Executive Committee Meeting Minutes: June 26, 2003


Whetten Graduate Center - Giolas Conference Room
1:00 P.M.

  1. The meeting was called to order at 1:17 P.M. Vice Provost Janet L. Greger presided.

  2. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve as distributed the minutes of the 5-9-2003 meeting.

  3. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve the Doctoral Plans of Study and Dissertation Proposals.

  4. J. Greger provided the committee with progress reports on:

    - Graduate Assistant Health Insurance
    A plan has been secured although, it is a reduced version of the current state employee plan with a larger co-pay but will contain prescription and dental coverage. Once available, J. Greger will distribute the details via email first to Graduate Faculty Council, then to Deans and faculty and lastly, to graduate assistants.

    - Potential of establishing a cooperative graduate program with Tuskejee University through Mary Musgrave contact. More information will be provided by Mary Musgrave in the future.

    - Electronic Graduate Applications
    J. Henkel updated the committee on the progress. There are still small glitches with the interface to PeopleSoft that need to be worked out. Bruce DeTora & Lori Aronson have agreed to allow VISA as an acceptable form of payment for electronic graduate applications only.

    - Electronic Plans of Study
    J. Henkel distributed samples of electronic plans of study from Political Science & MBA programs along with a couple of example MBA student transcripts. The committee was pleased.

    Program review should include an audit of student transcripts taken from a random sampling as designated by the Executive Committee/Graduate School.

    - Graduate School Policies/Procedures
    J. Greger distributed a summary of Graduate School policies for inclusion in the newly established university website: Graduate Faculty Council, Graduate Faculty, Approval and Review of Graduate Degree Programs, Approval and Review of Graduate Certificate Programs, Graduate School Admission, Graduate Student Enrollment, Graduate Student Academic Dismissals. All but one (GEC) of these policies/procedures had been approved by the Executive Committee previously. [SEE ATTACHMENT]

    The Executive Committee suggested the wording of the Graduate Faculty Council statement be changed from "suggests" to "recommends." It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve the recommended word change.

    - Post-docs - Where do they belong?
    UConn Health Center produced a policy on Postdoctoral Research Fellows Employment, Mentoring & Career Development. The Executive Committee decided that the Graduate School should take responsibility for post-docs and related issues. This will be discussed in detail at the next meeting. [SEE ATTACHMENT]

    5. (Footnote: The Chancellor has agreed this is logical.)

  5. Discussion resumed regarding Field of Study representation on Graduate Faculty Council. E. Smith noted that currently, each graduate faculty member can only be a voting member of 1 constituency even though they may participate in more. This method is unfair especially to interdisciplinary faculty.

    Suggestions on changing the current policy were discussed. The Executive Committee felt this was part of a bigger issue represented by the NRC taxonomy and the possibility of faculty being "counted" in several areas for the NRC survey. Accordingly, we will begin the process of expanding the Graduate Faculty Council by surveying the faculty on their multiple interests.

    (Footnote: A survey of faculty for NRC rankings was prepared and distributed with discussion at Helpline. SEE ATTACHMENT)

  6. The proposal from the Departments of Educational Psychology & Educational Leadership to implement an interdisciplinary Graduate Program Certificate in Program Evaluation (GCPPE) was considered. There were concerns with the inconsistency of the actual title in comparison to the acronym of the certificate contained within the body of the proposal. "Social Sciences" is only included within the title and is not referred to anywhere else. It was agreed that the Social Sciences wording be removed from the title and the name of the certificate be changed to GCPPE for Education. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent on a voice vote to approve the recommended change in title. J. Henkel will contact R. Schwab with the approved change.

    (Footnote: Education accepted the Executive Committee's decision.)

  7. Public Administration has announced it will award graduate certificates without Executive Committee approval. Some members felt such action did warrant a response because the suggested certificates were meaningless and would not appear on transcripts. Others felt graduate certificates without Graduate Executive Committee approval would reflect poorly on the university. J. Henkel will work with Political Science Department (through Garry Clifford) to resolve issue.

  8. J. Greger sought suggestions of interesting topics for future Graduate Faculty Council meetings.
    The following were suggested:
    - the reorganization of the UConn Graduate School
    - NRC
    - post-doctorate issue
    - live demos on electronic graduate application submission
    - grant/contract restrictions on international students and implications
    - increased recruitment efforts of domestic students
    - Fall 2003 admission statistics: International & domestic. Of those offered admission, how many were successful in arriving here due to SEVIS?
    - Graduate dorms
    - ITAP program for International students orientation week

  9. The next meeting of the Executive Committee is scheduled for Monday, August 4, 2003 at 1pm in the Giolas Conference Room of the Whetten Graduate Center.

  10. Adjournment was at 3:17 PM.

Present:

  • Baldwin, A.
  • Clifford, J.G.
  • Cournoyer, D.
  • Greger, J. (Vice Provost)
  • Henkel, J. (Associate Dean)
  • Maxwell, G. (Associate Dean)
  • Morneau, C.
  • Pagoulatos, E.
  • Smith, E.

Regrets:

  • Anderson, G.
  • Herzberger, D.
  • Marsden, J.


Respectfully submitted,

Carleen Morneau
Administrative Assistant