Graduate Studies

Graduate Council Minutes - April 1, 2024

3:00 p.m., Virtual

Members Present: P.K. Babu, Roberta Di Carmine, Niyazi Ekici, Hoyet Hemphill (Chair), Steven House (Vice Chair), Todd Lough, Jim McQuillan, Danyang Zhao

Guests Present: Tawnya Adkins Covert, Renee Polubinsky, Heidi Lung, Keith Boeckelman, Kat Myers

Ex-officio Present: Kishor Kapale

Others Present: Amanda Schulz

 

I. STUDENT APPEALS

A. Education

1. Request to transfer more than 18 s.h. into a doctoral program

Motion: To approve the request. (Babu/Ekici)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

II. ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. Academic integrity incident reports filed in the School of Graduate Studies, March 2024 (0)

B. Graduate Council Nomination and Election Updates

Ms. Schulz reported that the nomination petitions had been sent out to the colleges with upcoming vacancies on the Graduate Council. New members will be invited to the next meeting for introductions and elections of the chair and vice chair positions.

III. GRADUATE CURRICULUM

A. Art and Design

1. Request for a 400-G level course

a. ARTS 435, Studio Problems in Art Metal and Jewelry, 3 s.h.

Discussion was held over the graduate requirements for the course. Dr. Ekici asked about the ability to fill these courses. Mr. House responded that they likely would not fill as stand-alone graduate courses. Dr. Babu asked about the frequency of the courses meeting.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Di Carmine)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

b. ARTS 446, Advanced Digital Art Photography, 3 s.h.

Dr. Babu noted a few typos in the description and objectives. Dr. McQuillan clarified that everything must match what is in the undergraduate catalog for the course as far as description, title, and prerequisites but the objectives in the request can be different.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Lough)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

c. ARTS 455, Studio Problems in Intaglio, 3 s.h.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Zhao)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

d. ARTS 465, Studio Problems in Lithography, 3 s.h.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Babu)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

e. ARTS 468, Studio Problems in Silkscreen, 3 s.h.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Ekici)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

f. ARTS 470, Studio Problems in Watercolor, 3 s.h.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Ekici)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

B. Museum Studies

1. Request for a new graduate course

a. MST 511, Museums and Social Justice, 3 s.h.

Dr. Lung noted that this course represents a change in their field. Dr. Babu suggested rewording the catalog description to better reflect the change. Dr. Lung responded that she would rework the description and could bring it back for additional review.

Motion: To postpone the request. (House/Ekici)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

C. Political Science

1. Request to change graduate program requirements

a. Master of Arts in Political Science

Dr. Hemphill asked about the exit option credit hours with the total program hours. Dr. LaFrance responded that the total program for each exit option is 30 semester hours. He added that the program is trying to be creative in course offerings for international students and the in-person requirements that they have. Mr. House asked about the effective date. Dr. LaFrance stated they were hoping for Fall 2024.

Motion: To approve the request with changes. (Lough/House)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

D. Sociology and Anthropology

1. Request for a 400-G level course

a. ANTH 424, Laboratory Analysis of Archaeological Material, 1-3 s.h.

Dr. Adkins Covert explained that 300-level courses were changed to 400-level already and now they are wanting them available for graduate credit. These courses are part of the field school experience. Most of the additional work for graduate students will be hands-on and reading/research. Dr. Babu asked about the grading system. Dr. Adkins Covert noted that is a new faculty member that didn’t know about the plus/minus system of the undergraduate students so they will correct that.

Motion: To approve the request with changes. (Babu/Ekici)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

b. ANTH 426, Archaeological Field Methods, 1-6 s.h.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Lough)
MOTION CARRIED 8 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

IV. OLD BUSINESS

A. Student appeal procedure revisions

The sub-committee of the Graduate Council comprised of Drs. Ekici, Hemphill, Lough, and McQuillan met and completed a side-by-side comparison of the process that CAGAS uses against the process that Graduate Council uses. The main changes, if approved, would be to not allow students or faculty to appear in meetings. There is also the possibility of changing from the current petition to a jotform or Google form. If this is done, the form would need to include specific instructions for the students and departments so the correct information is submitted the first time. Another suggestion is to reorder the meetings to put the student appeals at the end so that other items on the agenda do not have to wait.

Dr. Polubinsky noted that it is important for students to be notified of the department’s stance on the appeal when the appeal is filed. A lot of the current issues could be avoided if the department communicated with the student regarding their recommendation prior to the Graduate Council reviewing the petition.

Discussion was held over the capabilities of jotform and tracking submissions. Council also discussed possible changes in the language for instructions to students and faculty. The first amendment to the proposed changes was to include a statement that the student will be notified in writing of decisions. The second amendment to the proposed changes was to include a statement that all petitions must be forwarded to the Graduate School regardless of the department’s recommendation. The changes will be effective Fall 2024.

Motion: To approve the proposed changes to the student appeal process with the mentioned amendments to the instruction language. (Lough/House)
MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 1 AB

V. OTHER BUSINESS

None reported.

 

Meeting adjourned: 4:03 p.m.