February Minutes

February 19, 2015

MEMBERS PRESENT

Voting: Professors N.D. Dennis, A.J. Dowdle, K.S. Grover, V.H. Hunt, F. Spiegel, J.D. Wiersma; Ms. J. Gorham, Mr. T. Talafuse

Non-Voting: Professors J. Ganson, P.R. Koski, M.T. Miller, A. O’Leary Kelly

MEMBERS ABSENT

Voting: Professor V. Anand, K. Collins, T.P. Cronan, K.L. Needy, J.T. Scott, P.R. Selvam, R. Warren

Non-Voting:

GUESTS:

SECRETARY: Ms. T. M. Fisher


The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by Chair Patricia Koski
  1. Minutes for the January 15th, 2015, Graduate Council meeting stand approved, as no changes were suggested. (Please review the Graduate Council Minutes).
  2. Professor Koski made two announcements:
    1. At the September 19th, 2013, meeting, the Graduate Council approved a request to modify the TOEFL requirement for admission to the professional master’s degrees in the Walton College of Business. Specifically, the Council allowed the programs to admit certain students without a TOEFL score, on a case by case basis, if they had been 100% employed in the U.S. with an English-speaking company for a minimum of three years. At the time, a member of the Council requested that the EASL (English as a Second Language) Committee consider extending this same policy to all master’s degrees. The EASL Committee met on February 12, 2015 and declined to make this recommendation. The rationale for declining this request was that the Committee found “problematic [the] assumption that residency status and/or length of residency in the U.S. corresponds unequivocably with English linguistic proficiency or…writing competency adequate for graduate-level work,” particularly for writing a master’s thesis. The professional master’s programs in Walton College are all non-thesis programs, so this issue was not considered by the Graduate Council when approving that exception.
    2. The following statement will be added to the Graduate Catalog with regard to the general requirements for a master’s degree: “Students should be aware that a minimum of 50% of the semester hours presented for the degree must be at the 5000 level or above and in the student’s field of study.” This is an information-only item as this is a requirement of ADHE.
  3. Professor Koski reported that the Academic Appeals Committee heard three cases in their regular meeting the day before and also heard a case by e-mail since the last Graduate Council meeting.
  4. There was no old business.
  5. Professor M. Miller presented two proposals from the College of Education and Health Professions, Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation. A summary list is provided as Attachment A:
    1. Proposal to modify the M.AT. degree in Athletic Training (ATTRMA) by removing PBHL 1103 as a required prerequisite for the program.
    2. Proposal to modify the M.S. degree in Community Health Promotion (CHLPMS) by 1) removing CHLP 4613 and adding CHLP 5613 as a required course; 2) requiring that students receive a grade of B or better in courses associated with the “required research component” and “required courses component” of the degree requirements.
    Following discussion, both proposals were unanimously approved and will go next to the Faculty Senate. Program proposals may be viewed at https://nextcatalog.uark.edu/programadmin.
  6. The course change reports listed in Attachment B and Attachment C were approved unanimously.
  7. The course change reports listed in Attachments D1 through D4 were tabled pending review by the University Course and Programs Committee (UCPC). When the UCPC provides an updated list, the Council will vote on this list by e-mail.
    1. Courses inactive more than three years, to be deleted (Attachment D1)
    2. Course inactive more than three years, to remain inactive (Attachment D2)
    3. Courses with no enrollment in last five years, to be inactivated (Attachment D3)
    4. Courses with no enrollment in last five years, to remain active (Attachment D4)
  8. The graduate faculty recommendations contained in Attachment E were approved.

There being no other business, the Council adjourned at 2:34 p.m. The Council will meet next on Thursday, March 19th at 2:00 in Upchurch Conference Room of Bell Engineering.