GRADUATE COUNCIL MINUTES
Friday, September 7, 2007-10:00 a.m.
325 Graff Main Hall
Members Present:
Vijendra Agarwal, Rob Dixon, Tim Donahue,
Gary Gilmore, Tom Kuffel, Jonathan Majak, Ashley Olson, Kasi Periyasamy, S.N.
Rajagopal, Bill Schwan, Michele Thorman
Members Excused:
Ashley Burrowes
Consultants Present: Ray
Abhold, Chris Bakkum, Lise Graham, Charles Martin-Stanley
Others Present: Betty
DeBoer (alternate voter for appeal), Jay Lokken, Rhonda Rabbitt, Dave Riley,
Steve Senger, Mao Zheng, Graduate Student 1
1. The meeting was called to order at 10:02
am. by Vijendra Agarwal.
2. A motion was made
and seconded to approve the minutes for the June 6, 2007 meeting. (8 yes, 0 no,
3 abstention)
Motion carried.
3. Vijendra Agarwal
made the following announcements
- The changes made
by the Graduate Council to Graduate Faculty membership policy and criteria
would be reviewed by the Faculty Senate on Thursday, September 13th.
He invited Graduate Council members to attend.
- As of September 4th,
Graduate Studies is at about 90% of target for both student headcount and
FTE.
4. Election of Chair,
Vice-Chair, and Secretary
·
Chair: A motion was made and
seconded to nominate Bill Schwan as chair. A motion was also made and seconded
to nominate Vijendra Agarwal as chair; however, he withdrew in favor of Bill
Schwan. Vote to name Bill Schwan as chair (11 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions).
·
Secretary: A motion was made
and seconded to nominate Chandra Hawkins as secretary. (11 yes, 0 no, 0
abstentions).
·
Vice-Chair: A motion was made
to nominate Gary Gilmore; however, he declined the nomination to enable a 2nd
year member to be nominated. Rob Dixon volunteered to fill the role. A motion
was made and seconded to name Rob Dixon as vice-chair (11 yes, 0 no, 0
abstentions).
All 3 motions carried.
5. Graduate Council
Advisory Committee
- As chair and
vice-chair, Bill Schwan and Rob Dixon will be on the committee
- Vijendra Agarwal
asked for volunteers to serve on the Advisory Committee.
- Ashley Olson
volunteered to be the student member. Gary Gilmore volunteered as the
faculty member.
6. ESL equivalency
request from the MSE program
- Jay Lokken
(International Education), Dave Riley (Computer Science), Steve Senger
(Computer Science) and Mao Zheng (Computer Science) gave an overview of the
programs request.
- The MSE program is
requesting from the Graduate Council that UW-L accept “B” level coursework
(in courses taught in English by UW-L faculty in China) as a 550 TOEFL
equivalency for the students in the 1 + 1 MSE students in the SCUN program.
- The discussions
centered around creating equivalencies vs. creating waivers, concerns that
lowering the score would put us below the standards set by other comparable
institutions, and creating a campus wide policy regarding TOEFL
equivalencies.
- Due to time
constraints, the discussion regarding a program or university wide policy
was set aside. A university wide policy with a focus on considering
multiple ways to assess English language proficiency will be reviewed as
part of the Graduate Council’s work during the 2007-08 year.
- A motion was made
and seconded to accept three students (Lei Gong, Qiongqiong Wang, and Zhi
Wang) in the MSE program without the minimum required TOEFL score of 550.
These students are encouraged to seek help from the ESL institute. A
friendly amendment was offered to require the students enroll in at least
one ESL course. The amendment was not accepted. (10 yes, 0 no, 0
abstentions)
Motion carried.
7. A motion was made
to move into closed session to consider a student appeal as provided in sections
19.85(1)(F) of Wisconsin. A roll call vote was taken. (10 yes, 0 no, 0
abstentions)
Motion carried.
8. Academic and time
extension appeal by Science and Health/Master of Public Health-Community Health
Education program student.
- Graduate Student 1
gave an overview of the appeal. Gary Gilmore, Director of the MPH-CHE
program gave an overview of the appeal and indicated that he supported her
appeal.
- The appeal has 3
components:
- Readmittance
to University Graduate Studies
- A grade of F
be reinstated to an I and that a grade of I remain, rather than
converting to an F, so that work may be done to complete those courses.
- Approval of a
one year time extension to allow the student to complete the two
incomplete courses as well as a project.
- The student and
Gary Gilmore described the work that the student will be required to do for
each course to earn grade to replace the incompletes.
- The Graduate
Council asked questions of the student and Gary Gilmore.
- Both Gary Gilmore
and Graduate Student 1 were excused so the Graduate Council could
deliberate. During the deliberations, concerns were raised over the
miscommunications that had occurred regarding this student’s academic
standing.
- A motion was made
and seconded to readmit the student into Graduate Studies. (9 yes, 0 no, 0
abstentions (one voter had left))
Motion carried.
- A motion was made
and seconded to reinstate the Incomplete in place of the F and to have the
other Incomplete remain, rather than convert to an F. (8 yes, 1 no, 0
abstentions)
Motion carried.
- A motion was made
and seconded to give the student a one year time extension, ending in August
2008. (9 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions)
Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned:
11:48 a.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Chandra Hawkins
C: Graduate
Council Members
Department
Chairs
Graduate
Program Directors
Faculty
Senate
Graduate
Council File