GRADUATE COUNCIL MINUTES 

Friday, November 16, 2007-10:00 a.m.

325 Graff Main Hall

Members Present:    Vijendra Agarwal, Tim Donahue, Gary Gilmore, Tom Kuffel, Jonathan Majak, Ashley Olson, Kasi Periyasamy, S.N. Rajagopal, David Reineke, Bill Schwan,

Members Excused:  Michele Thorman

Members Absent:     Ashley Burrowes, Rob Dixon,

Consultants Present:   Ray Abhold, Lise Graham, Charles Martin-Stanley

Consultants Excused: Chris Bakkum

1.  The meeting was called to order at 10:03 am. by Bill Schwan.

2.  A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes for the October 19, 2007 meeting.  (8 yes, 0 no, 0 abstention)

Motion carried.

3.  Announcements

• At the next meeting, the Graduate Council will be selecting a new Secretary, as Chandra Hawkins will no longer be working in the Graduate Studies Office after December.
• A guest speaker has been selected for the Fall Commencement; however, no student speaker has been chosen.  In the Spring, the Graduate Council should seek nominations from the programs and select a student speaker for that semester’s Commencement.
• At the next meeting, the Graduate Council will be reviewing the draft resolution requesting additional resources for Graduate Studies, including but not limited to RSEL grants.

4.  The Graduate Council received recommendations from the RSEL Grant Committee.

·         The RSEL Grant Committee included Tim Donahue, Gary Gilmore, Jonathan Majak, and S.N. Rajagopal.  VJ Agarwal was present for the 4 committee meetings as well.

·         Based on the funding currently available for this year, the amount available to allocate in the Fall cycle is $19,500, with $2,000 of that specifically for international proposal.

·         A motion was made and seconded to raise the upper limit for international proposals from $1600 to $2000.  (10 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions)

Motion carried.

·         A motion was made and seconded to approve the 13 proposals that the committee recommended to fund as proposed.  (10 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions)

Motion carried.

·         A motion was made and seconded to fund the 7 students who submitted an international proposal for a total of $1995 ($285 each).  (10 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions)

Motion carried.

·         A motion was made and seconded to approve the proposal from a student who had revised his budget to $860.  (10 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions)

Motion carried.

·         A motion was made and seconded to approve partial funding ($536) recommended by the committee which excluded the support for travel requested in the budget.  (10 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions)

Motion carried.

·         A motion was made and seconded to approve partial funding for a proposal that’s estimated budget was reduced to $300 after consultation with the faculty advisor.  (10 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions)

Motion carried.

·         VJ Agarwal discussed the need to clarify the guidelines regarding travel for RSEL grants.  Any changes made in the future should not limit the professional development intent for the service and educational leadership grants.

5.  Peer institutions were presented to the Council by Tim Donahue.

• Working with the IPEDS system, a population of 14 peer institutions was created.
• This project was completed to fulfill the Faculty Senate charge of comparing our graduate students’ issues with those of other institutions and to make comparisons as the Council works to amend policies and seek additional resources for Graduate Studies.
• A motion was made and seconded to accept the 14 colleges and universities as our peer institutions.  ( 9 yes, 1 no, 0 abstentions)

6.  A motion was made and seconded to move into closed session to consider Graduate Faculty applications as provided in sections 19.85(1)(F) of Wisconsin.  A roll call vote was taken on the motion (8 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions) (2 Council members had to leave due to teaching commitments)

• All 25 CLS faculty applicants received affirmative votes from both members of the review committee were voted unanimously for the requested Graduate Faculty status.
• SAH applicants numbered 1 through 18 received affirmative votes from both members of the review committee and were voted unanimously for the requested Graduate Faculty status.
• SAH applicant numbered 19 and 20 were recommended by their department and Dean for Full status, but both reviewers recommended Associate status based on with the current guidelines.  Both faculty members were voted unanimously for Associate Graduate Faculty status.
• The CBA consultant advised the Council that the one applicant with differing recommendations should have come from the Dean’s Office with a recommendation that matched the decisions of the reviewers.  With that, all 6 CBA faculty applicants were voted unanimously for the Graduate Faculty status requested by their Dean.

In summary:

            CBA:    3 Full, 3 Assistant

            CLS:    2 Full, 6 Associate, 2 Assistant, 15 Affiliate

            SAH:    3 Full, 6 Associate, 2 Assistant, 9 Affiliate

Meeting adjourned:  11:38 a.m.

Respectfully submitted, 

Chandra Hawkins

C:        Graduate Council Members

            Department Chairs

            Graduate Program Directors

            Faculty Senate

            Graduate Council File