GRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 

Friday, March 12, 2004 (2:30 p.m.)

26 Mitchell Hall

Members Present:    G. Tymeson, Chair, R. Dixon, S. Johnston-Rodriguez, T. Krueger, C. Logterman, M. McGuigan, D. Reineke, W. Schwan, D. Sutherland, and J. Winchester.

Members Excused:   M. Thorman

Consultants      A. Dittman (for B. May - CBA), R. Mikat, D. Schumacher,

Present:           and M. Venneman

Consultants    B. May, and C. Martin-Stanley

Excused:

Garth Tymeson, Chair, called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.

1.         Approval of the minutes from January 30, 2004.

            M/S/P to approve the minutes of January 30, 2004.  (8 yes, 0 no)

2.         Exception to Graduate Faculty Membership Policy.

• The “exception” policy passed by the Graduate Council in December 2003 was discussed at the Faculty Senate meeting yesterday (March 11, 2004).  One amendment was made to the “exception” policy passed by the GC.  This amendment increased the number of required successful experiences as a co-director or co-mentor from one to two for those external candidates seeking Full Graduate Faculty membership. 

The Graduate Council discussed this Faculty Senate amendment and unanimously (9 yes, 0 no) supported the revised policy.  Consensus was that this additional experience prior to serving as solo thesis director would likely enhance the experience for our graduate students.  The item will now be sent to Chancellor Hastad by Bob Hoar, Faculty Senate Chair.

3.         The Chair announced that Spring 2004 Graduate Research Grants were awarded to six students.  Thank you to members who assisted with review of these grant proposals.

4.         The Chair announced that Graduate Faculty membership applications for spring 2004 are due today, March 12, 2004 by 4:00 p.m.  Graduate Council members will be notified by e-mail during Spring break about review teams and deadlines for completion of reviews.  These applications will be discussed at the April 9 Graduate Council meeting.

5.         Discussion of Draft Graduate Student Appeals Guidelines

• A draft of the Graduate Student Appeals Guidelines was distributed and discussion took place.  Several changes were made to the draft.  Dr. Tymeson will make revisions suggested by the Graduate Council and members will review an updated draft at the March 26^th meeting.

6.   799 Thesis “I” grades on permanent transcript – Diane Schumacher requested that the Graduate Council discuss this item.  The goal is to determine a consistent process for what is recorded on transcripts when a student changes from thesis to a nonthesis option for degree completion (i.e., does an “I” grade in 799 permanently remain on the transcript or should a “W” be recorded?). 

Issues discussed included:

• If a student is working on his/her thesis and decides to pursue a nonthesis degree completion option, could a “W” (withdraw) replaced the “I” (incomplete)?
• Financial aid implications (Garth will check with Jim Finn)
• Refunds – advisors and thesis directors will need to respond on a case-by-case basis regarding student effort during a semester.
• The 799 thesis “I” grade item will be discussed again at the Graduate Council Meeting on March 26.

7.   GRC 799 Update:  At the Graduate Council Meeting on January 30, 2004, a discussion took place about applying the GRC 799 (Graduate Research Continuation) policy to Summer session.  At that meeting Dr. Tymeson gave an overview of GRC 799.  The Graduate Council will again discuss GRC 799 either at the March 26 or April 9 meeting.

NEXT MEETING: Friday, March 26, 2004 (2:30 p.m.) in 26 Mitchell Hall.

Meeting Adjourned:  4:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Fran Temp, Recording Secretary

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