University of Nevada, Reno Graduate Council

Meeting Minutes, November 8, 2001

Members Present:

Deborah Ballard-Reisch, Chair and HCS

Marsha Read, Interim Associate Dean of the Graduate School

Jennifer Greer, Journalism and vice chair

Brent Bowman, Business

Katharine DeBoer, A&S, Fine Arts

Robert Winzeler, A&S, Social Sciences

Jeff Thompson, A&S Science

Scott Tyler, Mines

Stacy Burton, A&S, Humanities

Rafik Beekun, Faculty Senate Representative

Dean Adams, Engineering

Susan Henthorne, Graduate Student Association

Michael Peters, recorder

Members Absent:

Peter Krumpe, Medicine

Linda Brinkley, VP for Research and Dean of the Graduate School

Rangesan Narayanan, Agriculture

Chris Cheney, Education

Carlos Ledon, Graduate Student Association

Guest:

Scott Casper, History

Victoria Follette, Psychology

1. The Chair called the meeting to order at 1:35. The Chair called on Scott Casper to introduce the History Department’s proposal for a Master of Arts in Teaching History degree program. Casper reported that the History Department was very much involved with K – 12 education and that the proposed degree would be part of an initiative to improve the teaching of history in high schools. The program would replace the current non-thesis option for the master’s degree in history and incorporate currently available history and education courses. The degree would require applicants to have at least two years teaching experience and allow teachers to obtain a subject-matter based degree (with an element of pedagogy) instead of a education master’s degree more focused only on pedagogy. The degree would not require any additional staffing, courses, or other resources and in-classroom assessment of teachers would not be part of the program.

MOTION (Winzler/DeBoer) Approve proposed Master of Arts in Teaching History degree program. Motion passed unanimously.

2. Courses and Curricula Report: No report.

3. Associate Graduate Dean’s Report:

Task Force on Emergency Medical Policies for Field Studies. Read reported that in light of the recent death of an Ohio State graduate student performing work in the field, UNR will be reviewing current procedures for handling a similar situation. Steve Oberg in conjunction with student, post-doc and faculty representatives will be working to establish policy and notification procedures.

Bridge Courses (to strengthen English language skills): Read posed the question as to whether or not these (undergraduate-level) language courses be counted as part of an international graduate student’s regular student load? The council discussed implications, i.e. lengthening student’s time to degree, assisting student to successfully complete their degree by enabling them to hold assistantships while not overburdened by academic load, etc. Read indicated that exceptions to the policy that these courses do not count toward a student’s academic load could be approved on an individual case basis. Read sent e-mail to all grad faculty, deans, and department chairs requesting input on this issue.

Graduate Catalog Follow-up: Read distributed a hand out showing the current on-line organization of the graduate catalog which includes links to specific program websites. Program sites should be careful to distinguish between undergraduate and graduate requirements.

Tuition waivers for graduate students follow-up: There are no exceptions to allow tuition “waivers” for certain students. Tuition is never actually waived – there are certain state funds earmarked to provide grants-in-aid to those holding assistantships and these funds are used fully expended each year.

Steve Zink, Dean of Libraries and Associate VP for Information Resources and Technology will attend next council meeting to discuss on-line submission of theses and dissertations.

4. GSA Report: Henthorne reported that GSA had awarded four, $500 child-care (need-based) scholarships as a new initiative. This program may be expanded in the future.

Fire Science Academy: The GSA strongly opposes raising student fees to pay for the Fire Science Academy.

Council Seats: The council still has a number of seats still open. Graduate directors are requested to encourage their students to be involved in student affairs and fill these seats. A complete list of vacant seats may be obtained from the GSA office.

5. Victoria Follette introduced the proposed non-thesis option for the master of arts in psychology. This would be a program available for clinical psychology doctoral students who would be able to complete a master’s degree en route to the Ph.D. Currently, the doctoral program has a heavy emphasis on empirical work using clinical subjects with an emphasis on publishable research. After their third year, students have completed sufficient course work for a master’s degree but have not entered into the clinical internship from which they will derive the substance for their research. Many internship programs expect entering students to have completed a master’s degree. This program would allow UNR students to complete a non-thesis master’s degree and thus be more competitive for internship programs. The program would require no additional resources.

MOTION (Thompson/DeBoer): Approve Non-thesis Master of Arts degree in Psychology. Motion passed unanimously.

6. There being no other business and it being 3:20, the Council adjourned. The next meeting with be held in the Alan Bible Conference Room, Getchell Library, at 1:30 p.m. December 13, 2001.