Graduate Council
Minutes of the Meeting
The meeting was called to order
by Dean Judith Walker de Felix at
I. Minutes
Dr. Alice Hall
moved to accept and Dr. Tang-Martinez seconded
the motion to approve the minutes of the
II. Program Development – Eduardo Silva
The committee received 3 proposals for review.
Change in Criminology and Criminal Justice MA Program: The department of Criminology and Criminal Justice submitted a proposal to add a professional option track to their existing MA program. The rationale states that the option would “meet the needs of many students for courses tailored more directly to their professional experiences and career goals. These courses are not “watered-down” versions of current courses, but contain more applications to the challenges confronting criminal justice professionals. Students electing the professional option are required to take only the first course of the two-semester theory sequence required of other masters’ students.” The proposal is, in essence, a terminal master’s degree program. The courses taken would not be used toward a Ph.D. in CCJ and it doesn’t prepare them to go into the Ph.D. program. The committee recommends approval of the proposal with a friendly amendment to change part of the rationale which states “….These courses are not watered-down versions of current courses….” to “These courses contain more applications relevant to the challenges confronting criminal justice professionals”. Council accepted the committee’s recommendation.
Change in the Bulletin Listing “Graduate Studies/Mathematics Program”
The department proposes to eliminate the advanced GRE test for their doctoral applicants. Their rationale states: the letters of recommendation are a better indicator of future performance; the fee for the test may prevent foreign applicants from applying; only one other doctoral program requires an advanced test; and other universities offering doctoral program in Mathematics do not require the advanced test. The committee recommends approval of the change with a friendly amended to the rationale: change ‘foreign’ to ‘international’. Council approved the committee’s recommendation.
Proposed Changes to the M.A. in Communication – Information Item. The committee reviewed a proposal from the department of Communication to add a non-thesis option to the existing MA program. The new non-thesis option would be 36 credit hours instead of 30 hours. The committee felt the rationale was controversial and therefore placed it on hold. Council discussed suggestions to revise the rationale for the program change. Dr. Hall will bring these suggestions back to her department for review.
Curriculum and Instruction Committee – John Blake
The committee had questions about the 4 CCJ courses that were submitted. After hearing discussion about the changes to the degree program, it now seems that those questions have been answered. Therefore, the committee recommends approval of all courses reviewed:
CCJ 6480 Multivariate Statistics (change)
CCJ 6500 Professional Proseminar: Criminology & Criminal Justice (add)
CCJ 6505 Research Methods for Criminal Justice Professionals (add)
CCJ 6510 Applied Statistics in Criminology & Criminal Justice (add)
Econ 4100 Introduction to Econometrics (change)
FLL 5464 Issues in Foreign Language Methodology (change)
Phil 5595 Thesis Research (change)
PS 4900 Topics in Political Science (add)
PS 6410 Introduction to Policy Analysis (change)
PS 6419 Cases in Public Policy Analysis (change)
EchEd 3312 Introduction to Early Childhood Education (change)
EchEd 3332 Literacy, Learning and Instruction for the Young Child (change)
EchEd 4317 Assessing Individual Needs for Early Childhood (change)
EchEd 5335 Inclusion Practices in the Early Childhood Classroom (change)
ElEd 3330 Literacy, Literature and the Learner (change)
ElEd 3336 Communication Arts Learning and Instruction (change)
ElEd 3389 Classroom Based Assessment to Guide Literacy Instruction change)
ElEd 4310 Elementary School Curriculum (change)
ElEd 4341 Teaching Science in the Elementary School (change)
ElEd 6493 Reading Specialist Practicum I (change)
ElEd 6494 Reading Specialist Practicum II (change)
ElEd 6495 Supervision of Practicum in Clinical Reading (change)
SpEd 3313 Introduction to Learners with Disabilities and Inclusive Education
SpEd 4303 Instructional Practices (change)
SpEd 5304 Structure of Teaching and Communication (change)
TchEd 3313 Introduction to Learners with Disabilities and Inclusive Education
TchEd 3315 Literacy, Learning and Instruction (change)
TchEd 4361 Foundations of Service Learning (add)
TchEd 5311 Foundations of Education (change)
JME 4041 Current Topics in Engineering Design (change)
JCE 4950 Fundamentals of Engineering Review (add)
JME 4040 Mechanical Engineering Design Project (change)
JME 3221 Machine Design and Machine Elements (change)
Dr. Ding recommended approving the committee’s report, Dr. Carroll seconded the motion. The report was approved unanimously by Council.
III. Dean’s Report
The Fall
Graduate Faculty meeting will be held on
The Chancellor mentioned in his report to the campus that he wanted to think toward the future and prepare an action plan. In a follow-up meeting, he asked the Deans to suggest a process. The Action Plan included:
· academic strengthening and development
· research mission
· enrollment management
· civic engagement and economic development
· resource development and allocation
Dr. Felix asked Council to brainstorm ways that the group could participate in this process. What role could we play in strengthening graduate programs beyond our normal approval process? Resources will also need to be part of the planning.
Graduate Council agreed that they should be the gathering place for critical judgment and assessment of needs, prioritize those needs and forward them to the Chancellor.
It is important to strengthen and develop our existing programs. Resource Development and Allocation deals with who gets what money. We need to have a say in the process and ask for the resources needed to bolster the existing programs. Dr. Felix suggested that Council communicate with their colleagues on what resources are needed to boost their programs to the next level. This may provide insight on what is to be done with available resources. The focus should be on real needs, rather than a wish list.
Drs. Kyle and Tang-Martinez noted that many departments have lost good applicants because they don’t have any funding to offer them. If there was available funding to offer new students, it didn’t match offers students received from other universities. Also of note, departmental faculty numbers are down which equates to less faculty to work with incoming students
The possibility of moving the University from a Carnegie “research intensive” institution to “research extensive” institution was discussed. This move would be based on a variety of criteria, including the number of graduate programs. Dr. Felix stated that moving up would entail having 50 Ph.D. graduates per year; 15 Ph.D. programs with separate discipline codes, and an increase in grant awards. It was noted that if the number of Ph.D. students increases, this would also require an increase in resources.
It was suggested that there should also be a close link with the strategic plan and internationalization. Many presenters at the Board of Curators described their work in international settings. Jeff Sippel also discussed his non-toxic printing processes. His work is an example of a possibility of bringing together faculty with similar interests from different units, i.e. environmental studies and ethics.
Another example
was the
It was suggested that if there was a wish list of new programs, they should be presented to the Chancellor. However, this should also include a wish list of resources needed in order to start these programs.
It was noted that one of the criteria for receiving high rankings in outlets like U.S. News and World Report was the number of students a University turns away. This figure is seen as a measure of the University's exclusiveness.
Another suggestion was to look at ways to promote paid internships with local businesses. This would allow students to be paid for internships by local businesses and have their tuition covered by the University. Cody Ding mentioned re-envisioning the Ph.D. for industry-related students instead of those planning to work in an academic setting.
Dr. Felix asked Council to think about these points and notify her of any other suggestions. Dr. Felix will ask Chancellor George to reflect on these ideas and speak about them at the October 29 Graduate Faculty meeting.
Supplemental
Fees
Dean Felix distributed a draft to implement charging supplemental fees for selected graduate courses. Council should send their comments to her early next week so she can share them with the Council of Deans.
University
Accreditation Review
Dean Felix mentioned that the North Central Association has officially changed its name to the Higher Learning Commission of North Central. She distributed information on the Academic Quality Improvement Program. Universities would have two options. The AQIP option is an institutional portfolio that is updated every four years. This option does not require a site visit unless there is a serious problem with the portfolio. The NCA option is the usual 10-year review with an on-site visiting team.
Some who have
reviewed the AQIP option don’t believe its criteria fits
the mission of a research university.
There is a section called “distinctive objective” where a research
university could identify research as a criterion within the portfolio. The
AQIP process is similar to program reviews by their peer groups. There will be an informational workshop on
the AQIP in
There being no other business,
the meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Therese Macan
Vice Chairperson and Secretary
TM:meh