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.