University of Nevada, Reno Graduate Council

Meeting Minutes, October 10, 2002

Members Present:

Jennifer Greer, Chair and Journalism

Marsha Read, Associate Dean of the Graduate School

Richard Davies, A&S, Social Sciences

Stacy Burton, A&S, Humanities

Jeff Thompson, A&S Science

James Winn, A&S, Fine Arts

Dana Edberg, Faculty Senate Representative

Brent Bowman, Business

Kathryn Obenchain, Education

Jeri Bigbee, HCS

Peter Krumpe, Medicine

Members Absent:

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

Rangesan Narayanan, Agriculture

Dean Adams, Engineering

Scott Tyler, Mines

Marilou Woolm, President, GSA

Michael Peters, recorder

Susan Henthorne, GSA Advisor

Guest: Dr. Steve Oberg, Director, Environmental Health and Safety

1. The Chair called the meeting to order at 1:35 and requested the standing reports be presented.

Standing Reports

2. Associate Dean: Read had no updates to report but responded to a question from the Chair regarding an announcement concerning the formation of a graduate program assessment team. Read indicated that this was in response to the findings of the Northwest Accreditation report which tasked the University with developing an on-going program to assess graduate programs. She indicated that there were already in place a number of key measures to assess graduate programs such as the content of comprehensive examinations and the review inherent in thesis and dissertation defenses.

3. GSA Report: Henthorne reported that due to the increase in undergraduate enrollment, the proportion of graduate students to the whole of the student body was reduced and consequently so was the proportion of revenues received from ASUN Bookstore sales. This will likely result in future cut-backs in GSA programs such as travel support although presently no cut-backs are planned.

4. Faculty Senate Report: Edberg reported that the Faculty Senate was awaiting new course proposals from the incipient College of Science and College of Arts and Humanities. She inquired as to whether or not she should report to the Faculty Senate the tasks the Graduate Council had set for itself for the academic year as well as the co-chairs for the subcommittees. The Chair concurred that this was a good idea and should be done.

5. Courses & Curriculum Report: Greer reported for Tyler that two new 700 level animal biotechnology courses had been approved but that they would serve as electives for graduate students in already established programs instead of being the foundation for a new graduate degree in this discipline. Also, that C&C had approved the adoption of the statement drafted by the Graduate Council to be added to the New Course Proposal form regarding what course proposals or modifications needed to be reviewed by the Graduate Council. She indicated that after a proposal had passed the appropriate college C&C, it would be forwarded to the Provost’s office who would then determine if the proposal needed Graduate Council review. Finally, that C&C had approved the XXX-899 course proposal, Graduate Advisement, which would serve as a registration option for non-thesis master’s students who needed to maintain continuous enrollment prior to graduation. The only modification to the proposal was changing the number of credits from 1 – 3 to 1- 4 which would enable enrolled students to meet the criteria for loan deferment.

Old Business

6. Approval of September meeting minutes: MOTION: To approve September’s minutes (as amended to change Policies/Procedures for oral committee co-chairs to Davies and Krumpe) Bowman/Obenchain. Motion passed unanimously.

7. Committee charges and tentative timeline: In discussion with the sub-committee co-chairs, the following tentative schedule of presentations was made:

Out-of-State tuition waivers: Winn/Woolm Nov, 2002

Policies/Procedures for oral committees: Davies/Krumpe Feb, 2003

Electronic submission of Dissertations: Thompson/Narayanan Feb, 2003

Graduate Catalog: Bigbee/Edberg March, 2003

Policies/Procedures for Certificate Programs: Burton/Adams April, 2003

Policies/Procedures for Professional Degrees: Bowman/Obenchain May, 2003

8. Report on Field Safety Protocols: Steve Oberg distributed a report on the status of his inquiry into developing a policy on safety protocols for graduate students involved in field research. There currently is no comprehensive policy and several of the insurance contracts covering university students/employees overlap in some measure. Oberg proposed providing graduate programs with a checklist of issues to be addressed by each program, tailoring their safety protocols to their own discipline’s needs. Discussion ensued to include the possibility of developing a release form to be signed by students involved in field research, akin to that signed by collegiate athletes.

New Business

9. Representative for Regents Advisor Award: Obenchain volunteered to serve as Graduate Council representative for the Regents Advisor Award evaluation committee.

10. Policy on time limit for graduate degrees: Read presented a proposed policy on out-of-status course work for graduate degrees which would limit exception to policy extensions to one semester beyond the established time limits (6 years master’s degrees; 8 years doctoral degrees) for advanced degrees. Discussion ensued. MOTION:(Burton/Davies) To approve draft policy as amended with an implementation effective date of Fall, 2004. The amended draft policy is:

Master’s Degree time limit: All work toward a master’s degree (transfer credits, credits completed at UNR prior to admission, course work credits, thesis credits, if applicable, and all examinations) must be completed within 6 calendar years immediately preceding the granting of the degree. The Graduate School will entertain an extension, normally not to exceed 1 year or 1/3 of the course credits required for the degree. Requests for extensions must come from the major advisor with the concurrence of the Director of Graduate Studies for the program and be based on an academic rationale or humanitarian rationale for the delay in degree completion.

Doctoral Degree time limit: All work towards a doctoral degree (transfer credits, credits completed at UNR prior to admission, course work credits and all examinations) must be completed within 8 calendar years immediately preceding the granting of the degree. For those students who have completed a master’s degree prior to admission to the doctoral program or a student completing the master’s degree en route, the program will determine how many (up to a maximum of 24 credits) and which credits may apply to the doctoral degree. Those credits so identified by the program will be exempt from the 8 year time limit. The Graduate School will entertain an extension, normally not to exceed 1 year or 1/3 of the course credits required for the degree. Requests for extensions must come from the major advisor with the concurrence of the Director of Graduate Studies for that program and be based on an academic rationale or humanitarian rationale for the delay in degree completion.

Motion passed unanimously.

11. Transfer Credits. Peters presented a draft of a catalog copy regarding transferring credits into advanced degree programs. The draft restores the entry which had been in the 2000-2001 General Catalog (and which had been somehow deleted from the current catalog) and clarifies procedures for requesting transfer credits such as listing each course from a completed master’s degree to be transferred to a doctoral program. MOTION (Krumpe/Burton): To approve draft catalog copy to be included in next catalog revision. The draft catalog copy is:

Transfer Credits

Students may request to apply graduate credit earned at another university toward an advanced degree at the University of Nevada, Reno by filing a Graduate Credit Transfer Evaluation Request form, available at the Graduate School. The request must be approved by the student’s director of graduate studies, the graduate dean and certified by the Office of Admissions and Records (i.e. that the credits are from an accredited institution, that they are indeed graduate level credits, etc.). The evaluation results are distributed to the student, adviser, and Graduate School for reference in graduate program planning. Normally, only courses with a grade of “C” or better may be transferred to a master’s program: only courses with a grade of “B” or better may be transferred to a doctoral program. Transfer credits must be approved prior to being incorporated into a student’s program of study.

For master’s degree programs, transferred credits must conform to the time limitation on master’s work, that is, must be completed within six calendar years immediately preceding the granting of the degree. Additionally, as there is a nine credit cumulative total limit on all credits completed prior to admission to a master’s program that may be applied to that degree, the total number of credits that may be transferred is limited by the number of other pre-admission credits intended to apply to the degree.

For doctoral programs (other than College of Education doctor of education degrees) a maximum of 24 credits from a previously completed master’s program, or other post-baccalaureate degree program, may be applied. Doctoral students who have completed a master’s degree in an appropriate discipline from an accredited institution may, with the approval of their graduate director, receive credit for up to 24 credits toward their Ph.D. degree. Students must list each course for which they wish to receive transfer credit on the Transfer Credit Evaluation form. All credits used to satisfy degree requirements for the master’s degree – excepting thesis credits – may be acceptable for transfer. Credits from a completed master’s degree are exempt from the 8 year time limit on course work for doctoral degrees.

Motion passed unanimously.

12. There being no other business the Council adjourned at 3:00.

The next meeting of the Graduate Council will be held on Thursday, November 14, 2002 at 1:30 in the Alan Bible Room of Getchell Library.