Executive Committee Meeting Minutes: December 13, 2002

Whetten Graduate Center - Giolas Conference Room
2:00 P.M.

The meeting was called to order at 2:07 P.M. Vice Provost Janet L. Greger presided.
It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve as distributed the minutes of the 11-8-2002 meeting.
It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve the list of Plans of Study and Dissertation Proposals.
The essential points of the text of the draft document prepared recently by the Master of Professional Studies sub-committee were discussed with the goal of creating a generic set of guidelines to be used by the Executive Committee when considering proposals to implement new interdisciplinary master's-degree programs. A few modifications to the draft were discussed and accepted.
It was moved and seconded to adopt the following statement as the policy of the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty Council:
The following standards apply to future proposals to implement new interdisciplinary master's-level fields of study and degree programs:
- New interdisciplinary master's-level fields of study and degree programs will be the result of partnerships between or among the Graduate School fields of study, academic departments, or non-departmentalized school or college involved. One academic department or non-departmentalized school or college must agree to serve as the lead department or unit in terms of providing necessary administrative support and services.
  - These partnerships will include, as a minimum, establishment of a curriculum and courses committee composed of at least 50% tenure-track graduate faculty from partner fields of study to oversee management of the new fields of study or degree programs. Whenever possible, the chair of this committee should be a tenure-track faculty member.
  - Curriculum and courses committees have authority over the curriculum, selection of faculty, and departmental level certification of degree candidates.
  - At the time of application to the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty Council, required courses designed for a newly-proposed interdisciplinary field of study or master's level degree program must include at least 50% that have been fully developed and already have been offered or piloted through existing academic departments or non-departmentalized schools or colleges.
  - Proposals for new master's-level interdisciplinary fields of study or degree programs must come to the GFC Executive Committee for approval.
- The implementation of new interdisciplinary fields of study or master's level degree programs will be facilitated by an ad hoc oversight committee which includes members of the Graduate Faculty with expertise in the field.
- Memoranda of Understanding should be developed between or among the Graduate School fields of study,
  academic departments, or non-departmentalized school or college involved.
- The motion to adopt the statement passed without dissent on a voice vote.
A proposal received from the Neag School of Education to modify a program [the Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG)] leading to the degree of Master of Arts in the Field of Education was considered and discussed. J. Greger explained that the nature of the modification involves a change of location from the Storrs campus to the regional campuses at Hartford and Stamford. Following discussion, it was moved, seconded, and passed on a voice vote to approve the requested modification. There was one abstention.
J. Greger introduced a draft document entitled Digest of Graduate School Policies for consideration and discussion. Greger explained that the purpose of the document is to state succinctly in one place the major policies of the Graduate School. It was agreed to include this as a major agenda item for discussion at the next meeting and that the document then should be considered and discussed by the Graduate Faculty Council.
J. Greger raised the matter of the upcoming implementation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). There was brief discussion. It was agreed that the Graduate Faculty Council should be updated concerning recent developments.
There was discussion concerning Graduate Certificate Programs. J. Henkel provided two documents on this topic: A Practical Guide to Graduate Certificate Issues (a paper written by Henkel) and the University of Connecticut Policy on Graduate Certificate Programs (adopted by the Graduate Faculty Council on 10-6-1995).

Major points of the discussion included:
- Employment trends and issues tend to drive certificate programs.
- Degree students and certificate students tend to be different populations.
- Completion of a certificate program does not in any way imply certification.
- Strong relationships between existing graduate degree programs and certificate programs are important in terms of assuring the quality of the latter.
- Courses generally needed to complete a particular certificate program should be offered within each one-year period to facilitate the timely completion of requirement
  
  Following discussion, it was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to add the following statement to the University of Connecticut Policy on Graduate Certificate Programs as point #5 under Criteria for Approval: At the time of application to the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty Council, required courses designed for a newly-proposed Graduate Certificate Program must include at least 75% that have been fully developed and already have been offered or piloted through existing academic departments or non-departmentalized Schools.
A proposal received from the Department of Political Science to implement a Graduate Certificate Program in Global Governance Studies was considered. Following brief discussion, it was moved, seconded, and passed to approve the proposal. There was one abstention.
Members discussed the question Should centers award graduate degrees and certificates?. A variety of concerns and issues were identified. As a result of the discussion, members expressed agreement that graduate degree and certificate programs should no longer be implemented in centers and institutes.
It was moved and seconded to adopt the following statement as the policy of the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty Council:

Newly-proposed graduate degree and certificate programs must have their administrative home in one or more academic departments. Centers and institutes may participate in the offering of a newly-proposed graduate degree or certificate program by formally partnering with the academic department(s) involved. The academic department(s) must agree to provide for the administrative support and services needed to run the proposed program.

The motion passed on a voice vote. There was one abstention.
Proposals received from the Institute of Public Affairs to implement Graduate Certificate Programs in Nonprofit Management and in Public Financial Management were considered and discussed.

In light of the action taken in item #10 above, it was moved, seconded, and passed on a voice vote to return the proposals for clarification. There was one abstention.
E. Smith raised for discussion the matter of including graduate-student tuition as a billable item on grant proposals. He recommended that widespread input be sought before requiring that this be done.
Adjournment was at 4:30 PM.

Present:

Clifford, J.G.
Cournoyer, D.
Greger, J. (Vice Provost)
Herzberger, D.
Maresh, C.
Marsden, J.
Maxwell, G. (Associate Dean)
Peters, T. (Assistant Dean)
Smith, E.
Strausbaugh, L.

Regrets:

Anderson, G.
Henkel, J.
Pagoulatos, E.

Respectfully submitted,

Thomas B. Peters
Secretary