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Graduate Council Minutes

March 17, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT

Voting: Professors T.P. Cronan, A.E. Ellstrand, P.M. Hewitt, V.H. Hunt, T.W. Martin, M.B. Orr, L.C. Purcell, M.D. Richardson, F. M. Scheide, L.M. Webb; Mr. R.M. Frazier; Ms. A. Turri

Non-Voting: Professors P.R. Koski, M. Limayem, M.T. Miller, J.R. Young; Ms. S.L. Theiss

MEMBERS ABSENT

Voting: Professors A.J. Dowdle, P.R. Selvam, T.G. Shields

Non-Voting: Professors C.H. Adams, M.E. Vayda

SECRETARY Ms. T. M. Fisher

GUEST Professor R.L. Brown

The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by Chair Patricia Koski

  1. Minutes for the February 17th, 2011, Graduate Council meeting stand approved, as no changes were suggested. (The minutes of the Graduate Council may be found at http://grad.uark.edu/dean/gradcouncil/minutes/index.html).
  2. Professor J. Young announced that Mullins Library will be without power to all systems and the building will be closed from Friday, March 18, at 5:30 p.m., through Tuesday, March 22 (during Spring Break). During the closure the primary power transformer and main electrical gear will be replaced in Mullins. Electronic access to library resources will not be available during this period.For general computing needs, students should use the general access computer labs elsewhere on campus, including the lab in the Arkansas Union where laptop computers may be checked out, while Mullins Library is closed. Mullins will reopen at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, March 23; all services, including electronic access to the Web site, the catalog, and databases, are expected to be operational again by 9:00 a.m.
  3. Professor M. Limayem announced that a new department in the Walton College of Business has been created, effective July 1, 2011. This will be the Department of Supply Chain Management.
  4. Committee Reports: Professor Koski distributed by e-mail before the Council meeting a report from the Teaching Assistant Effectiveness Advisory Committee, prepared by Ms. Diane Cook (Attachment A). The Academic Appeals Committee heard two cases in March and approved the requests.
  5. Professor M. Miller presented a motion from the Subcommittee on the Doctoral Residence Requirement to eliminate the Graduate School’s doctoral residence requirement, effective with the 2011-12 Graduate Catalog.  Individual programs and academic colleges will be allowed to maintain or create their own residency requirements, keeping in mind that these must be approved by the Graduate Council and enforced by the program/college. The motion was approved unanimously. [Note: The doctoral residence requirement stated that doctoral students must be enrolled full-time in two consecutive semesters (spring-summer; summer-fall; fall-spring; spring-fall)]. Because this was a Graduate Council requirement, the change need not be approved by the Faculty Senate.
  6. There was no Old Business.
  7. New Business:
    1. Professor M. Miller, Associate Dean in the College of Education and Health Professions, presented a proposal to delete the graduate certificate in Educational Policy (Attachment B and Attachment C). This proposal was approved unanimously by the Council. The proposal must next be approved by the Faculty Senate, then the Board of Trustees and Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
    2. Professor R.L. Brown, Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Electrical Engineering, presented a proposal to modify the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering (ELEGPH), as shown in Section V of Attachment D. This proposal was approved unanimously by the Council and must next be approved by the Faculty Senate.
    3. Professor T. Martin, Associate Dean in the College of Engineering, presented a proposal to modify the admission and graduation requirements in the Master of Science in Operations Management degree (OPMGMS) (Attachment E). The proposal was approved unanimously by the Council and must next be approved by the Faculty Senate.
  8. There were no course change proposals before the Council.
  9. The Council approved the graduate faculty recommendations listed in Attachment F.
  10. Professor Koski reminded the Council that, beginning in 2011, there will be a Fall commencement ceremony.

There being no other business, the Council adjourned at 2:25 p.m.

Submitted by: Patricia R. Koski, Chair

Approved by: Todd G. Shields, Interim Dean