Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators Minutes
September 5, 2013
1:00-2:30 p.m.
BSOM – Blue Auditorium
Present: Abrahamson, Karl; Ahmed, Syed; Atkinson, Terry; Avenarius, Christine; Aziz, Shanaz; Bass, Kelly; Benfield, Rebecca; Brown, Carol; Chambers, Crystal, Cook, Alethia; Cox, Kathy; Curtis, Scott; Dar, M. Saeed; Decker, Jim; Dingfelder, Michael; Donica, Denise; Dotson-Blake, Kylie; Dudek, Ron; Eagle, Scott; Eble, Michelle; Espinosa, Dana; Frank, Amy; Franklin, Richard; Gemperline, Paul; Gindoff, Alan; Harris, Susie; Huenor, Thomas; Jones, Terry; Kelly, Tim; Kisling, Eric; Kulas, Anthony; Lamson, Angela; Littlewood, Kerry; Mahar, Matt; Mansfield, Chris; McConnell, Tom; Morehead, Andrew; Muller-Borer, Barbara; Oliver, Jason; Ozan, Erol; Patterson, Belinda; Pokorny, Marie; Prividera, Laura; Swanson, Carl; Sua, Lou; Thompson, Bob; West, Terry, Williams, Tina; Wingard , Chris; Woods, Terri; and Heather Wright.
Guests: David Hisle and Tamara Rhodes
1. Call to order
· 1:05 PM
· Dr. Gemperline welcomed all members and thanked members for their attendance and contribution
· Dr. Gemperline announced Dr. McConnell will coordinate the Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators Minutes
2. Approval of minutes from March 28, 2013
Approved
3. Reminder- Drop date for graduate students changed from Dec 2 to October 24!!
4. Introductions, new GPDCs
5. Reminder, staff changes & assignments (Deborah Robinson and Renita Harley gone)
· Newly admitted students assigned to processors by last name
· Working to hire two new people in graduate admissions
6. Financial Aid – Julie Poorman
Item will be moved to the agenda for the next meeting – general updates on financial aid
7. Graduate Student Tuition & Fees Billing & Payments – Debra Bailey
Item will be moved to the agenda for the next meeting – general updates on tuition, fees, billing, and payments
8. Graduate Research Series – Belinda Patterson and David Hisle (Graduate Student Outreach Coordinator, Joyner Library)
· Expanded workshop series – 5 fall workshops highlighting Succeeding in Graduate Research, and electronic resources available at the library
· Focus on questions students need answered before beginning research
· Plan to offer workshop series in spring (this semester will serve as a pilot)
o Videos of workshops will be made available online
· Library recently subscribed to IPAD browzine – an application that allows students to stay current with research
9. Electronic submission of documents
· ETD process now all online submission, including Signature page and Library Distribution Agreement (uploaded with signatures as pdfs)
· Plan to suggest an electronic process to facilitate the review of pre-research approval forms
o Will discuss making this form required (after revising)
o Bring to the Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators for discussion and approval, then bring to Graduate Council
10. Fall enrollment for 2013, please prepare to discuss graduate recruitment and enrollment plans at next (October 9) meeting, as well as graduate certificate enrollment
· Graduate enrollment headcount down by 300 students
· Experiencing declines since 2009
· Declines are not exclusive to teacher training programs – declines in other areas
o Growth experienced in some areas
· Official headcount data will be distributed next week
· Chancellor, the Academic Council and the Board of Trustees are concerned with the enrollment decline
· Each department is asked to prepare an enrollment summary for the graduate school vetted through college chair and associate deans
o List 3 or 4 strategies that will be used to achieve enrollment growth goals
o Explain if target goal was exceeded or missed for the fall semester and why or why not.
· Educational Advisory Board –workshop for Deans October 24th
o A workshop for associate deans and program directors will also be conducted the same afternoon to make aware of market research and opportunities for enrollment growth
· Other suggestions:
o Graduate recruitment representation – Robin Ashley developing schedule for recruitment fairs
o Pool resources and expand size of the booth
o Provide career development services appropriate for graduate students -- Joint hire with Career Services
o Provide professional training/career advancement
o Providing flexible options for part-time students in areas where it is appropriate to do so
11. Graduate Council elections – eligibility and timing of elections
· Associate Deans will institute this process
· Elections will be held at the October meeting
12. Affordable Care Act and changes to Assistantship hours in contracts and EPAFs
· Institutions with 50 or more employees must offer subsidized affordable health insurance that meets the affordable health care act minimum to all individuals who work 30 hours per week or more
o This will include graduate students and is currently not offered to Master’s students
· Temporary limit of a maximum of 25 hours (advocating for 27 hours) for graduate assistants
o 1 credit hour taught = 3 hours of work
· Although mandate is delayed until January 1, 2015, affordable care requirements may need to be met for the current fall semester because of the look-back measurement period
o Waiting for direction from UNC General Assembly
· Dr. Gemperline will be meeting with Human Resources to implement a system in Banner to assist with process
o Penalty for non-compliance is $2,000 per employee employed by the institution
o 95% compliance rate
13. Plus/minus grading – Graduate faculty will be polled
· Polling data used to decide if this topic needs to be pursued further
· Send out pros/cons that were discussed last year
· Data on undergraduate students show a very small increase in GPA with the use of the plus/minus system
14. Time Limit Policy revision
15. Candidacy Policy
Draft policies are under development and will be distributed before next meeting
16. Announcements
17. Next meetings – Wednesday, October 9, 3:30 – 5:00 PM, MSC 244, and Monday, November 11, 3 – 4:30 pm, MSC 221; GPDC site: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/gradschool/GPDCMainSite.cfm
18. Meeting adjourned,
2:35 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Tripp