Graduate Council

Graduate Council

April 29, 2016

Minutes

 

Voting members present: Stephanie Bernell, Theresa Filtz, David Finch, Lisa Ganio, Kokmun Ng, Lisa Price, Andreas Schmitttner, Stacy Semevolos,

Voting members absent: Sourabh Apte, Jim Coakley, Ryan Contreras, Drew Hatlen,

Ex-officio members present:

Guests: Jennifer Bachman, Rosemary Garagnani, Julie Gess-Newsome, Joe Johnson, Darlene Russ-Eft

 

Education (PhD/EdD) Options in Community College Leadership and Leadership in Higher Education - Dr. Darlene Russ-Eft, Joe Johnson

• New Graduate Option - Community College Leadership (see CCL.pdf)
• New Graduate Option - Leadership in Higher Education (see LHE.pdf)
  • This is the last step of the Adult and Higher Education reorganization; it is required to change the major code for the program; they are now ready to create options; and there were previously 21 major codes, and there are now 4.
  • Joe noted that there are seven community colleges in Washington that have recently moved to universities, there are also several in Florida that are doing this.
  • Neither option is starting as a completely new entity –CCL was previously a concentration within the program. Adult higher education is being carved out of existing courses in the degree program.
  • The program was reviewed four years ago and changes were made related to the review. The biggest change is moving the location from Silver Falls to Wilsonville and the number of meeting times was reduced from three to two. The learning outcomes were modified so they align to what is stated by the American Association of Community Colleges; removed the requirement for a portfolio, and instead have a written exam which is in advance of the oral exam; and they are finding that students spent so much time on the portfolio that it was delaying the exams, so students are completing more quickly. Previously, most students were completing PhD requirements, now very few are doing a PhD; most students are pursuing an EdD with a limited and carefully selected number of PhD students; the EdD and PhD programs have different requirements; the PhD is appropriately focused on research. There was no discussion after the guests departed.

Action: Stacy moved to approve the Community College Leadership Option; motion seconded and approved by voice vote with no dissenting votes.

Action: Lisa moved to approve the Leadership in Higher Education Option; motion seconded and approved by voice vote with no dissenting votes.

 

Graduate Minor in Risk and Uncertainty Quantification in Earth Systems - Reviewer: Andreas Schmittner, College of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences

• New Graduate Minor - Risk and Uncertainty Quantification in Earth Systems (see RiskUncertainty.pdf)
  • Andreas reported that the minor is related to an NSF trainee research program funded last year that started October 1, 2015, and funds 31 Graduate Research students. The funding is intended to create a program that is interdisciplinary among several colleges. It is related to the NSF Data Science in Engineering that funds the NRT, which requires curriculum development; the minor will serve students all over campus. The minor is relevant for the MSI Marine Studies Initiative, and the Hatfield Marine Science Center is enthusiastic about this program. Regarding course development, three professional development courses are the only new courses. Students will take the three new courses, as well as choosing from existing courses.
  • The existing courses are as basic level as possible, with the option of taking more advanced courses.
  • Is there a pre-requisite background, in particular Math or Computer Science? A large data class has not yet been developed, but it appears to be lower level. Andreas was not positive, but didn’t think that general pre-requisites are required.
  • Who will be responsible for advising students in the minor? Minor professor.
  • Are there learning outcomes associated with minors? There is no assessment required of minors.
  • Theresa will notify the proposers that someone should be identified as the point of contact.
  • Is the unit to develop a sustainability plan? Minors within majors are reviewed during the program review, but the stand alone-minors and options are problematic since they are not reviewed.

Action: Andreas moved to approve the Graduate Minor in Risk and Uncertainty Quantification in Earth Systems; motion seconded and passed with no dissenting votes.

 

Graduate Minor in Political Science - Reviewer: Lisa Price, College of Liberal Arts

• Change Graduate Minor - Political Science (see PoliSci.pdf)
  • Lisa noted that the graduate minor in Political Science was changed to indicate that there are no specific courses. It’s difficult to assess the proposal because the justification stated that there are two accompanying proposals to create two transcript visible options within the minor.
  • Rosemary reminded the Council that an option can’t be tied to a minor; it must be tied to a major.

Action: Lisa moved to reject the proposal because an option can’t be tied to a minor; motion seconded and approved with no dissenting votes to reject the proposal.

 

Policy to Limit Time-to-Degree

The recently passed policy to limit time-to-degree to nine years for PhD students is below. The policy matched the existing time-to-degree limit for Master’s students of seven years, and includes all transfer courses. The Council needs to discuss whether including transfer courses in the time-to-degree limit makes sense. 

 

Time Limit

All work toward a doctoral degree, including transferred credits, course work, thesis (if required), and all examinations, must be completed within nine years. Extensions of this time limit may be requested by submitting a petition to the Graduate School.

 

• There is a currency issue because the desire is for students to graduate with current information.
• Is it the purview of the Graduate Council or the unit to determine what is current?
• Why should graduate transfer credits not expire? If transfer credits are included, the student may already be several years into their program because the clock starts at the time the transfer credits were taken. Some students earn a Masters, work for a few years, and then go back for a PhD, which leaves only a short time to earn the PhD.
  • It would be helpful to provide foundational language for programs - need to look at quality of students, not just quantity of students.
  • Limitations on credits: for Master’s, residency must be met, and residency for PhD is 36 credits.
  • One member was hesitant about a ‘sundown’ policy as a general blanket at the university.
  • It would be good to have language capturing the idea that units or programs should evaluate the relevance of courses that are old or were taken a long time ago. Or language stating that transfer credits are not automatically approved.

Action: Jennifer will look into this issue and report back at the next meeting.

Action: David moved remove ‘transfer credits’ from the time-to-degree limit for the PhD; motion seconded and approved by voice vote with one dissenting vote. The revised time-to-degree limit for the PhD will be forwarded to the Faculty Senate for approval.

 

• Does the Council want to create a policy related to transfer credits or develop guidance?
  • Most were in agreement of guidance verbiage.

Action: Theresa will develop potential language and discuss at the next meeting.

 

Deadline Related to Filing of Programs of Study

This would involve a policy to return to a deadline around filing of programs of study. Currently, master’s degree students are required to complete a program of study before completion of 18 credits, which is supposed to be submitted at least 15 weeks before the final oral exam. Doctoral students have two terms if entering with a master’s degree or five terms without a prior master’s to create a program of study and hold a committee meeting. These deadlines are not currently enforced. Should they be?

• Graduate School previously sent a letter to students during every term they were out of compliance, and then it was changed to place a hold on registration. The deadline is 15 weeks prior to students’ graduation, but it’s not enforced, and it’s causing problems because tracking is difficult and there is the issue of adequate advising by the committee and pressure to approve transfer credits.
• Most were in favor of a notification sent to the student and program director.
• One felt it would be helpful for the Graduate School to play ‘bad cop’ and forward to relevant programs a list of those not in compliance.
• Jennifer noted that, in terms of student success, it’s a way to try to ensure that students are on task -- this is a way to ensure that students are on the right track. It should be something that makes students pay attention.

Action: This discussion will continue at an upcoming meeting.

 

 

Minutes recorded by Vickie Nunnemaker, Faculty Senate staff