Attendance: Catherine Axinn, Rathindra Bose, Gary Chleboun, John Day, Andrew Escobedo, Kamile Geist, Annette Graham, Jennifer Hines, Jennifer Horner, David Juedes, Hans Kruse, Jody Lamb, Brian McCarthy, David Mould, Willem Roosenburg, Josep Rota, Robert Staron, Katherine Tadlock, Gary Weckman, and Peter Wickman.
Excused: James Archibald, Joseph Bernt, Howard Dewald, JoAnn Dugan, Judith Edinger, Aimee Howley, Stephan Oechsle, Jim Rankin, William Shambora
Guest: Ming Li.
Convened: The meeting was convened at 2:10 pm.
1. Approval of Minutes of the October meeting
The minutes from the October 10th, 2008 meeting were approved.
2. Chair’s Report (David Juedes)
A. Committees and Committee Chairs: David informed members that the various committees have been formed. He thanked Catherine, Hans, and Brian for continuing in their roles as chairs of committees and Gary and Annette for agreeing to chair the other two committees.
B. Associate Dean of the Graduate College: David welcomed Jennifer Hines, new Interim Associate Dean of the Graduate College. He added that per his conversation with Jennifer a few things came up that will need to be addressed by Graduate Council. One of them would be to change some of the wording in the faculty handbook particularly the references to the ‘Associate Provost of Graduate Studies’ and similar items. Another item is the rewording of the 15 and 18 quarters rule to capture some of the important aspects from the old 260 hour rule. He also added that Jennifer noted that as we move from quarters to semesters we will need to review various policies and procedures. David said that he considers this a long term project. He added that he expects the Planning and Strategy Committee and the Policies and Regulations Committee to play important roles in resolving issues surrounding the implementation of the Graduate College.
C. Seven year review of Communication Studies: David informed members that all of the appropriate documents are available on the Graduate Council website.
D. Task Force on Centers of Excellence: David informed Graduate Council that the members of the Task Force are reviewing self-studies. He said that the initial recommendations of the task force noting the ratings for the 87 graduate programs will be proposed in a meeting on December 18. The Deans and other constituents will then review the ratings. He said that he is open to suggestions for the role Graduate Council should play once the Task Force has completed its job.
3. Remarks by Rathindra Bose and Jennifer Hines
A. Centers of Excellence: Rathindra noted that the Graduate Council should play a role in the process. He added that the nature of the role and extent of involvement will depend on the collective decision made by this body. He added that it is critical for Graduate Council to look at the report. He indicated that the programs at the top and bottom would be the ones that would merit the most attention. He said that there probably will not be too much disagreement regarding the programs in the middle. He said that the total investment from the state is going to be minimal, since there are less than a few million dollars allocated for this project. But, since so much time and effort has been invested in this process, to make it more meaningful for us, Graduate Council should be involved in the final process.
John reminded members that the Vision Ohio document notes a potential reallocation of funds based on the rankings of programs. Catherine noted that the programs that are at the bottom in the rankings might be at risk. Annette said that the programs at the bottom might explain their ranking as such because of the lack of resources, making this a very complex situation.
In response to questions, David clarified for members that it was possible to complete the survey either independently for masters and doctoral programs, or a combined survey for both. It was discussed that the Curriculum committee would be the best committee to review the report of the Task Force on Centers of Excellence. Per the discussion regarding the role of Graduate Council, David said that he will inform Ben Ogles that Graduate Council wishes to be involved in the appeals process, thus contributing in the selection process of graduate programs.
B. Policy for tuition scholarships for Graduate Students: Jennifer informed members that when the new policy noting the 15/18 quarters of support for graduate students was initiated, some of the language from the old 260 hours policy was not carried forward with the new one. Katie told members that the subsidy cut off (from the state) is still at 260 hours. But, students are eligible for a stipend not a scholarship at that point in time. She added that this practice has been in place, and the current proposal puts this practice in writing, thus clarifying the policy.
C. Change in the International Graduate Applications Process: In light of the announcement made by Rathindra in the October meeting about a change in the graduate admissions process for international applicants, Jennifer provided more information to members. She said that a website with information about standard grading scales and names of some institutions that we have received students from in the last five years will be posted on the Graduate College website. She added that since only 20 to 25% of the applicants are admitted, it will save time if all of the international applications do not have to be evaluated in their entirety. Katie said that the preliminary evaluation will include the establishment of U.S. Bachelor’s equivalency and validity of the institution. In response to Joe Rota’s question about validity, Katie responded that if an institution is accredited in the home country, then that institution is considered valid. In response to a question about determining the quality of the institutions, Jennifer added that in terms of best practices, other U.S. institutions also list foreign institutions, but do not have quality designators assigned to them. Katie added that the Graduate Chairs can bring their expertise and experience in the field to make some judgments about the quality of institutions. Jennifer said that the Graduate Chairs will be able to request a GPA calculation for the applicants they are interested in via a web form. As soon as the web form is available on the Graduate College website, all departments will be informed.
4. New Business
A. Second Reading: Proposed International Agreement for MSA: The proposal was approved pending approval from the Office of Legal Affairs and with the deletion of the last sentence on page two and of section XIII on page 13.
B. Recruitment and Admissions Requirements Committee: Graduate Council approved committee recommendations for admission to graduate programs for Lara Wallace, Thomas Suddes, and Stephen Trotta as proposed by committee. Members also approved Vijayanand Nadella’s admission with the caveat that his current supervisor would not serve on his committee.
C. Policy and Regulations Committee: Brian informed members that the issue whether graduate students having an assistantship are eligible for any other employment was discussed with the Office of Legal Affairs over the summer. The letters that students receive noting the award of their assistantship have them log into a portal where all the guidelines are listed. It was suggested that a check box could be added to the portal to indicate that the students have read and understood the guidelines. Discussion also focused on trying to have a way to ensure that graduate students who hold one appointment could not have another appointment. Peter said that if there are no legal implications for students to be employed by two different departments, then it is not feasible to enforce a policy that prohibits them from working for two departments.
Andrew noted that sometimes students take up extra jobs and those results in a drop in their performance levels. Jennifer Horner noted that one of the safeguards in place is that the departments can monitor the GPA of the students. Andrew added that it is difficult to quantify progress once course work is completed. Catherine noted that if the student is not performing well in the duties assigned, the assistantship can be withdrawn. Jennifer Hines added that in some departments graduate directors look at other qualitative measures like an annual evaluation as well.
It was also noted that the requirements for international students are different from those of domestic students. International students are bound by their visa regulations. In response to Jennifer Horner’s question about updating the letter received by students who are awarded an assistantship, Hans suggested two different versions; one for domestic students and one for international students.
David Mould said that it might be a good idea for departments to also note their expectations in their letters including some performance indicators. This will help the students know and understand that they could lose their assistantships if they do not meet those criteria. Rathindra noted that the committee could draft some language which could be looked at by the Office of Legal Affairs. Brian said that the Office of Legal Affairs might not comment on that, since there is no legal precedent for this. Rathindra said that per the notification that came out in 2005 from the department of Labor that graduate students are not employees, we need to be careful about any employment restrictions that we place for graduate students. In response to comments about setting up expectations and noting criteria in the letters, Brian said that departments have varying standards and many departments do not have these criteria documented anywhere. Rathindra noted that despite the different standards and requirements, there are probably some expectations and requirements that would be common across all departments. And, listing those could be a good starting point.
Members also noted that some other things that need to be clarified are the dates and months that the appointment is valid and also clarifications regarding those with the eventual switch to semesters.
D. Graduate Student Affairs and Fellowships Committee: Gary Chleboun informed members that the committee received four nominations for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Outstanding Thesis award. The four departments represented were History, Political Science, Psychology, and Mechanical Engineering. The thesis of the student from Political Science was chosen as the OU nominee for the award.
E. Other New Business: Jennifer Hines informed members that the Graduate College is allocating monies for several initiatives to support graduate education. The first one being, a $100,000 has been allocated for departments to help recruit students. The amount will be divided among 50 students, each receiving $2000. She said that the details will be worked out and the departments will be informed accordingly. The money will be for first year students only, and it is unfettered money, so it can be used by the student for any purpose. Having this resource might allow departments to recruit some talented students, who might have considered another school where a better stipend was available.
Second in line, $10,000 each is going to be made available for Travel Awards and Original Works Award administered by Graduate Student Senate.
Third, small amounts will also be made available to facilitate a graduate newsletter.
And finally, departments will receive help to enhance domestic recruitment.
F. Change in degree designation: Jennifer Horner informed members that per the recommendations of their accreditation board, and internal discussions the degree designation for athletic training is being changed from M.S. in Recreation and Sport Sciences to M.S. in Athletic Training. Hans noted that since the item is not on the agenda, council cannot vote on it. David said that it will be placed on the agenda for the January meeting. It was clarified that this is a not a new program, it has been in place for many years. The name is being changed to better reflect the content of the degree program.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 pm. The next meeting is on January 9th, 2009 from 2 to 4 pm, in Baker 239.
