MINUTES

Graduate School Administrative Board Meeting

Monday, March 24, 2008

3:30PM
1512 Greenville Centre

MEMBERS PRESENT: Alligood, Martha; Bland, Sharon; Eakins, Stan; Eastman, Brenda, Ericson, Rick; Fonooni, Hamid; Griffin, Linner; Kasperek, George; Knight, Sharon; Kramar, John; Newton, Ron; Pellicane, Patrick; Ries, Heather; Rouse, Art; Taggart, Mark; and West, Terry.

MEMBERS ABSENT: Holte, James; Hough, Monica; Kramar, John; Mott, Vivian; Nolan, Todd; and Patterson, Belinda.

1. Call to order (Pellicane)

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

2. Approval of the 3/17/2008 GSAB minutes (Newton)

The GSAB minutes were amended to denote that the Graduate Curriculum Committee minutes that were approved reflect those minutes recorded at the GCC meeting of February 20th. The GSAB minutes of 3/17/2008 as amended were approved.

3. Approval of the 3/5/2008 GCC minutes (Kasperek)

The following issues were addressed by the GCC:

• Communication Sciences and Disorders submitted one course revision. 
• The College of Business renamed one course and “cleaned up” some catalog narratives for several courses in several departments.
• Physical Therapy submitted course revisions and added new courses; the degree description was also revised to reflect the changes. 
• Physiology submitted a revised catalog copy of course prerequisites and submitted a new course request in neuroscience. 
• Notification of an intent to plan of a master’s program in sustainable tourism was submitted; the plan will be presented today to the GSAB for their consideration.

The March 5/2008 minutes of the Graduate Curriculum Committee were approved by the GSAB.

4. Information items (Pellicane)

The “time to degree” duration policy was discussed again. In checking with other institutions, Dr. Pellicane mentioned that some institutions allow 10 years while others allow 8 yrs. One institution allowed 5 years after completing the comprehensive examination. Another allowed 6 years beyond the master’s degree: another allowed 5 years for a master’s degree and 4 years after entering into PhD candidacy. Do we want to consider the candidacy concept? Do we want to consider the comprehensive examination concept? These issues will be addressed by Dean Pellicane with a new policy statement draft that he will submit to the GSAB.

The composition of the search committee for the assistant dean position in the Graduate School was discussed. It was recommended that the committee composition include: assistant vice chancellors, graduate faculty, office staff members, and unit program graduate directors. Appointments should spread across several colleges.

5. Approval of the proposal for a M.S. degree in Sustainable Tourism (Long et.al.)

Drs. David Edgell, Patrick Long, and Joe Fridgen were invited to present the Intent to Plan proposal for master’s program in sustainable tourism.

The proposal has been worked on since 2004 with expertise from across a wide variety of campus faculty. The program is unique and can be carried out together with the participating units. It will be an MS program with an interdisciplinary approach. A group of core faculty has been identified, and they are under the guidance and leadership of Dr. Long who came on board in October of 2007.

Tourism, involving the private sector and revolving around the concept of “sustainability,” is the next wave of the future; it is attentive to the traveler and local/global issues. Tourism moves people to the market place, and is heavily reliant on the airline industry.

The elements of the proposed program come from several colleges and departments; some courses are already on the books, and new ones are being developed. How will it be managed? How doe we get the faculty involved? How large should the program be? These issues are being addressed. We now have an administrative home for the program with the creation of the Center for Sustainable Tourism. We are now in a growth trajectory in the tourism arena in regard to new faculty hires in hospitality management and recreation and leisure studies.

It has been determined that there is a market and a potential for the program. We will not be cannibalizing existing programs. This will be a collective effort providing a unique program that will not be competitive with other unit programs. Graduate student support will be needed. Start-up funds for stipends will be needed, and these will be supplemented with grants and contracts.

The program will be generating student credit hours; some of the courses will be cross-listed with other units. It is proposed to have 33 to 36 cr hr for the degree. There could be some joint-appointed faculty with the Center and participating departments. Some future faculty positions could reside with the department, while at the same time filling a niche important to the proposed program. Right now, there is a group of identified core faculty that will teach the courses. Will there be several concentrations? There will be a common core of courses. There may be an internship included. There will be a thesis requirement. The precise curriculum has not yet been determined.

After 5 years it is anticipated that the program would have 30 students. Some students would be taking courses even though not earning a degree in the sustainable arena. It is believed that there are enough faculty for mentoring students. However, ECU will be hiring new faculty to meet special needs.

There has not yet been an in-depth “cash-flow” assessment? This will be done relative to cr hr generated. Budget projections will be provided in the future. The number of assistantship support stipends has not yet been determined, nor have the resources been identified. The academic collaborative team is addressing the resource issues. Budgetary items in the plan need to be thoroughly focused upon.

It was stated that more clarification needs to be provided relative to the intent of a research degree vs. a professional degree. Some of the statements in the intent to plan document appear to be more related to a professional degree. The interdisciplinary nature of the program is very evident, and there is a true sustainable niche opportunity.

The motion for approval of the “intent to plan” for a Master of Science in Sustainable Tourism was passed by the GSAB.

6. Approval of policies

a. Application for Graduation. The final document was approved as written and amended with the insertion of the word, “by.”

 

b. Comprehensive Assessment. The final document was amended to include the word, “dissertation,” and was approved as written.

 

c. Student Educational Records. The Registrar wanted the original language in the catalog to remain. The Registrar has come up with language that is already in the undergraduate catalog, and therefore it is appropriate for the Graduate School to also use a similar language. However, it was recommended that the exact amount of the transcript fee ($5) be eliminated since this amount will most likely change from year to year. The release of directory information will also remain the same.  It was moved that the language provided by the Registrar remain in the final policy document, and approval of this motion would therefore negate the previous GSAB revised document decision. The motion was approved.

 

d. Credit by Examination. We want to “hold-off” on this policy statement and consider it after we have had the opportunity to cover other pending policy considerations.

7. Policies for further discussion

a. Language Requirement. This policy document will be distributed to respective unit faculty and discussed with their colleagues. After these discussions, we will consider the policy later at the GSAB level.

 

b. Scholastic Standards – not discussed

c. Termination or Continuance of Graduate Study – not discussed

d. Others – not discussed

 

The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

R J Newton

Recorder