Graduate Studies

Graduate Council Minutes - April 25, 2022

3:00 p.m., Virtual

Members Present: C. Anderson, S. Ghimire,  J. Hammersley, H. Hemphill (Chair), S. House, K. Keefe

Members Absent: C. Blackinton (Vice Chair), D. Barr

Guests Present:  T. Davis, D. Banash, M. Allison, S. Gray, J. Lin, A. Valeva, P.K. Babu, T. Lough, D. Zhao, T. Feld, M. Bezold, E. Sheffield, C. Kovacs, A. Carr, K. Daytner

Ex-officio Present: M. Mossman

Others Present: A. Schulz

 

I. STUDENT APPEALS

A. College Student Personnel

1. Request to hold an assistantship as a probationary student

a. Student A

Dr. Davis represented the student and department. Discussion was held over the current GPA and the plans to meet with the student on a regular basis throughout the semester.

Motion: To approve the request. (Anderson/Ghimire)
MOTION CARRIED 5 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

b. Student B

Dr. Davis represented the department and the student. The student had transfer coursework that did not positively impact the calculated GPA. Student struggled with courses during Covid as well.

Motion: To approve the request. (Ghimire/House)
MOTION CARRIED 5 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

B. English

1. Request for a late withdrawal

Dr. Banash and Dr. Allison represented the student and department. Dr. Banash noted that the student experienced numerous personal issues that are well documented. Dr. Allison added that the department fully supports the student. Dr. Banash explained that they feel this is the best option for the student and hope that she can come back to finish the program.

Motion: To approve the request. (Anderson/House)
MOTION CARRIED 5 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

II. GRADUATE FACULTY – FULL MEMBERSHIP

A. Stephen Gray; Assistant Professor; Accounting, Finance, Economics, and Decision Sciences

Dr. Gray and Dr. Lin attended. Dr. Gray commented on his years with WIU and that he enjoys working with the graduate students in the MBA program. Dr. Lin added that he is a valuable asset to the program and wants to see him continue to work with graduate students.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Anderson)
MOTION CARRIED 5 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

B. Anna Valeva; Associate Professor; Accounting, Finance, Economics, and Decision Sciences

Dr. Valeva and Dr. Lin were present. Dr. Valeva noted that she has been with WIU for numerous years and has taught graduate level courses for a lot of it. She works extensively with graduate students and wants to be able to chair their thesis projects while increasing her own research output.

Motion: To approve the request. (Hammersley/Anderson)
MOTION CARRIED 5 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB


III. ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. Introduction of new Graduate Council members for 2022-2023

College of Arts and Sciences – Dr. P.K. Babu, Physics

College of Education and Human Services – Dr. Todd Lough, Law Enforcement and Justice Administration

College of Fine Arts and Communication – Dr. Danyang Zhao, Communication

Dr. Babu, Dr. Lough, and Dr. Zhao were present for the introduction from Dr. Hemphill. The Council welcomed the new members and thanked outgoing members Dr. Anderson and Dr. Hammersley for their service. Ms. Blackinton was not present at the meeting.

B. Election of Chair and Vice Chair for 2022-2023

Dr. Hemphill and Mr. House were nominated and elected by acclamation for the positions of Chair and Vice Chair, respectively.

C. Graduate Council meeting dates for 2022-2023

Ms. Schulz announced that the meeting dates for 2022-2023 will be posted on the School of Graduate School’s website, wiu.edu/grad/gcmeetings by the end of the week. She reminded those present that meetings will continue to take place in a virtual format.

D. Academic integrity incident reports filed in the School of Graduate Studies, April 2022 (0)

E. Graduate Research Conference

Ms. Schulz announced that the 9th Annual Graduate Research Conference is taking place from April 25 – 29 via WesternOnline. Instructions on how to view the presentations was sent out to the campus community that day.


IV. GRADUATE CURRICULUM

A. Accounting, Finance, Economics, and Decision Sciences

1. Request to change post-baccalaureate certificate program requirements

a. Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Business Analytics

Dr. Lin explained that these changes incorporate the increase in credit hours to a course that was approved earlier this semester. It also allows them to bring the certificate back to 18 semester hours.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Keefe)
MOTION CARRIED 6 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

2. Request for a 400-G level course

Motion: To consider all requests for a 400-G level course together. (House/Shankar)
MOTION CARRIED 6 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

a. ACCT 452, Managerial Accounting, 3 s.h.

b. ACCT 454, Managerial Accounting II, 3 s.h.

c. ACCT 469, Tax I, 3 s.h.

d. FIN 421, Real Estate Finance & Investments, 3 s.h.

e. FIN 449, Risk Management and Insurance, 3 s.h.

f. FIN 470, Investments, 3 s.h.

Dr. Lin noted that these courses are of interest to MBA students now. The program made changes at the undergraduate level but had never caught up on the graduate side until now. Discussion was held over the course requirements. Dr. Lin reported that ACCT 469 will actually change to ACCT 460 due to an oversight when putting the proposal through at the undergraduate level.

Motion: To approve the requests with the amendment to the course number for ACCT 469. (Ghimire/House)
MOTION CARRIED 6 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

B. Business Administration

1. Request for integrated baccalaureate and master’s degree program

a. Bachelor of Science in Health Services Management/Master of Business Administration

Dr. Feld and Dr. Bezold were in attendance. Dr. Feld explained that the MBA already has a concentration in the area of health services management so it is a natural transition that will benefit the current health services students. This will have the same expectations as the other integrated programs. All of the bridge courses are already on the books.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Anderson)
MOTION CARRIED 6 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

C. Education

1. Request to change graduate program requirements

a. Master of Arts in Teaching: Alternative Teacher Licensure

Dr. Sheffield explained that these are additional areas added to help address the teacher shortage. Dr. Hemphill asked about adding the word “licensure” to the title of the music education track to be consistent with the others. Ms. Schulz noted that she could make the edit if approved.

Motion: To approve the request with the amendment. (Keefe/Anderson)
MOTION CARRIED 6 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

D. Kinesiology

1. Request for cross-listed course

a. KIN 557, Inclusive Exercise and Disability Characteristics, 3 s.h. – cross-list with RPTA 557

Dr. Kovacs stated that this request is for an existing course that will be offered depending on scheduling and faculty availability between the two departments. Dr. Ghimire asked about student interest for the fall semester.

Motion: To approve the request. (Ghimire/Anderson)
MOTION CARRIED 6 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

E. Liberal Arts & Sciences

1. Request for a 400-G level course

a. REL 460, The Bible and Current Issues, 3 s.h.

Dr. Carr was in attendance. Discussion was held over the requirements for graduate students. Dr. Carr explained the additional projects and clarified the grading scale.

Motion: To approve the request. (Hammersley/House)
MOTION CARRIED 6 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB


V. OTHER BUSINESS

Dr. Mossman provided an update on the strategic plan revisions, noting that they should be ready to go for the Board of Trustees meeting in June.


Meeting adjourned: 4:03 p.m.