University of Nevada, Reno Graduate Council
Meeting Minutes, January 23, 2007
Members Present:
Matt Leone, Chair and HHS
Marsha Read, Associate Graduate Dean
Stacy Gordon, College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences
Aaron Santesso, CLA, Humanities
Victor Vasquez, Engineering
Ann Tyler, Medicine
Roberto Mancini, COS
John Louie, COS, Mines
Katherine Obenchain, Education
Rebecca Bevans, GSA President
Elliott Parker, Faculty Senate
Jaimie Benedict, CABNR
Duane Karna, CLA – Fine Arts
Dale Rogers, Business
Michael Peters, Recorder
Members Absent
Mark Brenner, Graduate Dean
Donica Mensing, Journalism
Guest
John Frederick, Provost
1. The Chair called the meeting to order at 2:35 and to accommodate a scheduling conflict re-ordered the agenda to take the program reviews first.
Physics: Read reported to the council and Provost on the findings of the external program review of the physics department. Among issues noted were the need to grow the number of graduate students and the need to clarify/expand the role of research faculty in graduate education.
Philosophy: Leone reported that the external review noted that the MA-only graduate program while small, graduated students fairly consistently. Identifying that a number of students had enrolled in the program as preparation for later attending law school, the reviewers suggested the department create a law school track that could share classes with other departments such as sociology and criminal justice. The Provost suggested the council discuss the criteria by which the institution could decide to either allocate additional resources to a given graduate program or elect to terminate a program. This will be a future agenda item for the council.
Chemistry: Vasquez reported on the external program review for chemistry noting that the reviewers thought that the programs number of faculty was “suboptimal” and that additional staff was required. This, however, is hampered by the limitation of high quality space accorded the program. Additionally, the reviewers recommended the program improve the diversity of faculty hirings.
Old Business
2. Approval of November meeting minutes: The Chair invited the council to review the previous meeting’s minutes and propose a motion to accept them. MOTION: (Obenchain/Bevans) To accept the November meeting minutes. Motion approved unanimously.
New Business
3. GRAD 701 Issues: Read invited discussion about suitability of GRAD 701 in preparing students to teach classes. Among issues discussed were the possibility of allowing departments to determine whether or not their TAs would be required to attend GRAD 701 (currently mandatory for all new TAs). Perhaps the 3 credits required by GRAD 701 was too much for students only being used as graders; that perhaps there should be different tiers of teaching assistants, those that actually teach and those that only grade papers or assist in labs. Read discussed the criteria used by the Associate Dean to excuse students from attending GRAD 701 (previous teaching experience, etc.), Also proposed was the idea of providing separate training to acculturate international students to teaching U.S. undergraduates.
4. Assistantship Language: Read presented the issue that a number of departments were concerned with their graduate assistants engaging in additional employment to the detriment of their academic progress. Read distributed a draft of language to be added to the Graduate School section of the catalog advising students with assistantships that they should not hold any additional employment particularly off-campus.
5. Faculty Senate: Parker reported that the Senate had discussed a new rule change in the Administration Manual that required faculty on 12-month contracts to take leave in order to perform consulting work. The Senate was looking into who had written this revision and whether of not it would be binding. Additionally, the Senate will request ASUN and GSA to develop an Honor Code for both undergraduates and graduate students.
6. GSA: Bevans reported that GSA was working on a housing questionnaire to determine graduate student housing needs. The questionnaire should be distributed in February. Also, GSA was holding workshops on CV writing, grant writing, and first-time home buying. Bevans announced that GSA will need about 65 faculty members to serve as judges for the spring awards program and that all interested faculty could contact her. GSA will be distributing upwards of $60,000 in awards monies during the April 17 – 20 Graduate Student Week.
7. Courses and Curriculum: Read presented the council with the consent agenda of items pending review by the university C&C committee. MOTION: (Karna/Obenchain) To approve the consent agenda. Motion passed unanimously.
8. There being no further business, the council moved to adjourn at 4:15. The next meeting will be held Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 2:30 in the JTSU Ingersoll Senate Chamber room 239.