MINUTES
Graduate School Administrative Board Meeting
Monday, October 27, 2008
3:30PM
1511 Greenville Centre
MEMBERS PRESENT: Rick Ericson, Susan Beck-Frazier, Sharon Bland, Jim Decker, Scott Dellana, Stan Eakins, Hamid Fonooni, Linner Griffin, Monica Hough, James Holte, George Kasperek, Ron Newton, Belinda Patterson, Hettie Peele, Pat Pellicane, Mary Lisa Pories, Len Rhodes, Heather Ries, Terry West, and Ken Wilson.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Vivian Mott, Marie Pokorny, Heather Ries, Art Rouse, and Marianna Walker.
AGENDA
1) Call to order
The meeting was called to order by Dean Pellicane at 3:35 pm
2) Approval of the minutes from the 10/6/2008 GSAB meeting
The minutes were approved as written (Dr. Pellicane will editorialize the admissions policy document)
3) Approval of the minutes from the 10/1/2008 GCC meeting
The chair of the GCC discussed the submitted minutes. He stated that several doctoral programs submitted revised write-ups that were recommended for approval. The GCC minutes (10/1/2008) were approved as submitted.
4) Approval of the minutes from the 10/15/2008 GCC meeting
The chair of the GCC discussed the submitted minutes. New courses were submitted for approval. It was noted that even though the program in Security Studies has not been approved, the courses for the program have been. The unit has the clientele now to take the courses as electives even though the program has not been instituted. They have adequate staff to teach the proposed courses.
The GCC minutes (10/15/2008) were approved as submitted.
5) Information items:
a. Graduate School review
The GSAB members were encouraged to participate in the upcoming Graduate School Review. Two external reviewers, one from Clemson and the other from Kansas will be on the campus for three days to conduct the review.
b. Graduate Assembly meeting
The Graduate Assembly will be meeting on November 11.
c. Research and Creative Achievement Week
The Research and Creative Achievement Week is scheduled for March 30 through April 3, 2009 in the Mendenhall Student Center.
6) Biomedical Science M.S. degree
Dr. Kasperek discussed the proposal to establish a master’s program in biomedical sciences. He indicated that there are about 50 faculty involved. The program will be interdisciplinary and research oriented. Course work for the program has been approved by the GCC. The beginning courses in the master’s program are similar to those in a doctoral program. One of the purposes of the master’s degree is to enhance the credentials of the graduate to get a job or to get into a doctoral program. The program will be small, about 25 to 30 students. There is plenty of capacity in the research laboratories. Funding for these students will be incorporated into grant proposal. Tuition remissions are an issue; the program will try to enhance the stipend level up to take care of it. Most of the students will be regional and in-state.
If the faculty growth warrants it, there will be additional space needs available. The letters of support are strong and there is a need for the program.
The motion to establish a new master’s degree in biomedical sciences was approved.
7) Program Review
The draft document of the unit program reviews has been approved by the EPCC. The draft document has received a lot of input from various groups. The faculty governance committee indicated that the document should reflect the fact that some programs are small and may not need a large number of external reviewers as indicated. The costs of the review will be borne by the divisions involved; interdisciplinary programs will need to be cost-distributed between all of the divisions involved.
The faculty governance committee will incorporate the features of the new document into their recommendations for revision of Appendix L of the Faculty Manual. When this is completed, the committee will then submit the draft document to the Faculty Senate for final approval.
There was discussion about the role of the internal reviewer.
The draft document was approved with the exception of one negative vote.
8) Conversation about admission requirement need for GPA & standardized test scores for graduate degree holders
Graduate program directors want to know what an applicant has for an undergraduate GPA. Some programs with applicants who hold a master’s degree do not require the GRE. The GSAB felt that standardized test scores (even when not required) should be recorded, if available.
9) Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 4:42 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
R J Newton
Recorder
