College of Graduate Studies
Graduate Council Meeting - Minutes
October 12, 2001
October 12, 2001
Graduate Council Members
Ken Bowers, College of Letters & Science (Mathematics)
Janice Bowman, College of Agriculture (Animal & Range Sciences)
Doug Cairns, College of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering)
Marc Giullian, College of Business
Richard Helzer, College of Arts & Architecture (Art)
Bruce McLeod, Graduate Dean
Gretchen McNeely, College of Nursing
Allison Spain, Graduate Students (Art)
Craig Stewart, College of Education, Health & Human Development (HHD)
Minutes from meeting 12 October 2001
Present: Chair Bruce McLeod, Ken Bowers, Doug Cairns, Marc Giullian, Pat Hatfield (alternate, College of Agriculture), Craig Stewart, Allison Spain (student representative), Mike Tess (alternate, College of Agriculture), Rebecca Ward, Maggie Gudatis (College of Graduate Studies)
Informational Topics Discussed:
Graduate Council chair McLeod discussed his perception of the role of Graduate Council under new MSU President, Geoff Gamble.
Graduate Council Items:
Item 1: Notice of proposal for PhD in Animal and Range Science.
The Notice of Intent to declare a PhD in Animal and Range Science was discussed. Dean McLeod stated the major questions that the Board of Regents will pose as follows: Where will the pool of students come from? What is the financial impact on MSU? Where will students go when they graduate? Animal and Range Science representatives agreed to have a rough draft of the Notice of Intent prepared by November 9th and a final copy prepared by December.
Item 2: Update and proposal to initiate Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) at MSU.
Dean McLeod reiterated the benefits of having Electronic Theses and Dissertations and emphasized the necessity of MSU not being the last university to implement this technology. Council members concerned over the availability of a hardcopy were reassured that, in addition to two electronic backups, committee members would still receive a copy before a presentation was completed. The discussion ended with a commitment to have this technology available for dissertations by Fall 2002.
Item 3: Suspension policy and wording on graduate student transcripts.
Rebecca Ward commented on a query of the Council of Graduate Schools that tried to identify the appropriate wording on transcripts for students that failed their comprehensive exams or have been dropped from a graduate program. The majority of the Council of Graduate Schools responded that the dismissal would be noted on the transcript and that the actual wording varied from termination to dismissal to suspend. The Council agreed that wording should be noted on the transcript and to do otherwise would misrepresent a student’s academic situation at MSU. Council members voiced concern that “Suspension” indicated a possible, eventual return to a program when in essence, the student would not be admitted back to the program under any circumstances.
MOTION: McLeod posed the question to the Council to decide on exact wording
VOTE: The majority of Council members agreed to “Academic Dismissal”. One Council member preferred “Suspension”.
Item 4: Graduate program reviews.
Dean McLeod recommended implementation of a Graduate Program Review as a business management tool for the College of Graduate Studies and the Provost. The data collected would help predict when a program is in jeopardy and which programs are thriving on campus. According to Dean McLeod, graduate program reviews of varying degrees are traditionally completed every seven years. As soon as a decision is made regarding the breadth of the review, Dean McLeod will update the council.
Item 5: Update on "Graduate Faculty".
Moving ahead with the formation of a "Graduate Faculty" was tabled to another Graduate Council meeting, due to lack of time.
Agenda Item 6, Policy and Procedure Review, was tabled at this meeting.
* The next Graduate Council meeting is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., October19 in WilsonHall (Math) 2-244.
