University of Nevada, Reno Graduate Council

Meeting Minutes, September 12, 2002

Members Present:

Jennifer Greer, Chair and Journalism

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

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

Scott Tyler, Mines

Marilou Woolm, President, GSA

Members Absent:

Rangesan Narayanan, Agriculture

Dean Adams, Engineering

Michael Peters, recorder

Susan Henthorne, GSA Advisor

1. The Chair called the meeting to order at 1:35. The Chair the members to introduce themselves and, after introductions, proposed holding all standing reports to five minutes. The membership concurred.

Old Business

2. MOTION: That the meeting minutes from the May, 2002 meeting be approved. Burton/Tyler. Motion passed unanimously.

Standing Reports

3. Graduate Dean: Brinkley reported that international student admissions applications processing would be moving to the Graduate School. Greer asked about the status of the proposal to increase graduate assistantship stipends and to fund health insurance. Brinkley that the original proposal was a joint effort of UNR and UNLV and that UNLV had pulled out of the effort for various reasons. Brinkley indicated that she would try hard to find funding, available to the Vice President for Research’s office, to pay for health insurance and that she would continue to press the case to increase stipends.

4. Associate Dean: Read reported that graduate enrollment for the fall, 2002 semester had increased by .045% but that there had been no decrease in international graduate student enrollment as had been anticipated due to last year’s events. She reported that Lisa Oliveto from Admissions & Records was moving to the Graduate School to handle international admissions. Also, that due to budget constraints, the recently vacated receptionist position in the Graduate School would not be filled so that the staff would be one person short. Finally, that the Directors of Graduate Study workshop at the end of the month would focus on admissions issues.

5. GSA President: Woolm reported that GSA was establishing an international student transitional support fund to assist newly arrived international students with settling in the area. Also, GSA would be leasing a storage space to house such household items as furniture, kitchen utensils, bedding, etc. for use by graduate students in need. GSA was also involved in evaluating the possible conversion of the vacated Ramada Inn to graduate student housing and would report on developments at later meetings.

6. C&C: Tyler reported that the GRAD 899, faculty advisement , proposal had been sent to the chair of C&C and would be reviewed at the next meeting. Additionally, that the committee had returned a proposed revision of course prefixes (from CMPP to PHAR – pharmacology) pending final modifications (if any) to bio-environmental interdisciplinary graduate programs.

7. Faculty Senate: Edberg reported that Faculty Senate discussions focused mostly on budget and planning issues related to the strategic plan, but that the Senate did approve the GRAD 899 proposal.

New Business

8. Role of the Graduate Council: The Chair pointed out that one of the primary responsibilities of the Graduate Council is to review all graduate curriculum at the university. To facilitate this, she suggested the Council identify specific members to review proposed changes, revisions, proposals, etc. for particular programs and report back to the general Council for action. She called for volunteers to serve in these positions and the following assignments were made

Humanities – Stacy Burton

Professional Programs – Brent Bowman

Sciences – Jeff Thompson

Social Sciences – Richard Davies

9. Highlights of Last Year’s Council Actions: The Chair distributed a hand-out explaining the policy changes implemented by last year’s council involving the Graduate School Representative on graduate advisory committees and the use of GRE/GMAT test scores in the admissions process.

10. Committee Assignments: Greer and Read explained the issues to be considered by each proposed subcommittee which would then report back to the general Council with findings, recommendations, and proposed actions to be taken. After a brief discussion of the various topics, the following assignments were made:

a. Graduate Catalog Development – Bigbee and Edberg

b. Policy/Procedures for Graduate Certification Programs – Burton and Adams

c. Electronic thesis/dissertation submission – Thompson and Narayanan

d. Policies/Procedures for Professional degrees and/or combined/accelerated master’s degrees – Bowman and Obenchain

e. Policies/Procedures for oral committees – Davies and Winn

f. Out-of-state tuition waivers (other than assistantships) – Winn, Woolm

11. Change to Courses and Curriculum Form: The Chair distributed a proposed revision to the current C&C course form to include a statement that would clarify those items that would require Graduate Council review and approval. The revision would read:

If this is a new graduate program (including graduate certificate programs), the proposal must be approved by the University Graduate Council and the college-level Courses & Curriculum committee before going to the University Courses and Curriculum committee. The Graduate Council also must review substantial changes to existing graduate programs, including: the addition or deletion of any required course, the addition or deletion of options or tracks within a program, changes in the number of required credits, and changes in the thesis/dissertation, comprehensive exam, or professional project.

MOTION: To approve wording of C&C form revision. Krumpe/Winn. Motion passed unanimously.

12. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:40

The next meeting will be held October 10, 2002 at 1:30 in the Alan Bible room of the Getchell Library.