Graduate Council Minutes

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• Graduate Council Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by Chair Patricia Koski

1. Minutes for the November 17th, 2016, Graduate Council meeting stand approved, as no changes were suggested. (Graduate Council Minutes).
2. Professor Koski announced that the formerly named Human Performance Lab has been renamed Exercise Science Research Center. Professor Koski also welcomed Professor C. Rom, Associate Dean for International Education in GSIE, to the Council as a guest. Dean K. Needy provided an update on the Strengthening Graduate Education committee for the Chancellor’s Eight Guiding Priorities and welcomed input from the Graduate Council.
3. There was no old business.
4. New Business: Proposed changes to programs listed below were approved unanimously except where noted otherwise and will go next to the Faculty Senate. The person presenting the proposal is indicated in parentheses after the item. Details about the changes may be found in Attachment A or at http://registrar.uark.edu/program-unit-changes/index.php.
   • Proposal to delete the graduate certificate in Bioenergy and Sustainable Technology (BSTCGC) (Professor M. Evans)
   • Proposal to modify the admission requirements for the M.Ed. degree in Adult and Lifelong Learning (ADLLME) by eliminating the requirement for a standardized exam (Professor K. Grover) (The vote was 13 in favor and one opposed)
   • Proposal to create a graduate certificate in K-12 On-Line Teaching (ETECGC) and to offer it on-line (Professor C. Murphy)
   • Proposal to modify the admissions requirements for the M.Ed. degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESLME) by adding the Praxis Core or equivalent as part of the admission criteria and removing the requirement of a Chalk and Wire portfolio (Professor J. Penner-Williams)
   • Proposal to modify the M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering (CHEGMS) by changing the requirements for the thesis option to make them consistent with the non-thesis and Ph.D. degree requirements. Total hours remain unchanged (Professor N. Dennis)
   • Proposal to modify the catalog copy for the Agricultural Policy concentration in the Public Policy Ph.D. program (PUBPPH – AGPO). No curriculum changes are being proposed (Professor P. Koski).
5. Discussion: The Council members reported back from their constituencies on the issue of background checks for all graduate assistants and developed a list of concerns that will be forwarded to the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.
6. A motion was made, seconded and approved by a vote of 10 in favor, two opposed, and one abstaining to modify the enrollment requirement for post-candidacy doctoral students:
   
   
   "Registration. All doctoral students who have been admitted to candidacy must enroll in a minimum of one hour of graduate course work or dissertation credit every major semester (fall, spring) until they graduate. Under unusual circumstances, this enrollment requirement may be waived for post-candidacy doctoral students for up to two years, with an approved request for a leave of absence.
   

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   Note: doctoral students must also be enrolled in a minimum of one hour of graduate credit in the semester that they graduate."
7. The course change report from the University Course and Programs Committee was unanimously approved (Attachment B).
8. The graduate faculty recommendations contained in Attachment C were unanimously approved.

There being no other business, the Council adjourned at 3:35 p.m. The Council will meet next on Thursday, December 15th, 2016, at 2:00 p.m., in the Upchurch Conference Room of Bell Engineering.