November Minutes

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• November Minutes

November 16, 2017

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

1. Minutes for the October 19th, 2017, Graduate Council meeting stand approved, as no changes were suggested. (Graduate Council Minutes).
2. Professor Koski noted that the section marked in yellow on Attachment A has been deleted in order for the policy to be in accordance with Board of Trustees policies. Undergraduate students will no longer be allowed to hold a graduate assistantship under any circumstances.
3. Old Business: None
4. New Business, program change proposals: Each of the following was approved unanimously and will go next to the Faculty Senate.
   1. Professor D. Rainey presented three proposals from the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness
      1. ) Proposal to modify the M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics (AGECMS) by changing “other requirements” from a “maximum of 9 hours at the 4000 level” to “maximum of 9 hours from (a) graduate courses cross listed with courses numbered 4000 or lower and/or (b) courses numbered 4000 or lower”
      2. ) Proposal to modify the M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Economics Agribusiness concentration (AGECMS-AGBS) by moving AGEC 5413 from one block of courses to another and adding AGEC 5603 as an option
      3. ) Proposal to modify the M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Economics International Agribusiness concentration (AGECMS-INAG) by adding AGEC 5603 as an option
   2. Professor J. Hulen presented a proposal from the School of Art to modify the MFA degree in Art (ARTMFA) by making several curriculum and policy changes
   3. Professor J. Gigantino presented a proposal from the Department of Communication, to modify the M.A. (COMMMA) degree by deleting the option to take 4000-level courses for graduate credit
   4. Professor L. Sparks presented a proposal from the Department of English to modify the Ph.D. degree (ENGLPH) by removing the option to teach ENGL 1023 as part of the focused study in Rhetoric and Composition
   5. Professor J. Gigantino presented a proposal from the Department of History to modify the M.A. degree in History (HISTMA) by changing admissions criteria, increasing hours of research or reading graduate seminars at the 7000 level from 9 hours to 12 hours, and clarifying the requirement about courses taken outside the student’s major field; catalog editing was also included
   6. Professor M. Hevel presented three proposals from the Department of Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communications Disorders
      1. ) Proposal to modify the Ph.D. degree in Counselor Education (CNEDPH) by changing the name to Counselor Education and Supervision and to make several curriculum changes
      2. ) Proposal to modify the M.S. degree in Counseling (CNSLMS) by a) adding two new concentrations in Addiction Counseling and Rehabilitation Counseling; b) adding names for School and Clinical Mental Health Counseling Concentrations; and c) changing the core to 36 course hours and concentrations to 24 hours
      3. ) Proposal to delete the M.S. degree in Rehabilitation (RHABMS) because the program is being merged with the M.S. degree in Counseling; Rehabilitation will be a concentration in the M.S. degree in Counseling
   7. Professor P. Koski presented a proposal from the Department of Civil Engineering to modify the M.S. degree (CVEGMS) by reducing the number of required hours for the course-work-only option from 36 to 30
   8. Professor P. Cronan presented a proposal from the Department of Information Systems to modify the Enterprise Systems Graduate Certificate (ENTSCG) by adding ISYS 5103 as an elective; catalog editing was also included
5. The following proposal was tabled: Proposal to modify the M.A. degree in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies (CLCSMA) by allowing theses to be accepted in languages other than English. This proposal was presented by Professor L. Restrepo. Council members wish to poll their constituencies.
   All proposals may be viewed on the Office of the Registrars Program and Unit Changes page by clicking on program management. The proposals are also in Attachment B.
6. Dean Needy requested that Council members remind their constituencies about the appropriate use of GRE scores, and asked them to eliminate the use of language in their publications that refer to combined scores, total scores or absolute cut-off scores. She also requested that departments/programs use percentiles rather than actual GRE scores, as scores taken in different administrations of the test may be associated with different percentiles. Attachment C was distributed.
7. Following discussion, a motion was made, seconded and approved to modify the graduate faculty classifications to a) create a classification authorizing a faculty member to serve on, but not chair, a master’s committee; and b) create a separate category for graduate assistants seeking graduate faculty status. See Attachment D. Additional modifications to the language in the policy will be forthcoming to make the policy compatible with Higher Learning Commission rules.
8. The course change report from the University Course and Programs Committee was unanimously approved (Attachment E).
9. The graduate faculty recommendations contained in Attachment F were unanimously approved.
10. Dean Needy announced to the Council that she will co-chair the search committee, along with a person from the Research Council, for the new Vice Provost for Research and Innovation and asked that the Council encourage their constituencies to nominate diverse candidates.

There being no other business, the Council adjourned at 3:30 p.m. The Council will meet next on Thursday, December 14th at 2:00 p.m., in the Upchurch Conference Room of Bell Engineering.