MINUTES

GRADUATE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD MEETING

Monday, March 19, 2007
Mendenhall Underground
3:30pm

Members Present:  Martha Alligood, Sharon Bland, Dennis Brunt, Stan Eakins, Margie Gallagher,  Gerhard Kalmus, Sharon Knight, John Kramar, Vivian Mott, Ron Newton,  Belinda Patterson, Pat Pellicane, Heather Ries, Carmine Scavo

Members Absent:  Linner Griffin, James Holte, George Kasperek, Todd Nolan, John Placer, Art Rouse, Mark Taggart

1)    Acceptance of the minutes of last meeting (Monday, February 26, 2007)

The minutes were approved as submitted by recorder, Belinda Patterson

2)    Graduate Curriculum Committee Report

The Graduate Curriculum Committee minutes (Wed. February 28, 2007) were approved as submitted by chair, Sharon Bland

3)    Announcements

Dean Pellicane announced that the Registrar’s office will now be computing the Grade Point Average for graduate students.  This computation previously had not been performed routinely by that office.

Dean Pellicane announced that the drop date policy for graduate courses will be changed.  The present policy allows for graduate students to remain enrolled until two weeks are left in the semester; the new policy will be changed to adhere to the same course drop policy of that as the undergraduates. 

Dean Pellicane announced that an Office of Student Employment will be established on campus.  The OSE will handle all student employment issues, including graduate student contracts.  Contracts will no longer be processed through the Graduate School.  This procedure is expected to begin in fall 2007. 

Ron Newton announced that the Research and Creative Achievement Week activities will begin next week on Monday, March 26th.  The week-long schedule includes many presentations by faculty, students and guest speakers. 

4)    Policies for Graduate Assistantships: Awards and Assignments 

The University audit last year found the present policy as stated to be insufficient.  It is difficult to construct the appropriate language to fit all academic units in an over-arching policy document.  The discussion on this issue is ongoing.   
 
5)    Thesis/Dissertation Manual

The present version of the Manual of Basic Requirements for Theses and Dissertations is in need of updating and revision.   The present document does not address the use of available modern computer technology and includes a description of the recommended composition of theses and dissertation committees.  It was discussed that the latter does not belong in the manual document, and could be included in the graduate catalog.  The revised version should also accommodate its eventual inclusion in the future electronic submission format that is being planned.   It was stated that this issue had been addressed earlier by the GSAB, and Drs. Alligood and Knight indicated that they could provide this background information.  A committee was appointed to address the revision of the present document and present a revised version to the GSAB for consideration.   The committee members are:  Dennis Brunt (Chair), Ron Newton, Todd Nolan, Diane Coltraine, and Carmine Scavo.  

6)    Electronic submission of theses/dissertations

The presentation by Joyner Library representatives (Bryna Coonin and Jane Lewis) at the  February 26th GSAB meeting and the discussion that followed resulted in the recommendation that the Graduate School develop a process and a procedure of transition from hard copy to electronic submission of theses/dissertations.  It was recommended also at the Feb 26th meeting that a committee be established to accomplish this objective.   A committee was established:  Belinda Patterson (Chair), Martha Alligood, Vivian Mott, Heather Ries, and Art Rouse from the GSAB and representatives from Joyner Library and other campus units.    

7)    New business

It was recommended that ECU develop a centralized process for awarding certificates to graduate students who complete various certification programs.  Dean Pellicane indicated that this will be presented to the Registrar for consideration.

It was discussed that the transition into the Banner system has caused problems in processing graduate student applications.   Apparently, Banner cannot accept all of the applicant information as needed and cannot process the whole portfolio at one time.  Applicant information is coming in piecemeal, and this has slowed the application completion process.  There is concern that the institution has lost some applicants because of inability to process their application, and applicants have already accepted offers from other institutions.   Office assistants in the Graduate School have been working feverishly on the back-log of applications, and presently are about 2 weeks behind schedule.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:57pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Newton
Recorder