Graduate Studies

Graduate Council Minutes - September 11, 2023

3:00 p.m., Virtual

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

Members Absent: Roberta Di Carmine

Guests Present: Renee Polubinsky, Matt McConnell, Leigh Ann Fisler

Ex-officio Present: Mark Mossman

Others Present: Amanda Schulz

 

I. STUDENT APPEALS

A. Biology

1. Request to hold an assistantship with less than a 3.0 graduate GPA

Student present and explained that summer courses taken dropped the overall GPA. Department fully supported request.

Motion: To approve the request. (Babu/Zhao)
MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

B. Business Administration

1. Request to waive the 6-hour C rule

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Lough)
MOTION CARRIED 6 YES – 0 NO – 1 AB

C. Sport Management

1. Request to hold an assistantship as a probationary student

a. Student A

Student and Dr. Polubinsky present. Discussion held over GPA when entering the program.

Motion: To approve the request. (House/Zhao)
MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

b. Student B

Student and Dr. Polubinsky in attendance. Questions were asked regarding undergraduate GPA.

Motion: To approve the request. (Ekici/House)
MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

II. GRADUATE FACULTY – FULL MEMBERSHIP

A. Matt McConnell, Assistant Professor, Chemistry

Dr. McConnell answered questions regarding application materials and work already completed with graduate students.

Motion: To approve the request. (McQuillan/House)
MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

III. ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. Academic integrity incident reports filed in the School of Graduate Studies, May – August 2023 (48)

B. Graduate Committee Chair fall semester meeting – October 11, 2023

Ms. Schulz announced that there will be a graduate committee chair meeting on Wednesday, October 11 at 3 p.m. The meeting will be held virtually and notices will go out via email this week.

C. Graduate Student Research and Professional Development Fund

Ms. Schulz requested a sub-committee of one member from each college be formed to review the fall applications for the Graduate Student Research and Professional Development fund. The spring committee was formed at the same time. Graduate Council members will serve on the committees as follows:

            Fall 2023 semester: Dr. Di Carmine, Dr. House, Dr. Lough, and Dr. McQuillan

            Spring 2024 semester: Dr. Babu, Dr. Ekici, Dr. Hemphill, and Dr. Zhao

A date later in the semester will be established for the selection meetings. Ms. Schulz will provide copies of the applications and evaluation forms via email.

D. Additional Graduate Council meeting – May 28, 2024

Dr. Hemphill noted that the additional meeting in May proved to be very beneficial to students and departments alike. Council will continue to hold the additional meeting for student appeals only. Adding this additional meeting in May, after spring grades are posted, allows students to have decisions regarding their future plans without waiting until the beginning of fall semester.

IV. GRADUATE CURRICULUM

A. Museum Studies

1. Request to change post-baccalaureate certificate requirements

a. Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Museum Studies

Discussion held over request. It was noted that the effective date is Fall 2024.

Motion: To approve the request. (Lough/House)
MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

B. Psychology

1. Request for a new graduate (500 or 600-level) course

a. PSY 510, Philosophical Foundations of Applied Behavior Analysis, 3 s.h.

Dr. Fisler explained the need for the course at the graduate level for licensure requirements. The department has previously used a 400G level course but the content no longer fits. Course enrollments will be met very quickly due to licensure requirements in the Clinical/Community Mental Health program. Dr. Babu asked about the prerequisites for the course. Dr. Fisler responded that the courses are different enough to not need the 400-level course as a prerequisite. Dr. McQuillan asked if students would take both the 400G course and this course for credit. Dr. Fisler noted that they could take both if they wanted. Dr. Babu noted that the abbreviated title should be all capital letters.

Motion: To approve the request with amendment. (Lough/House)
MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

V. NEW BUSINESS

A. Proposal to change the definition of full-time enrollment for doctoral students.

Department was unable to attend. Dr. Hemphill noted that AIMS would need to update significant programming. Discussion was held over comparison of other schools. Dr. Mossman added information about the specifics of this request including that it was initiated because of a specific group of international students that are now close to completing their degrees. Dr. Zhao asked about the downside of changing to a lower amount of credit hours as full-time. Discussion held over long reaching implications.

Motion: To postpone the request. (Ekici/House)
MOTION CARRIED 7 YES – 0 NO – 0 AB

VI. OTHER BUSINESS

None reported.

 

Meeting adjourned: 3:47 p.m.