Graduate Council – Minutes

East Tennessee State University

October 29, 2012 1:15pm

President’s Conference Room – Dossett Hall 206

 

Present:  Dr. Karin Bartoszuk, Dr. Jeffrey P. Beck, Ms. Queen H. E. Brown, Dr. Russell Brown, Dr. Scott W. Champney, Dr. Emmett M. Essin, Dr. Marsh M. Grube, Dr. Donald B. Hoover,

Dr. Jeff R. Knisley, Ms. Billie Lancaster, Dr. Lori Marks, Dr. Cecilia A. McIntosh,

Ms. Laura Pepper-Weiler, Dr. Martha M. Pointer, Dr. Kathleen M. Rayman,

Ms. Colleen Scott, Dr. Marie Tedesco, Dr. Florence M. Weierbach

 

Absent:  Dr. Stacy D. Brown, Ms. Maria d. Costa, Dr. William R. Duncan, Dr. Eric S. Glover,

Dr. Marie Jones, Dr. Robbie Pack, Dr. Ester L. Verhovsek, Ms. LaDonna Hutchins

 

Guests:  Ms. Evelyn Roach, Dr. Roberta Herrin

 

Approval of September 2012 Minutes:

 

The September 24, 2012 minutes were approved without corrections.

 

Curriculum Subcommittee report – Dr. Martha Pointer 

 

Each of the proposals below was considered using the following characteristics as an element of the appropriateness of the proposal:

Appropriate credit hour assignment

Appropriate discipline-specific best practices

Appropriate purpose and goals of the proposal

Appropriate intellectual/learning outcomes

Appropriate content and topics

Appropriate major assignments

Appropriate class level

Appropriate course type

Appropriate course delivery method

Conflict with other courses or programs

Articulation and transferability of credit to other institutions

 

New Degree Program – Master of Arts in Appalachian Studies:

 

            This degree will build upon the Graduate Certificate in Appalachian Studies and the many Appalachian resources provided by the university.

 

            The subcommittee recommends approval with the following changes:

 

            A.        The first mention of the Archives of Appalachia is not until page 12.  This resource should be mentioned earlier as this distinction will resonate with the non-expert reader.

            B.        On page 4, Impact, it is stated that the program will provide additional course offerings for students in other programs.  However, the proposal also states that no new courses are being proposed.  These two statements seem to be in conflict.

            C.        On page 4, Plans for Accreditation, something is missing at the end of the sentence.

            D.        A general question from Dr. McIntosh, why are the biology courses in Appalachian flora and fauna excluded?  Are they appropriate in light of plants with medicinal value?

            E.        On page 7, Admission, Retention, and Graduation Requirement, please list the items in bulleted format and place GRE and GPA requirements on separate lines.

            F.         On page 7, Description of New Courses, please re-word the sentence to say “No new courses are needed to offer this program.”

            G.        On page 7, letter G, should you include the Archives here?

            H.        Note to Dr. Herrin: On page 9, you state students will take three hours as part-time students.  This is fine; however, many part-time students take six hours in order to qualify for financial aid.

            I.          On page 9, Evaluation Plans, the School of Graduate Studies also will share results from the exit surveys each year.

            J.         On page 22, Congruence with State Master Plan for Higher Education, the same phrase is used twice (“speaks most directly to the following priorities of the State Master Plan”).  Please edit this section.

            K.        On page 12, Institutional Priority, at the end of the first paragraph inside the parenthesis, suggest using something like ”e.g.,..” rather than an exhaustive list.

            L.         On page 13, Labor Market Evidence, at the end of the first paragraph, you state that some areas do not align with the data.  Please include a statement as to why this is true.

            M.        On page 14, in the chart, why does the Travel and Tourism data in the right column not have a “-“?

            N.        On page 15, in the second paragraph of the Anticipated Impact, please insert the hyperlink for the MALS website.

            O.        Question for Dr. Grube: On page 17, does the listing for Mr. Boner raise a red flag since he does not have a graduate degree?

            P.        For Dr. Grube: On page 19, please note that the MCM is not an alternate degree for the MPA.  The request is for the termination of the special degree designation, not the termination of the concentration.

            Q.        Please add page numbers to the document.

            R.        On the Snapshot, Narrative Description of Action, the word “wellbeing” is used as two words.  In the remainder of the document it is shown as one word.

            S.        Is there articulation between the Graduate Certificate in Appalachian Studies and the MA in Appalachian Studies?

            T.         On page 9, in the first sentence, states that surveys were discussed above. However, they were not.  They are later in the document.

            U.        On page 12, the list of academic units is capitalized.  However, earlier on page 7, Part G they were not.

            V.        On pages 13 and 14, in the chart, human resources, marketing, and planning are listed as fields relevant to the proposed degree.  How so these areas relate to Appalachian Studies?

            W.       On page 15, in the Anticipated Impact, the last sentence again states that students will have more courses; however, the proposal lists no new courses.

            X.        On pages 16 and 17, in the chart, Dr. Lloyd is listed twice.

            Y.        On page 12, in Institutional Priorities, the academic units are capitalized; however, on page 7, letter G, they are not.

            Z.         On page 14, Societal Need Evidence, much of the information is repeated from page 11, bullet four.

            AA.      On page 16, the information at the top of the page is repeated from page 10, top of the page.

            BB.     Celia McIntosh is confirming with Rick Osborn if the reorganization of cross disciplinary studies has been approved and, if so, the proposal can be corrected to reflect the current name of this department.

          CC.    On page 15, edit the quoted sentence “narrow focus…” to “alterative to specialized focus of many graduate programs…”

          DD.    On page 15, remove the quotation that includes “satisfy the intellectual…”

          EE.     On the list of faculty, correct spelling is Jill LeRoy Frazier.  Marie Tedesco states the Dr. Frazier’s degree is a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature.

 

Action taken by council:  approved with the above recommendations

 

Graduate Faculty Subcommittee report and recommendations – Dr. Tedesco

 

Graduate Faculty Subcommittee Report

October 2012

 

New Appointments:

 

            Applicant                                           Dept.                                       Recommendation

 

1.      Brown, Patrick                                    Health Sciences                       Member

2.      Devaiah, Shivakumar                          Biol. Sciences                          Affiliate

3.      Riska, Kristal Mill                               Aud. & SPCH Lang. Path      Member

4.      Wheeler, John                                     Teaching and Learning           Member

 

Re-appointments:                 

 

Applicant                   Dept.                           Present Status            Recommendation

 

1.      Chen, Weixing           Pol. Sci. Int. Affairs, PMGT   Full                  Member          

2.      Close, David               Physics                                    Full                  Member

3.      Gao, Yongli                Geosciences                            Full                  Affiliate

4.      Hamm, Dennis            CJCR                                      Interim                        Affiliate

5.      Miller, Hugh                Biological Sciences                 Associate         Member

6.      Wardeska, Jeff                        CHEM                                                Associate         Member

 

Old Business:

 

Firstly, Dr. Beck gave an updated account of the DegreeWorks progress along with introducing Ms. Evelyn Roach who is the Degree Audit Specialist with the Registrar’s office.  She is replacing Ms. Kristi Williams.  According to Ms. Roach and Dr. Beck, the transcribing is being processed and campus training is scheduled to begin in January.  Also, Dr. Beck contacted UT-Chattanooga regarding their DegreeWorks program and was advised the program is working according to their expectations.  DegreeWorks is a web-based tool for students to monitor their academic progress toward degree completion by reviewing a degree audit. DegreeWorks allows students and their advisors to plan future course work, reorganized their transcript chronologically and categorically, identify courses completed and courses required to fulfill degree requirements.  DegreeWorks progress is gradually being implemented.

 

Secondly, Dr. McIntosh summarized the first ETSU Fall Career and Graduate School Fair held Wednesday, October 24, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Millennium Centre.  This has been attempted in the past, but finally all elements came together this academic year.  The Graduate School and University Career Services collaborated to implement the Career and Graduate School fair.  It was well attended, busy, noisy, and fun with 48 employers and 29 universities most of which were law and pharmacy schools.  Dr. McIntosh paid for six tables groups and there were six other ETSU colleges represented.  There were representation for Emory and Henry, King, Milligan, and Carson Newman.  Mr. David McGee’s office organized the events and it was well advertised.

 

Third, Dr. Champney gave a narrative of the 2011-2012 Graduate Council Annual report.  Dr. Champney is the Graduate Council representative on the Academic Council.  The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee presented a summary of all the new proposals, curriculum changes, new programs, etc., attached to their annual report.  Dr. Bach thought this was a good idea and suggested that Graduate Council compose a similar narrative to their annual report.  Dr. Martha Pointer has emailed the subcommittee curriculum narrative.  Dr. Champney will send Dr. Tedesco a model of Dr. Pointers and requests the report includes committee members, appointees for 2011-2012.  Dr. Champney suggested Dr. McIntosh compose a narrative of past accomplishments which includes the Boot camp, new policies and procedures, enrollment, research awards, and scholarships, etc. to set a precedence.  Dr. McIntosh asked Dr. Bartoszuk and Dr. Beck to assist with the narrative.

 

Fourthly, Dr. McIntosh reported on the Fall TCGS (Tennessee Council of Graduate Schools) annual meeting in Nashville on October 22, 2012.  A number of items are occurring, however, the number one is new certificates.  Also, the enrollment is up 7% for ETSU and Austin Peay is up 1% whereas all other TBR institutions are flat or below average.  Dr. McIntosh and Dr. Beck representing ETSU reported on our successes.  The Research awards, the Illuminated Magazine launch, Bucky’s Food Pantry, The Success Specialist, awards, professional development, and the Exit Survey are among the ETSU successes.  It was reported ETSU has a new President, new programs, and enrollment is up.  A proposal was discussed to increase application fees to create a paperless environment.  Presently, we have electronic applications, dual degrees, and international partners.  ETSU will investigate reviewing of GA’s, the FOSA category, research forums, recruiting grants, and what to add to applications to make them more efficient and effective.  After Dr. McIntosh’s summary, she inquired if there were questions or comments.

 

New Business:

 

Dr. McIntosh presented a summary of seventeen years of Graduate Program Data and distributed to each council member for their review while she commented on the data. The data is composed of the years 1996 to 2012.  The data consisted of all the colleges and includes the applications, fall enrollment/admissions, and degrees earned.  This data gives an indication of what programs are working, what programs need to be eliminated, and what should be recommended for improvement in the programs.  Dr. McIntosh will report to this data to Dean’s Council on Thursday, also.  Furthermore, Dr. McIntosh will have discussion with the deans and chairs after sharing the data for their feedback.  The data, discussion, and feedback will be utilized to improve enrollment, admission, retention, and graduation percentages.

 

Secondly, Dr. Bartoszuk presented the results of the current exit survey that have been conducted for the last three semesters.  The data includes fall 2011, spring 2012, and summer 2012.  There were 450 surveys with an average response rate of 43%.  The exit survey covered the pertinent questions, such as reason to pursue graduate degree, responsibilities as a GA/TS, tasks involvement, departmental support, financial support, degree requirements, level of debt, future plans, and factors associated with graduate retention.  The exit survey complied valuable data to share with departments, deans, and chairs.               

 

Other:

 

Dr. McIntosh requested ideas to include in the 125 committee.  The responses consisted of increased travel funding for departments, child care facilities for tweens, a way to include international student online access, student activity fees to be used for graduate student’s needs, culture and outreach programs, health insurance for students, and increasing the stipend GA amount.  Dr. McIntosh will compose a listing and present to the 125 committee members and thanked the council for their input.

 

Furthermore, Dr. Beck stated the GRE workshop was a success. The first GRE workshop conducted signed up 33 out of 45 students.  There is a plan for another GRE workshop in January 2013.  Also, if there has been increased interest in a GMAT workshop.  Dr. Beck is researching to see if this is feasible.  

 

Adjournment:

 

There was no further business to discuss; therefore, the meeting was adjourned at 2:20 p.m.