February 14, 2007

The February meeting of the Graduate Council was called to order by Dr. David Wittrock, at 8:35am, February 14, 2007, in the Meineke Board Room of Memorial Union.

In attendance: Mark Aune, Bill Berzonsky, Jacob Glower, Verlin Hinsz, Renee Magnan, JoAnn Miller, Stephen O'Rourke, Donna Terbizan, Rodney TraubCharlene Wolf-Hall.

The minutes for the January 10 meeting were considered. Mark Aune made a motion to approve the minutes. Bill Berzonsky provided the second. Motion carried.

Course and Program Changes

Donna Terbizan made a motion to approve the course proposals listed below as reviewed by the Academic Affairs committee. Mark Aune provided the second. Motion carried.

AGEC 791 Economic and Fiscal Impact Analysis

ECE 423/623 VLSI Design

Dr. Wittrock asked that CSCI 758 Bioinformatics Data Mining be sent to the department requesting a letter of support from the Genomics and Bioinformatics program. He also said he signed off on course ME 796 Polymer Nanocomposites and Functionalities and course deletion MICRO 464/664 Etiology of Foodborne Illnesss.

Requests for Associate Faculty Status/Teaching Waiver

The Council considered a request for Associate Graduate Faculty status for four faculty with special appointments in Nursing. These faculty are not tenured or tenure-track, but they are core faculty in Nursing. Dr. Wittrock also presented a list of others with similar situations in other departments. Dr. Wittrock asked the Council for guidance as to how to handle these situations. After some discussion it was determined departments should request Associate Graduate Faculty status for those on the list. The request from Nursing was tabled until Dr. Wittrock had more information regarding the status of the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

The Council considered a request from Entomology for Associate Graduate Faculty status for Dr. Denise Olson. Donna Terbizan made a motion to approve pending verification of adjunct faculty status. Jacob Glower provided the second. Motion carried.

The Council considered a request from Genomics and Bioinformatics for Associate Graduate Faculty status for Dr. David Horvath. Verlin Hinsz made a motion to approve. JoAnn Miller provided the second. Motion carried.

Additional Items

12 credit enrollment cap

In January, the Graduate Council approved raising the credit cap to 15 credits for graduate students. However, the policy states that permission to take more than 15 credits also needs to be approved by the College Dean. The deans don't feel in necessary if the department approves. Donna Terbizan made a motion to remove this requirement. Charlene Wolf-Hall provided the second. Motion carried.

Request to take preliminary exam for third time

The Council considered a request from a student to take the preliminary exam for the third time. The student would like approval before taking the additional coursework recommended by the supervisory committee. Mark Aune made a motion to approve the request. Donna Terbizan provided the second. Motion carried.

New Program Request-Construction Management

Dr. Wittrock presented the new program request for Construction Management. The Graduate Council Academic Affairs committee already approved the request, though Dr. Wittrock wanted to know if these proposals should be reviewed by the entire Council. The Council did not express a need to see such proposals. Verlin Hinsz made a motion to approve the new program proposal for Construction Management with the Academic Affairs committees suggestions. Mark Aune provided the second.

Transfer credits from UW-River Falls

Dr. Wittrock presented the Council with a proposal from the College of Education . There is an opportunity to work with the University of Wisconsin-River Falls to provide their students with the course work making them eligible for Minnesota licensure. The students would take 15 credits at River Falls and 11 credits at NDSU. This would make them eligible for a degree at NDSU if we allow them to transfer the 15 credits. They would meet the didactic requirement and the 30 credit requirement. The Council asked the College of Education draw up a formal proposal for consideration.

Transcriptable Options and Subplans

Kristi Wold-McCormick and Mark Nawrot presented a proposal for establishing a protocol to review/record options/subplans. It is now possible to record subplans/options on student transcripts. Registration and Records would like to use graduate programs as a test group. Dr. Wittrock questioned whether graduate options have at least 9 unique credits to be considered an option. He told the Council the Graduate School will look at what programs currently have and if they fit the requirements listed in the proposal. He will report back to the Graduate Council and the Senate Academic Affairs committee.

At 9:55 a.m., Dr. Wittrock adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Melissa Selders-Ortez