Graduate Council Meeting

Copper Room, Student Union

3:00 P.M.

October 18, 2013

Minutes

Invited Guest(s): Melissa Tatum

Members Present: Amy Fatzinger, Andrew Carnie, Brendan McDermott, Dianne Horgan, Dina Hingorani, Franci Washburn, Koen Visscher, Mary Beth Haralovich, Robert Ariew, Steven Kuhn, Tom Kennedy, Meg Lota Brown, Richard Vaillancourt, Timothy Secomb, Barry Goldman

Members Not Present/Excused: Betul Czerkawski, John Umbreit, Kelley Miriam Castro, Marcela Vasquez-Leon, Ryan Perkl, Denise Roe, Kirsten Limesand, Jerel Slaughter, Kelly Potter, Leisy Wyman, Lois Loescher, Lori Boyd, Maria Teresa Velez, Robert Torres

I.  Call to Order and Roll Call. The meeting was called to order by Meg Lota Brown at 3:04 p.m. Attendance was taken using a roll call sheet.

II.  Approval of Minutes. The September minutes were approved as presented.

III.  Dean’s Report - Carnie reported on the following topic:

A)  Student reporting: the Graduate College will buy the student reporting system which will piggy back on the faculty reporting system. This will help doctoral students in many ways including building CVs. It will be the department’s choice to use this system or not. There was a question raised about the eligibility of MFA students. Mary Beth Haralovich will report back to Dean Carnie with the total number of such students.

IV.  GPSC Report: Hingorani- GPSC just launched a call for applications for a research program training grant. So far there have been 24 applicants. Member Hingorani reported on a survey concerning GPSC advocacy. 93% of students participating thought GPSC was the representative government for graduate students. 26 students recently attended an ASUA meeting asking that GPSC be the representative of graduate students. There was no discussion, and they were not recognized by the Senators. GPSC wants to be recognized by the undergraduate leaders.

V.  Information Items

RCM2 subcommittee for graduate revenue and financial aid – Brown

A)  Member Brown handed out a draft of 10 discussion points that the sub-committee is working on.. Member Brown spoke about GIDP revenue in relation to units of instruction. The tax on Grad revenue will take place after financial aid is allocated. GIDP credit hours will flow to the home college of the instructor who teaches the class. Questions were taken from the membership.

VI.  Discussion Items:

A)  Amendment to By-Laws that a member of the Library be on the Graduate Council – Horgan

The changes to Article II are highlighted in yellow.

ARTICLE II

Membership

Section 1. Members shall include representatives of the faculty of those colleges with graduate programs that are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate College, graduate coordinators, and graduate students. Individual Colleges within larger colleges will have representation. The Dean and the Associate Deans of the Graduate College shall also be ex-officio members. The representative from Academic Affairs, Undergraduate Council, and the Library shall be ex-officio (non-voting).

Member Haralovich moved that we accept the amendment as presented and Member Visscher seconded. A call for discussion. Vote taken and it passed unanimously of the 15 members present. Cynthia will send out a call for evote to get the 2/3 vote of membership needed.

B)  MPS Proposal – Tatum – Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Governance

Melissa Tatum was in attendance to answer any questions about the certificate. The Graduate Council would not be approving this certificate but merely making a recommendation to the Provost. The program is for students who need legal training, but don’t need a JD degree to do their job. Member Secomb moved that a vote be taken for a Graduate Council recommendation, and Member Kuhn seconded. A vote was taken for a recommendation. Member Hingorani abstained. Motion carried.

C)  Summer enrollment status for library resource use (added agenda item)- Carnie –

Dissertation students are not fairly allowed access to library resources. Vendors of electronic journal data bases require students to be enrolled either spring before summer or fall after summer. Doctoral students completing during summer are not required to enroll and therefore cannot use the library vendor resources. The Graduate College proposes a “no fee course.” There will be no tuition money associated with this course, and this will be controlled by the graduate college. It will be a 1 unit dissertation filing course with a pass/fail grade. The following are the guidelines that must be met:

1)  Declared summer as graduate year.

2)  Can enroll only one time.

3)  Must have completed all course requirements.

4)  Have to be candidates and must have defended.

5)  Have to have met all requirements except for filing.

The Graduate College is asking the Graduate Council for a full endorsement of this course in order to move forward. Member Harlovich moved to endorse this course, and Member Hingorani seconded. The Council unanimously voted to endorse this course.

D)  1 credit full-time enrollment status for finishing thesis or dissertation - Horgan

Full time status needs to be more consistently defined. Member Horgan asked that full time status be set at one unit (rather than the current 3) for those students who are completing and need to be enrolled. This is intended for students who are by all intents and purposes a full-time student and not a full time employee. There will be a form that students can complete in the Grad Path system that their advisor and DGS can approve. This does not require a vote but only an endorsement from the Graduate Council. All present agreed to endorse the 1 unit enrollment policy.

E)  Dean Carnie – ACA Obama Care –

Dean Carnie wanted to make clear to be careful about the hours a grad assistant is working. Because of the new Obamacare, if students work more than .50 (more than 20 hours a week), they must have health benefits coverage. This is just a heads up to departments that there will be a committee working on this issue to be sure all departments are in compliance.

F)  Handbook guidelines: Horgan

The guidelines are not public yet, but it is very important that all departments/colleges have a graduate handbook available. If a grievance ever comes your way, it will get messy if colleges do not have an up-to-date handbook. Member Horgan suggested that, rather than restating University policy, perhaps provide pointers. Be on the lookout for handbook policy that conflicts with actual policy. Discussion ensued.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:25 p.m. The next Graduate Council meeting will take place on November 15th, 2013 in the Student Union Copper Room.

Respectfully submitted,

Cynthia Ann Bjerk-Plocke

Graduate Council Secretary

Addendum: Email vote results for an Amendment to the by-laws adding a member from the library as an ex-offico member; 8 votes of yes were received, thereby achieving the 2/3 vote needed for this change.