Executive Committee Meeting Minutes: November 14, 2003

1. The meeting was called to order at 2:04PM. Vice Provost Janet L. Greger presided.
2. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent to approve as distributed the minutes of the 10/17/03 meeting.
3. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent to approve the Doctoral Plans of Study and Dissertation Proposals.
4. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent to approve the request to change the grading basis for MMAT 401 to satisfactory/unsatisfactory.
5. Several requests were considered:
   • Consideration of a change in venue for the professional MBA program from West Hartford to Hartford.
     • It appears to be a good business move. The ramifications for the W. Hartford campus were discussed.
     • It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent to approve the change in venue for the professional MBA program as proposed.
   • Consideration of the name change for the four course sequence in marketing for the Storrs MBA concentration from Interactive Marketing to Marketing Intelligence.
     • It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent to approve the course sequence name change as proposed.
   • Consideration of a name change for the field of study Professional Higher Education Administration masters program to Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration
     • The committee strongly endorses the proposal but feels that it should have the support of the Dean of Education.
     • It was moved, seconded and passed without dissent to return the name change request pending an accompanying letter of support from the Education dean.
6. Consideration of an off-campus master's in Allied Health - Occupational Health & Safety

   The committee had the following comments/concerns:

   •  Converts from a face-to-face to an on-line program. Is this a strong program to begin with? Have they considered modifications needed?

   •  The absence of a cover letter from the sponsoring dept/colleges - Allied Health and Continuing Education. This indicates lack of commitment.

   •  Lack of vote from Allied Health & Continuing Studies faculty showing their involvement.

   •  Is there a need for this on-line? This should be documented.

   •  Doesn't explain how the program is going to operate on-line.

   •  What are the financial arrangements to sustain support of this proposed on-line program?

   The committee recommends that Allied Health refer to the guidelines/standards established by the Graduate Executive Committee earlier this year for other on-line programs (MPS) and follow those guidelines. The Executive Committee invites the Allied Health reps to the next meeting. After attending the meeting, they can re-submit their proposal. J. Henkel will assist them in this capacity

   It was agreed to table this agenda item.

7. Graduate Travel Awards

   Currently, $140,000-$180,000 is spent each year on the travel program for graduate students. Administering the program centrally is problematic. The Research Advisory Council (RAC) approved the following revised format for the Graduate Student Travel program.

   Upon completing the general exam requirements and becoming a dissertator, each student will receive a congratulatory letter from the Graduate School along with an allocation of $1,000 of travel money that will be deposited into an FRS account in the name of each student. This money can only be used to defray travel costs associated with presenting a poster or paper at meetings.

   The RAC wanted to know if the Executive Committee thought the major advisor as well as the department head must approve (by signing) a graduate student's travel request. The Executive Committee thought this stipulation was wise.

   It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent to approve the revised graduate student travel award requirements as proposed with the major advisor's approval of all travel. The Graduate Executive Committee also noted the travel awards could now be used as a recruiting tool and in training grants more effectively.

8. Post-doc policy

   The Provost's office and Human Resources were generally positive about the Graduate Executive Committee's definitions of postdoctoral fellows and trainees.

   Attached is information on rates at which post-docs are paid elsewhere, the NIH suggested NSRA rate, and rates used here. The National Research Service Award in FY03 was $34,200 for a post-doc with no experience.

   It was moved, seconded and passed with one abstain to approve the following recommendations:

   • Postdoctoral trainees and postdoctoral fellows should in FY04 and 05 be compensated at a minimum at the rate suggested for National Research Service Awards (NRSAs) trainees with no postdoctoral experience. (The NRSA in FY03 was $34,200 for a trainee with no postdoctoral experience.)
   • In FY06, it will be mandatory that postdoctoral trainees and fellows be offered at least the minimum NRSA rate for no postdoctoral experience or be given a partial appointment (cannot be less than 50%) so that a 100% appointment would be equal to the minimum NRSA rate.
   • It is recommended that postdoctoral fellows and trainees be given salary/stipend increases as suggested by NRSA as they accrue postdoctoral experience at UConn.

   However, it will be the PI's choice whether to credit postdoctoral fellows or trainees with postdoctoral experience gained at other institutions when an initial appointment is made.

9. Results of the NRC discipline sub-committees

   Subcommittee (lab sciences; social sciences/humanities) reviewed the faculty interest in the programs named by the NRC in the proposed doctoral survey. The committees noted that UConn should not (cannot) be ranked in certain areas because of low output of doctorates. Their recommendations are attached.

   By February, J. Greger and J. Henkel will talk to weak/small programs about re-categorizing their interests.

10. Graduate alumni database

    A "first look of alumni" with respect of the Executive Committees's represented fields of study was distributed. There are 37,000 master's and Ph.D. alumni in the file. The file needs lots of data cleanup.

    So that the data doesn't appear overwhelming, it was essentially agreed that department heads would only be asked to review Ph.D.'s from the last 10 years. This first cut would satisfy the NRC requirement.

11. Pilot Program Support for Recruiting U.S. Graduate Students

    Members of the Executive Committee whose departments have not submitted a proposal will meet to review the submissions prior to Dec. 15 th (the award announcement date).

12. G. Anderson distributed a DRAFT proposal from the University Senate that encourages faculty, staff and student populations to think before they select a journal for publication (attached). E. Pagoulatos noted some professional organizations use commercial publishers. It was agreed to bring this to the December Graduate Faculty Council meeting and invite K. Holsinger, and B. Franklin to attend. Both G. Anderson and E. Pagoulatos need to be in attendance for this discussion.

13. Adjournment was at 4:21PM

Present: G. Anderson, J.G. Clifford, D. Cournoyer, D. Herzberger, D. Lillo-Martin, J. Marsden, G. Maxwell (Associate Dean), E. Pagoulatos, E. Smith, L. Strausbaugh

J.L Greger (Vice Provost), J. Henkel (Associate Dean)

Respectfully submitted,
Carleen Morneau
Administrative Assistant