Wednesday, October 9, 2024 

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
LJH 325

 

Council in Attendance: 
Marc Giullian (Business) 
Rollin Beamish (Arts) 
Ezgi Balkanay (Architecture) 
Kari Perry (Student Representative) 
Craig Ogilvie (Dean of The Graduate School) 
Brennan Reeves (Office of International Programs) 
Katey Franklin (Health & Human Development) 
Amy Reines (Sciences) 
Sweeney Windchief (Education) 
Ryan Thum (Agriculture) 
Sarah Mannheimer (Library) 

Also in Attendance: 
Emily Peters (Graduate School) 
Lauren Cerretti (Graduate School) 
Holly Hillis (Graduate School) 
Olivia Hayes (Montana Department of Labor & Industry) 
Amy Watson (Montana Department of Labor & Industry) 

Absent 
Akash Gulati (Student Representative) 
Wade Hill (Nursing) 
Anna French (Student Representative) 
Catherine Dunlop (Letters) 
Rob Maher (Faculty Senate) 
Stephan Warnat (Engineering) 

Meeting started at 9:30 a.m. 

New Business 

  • Economic Impact of MSU Graduate Students (Olivia Hayes and Amy Watson, Montana Department of Labor & Industry) 
    • Overview of Economic Report: workforce outcomes of MSU Graduate School and their contribution to the statewide workforce supply 
    • Comments/Questions 
      • Incumbent v non-incumber workers (fig. 7, would be interesting to look at by graduate program 
      • Professional and technical services category includes accounting, architecture, computer science, etc. 
      • Low salary for Physics (e.g., fig. 10) attributed to students that graduated with master’s but are continuing with PhD, still students  
      • Majority of engineering students staying in Montana  
      • Degree categories don’t perfectly match MSU’s degrees because the categories capture all degree programs across the state  
      • MSSE example, many students are not in the state, so shows over demand— does not factor in students working outside of the state 
      • High demand for nursing, education 
      • Not meeting statewide demand for history 
      • Guage demand is determined by records of what occupations graduates end up in, annual job opening for those industries  
        • Data excludes fields unrelated to the degree; example: employment in restaurant would be excluded 
      • Differences in counseling programs (school counseling vs. LCPC licensure) programs not separated in supply and demand data  
      • Is the demand data specific to MSU’s supply, or is it statewide demand? 
        • Is demand for the state, including all state institutions’ supply 
    • If you see individual discrepancies, send that feedback to Olivia and Amy 
    • Consider what we should be doing to help support our graduate students, what programs should we be investing in?  
      • Mostly not meeting needs, especially in Eastern Montana 
        • Online programs, connecting with chamber of commerce in other parts of the state 
        • Connecting with extension projects beyond agriculture 
        • Help students have an awareness of the demand in other parts of the state 
    • Statewide report available online  

August 28, 2024 minutes 

  • Motion to approve by Thum, Beamish 2nd, 6 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention  
     

Announcements 

  • Update from the Dean 
    • Accreditation visit today and tomorrow 
      • Could request to meet with UGC members 
    • Wellness Week: Nourish to Flourish Oct 7-11 
      • Tomorrow is a free graduate community dinner at Rendezvous, sponsored by Grad School  
    • Upcoming UGC meeting presentations:  
      • October 23: Counseling & Psychological Services 
      • November 6: Graduate Student representatives  
      • December 4: Housing 

Old Business 

  • 1 cr ext and in absentia graduation policy 
    • Review of policy; most recent change added a line that the student must obtain agreement from chair and committee  
    • Discussion 
      • Full committee will be required to sign the graduation application?  
        • Policy rather than practice, procedure to be determined 
        • Suggest the committee approval could handled in the department and then moved forward 
      • Approval of members is important to address the contract concerns 
    • Sweeney motions to approve, Thum seconds 
      • Vote: 7 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstained  
      • Motion passes to approve 1 cr ext and in absentia graduation policy 
        • Policy will move to JAGS  

  • Appeals Policy 
    • Science: concern from some departments regarding admissions appeals, feel the department’s recommendation not to admit a student shouldn’t be overturned.  
      • The admissions appeal process already exists. Policy provides transparency on the process.  
      • Consensus that there must be a process for students to appeal decisions  
      • Appeals also provide a necessary step in cases of legal challenges 
    • EHHD: not in support of a subcommittee for appeals on academic decisions, did not support a graduate student being on the committee due to FERPA, suggest graduate Dean consult with college dean instead 
      • Discussion on FERPA requirements  
      • Council previously approved a policy that sent the decision directly to Graduate Dean. Academic Council provided feedback that there should be intermediate steps. 
        • Updated policy outlines the intermediate step of appealing to the college Dean first. The Graduate Dean could then review the appeal without a subcommittee, but should consult with the college dean, graduate student leaders, committee, etc., as applicable.  
          • Still provides 1 step intermediary step 
    • Ag: also had some feedback that having another subcommittee review seems unnecessary 
    • Student reps: from the student perspective, supported the subcommittee, more supportive for students, less top-down decisions 
      • Feedback against a subcommittee was that the Academic Dean has already done a thorough investigation and has thorough knowledge of the situation, as well as of the profession  
    • Would it be helpful for UGC to get annual report of the types of appeals seen in the academic year 
      • Would be helpful to have a sense of how often these occur  
    • Current text does not require meeting with the student, this could be added to the text 
    • Return to policy subcommittee to remove subcommittee language, add language that student should meet with the department head and Graduate Dean  

  • Doctoral and Advisor Committee Deadline 
    • Feedback from last meeting did not support the change, GS staff reviewing the policy 
    • Sense from last time that Council supported leaving the policy as it currently is 
      • Trying to establish compromise to move chair deadline to by end of 2nd semester, leaving committee deadline the same  

  • Failed Comprehensive/Defense Exam Policy 
    • Pending language review from JAGS  

 

Updates from subcommittees  

  • Curriculum subcommittee: discussion on review status 
  • Governance subcommittee: discussion on status of student representatives  

 

Public comment 

 

Adjourned at 11:00 am 

Next scheduled meeting – October 23, 2024