Graduate Studies

Graduate Council Minutes - February 6, 2017

3:00 – 5:00 p.m., Horrabin Hall 60/QC Complex 2203

Members Present: P.K. Babu (Vice Chair), J. Ehrlich, A. Hyde, J. Laurent, K. Pawelko (Chair), J. Stegall, M. Stryker

Members Absent: H. Hemphill

Guests Present: D. DeVolder, S. Pendergast, C. Amaravadi, B. Locke, A. Riebling, C. Ramsey, A. James, G. Sullivan, K. Daytner, A. Silberer

Ex-Officio Present: N. Parsons

Others Present: A. Schulz

I. ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. Academic integrity incident reports filed in the School of Graduate Studies, December 2016 (1)

1. Resolved at the instructor level - 1

B. Requests to serve as a reader on exit option committee, December 2016 (0)

C. Temporary Graduate Faculty approvals for 2016-2017

Ms. Schulz provided Council members with a list of all faculty members that have been approved for temporary graduate faculty status for the 2016-2017 academic year.

D. Graduate Committee Chair spring semester meetings – February 8 and April 12, 2017

Ms. Schulz announced the dates for the upcoming Graduate Committee Chair meetings. Dr. Parsons added that recruitment will be a topic of discussion at the February meeting.

E. Graduate Research Conference – March 3, 2017

Ms. Schulz announced that this is the fourth year for the Graduate Research Conference. The committee is actively seeking faculty volunteers to judge and/or moderate. There are several opportunities to assist with the event and any interested person should email Ms. Schulz or Dr. Kishor Kapale.

F. Graduate Student Research and Professional Development sub-committee for Spring 2017

Ms. Schulz provided Council members with a reminder that Drs. Hemphill, Laurent, Pawelko, and Stegall are the sub-committee for the Graduate Student Research and Professional Development fund. The committee will meet in early March to determine the award recipients.


II. GRADUATE CURRICULUM

A. Computer Sciences

1. Request for a New Graduate (500 or 600-Level) Course

a. IS 541, Designing the User Experience, 3 s.h.

Dr. Amaravadi provided information regarding the course. It is designed to maximize the user experience and is a new take on the topic. The course will be restricted to MBA students and offered in the Quad Cities as a hybrid course. Dr. Hyde suggested adding “or permission of Department Chair” to the prerequisites in place of “or equivalent”. Dr. Laurent asked for clarification on the proposed offering schedule. Dr. DeVolder noted that it will not initially be offered in the summer but could be in the future. Dr. Parsons questioned the relation of the course to the discipline paragraph. Council members suggested the removal of a sentence to clarify the section.

Motion: To approve the request with modifications. (Babu/Hyde)
MOTION CARRIED: 7 YES - 0 NO - 0 AB

b. IS 562, Information Systems Implementations, 3 s.h.

Dr. Amaravadi explained that this course focuses on the structured process of development. Students will do projects which show each stage and highlight the management issues in each one. This course will also be a hybrid course offered at the Quad Cities campus.

Motion: To approve the request. (Ehrlich/Stryker)
MOTION CARRIED: 7 YES - 0 NO - 0 AB

c. IS 567, Information Technologies in Supply Chain, 3 s.h.

Dr. Amaravadi stated that this course would serve as an elective in the area of supply chain management. The format of the class is case studies and business games. The course will be offered in the Quad Cities as a hybrid course.

Motion: To approve the request. (Hyde/Ehrlich)
MOTION CARRIED: 7 YES - 0 NO - 0 AB


III. GRADUATE FACULTY – FULL MEMBERSHIP

A. Zheng Li, Assistant Professor, Computer Sciences

Dr. DeVolder was in attendance to represent Dr. Li. He stated that Dr. Li is a relatively new faculty member that works with parallel processing and has been sought out by students wanting to work with him. Dr. Babu asked for more information regarding the grant that Dr. Li received. Dr. DeVolder provided additional information stating that it was used to purchase equipment that the program did not previously have.

Motion: To approve the request. (Ehrlich/Laurent)
MOTION CARRIED: 7 YES - 0 NO - 0 AB

B. Anita Hardeman, Assistant Professor, Music              

Dr. Locke represented Dr. Hardeman and noted that she is doing about fifty percent of the graduate advising. He added that she has served on several exit option committees but it would be beneficial to students if she could chair the committees. Dr. Babu asked about the timing of publishing in their field. Dr. Locke stated that it was very typical for it to be a long process in musicology. Dr. Parsons asked about authorship on the Curriculum Vita. Dr. Locke noted that the standard in their discipline is sole authorship.

Motion: To approve the request. (Stryker/Stegall)
MOTION CARRIED: 7 YES - 0 NO - 0 AB


IV. NEW BUSINESS

A. Proposed revision to 90 semester hour requirement for taking graduate classes for an integrated program

Ms. Ramsey brought forth a proposed policy language change regarding the 90 semester hour requirement for integrated programs. The current policy reads “Students may begin taking bridge courses after the completion of 90 semester hours.” The proposed policy adds to the end of the sentence “or when beginning their final two semesters (fall and spring) as demonstrated by a written degree completion plan.” She provided two examples of students that are being negatively impacted by the current requirement. Both students are on track to graduate with their bachelor’s degree after three and a half years and have been accepted into an integrated program. The students are currently not allowed to take bridge courses because they are below the 90 semester hour threshold but only have two semesters left. Ms. Sullivan stated that, if approved, she would work with the advisors and Registrar on the implementation.

Motion: To approve the proposed policy language. (Laurent/Ehrlich)
MOTION CARRIED: 7 YES - 0 NO - 0 AB

B. Integrated program continuous enrollment

Ms. Schulz stated that the School of Graduate Studies is seeking feedback from the Council regarding students accepted into integrated programs that wish to take time off between completing the undergraduate degree and fully beginning the graduate degree. The main questions is are these students required to now comply with regular admissions standards, such as taking the GMAT, or can they continue under the integrated admission requirements. Dr. Stryker noted that he feels the intent was for students to continue straight through and that it was a way to complete two degrees in a shorter amount of time. Dr. Hyde stated that she does not feel additional restrictions are necessary for these students as they have stricter admission requirements to the graduate program already. Council members discussed possible options for continuous enrollment and whether it was necessary. Council members asked for more specific examples of situations this could be an issue as well as proposed language changes for the catalog.

Motion: To postpone the request. (Stryker/Stegall)
MOTION CARRIED: 7 YES - 0 NO - 0 AB


V. OTHER BUSINESS

None reported.

 

Meeting adjourned: 4:07 p.m.