2002-2003 Annual Graduate Council Report

 

2002-2003 Committee Membership

 

Gyda Swaney, Chair

Psychology

Nigel Priestley,   Vice Chair

Chemistry

Randy Skelton

Anthropology

Linda Frey (Fall)

History

Chris Anderson (Spring)

Foreign Languages

Teresa Beed

Accounting & Finance

Nancy Hinman

Geology

Kevin Canty

English

Jim Gannon

DBS

Tully Thibeau

Linguistics Program

Gene Burns

HHP

Stephanie Wasta

Curriculum & Instruction

Richard Hughes

Media Arts

Christina Kimmel, student

Counselor Education

Kereen Monteyne, student (Fall )

Chemistry

David Strobel, Ex-Officio

Dean Graduate School

 

 

Agenda Items and Actions:

§          Routine Curriculum Review

 

§          Distribution of awards in support of research.
Twenty-eight applications were reviewed for 10 awards of $500 each.

 

§          Internal Program Review Motion
The Graduate Council asked for Senate support to recommend to the administration that the Council resume its role in the internal program review process.

§          Bertha Morton Fellowships/Scholarships

Graduate Council members reviewed 37 applications and granted 29 Scholarships at $2,000 each and one Fellowship at $3,000. 

 

§          Informational memo sent to Deans, Department Chairs, and Graduate Directors regarding the Commissioner of Higher Education triggers for Board of Regents program review.


Procedural Issues:

§          Slight modification in travel disbursements.
Master students may receive one award and PhD students may receive two awards from the travel fund during their enrollment at The University of Montana.


 

§          Clarification regarding 300UG courses.

Graduate Council is committed not to approve any new 300 UG courses.  However it does not have a solution to the number of current 300UG courses.  The issue has curricular structure and pedagogy components as well.  The Council does not wish to continue debate without additional information and suggest the administration explore different avenues for solution. 

 

§          Graduate Council’s role in internal program review.

§          IIP Oversight Committee Review Process
The committee elected a chair and established criteria for application review.  Application Deadlines are April 15 and November 15th.  The committee will also establish a form to track students’ progress.

§          Graduate Council Curriculum Review Procedures

The Council agreed to modify the distribution of subcommittee workload in an effort to ease the burden on the Schools Subcommittee.  Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, and Forestry will be reviewed by the Science Subcommittee.  Art and Drama will be reviewed by the Humanities subcommittee.  Proposals for Environmental Science will first be reviewed by the Social Science subcommittee.

 

§          General Procedures for Chair and informative packets for new members

Discussion items:

 

§          Continuous enrollment of graduate teaching assistants.

§          Graduate Student Loan debts.

 

§          On-line dissertation presentation
The Council supports electronic dissertations, but wishes grad students to have the option of printed copies in consultation with their committee.  Specifics of the service are managerial issues and must be decided by the Library.

§          Vista – Alive

§          Doctoral Consortiums

§          OSU Survey –benchmarking teaching assistant stipend
The Council identified severe inaccuracies in the data and procedures of the University Planning and Budgeting and Analysis’s comparative use of the survey and recommended it not be used for budgetary decisions.  A motion was presented to ECOS to inform the faculty representatives on the Strategic and Planning Budget Committee of the issue.
 

§          Program Productivity Conversations

§          Assessment of IIP program by David Chapmen, representative from the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Graduate School Dean- Utah State.

 

 

Pending:

§          Guidelines for applications/proposals for funds in support of research.

§          Review of criteria for program review.

§          Standardized procedures for campus wide handling of Bertha Morton Scholarship applications.