Graduate Studies

Graduate Council Minutes - October 12, 2015

3:00 – 5:00 p.m., Horrabin Hall 60

Members Present: J. Averbeck (Vice Chair), P.K. Babu, V. Diehl, J. Ehrlich, K. Pawelko (Chair), S. Sanders, M. Stinnett, M. Stryker

Guests Present: K. Mayborn, J. Robinett, D. Yoder, C. Lydeard, W. Polley, S. Simonson, H. Hemphill

Ex-Officio Present: N. Parsons

Others Present: A. Schulz

I. ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. Academic integrity incident reports filed in the School of Graduate Studies, September 2015 (0)

B. Requests to serve as a reader on exit option committee, September 2015 (0)

C. Graduate Committee Chair Fall Semester meeting recap

Dr. Parsons provided an overview of the graduate committee chair meeting held on September 30. Items discussed included recruitment and recruitment grants among other topics. Dr. Parsons thanked everyone for their hard work and announced that graduate enrollment numbers were up 7.72% compared to last fall. Dr. Ehrlich added that a lot of discussion at the meeting focused on ways to increase student numbers while still maintaining standards. The next meet for graduate committee chairs will be at the beginning of the spring semester.

D. Summer School Committee Representative

Dr. Pawelko announced that she has volunteered to serve as the Graduate Council representative but potentially has a conflict with the regular meeting time of the committee. She will know by the November meeting if another representative is needed to take her place on the committee.

II. GRADUATE FACULTY – FULL MEMBERSHIP

A. Megan Lyons, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction

Dr. Simonson attended on behalf of Dr. Lyons. Council members asked questions regarding the authorship of the publications, if the publications were peer reviewed, and about Dr. Lyons’ current scholarly activity. Dr. Simonson provided the information and details on Dr. Lyons’ current presentations and research. Dr. Stryker asked about the course numbers listed and what each one meant. Dr. Simonson provided the course titles as well as a brief description of each course.

Motion: To approve the request. (Averbeck/Stryker)

MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

B. James West, Professor, Instructional Design and Technology

Dr. Hemphill was present to answer any questions from the Council. He noted that Dr. West has been a full professor for several years.

Motion: To approve the request. (Stryker/Sanders)

MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

C. Jeremy Robinett, Assistant Professor, Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration

Drs. Robinett and Yoder were in attendance. Dr. Diehl asked about refereed publications and conference presentations. Dr. Robinett provided a list of which ones were peer reviewed.

Motion: To approve the request. (Babu/Diehl)

MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

III. OLD BUSINESS

A. Request to serve on an exit option committee form

Dr. Parsons presented the form and discussed the original purpose. She added that there have been several Unit B faculty members hired in place of Unit A positions. This form allows for those individuals with the proper credentials to serve as a reader on an exit option committee. The proposed change would allow those individuals to apply to the Graduate Council to serve as the chair of an exit option committee. Dr. Lydeard was in attendance to show support for the proposed change and explain how it would benefit some departments. Dr. Lydeard noted that his department has an employee with a Ph.D. that works closely with students on their research but cannot chair their committees because of faculty status. Dr. Stryker asked about the process for the proposed change. Dr. Parsons stated that the process would remain the same if the individual applied to serve as a reader but would come to the Council for review and a decision if the individual applied to serve as a chair of the committee. Dr. Diehl added that she supports the theory but has concerns over the criteria. Dr. Parsons noted the criteria section on the form. Dr. Averbeck stated that he would like to see something added to identify department need, other graduate faculty support, and that all other options have been exhausted. Dr. Parsons responded that the department chair and graduate committee chair would be required to support the applications and would be responsible for making sure deadlines were met in regards to the exit option.

Motion: To approve the request to add the option to chair a committee to the current form with minor revisions. (Stryker/Stinnett)

MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

IV. NEW BUSINESS

A. Incomplete grade in capstone course automatic extension policy

Dr. Parsons provided the Council with background information on the automatic incomplete extensions that were granted in 2010. She noted that she would like to set an upper limit of twenty-four months with possibly a longer extension for a doctoral program. Dr. Stryker indicated that he has a problem with students going longer than one year without some type of application to the department. Dr. Pawelko suggested an across-the-board one year extension with the option to petition to extend it longer. Dr. Ehrlich asked how UNIV 695 was impacting these extensions. Dr. Parsons provided information on the purpose of UNIV 695. Dr. Pawelko questioned the current length of the extensions for each program. Dr. Parsons provided the Council with departments that have automatic extensions.

Motion: To approve the request to put a one year limit on incompletes with the option to petition to extend it. (Averbeck/Stryker)

MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

B. Integrated degree GPA requirement

Dr. Parsons provided information that she received that the 3.25 cumulative GPA for entry into the integrated programs is causing problems for some transfer students. Dr. Polley added information that his area has had transfer students that did poorly in the first semester or two at another institution and then excelled once at WIU. Their overall GPA was not high enough to be accepted into the integrated program but their WIU GPA would be high enough. Discussion was held regarding changes to the wording and general admission requirements. Dr. Polley suggested reducing the cumulative requirement to a 3.0 GPA and increase the major GPA to 3.3. Dr. Averbeck recommended keeping it the same and have the students apply to the regular master’s program. Dr. Polley noted the recruiting aspect of the integrated program and the importance of it to a prospective student. It was noted that the proposed change would be for the general School of Graduate Studies admission requirement and individual programs would still be allowed to require a higher GPA for admittance.

Motion: To add the alternate requirement of a 3.0 cumulative with a 3.3 in the last 30 credit hours taken at WIU to the existing requirements for admission to an integrated baccalaureate and master’s degree program. The new statement reads as follows: Students must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and a minimum of 3.25 grade point average in the major or a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 with a minimum 3.3 grade point average in the last 30 credit hours taken at WIU. (Ehrlich/Stryker)

MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

V. OTHER BUSINESS

None reported.

Meeting adjourned: 4:41 p.m.