Graduate Council

1:30 Policies

1. How many credentials can someone earn for the same set of coursework?
   • Credits earned in fulfillment of a graduate certificate program may be applied to a graduate degree, so long as they meet the appropriate standards for use in the degree and the criteria to transfer credit as defined herein. Courses completed for a degree program may likewise be applied toward a certificate program.” From transfer credit section.
     • If someone earns a PhD, do they by default earn a Masters and all associated certificates?
     • Can an individual earn a certificate, a minor, and a Masters using the same coursework? Does this have to be progressive, or concurrent? That is, can a student enroll in a certificate program after they have been admitted to the masters
   • Recommendation: the intent is that individuals can progress from certificate to masters to doctoral programs. Remove last sentence above, use existing transfer policies if applying credits towards another credential.
2. Graduate Minor
   • “A graduate minor is an academic area that clearly supports the major. Master's program minors must include a minimum of 15 quarter credits of graduate course work; doctoral minors require a minimum of 18 credits. On a master's or doctoral program, a minor may be:
     1. an academic area available only as a minor,
     2. a different major,
     3. the same major with a different area of concentration,
     4. an approved major at another institution in the Oregon University System, or
     5. an integrated minor.“
   • Students can transfer 15 credits towards a Masters degree – can those 15 credits satisfy the requirements for a minor? (Would student still need to have a faculty from the minor discipline on the committee, if the minor was from another institution?).
   • OUS no longer exists.
   • Recommendation: Remove item 4. Transfer coursework toward a minor must be approved on the program plan by the minor professor. Use existing rules.
3. Language Requirements
   • “The foreign language requirement for the MA degree must be completed before the student takes the final oral examination for the degree.”
     • Complication. Student may be enrolled in second year language course in same term they are ready to complete degree requirements. However, they must delay their final exam for an additional term to meet this requirement.
   • Recommendation: “A student must be enrolled to complete their foreign language requirement before they take the final oral examination for the degree”.
4. 24 hour rule
   • “A postbaccalaureate, nondegree-seeking graduate, or graduate certificate student may be considered for status as a regular degree-seeking graduate student under one of the following provisions, depending upon prior academic records:”
   • “If the student, prior to entering as a postbaccalaureate, nondegree-seeking graduate, or graduate certificate student had been denied graduate admission or would have been ineligible for graduate admission, as determined a posteriori by the University Graduate Admissions Committee, the postbaccalaureate, nondegree-seeking graduate, or graduate certificate student must complete option A or option B below and reapply or reactivate an application for admission to graduate-level study:
     1. complete 24 credits of courses each with a grade of B (3.00) or better, or
     2. complete sufficient credits to bring the cumulative grade-point average (that for the last 90 credits of undergraduate work plus that for courses taken as part of the 24-credit rule) to 3.00 or better before being eligible to apply for graduate admission.”
   • Reference item a: At Masters level, can only transfer 15 credits, yet require 24 credits to demonstrate capable of doing graduate level work and by-pass petition to GAC. Should 15 credits be sufficient at Masters level?  

2:20  Adjourn