MINUTES

Graduate School Administrative Board Meeting

Monday, January 28, 2008

3:30PM
Greenville Centre

1) Call to order (Pellicane)

The meeting was called to order at 3:35 pm by Dr. Pellicane

2) Approve minutes of the 1/14/2008 GSAB meeting (Newton)

The minutes were approved with the proviso that the approved policy documents be attached.

3) Approval of GCC minutes – (Kasperek)

GCC Meeting-December 5-2007

The minutes were approved as submitted

GCC Meeting January 16 -2008

The minutes were approved as submitted by Kevin Snyder. Mr. Snyder worked very hard to get these minutes available – he is to be commended for his diligent work.

4) Announcements

a. Health Insurance – the insurance is in place – students should be getting their insurance cards via the mail very soon - they can get them also through the internet.

5) Consideration of the proposal for the PhD in Economics (Ericson) (see Economics related attachments)

The proposal was discussed by Rick Ericson. Dr. Ericson updated the AMIR section with a handout. He noted that the university is becoming more research-intensive, and this program is in concert with that goal. The proposed PhD program will greatly strengthen the economics program at ECU. It will encourage master’s students to stay at ECU for doctoral training. The proposed structure is very similar to other economics programs at other large universities. However, this one has a concentration that is related to catastrophic hazards. Resources have been provided by the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. THCAS will provide 2.5 FTE of lapsed salary funds which will be convertible to PhD stipends. The program will also be looking for some additional tuition remissions, but has several now that they will make available to the program. The faculty numbers and expertise are adequate. The program will be small initially with about 18 students. Synergies with existing ECU institutes and centers and cooperating activities with other departments will provide additional expertise and resources to the program. Additional space will be needed as the program grows. The program will be graduating 2-3 students per year when fully mature. Some of the domestic students will be involved in the teaching program for a couple of years. They will participate in recitation sessions for undergraduates. The program will be policy driven, and will be attractive to those who want to serve in government. The Department is very international now with faculty and student composition. The master’s will be mostly regional whereby the PhD will be international. There will be some overlap with the master’s courses. Students will be in the doctoral program 4 to 5 years after a baccalaureate degree. The Economics faculty are very committed to the program.

The proposal for the Intent to Plan for a PhD Program in Economics was approved by the GSAB.

6) Consideration of the Graduate Faculty policy of the Department of Psychology (Cathy Hall)

The Department of Psychology was represented by Dr. Cathy Hall. Dr. Hall noted that the Department is growing, and is becoming more research-oriented. They how have a PhD program, and they are recruiting new faculty as well as students. The psychology graduate faculty committee considered other documents from other units outside the university as a background for preparing their submitted document. The tenure-track faculty will be members of the graduate Teaching Faculty upon their initial appointment. However, can they be submitted as a member of the Graduate Faculty with their initial appointment? The answer is yes – most tenure-track faculty have an expectation to be performing as Graduate Faculty – this is important for their professional success. The language in the Appendix F code does not prohibit a unit from submitting faculty for Graduate Faculty status if their credentials indicate they are qualified to do so. We want these faculty to be involved as soon as possible. They may or may not necessarily be allowed to chair an Advisory Committee, but they could co-chair the AC. The submission by the Department of Psychology was tabled for further discussion. Dr. Hall was invited to come back to the next GSAB meeting to continue with the discussion.

7) Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 5:20pm

Respectfully submitted,

R J Newton

Recorder