[VPAAEtal] Graduate Council Minutes

[Academic Affairs]

GRADUATE COUNCIL MINUTES

December 11, 2007

 

The Graduate Council met Tuesday, December 11, 2007, in the MSC Boardroom at
3:00 p.m. with Dean Allan D. Headley presiding.  Members present were:  Dr.
Ken Alford, Dr. Harry Fullwood, Dr. John Hanners, Dr. Ben Jang, Dr. Jeff
Kopachena, Ms. Elaine Lin, Mr. Gideon Mazambani, Dr. Linda Openshaw, Dr.
Derek Royal, Dr. Mary Beth Sampson, and Dr. Janet Walker.  Members absent
were:  Dr. Hasan Coskun, Dr. Chris Myers, Dr. Chester Robinson, Dr. Steven
Shwiff, and Dr. Dayle Yeager.   Dr. Jon Travis, Assistant Dean of Graduate
Studies and Research was also in attendance.

 

Action Items

The minutes from the last Graduate Council, November 13, 2007, were
approved.  

 

Dean Headley presented a request from Dr. Paul Zelhart, Department of
Psychology and Special Education to award a PhD in Psychology (posthumously)
to John Weber at the May 2008 Commencement.  Mr. Weber has completed all
coursework and was scheduled to defend his dissertation in November 2007.
The Council unanimously approved the request which will now be forwarded to
the Provost.

 

Committee on Faculty, Research & Administration

Dr. Derek Royal presented the committee report recommending associate
graduate membership for Dr. Arun Goyal.  The Council unanimously approved
the recommendation.  

 

Discussion Items

 

Dr. Hanners presented a follow-up report that was requested by the Council
at the November meeting.  The Council asked if other institutions accepted
transfer credit from foreign institutions for a second master's degree.
Most of the 15 Texas institutions surveyed did not accept transfer from
foreign institutions.  The Council discussed the issue further, but no
follow-up study or change in procedure was requested.

 

Dr. Royal led a discussion on the associate 3-year membership.  He mentioned
that his Committee feels that the 3-year associate membership is confusing
to new faculty and have discussed several options to clarify what the
Council expects.  It was suggested that the Council remove the 3-year
membership option and return to the format that was previously used-new
faculty can apply for temporary status until they are eligible for associate
membership.  It was also suggested that criteria for associate graduate
faculty membership be strengthened.  Further discussion by the Council
concerned the qualifications and expectations of new associate members:

a.                   Associate membership should be an earned status.

b.                  Associate members should be encouraged to establish a
research agenda and submit evidence of progress toward that agenda, instead
of just demonstrating an interest in research.

The Council concluded that they were not opposed to revisiting the procedure
and Dr. Royal will continue discussions with his committee.

 

Information Items

Dean Headley updated the Council on the Graduate Program Reviews.  Chemistry
recently completed a review with plans for program reviews of Math, History,
and Physics departments in early spring. These reviews will include external
reviewers and site visits.

Dean Headley focused on some highlights of the report of the recent
"Graduate Education Advisory Council" meeting. The full report was sent to
each Council member the prior week.

Dr. Travis announced that the Provost Office has approved Graduate
Recruitment Matching Funds for 2007-08.  The Graduate School has requested
proposals for department funding; however the Council asked that the request
be distributed to faculty on the VPAA listserv.

Dr. Travis presented the latest graduate enrollment figures and thanked
Council members and all graduate faculty for all their hard work to recruit
and retain graduate students.

Dean Headley announced that graduate student travel funds were available for
2007-08.

A Report on temporary graduate faculty teaching fall 2007 was submitted.

The current competition for the Lafferty Doctoral Scholarships is complete
and the Graduate Dean will announce the winners soon.  There will be another
competition in the spring 2008 semester for scholarships for the 2008-09
academic year.

 

ADJOURNMENT

The Council adjourned at 4:05.   

 

Louise Skinner

Secretary to the Graduate Council

 

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