Graduate Studies Committee Meeting for October 23, 2003
 

P. Anneser, K. Beyard, G. Claffey, R. Cohen, J. Delaura, C. Dimmick, K. Farrington, F. Frangione, B. Greenfield, R. Kalder, B. Kjell, J. Kovel, J. Lefebvre, C. Marshall, G. Mejia, D. Mitchell, D. Mulcahy, J. Nicoll-Senft, M. Nunn, C. Parr, S. Seider, J. Turner, V. Rajaravivarma, L. Zidani-Eroglu

Guests/ex. officio:

P. Lemma, C. Pudlinski, P, Alteri

G. Mejia called the Graduate Studies Committee to order at 2:39 pm.

1. Approval of Minutes
   A. Members present approved the minutes of September 25, 2003 with no edits.

2. Announcements from Dean Lemma
   P. Lemma passed out the Graduate Tenets bookmarks as requested by G. Claffey at the previous meeting.
   
   A. Reminder to RSVP: Graduate Forum will be on October 28, 12-2pm at the Bellin Gallery in the Student Center. Please RSVP to P. Lemma if you have not already done so. There are currently 33 attendees.
   
   Attendees will serve as focus groups for the Graduate Strategic Planning Committee. It is hoped that there can be cross-representation from all departments. The School of Technology needs a representative. Department participation is important to give input to the strategic plan for the Graduate School. On November 17, each school will be presenting a draft of priorities to the Planning & Budget Committee of the Faculty Senate. In December, a final draft of these priorities is due to the Provost.
   
   The Graduate Forum will also highlight two departmental graduate programs and Dean Lemma will supply program statistics from Fall 02 and Fall 03 along with the number of applications for Spring 04.
   
   B. Reminder: The Graduate Open House is November 20, 4-7pm. Please email the names of the faculty who will be attending to P. Lemma. She reminded everyone that the faculty do not have to attend the whole open house, but can cover the tables in shifts.
   
   C. Reminder: Awards and Scholarship material is due to the Graduate Studies office by November 7. P. Lemma has emailed criteria and the names of students who meet some of the criteria to the Department Chairs. The information includes the student’s GPA and the number of credits completed in their program.

3. Graduate Student Association
   
   P. Lemma gave the report for M. Shelton who was absent.
   
   A. Next Graduate GSA Social is on Monday, November 3, 2003, 5:30-7pm in the Nutmeg Room in Memorial Hall.
   
   B. M. Shelton will deliver the Society Registration Forms and Grant Applications to all departments. If the department has not received the forms by November 7, email P. Lemma.
   
   C. Activity Fees
   Graduate Students activity fees are imposed by the University. A portion of this fee goes to the GSA. This allows the GSA to support initiatives such as funds for research and conferences, the “After Commencement Party” and participation in professional organizations.
   
   GSA recommended that the part-time activity fee be raised from $4 to $6, in an effort to bring it more in line with the $21 full-time fee.

4. Old Business
   
   A. Course revisions in the Department of Computer Science
   These revisions were deferred last month pending signatures. There was no discussion. A motion was made by Carlotta Parr to accept the changes and then seconded. Approved.

5. Reports from the Committees
   
   A. Curriculum
   G. Mejia reminded everyone that next month the committee will be meeting in Copernicus 224-04. J. Kovel will resume his role as chair of the committee at this meeting. Address all curriculum forms to him.
   
   G. Mejia presented the recommendation of the Graduate Studies Curriculum Committee for chair, J. Kovel (Attachment A). All items were approved as recommended by the curriculum committee.
   
   B. Policy
   S. Seider presented the recommendations for policy changes for dismissed students and conditional acceptances. (Attachment B)
   
   1) Dismissed Students- G.Claffey asked if dismissed student could appeal dismissal to the GSC Appeals committee? Would a dismissal be considered a non-graded appeal? Discussion ensued and resulted in a decision that it would not be considered a non-graded appeal. G. Claffey stated that it should be stated as such in the catalog. P. Lemma agreed that it will be in the new catalog that will be published next year. K. Beyard motioned that wording be amended to include the instructor in the dismissal policy:
   “Students who are dismissed from a graduate program will not be allowed to take courses for graduate credit unless they have the permission of the instructor, the chair of the department offering the course and the Dean of Graduate Studies.”
   It was seconded. The vote was taken on the motion as amended to add the instructor and to include the wording that the student can not take “take courses for graduate credit.” Main motion as amended was approved.
   
   2) Conditional Acceptance-A motion was made by K. Beyard allowing the student only one chance to pass the course required. The motion was denied. A motion was made by M. Nunn to allow the department the discretion of allowing the student a second chance to pass the course required.
   “A student who has been conditionally accepted into a graduate program will be given only one opportunity to fulfill all conditions. A second attempt may be granted by the department and the Dean of Graduate Studies in exceptional circumstances; however no student will be granted more than two opportunities to fulfill any conditions.”
   
   It was seconded and the motion was approved. P. Lemma stressed that these two policies should be taken back to the departments. It is vital that the advisor gives courses to the student that will help them fulfill this requirement. The advisor needs to follow up on this and track the student’s progress and confer with Dean Lemma if conditions are not met.
   
   3) The History Department needs to finalize their admissions proposal.
   C. Scholarship
   No report
   
   D. Appeals
   G. Claffey reported that the Appeals Committee considered three appeals relating to admissions. (Attachment C) The committee sustained the departments’ decisions in all three cases.
   
   1) Rejection Letters: The School of Graduate Studies needs to be sure that correspondence with individuals is correct with regard to program titles and specializations to which students have been denied admissions. P. Lemma pointed out that the Dean’s office had corrected this.
   
   2) Conditional Admissions: G. Claffey stressed that there needs to be someone overseeing the students who are conditionally admitted, to be sure that they are taking the appropriate courses. B.Greenfield asked about procedures for when the specific classes that are required are not offered. P. Lemma suggested that advisors think about this. Advisors may add another course if the student needs to be full time.
   
   3) Enrollment Caps: J. Delaura stated that the rejection letter does not explain that specific programs have enrollment caps. He felt that this could be better publicized. P. Lemma stressed that rejection letters are form letters that are generated from the Graduate Admissions office. However, she changed the rejection letter to state this as a possibility for rejection. J. Delaura suggested that departments generate a letter explaining in more detail why the student was not admitted and have it attached to the more generic admissions letter. P. Lemma requested that this suggestion be taken back to the departments for discussion.
    

6. Adjornment – 4:08pm