduate College: Rathindra informed members that the Graduate College lost three employees just before he came to OU.  He said that the budget cuts have hit the unit hard, so much so that the position of the Associate Dean is only a half-time position.  He said that he is requesting guidance and support of the members of Graduate Council to implement the recommendations made by the Task Force on the establishment of the Graduate College.  

3. Graduate Commencement: Rathindra reminded members that commencement will be upon us soon and Graduate Council should be able to advise the Provost about it.  He said that in many institutions the Dean of the Graduate College presents the candidates for the doctoral degree and the candidate is hooded by the advisor and the Dean of the Graduate College.  Hans said that the bigger issue behind the ceremonial aspect is about who confers the degree.  Joe agreed saying that it is important to know who signs the diploma.  Catherine said that the Dean of the Graduate College should have a role in commencement.  Joe added that commencement is about the academic achievement of the candidate and should be able to carry through that symbolism in the ceremony.  Willem said that we should get the students perspective on this, since commencement is about them after all.  Pete asked who is typically on stage and James asked who signs the diploma.  Hans recommended that students can think about it, but noted that, for this to happen; it would be advisable to notify Printing Services that the signature line on the diploma will be different from that of last year’s. 

There was some additional discussion about the changes to Graduate commencement.  The general consensus was that the doctoral diplomas will be signed by both, the dean of the academic college and the dean of the graduate college.  The general consensus of Council was that the advisor and the graduate dean will hood the candidate.  The   Planning and Strategy subcommittee was tasked with bringing forth a resolution regarding changes to Graduate Commencement for the next meeting.     

Howard informed members that the year 2009 is the fiftieth anniversary of the first Ph.D. awarded at Ohio University. 

4. Graduate Student Research Expo: Rathindra requested members to consider his proposal of Graduate Council being the sponsor for the keynote speaker at the Graduate Student Research Expo.  He said that Mark Hughes has accepted the invitation.  He said that Dr. Hughes has an MD and a Ph.D. and is known for his work in genetics.  The consensus of the members of Graduate Council was that they strongly supported the idea of the Graduate Council being the sponsor for the keynote lecture. 

5. MA in Communication Studies: Jennifer Hines informed members that the School of Communication Studies will be offering an MA in Organizational Communication at the Pickerington campus.  She added that RACGS has been informed and that member institutions (of RACGS) have 30 days to send comments about the program.  If any members express concerns, they will be discussed at the next meeting.                 

6. Contact Manager: Jennifer Hines said that the Graduate College is moving forward with Contact Manager.  She added that Contact Manager is the data and document tracking component of the online application that is run through the College Net system.  She said that a couple of departments will participate in the beta test that will begin in spring quarter.  Contact Manager will be available for all departments by summer quarter.  In response to David’s question about the entire admissions process being online, Jennifer said that is still a little further down the road.  She explained that the project has received the highest rating from ATAG (Academic Technology Advisory Group), but there is only one person at OU who can help with this project.  Currently, the undergraduate admissions office is going through this process. 

Rathindra said that with the entire process being online, there will be no paper folders and all documents will be in the student’s electronic folder.  He added that he anticipates this system to be in place in the next two to three years, hopefully before the switch to the semester system. 

Commenting on the reorganization of some positions and the elimination of the Office of international affairs, Rathindra informed members that the Provost has moved the International Recruitment Coordinator’s position (currently at the Graduate College) to the office of the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management. 

7. Minutes of the Graduate Council: Jennifer said that once the approved minutes are posted on the website, graduate and program chairs are informed about it.   

8. Multiple Ohio University Ph.Ds: Katie informed members that the issue and some past discussion about this is noted in her handout which is a part of the packet today.  She said that currently there is no text in the graduate catalog that addresses the issue when a student is seeking admission to a second Ph.D. program.  In response to questions, Katie said that some institutions do not allow it, while others strongly discourage it.  Jennifer Horner said that if the content is sufficiently distinct, then she does not see any reason to not allow it.  Rathindra said that to be eligible for admission in a graduate program, a similar background is expected and thus one would think that the degrees will be in similar areas.  Members recommended looking at best practices at other schools in Ohio and in the country.  Katie added that she would rather not see a student waste the $50 or $55 application fee, if the department or college would not admit him/her to the program.  That is why, she added, some language addressing this issue will be helpful to have in the graduate catalog. 

4.     New Business

1. Planning and Strategy Committee (Hans Kruse):

i)             Centers of Excellence: Hans informed members that this committee has met every week during this quarter to review the report of the Task Force on Centers of Excellence.  He said that it might be a good idea to pull the most recent seven year reviews for the programs that have appealed their ratings.  He added that the seven year reviews might be able to provide some background information which will help them develop recommendations for these programs.    

ii)           Status of Graduate College: Hans informed members that the committee met with Jennifer Hines and they understand a lot has already been done to serve students and the campus better.  He said that he would like to seek the help of the Policy and Procedures Committee to identify high priority items and implementation strategies for them.  He said that he has received an updated list of tasks in process and those that have been accomplished from Jennifer Hines. 

iii)          Resolution regarding composition of Graduate Council: The resolution was passed with the following corrections: each college is listed with its appropriate name, item # 5 is deleted, and item #6 thus is numbered as #5.

iv)          Summer Representation: Following the discussion about the composition of Graduate Council, Hans reminded members that given that this body does not meet in the summer we should look at an alternative form of representation.  He added that maybe a subset of this body could be in place to represent the entire Graduate Council.  He added that with the first meeting being in October sometimes, it makes it a four month gap from the last meeting in June.  He added, until a new Graduate Council is in place, the previous group still exists.  Joe said that it is not always easy to find faculty to serve on this body.  Willem said that he had volunteered to be on the Graduate Council at the end of Spring quarter last year, and he received his letter of approval two days before the first meeting.  Hans, added that it is important to have something in place for the summer to help the Graduate College.  He recommended having a subcommittee with the appropriate mix of faculty and administrators.      

The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 pm.  The next meeting is on April 10^th, 2009 from 2 to 4 pm, in Baker 239.