University of Nevada, Reno Graduate Council

Meeting Minutes, March 11, 2004

Members Present:

Stacy Burton, Chair and CLA, Humanities

Marsha Read, Associate Dean of the Graduate School

Kathryn Obenchain, Education

Donica Mensing, Journalism

James Winn, CLA, Fine Arts

John Nelson, CLA, Science

James Sundali, Business

Dana Edberg, Faculty Senate Representative

Rangesan Narayanan, Agriculture

Susan Henthorne for Jessica Muehlberg, President, GSA

Members Absent:

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

Jeri Bigbee, HCS

Tracy Veach, Medicine

Banmali Rawat, Engineering

Richard Davies, A&S, Social Sciences

Michael Peters, recorder

Guests:

John Frederick, Provost

Old Business

1. The Chair called the meeting to order at 2:35 and called for the Council to review the previous meeting’s minutes. MOTION (Nelson/Winn): To approve the minutes of the February 2004 meeting. Motion passed unanimously.

2. The chair deferred agenda item I. B Discussion with the Provost pending the Provost’s scheduled arrival at 3:30 and proceeded to agenda item I. C Revised draft of Appeals Procedures. Read reported that she had had the proposed appeals procedures reviewed by the university counsel who pointed out that section 6 of the university code adequately dealt with the same issues addressed in the draft procedures and recommended the Council forgo publishing procedures that essentially reiterate established policy. The Council agreed.

3. Graduate Certificate Programs: Burton distributed a draft of guidelines for certificate programs. The guidelines distinguish between a) professional certificate programs that are taken for no academic credit, do not lead to licensure of any type, and which do not require admission as either a graduate student or graduate special status, and b) graduate certificate programs offered for academic credit which are only offered at the post-baccalaureate level for academic graduate-level credit and which may lead to licensure by an outside entity. Burton then briefly reviewed the draft’s main points regarding graduate certificate programs, specifically the purpose of such programs; academic accreditation standards; admission criteria; procedures for developing and gaining approval for a certificate program; program review procedures; and procedures for discontinuing a certificate program. (see hand-out) Discussion ensued. The issue was raised that since completion of a certificate program would be reflected on an official transcript, should there be a minimum number of credits completed? Read said she would check with the Registrar to see what policy might apply. Read also reported that a review of certificate programs at peer institutions indicated that programs generally required between 12 and 15 graduate credits instead of the proposed 12 – 14 credits. Sundali recommended UNR follow suit with the peer institutions and the Council agreed. After further refinement of the draft guidelines based on the Council’s discussion, a final version will be available for the next Council meeting and then, upon approval, forwarded to the university Courses & Curricula Committee.

Standing Reports

4. Graduate Dean’s Report: Read reported she had just returned from the Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) conference. One of the topics addressed at the conference was the decline in international student admissions due to a) restrictions imposed by SEVIS, b) in increase in Ph.D. production in Europe and c) the initiatives of the European Union to standardize degree requirements throughout Europe.

5. GSA Report: Henthorne reported that the GSA was coming up and that this election would reflect the reapportionment resulting from the creation of the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Science. Deadline for nominations is March 22, 2004. Also, the GSA awards program is accepting nominations with a submission deadline of March 22, 2004. Awards banquet is scheduled for April 9, 2004.

6. Faculty Senate Report: Edberg reported that the Senate Executive Board decided to defer discussion of revisions to faculty workload policy until the Regents’ task force finishes their study and publishes their findings. An upcoming issue is a student-initiated proposal to publish student course/faculty evaluations on-line. Discussion ensued regarding the pros and cons of publishing faculty evaluations, the Council identifying a number of concerns that would need to be addressed to make such a proposal work. Burton suggested that it was too early at this point for the Council to state a position and the members concurred.

7. Courses & Curriculum Committee Report: Nelson reported on the proposed non-thesis master’s program from the Chemistry Department. This is intended as a terminal degree primarily for high school science teachers and would modify the current thesis program by replacing the thesis with two three-credit courses as well as a professional paper to meet the university minimum of 32 credits for a non-thesis program. Possible electives within the program would allow students to complete a number of relevant courses from the College of Education. MOTION (Sundali/Obenchain): To approve the non-thesis master’s program in chemistry. Motion passed unanimously.

8. Discussion with Provost: Frederick discussed the background for the current review of faculty workload which had last been revised in 1995. He indicated that UNR would not modify the current policy until after the Regents’ task force under Regent Jill Derby had completed their study. He discussed with the Council a number of concerns that had been forwarded to him after the last Council meeting and assured the members that no revisions to the current policy had been effected. The Council asked questions regarding the Regents’ timeline and discussed the possibilityof writing to the Regents’ workload task force regarding its concerns about workload at doctoral, research-intenesive institutions. The Council agree to do so.

9. Graduate Faculty Guidelines: Burton proposed that due to the lateness of the hour and that Council members had been unable to previously review the handout addressing graduate faculty issues, the Council members review the handout and discuss the issues at the next meeting. The Council agreed.

10. The Council adjourned at 4:30. The next meeting will be April 8, 2004 at 2:30 in the conference room at the School of Journalism.