November 9, 2005

The November meeting of the Graduate Council was called to order by Dean David Wittrock, at 8:30am, November 9, 2005, in the Memorial Union Badlands Room.

In attendance: Mark Aune, Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, Gary Goreham, Ross Collins, Rodney Traub, Jocob Glower, Amanda Dillard.

Absent: Joseph Brennan, Jo Ann Miller, Stephen O'Rourke, Judy Pearson, Donna Terbizan, Charlene Wolf-Hall, Ayanava Majumdar.

The minutes for the October 12, 2005 meeting were considered. Jacob Glower made a motion to approve the minutes. Harlene Hatterman-Valenti provided the second. Motion carried.

New Business

Associate Graduate Faculty Requests:

• The Council considered the request from the Communication Department to grant associate graduate faculty status to Peter James Balega. Ross Collins made a motion to approve the request. Gary Goreham provided the second. Motion carried.

Course proposals:

• Mark Aune made a motion to approve four new and revised courses: POLS 453/653 Environmental Policy/Politics (new); ENGL 758 Topics in Rhetoric and Writing (revised); ENGL 770 Studies in American Literature (revised); and ENGL 780 Studies in British Literature (revised). Jacob Glower provided the second. Motion carried.

Old Business

Plan C Option

• Council members discussed the original Plan C proposal which is designed for professional degree programs. Rodney Traub motioned to approve the Plan C option for master's degree programs. Jacob Glower provided the second. Motion carried. Dean Wittrock will take the approved Plan to the next Graduate Leaders Forum in December for review and comment.

Additional New Business

MBA Program Change:

• The Dean received a request from the College of Business Administration to delete the final written comprehensive exam requirement for both MBA programs. The exam is replaced with a capstone course experience (BUS 789) which follows the generally accepted practice at major schools of business. Rodney Traub motioned to approve the program change. Jacob Glower provided the second. Motion carried.

Twelve Credit Cap:

• The Dean mentioned that several programs (e.g. CDFS and Psychology) require more than 12 credits per semester to complete the program. Currently the department Chair writes a memo to the Dean which, if approved, is passed on to the registrar's office. Discussion ensued about whether a 12-credit cap is needed at all. The Dean will explore what our peer institutions are doing and bring it back for further discussion.

Dual-Career:

• The Dean explained the issues with graduate students taking undergraduate courses and having those courses count towards their graduate GPA as it relates to Peoplesoft careers. The Council discussed whether undergraduate courses taken conditionally should apply to graduate GPA and decided that they should not. The Dean will pass the information on to the Registrar.

Incomplete Policy:

• The Dean passed out the current Incomplete Policy with proposed changes. At issue is how to minimize the number of Incompletes assigned over several semesters. The Council discussed whether satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) should replace Incompletes over several semesters so progress can be seen. Council members were encouraged to take the issue back to their departments for discussion.

OLD BUSINESS (cont.)

Graduate Assistant Policy:

Tabled until next meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:30am.

Respectfully submitted,

Janis Bork