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Graduate Council Minutes

June 16th, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT

Voting: Professors T.P. Cronan, A.J. Dowdle, A.E. Ellstrand, V.H. Hunt, T.W. Martin, L.C. Purcell, F.M. Scheide, P.R. Selvam; Ms. C. Hunnicutt

Non-Voting: Professors P.R. Koski, L.J. Robertson; Ms. S.L. Theiss

MEMBERS ABSENT

Voting: Professors P.M. Hewitt, M.B. Orr, M.D. Richardson, L.M. Webb, T.G. Shields; second student representative

Non-Voting: Professors C.H. Adams, M. Limayem, M.T. Miller, J.R. Young

SECRETARY Ms. T. M. Fisher

GUESTS Professor G. Wardlow

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

  1. Professor Koski announced a revision of the agenda, to add new item 7., clarification of the Retroactive Graduate Credit policy. 
  2. Minutes for the May 19th, 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/). 
  3. Professor Koski thanked the departing members of the Council for their service.  These members are Professors Hunt, Orr, Purcell, and Webb.  Student members were R. Frazier, C. Hunnicutt and A. Turri.  She also thanked Professors Hunt, Martin, Orr, Purcell, and Scheide, as well as Mr. Frazier, Ms. Hunnicutt and Ms. Turri, for their service on the Academic Appeals Committee this past year.
  4. Committee Reports:  Before the Council meeting, Professor Koski distributed by e-mail reports from the Teaching Assistant Effectiveness Advisory Committee, prepared by Ms. Diane Cook, the Academic Appeals Committee and the Annual Graduate Student Academic Review Committee (Attachment A).  No member of the Council had questions about the reports.
  5. There was no Old Business.
  6. New Business: Program Changes
    1. Professor T. Martin presented a request from the Department of Electrical Engineering to allow up to nine hours of transfer credit from universities with whom we have a “1 + 1” exchange agreement for our Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) degree; and also to allow this transfer from foreign institutions (Attachment B).  The proposal was unanimously approved and will go into effect immediately, as it does not require Faculty Senate approval.
    2. Professor G. Wardlow, Head of the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, presented proposals to modify the course work for the M.S. degree in Agricultural and Extension Education (AEEDMS) and to offer the degree by distance through the AG*IDEA Agricultural Education Alliance  (Attachment C, Attachment D, Attachment E).  After discussion and an agreement that catalog copy should be revised, the proposals were approved and will go next to the Faculty Senate.  The proposal to offer the degree by distance must also be approved by the Board of Trustees and the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
  7. New Business:  Policy Clarification:  Professor Koski asked for clarification of the Retroactive Graduate Credit policy.  Attachment F contains the new language approved by the Council, with a vote of seven in favor and one abstaining.  This policy will be in effect immediately, as it does not require Faculty Senate approval.
  8. New Business:  Policy Change:  After considerable discussion about the continuous enrollment policy for post-candidacy doctoral students, the Council voted to strike the word “graded” in the following:  “All doctoral students who have been admitted to candidacy must enroll in a minimum of one hour of graded graduate course work or dissertation credit every semester (fall, spring, summer) until they graduate.”  The Council asked the Graduate School to gather information on the program/department policies governing candidacy exams and to also gather information about enrollment policies from benchmark institutions. 
  9. The Council approved the graduate faculty recommendations listed in Attachment G.

There being no other business, the Council adjourned at 3:20 p.m.      

Submitted by: Patricia R. Koski, Chair

Approved by: Todd G. Shields, Dean