University of Nevada, Reno Graduate Council

Meeting Minutes, September 13, 2001

Members Present:

Deborah Ballard-Reisch, Chair and HCS

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

Marsha Read, Interim Associate Dean of the Graduate School

Jennifer Greer, Journalism

Brent Bowman, Business

Jeff Thompson, A&S Science

Peter Krumpe, Medicine

Scott Tyler, Mines

Dean Adams, Engineering

Rangesan Narayanan, Agriculture

Chris Cheney, Education

Carlos Ledon, Graduate Student Association

Michael Peters, recorder

Members Absent:

Katharine DeBoer, A&S, Fine Arts

Robert Winzeler, A&S, Social Sciences

Stacy Burton, A&S, Humanities

Faculty Senate Representative

Guests:

Steven St. Jeor, Director, CMB program

Susan Henthorne, GSA Advisor

1. The chair called the meeting to order at 1:33. As there was no quorum, the council decided to proceed with the committee reports.

2. Associate Graduate Dean’s Report: Read reported

· Graduate School conducted a Directors of Graduate Studies workshop that was attended by 20 program directors. Another workshop will be scheduled later in the semester (tentatively early October) to address international student issues such as language testing, admissions, test accommodations, etc.

· The Graduate School has undergone some staff changes. Ann Drayer is now handling graduate assistantship processing; Pam Moore is the new administrative assistant for the Associate Dean, Katie Stickles and John Green are now processing admissions and progression paperwork, Tonya Schilling is the receptionist, and Michael Peters is the coordinator of graduate school operations.

· The Quality Assurance Program at Business Center North is reviewing the entire hiring process for graduate assistantships with the aim of improving procedures and reducing impediments.

· The Graduate School also conducted the first of a series of Graduate Student Survival workshops. These will be held the second Tuesday of each month at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. in the conference room on the second floor of Ross Hall. This is an opportunity for any graduate student to obtain information about university policies, procedures, and their progression to their degree.

[A quorum was attained at 1:55]

3. Courses & Curricula Report: Greer reported that at the May 7, 2002 :

• C&C reviewed the policy from Judicial Studies about its Comprehensive Exam (795) for doctoral students. This 1 credit course would raise the total hours required for the degree to 73, but it would not count toward the 30 credits of 700-level coursework requirement.
• Approved changes to the master’s degree in accounting. As part of the common course numbering initiative, the COBA renumbered many of its 300-level courses at the 400 level and added a 600-level component. For example, three courses, ACC 601, 602, 603, were created to go along with three 400-level accounting courses.
• Approved a new 700-level history course
• Discussed suggestions at a recent common course numbering meeting, which included having a University C&C Web page, adding statements to the catalog and schedule explaining the discrepancies that occur because of common course numbering, having a new format for minutes so that common course numbering changes were clearly identifiable, reflecting the olds course numbers and prefixes in the catalog.

At the Sept. 10, 2001, meeting:

• C&C approved changes in graduate courses in nutrition, obstetrics/gynecology, and speech pathology.
• Reviewed a USSCN Course Addition/Modification form. No action was taken on that.
• Discussed ways to streamline the C&C process campus wide.
• Should we eliminate the college-level or university-wide committees?
• Could we have more staff to review proposals?
• Should we require anyone with an item on the agenda to appear before the committee?
• There was some discussion about moving the intake of course changes from Academic Affairs to Admissions and Records, then hiring a second person to help with the process, so there would be one full-time curriculum specialist in the department who had at least part time help from another employee.
• Reviewed the administrative handbook section that deals with C&C

Other matters: Since Greer is no longer her college’s representative to C&C, the Graduate Council needs to identify a new representative to the committee for 2001/2002. Scott Tyler volunteered to serve and was approved by the Council.

C&C discussed the issue of there being no separate Graduate Catalog which lists the various degree requirements for each program. The Council discussed the issue, identifying students’ needs to know “exactly what they’re getting into” as well as program needs to be flexible in assembling the specific requirements for any given degree. The Council requested the Graduate School research the current status of graduate program descriptions in the current catalog and report back to the Council at its next meeting.

4. Graduate Dean’s Report: Brinkley reported on the background and rationale for the development of Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Guidelines (attachment). These guidelines were drafted to form the basis for a discussion about developing a permanent basis for supporting existing interdisciplinary programs and developing others. She requested that the graduate faculty review and evaluate these guidelines and forward comments to either the Council’s chair, Deborah Ballard-Reisch (dballard@unr.edu) or Michael Peters at the Graduate School (peters@unr.edu). This issue will be discussed at greater length at the next Council meeting.

Steven St. Jeor, the Director of the Cell and Molecular Biology program spoke briefly on the inception of his program and the development of the program’s by-laws. He described the difficulty such programs experience in sustaining the various kinds of support (financial, faculty, etc.) He distributed the CMB program’s by-laws to be reviewed in conjunction with the proposed interdisciplinary program guidelines.

Old Business

5. Election of officers: Ballard-Reisch indicated she would be willing to serve another year as chair.

MOTION (Adams/Cheney) That Deborah Ballard-Reisch be approved as Council chair for the 2001 –2002 academic year. Motion approved unanimously.

6. Human Subjects Notification Line on Graduate Student Program of Study Form: Greer introduced a proposed revision to the program of study form that requires students to identify whether or not their research involves human subjects, vertebrate animals, bio-hazardous materials or radioisotiopes. The initiative is intended to educate students as to the requirements for conducting these types of research. When a student indicated his/her research involved these subjects/materials, the Graduate School would forward the program of study to the Office of Human Subjects Research and the student would receive information about compliance with Federal regulations. In discussion, recommendations were made; for the Graduate School to conduct human subjects training for both students and faculty; to more widely disseminate the fact that noncompliance, in either funded or unfounded research, could have dire consequences for all researchers and the University at large.

MOTION (Krumpe/Tyler): To approve revision of program of study form and explore additional options for educating faculty and students regarding research requirements. Motion passed with 9 Yes, 0 NO and 1 abstention.

7. Linguistic considerations for international graduate students: Cheney and Ballard-Reisch introduced a proposed memo to be sent to all graduate faculty informing them of the issue of allowing students for whom English is a second language more time to complete tests, writing assignments, etc. appropriate to the requirements of the course or discipline.

MOTION (Krumpe/Bowman) To approve the memo being sent to graduate faculty as informational and without creating a university-wide policy. Motion passed unanimously.

New Business

8. Bridge Course Policy from Faculty Senate: Read introduced the proposal from the Faculty Senate that would allow international students who would otherwise be required to enroll in an intensive language education course to be waived from enrolling based on a request from the student’s advisor. Discussion ensued during which the general feeling of the Council was that the proposal was without merit.

MOTION (Greer/Narayanan): To modify the proposed bridge course policy as it applies to graduate students by deleting the option that graduate students may receive a waiver from their advisor. Motion passed unanimously.

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. October 11, 2001.