Office of the Provost


GRADUATE COUNCIL

GRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
for the
OCTOBER, 2004
Meeting

Graduate Council meetings are held monthly, August through May, in Mason Hall Room D5, from 1:30-3:00. See schedule for exact dates. All meetings are open to the general George Mason University community.

Members attending: Peter Stearns (Chair), Linda Schwartzstein (Provost Office), Peter Becker (SCS), Meg Brindle (CVPS), J P Auffret (SOM), Teresa Panniers (CNHS), Jim Finkelstein (SPP), Deborah Boehm-Davis (CAS), Joan Isenberg, Steve White (CEHD), Stephen Nash (IT&E), Wallace Warfield (ICAR).

Special Attendees: Donna Kidd, Assistant Vice President, Budget and IRR; Rajib Sanyal, ACE Fellowship, Ariela Sofer, Professor/Chair, Systems Engr and Oper Research, Farrokh Alemi, (CNHS)

I. Call to order

    Provost Stearns called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m.

II. Approval of September Minutes

    Minutes of the September 15, 2004 meeting were approved as written.

III. Announcements

    A. Provost Stearns first reminded the Council that it would be too late, by the next meeting, for new program proposals (for Fall 2005) to be presented at the December Board of Visitors meeting -- particularly since we would then have to wait for SCHEV action, possibly until Spring or beyond.

    He then congratulated Teresa Panniers, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean of Graduate Nursing, on an excellent SACS review -- with no recommendations -- of the College of Nursing and Health Science. Dr. Panniers thanked everyone for their strong show of support during the visitation.

    Provost Stearns also noted that, due to time constraints of some visitors and council members, discussion items would be slightly out of order.)

IV. Discussion Items

    A. Tuition Issues for Graduate Students

    As suggested in the September meeting, Donna Kidd, Assistant Vice President, Budget and IRR, was on hand to discuss tuition rate issues for GA’s, TA’s, and RA’s. Her figures, from last Fall, were based on information regarding approximately 10,400 graduate students, excluding law. Out of 1435 doctoral students, 600 were out-of-state. 171 of these students were graduate assistants with teaching or research assignments; about 2/3 of them were full-time. These students were billed $800,000 in out-of-state tuition for Fall semester, as opposed to the $300,000 they would have been billed if granted in-state status. For two semesters, the difference in revenue for the University would be one million dollars per year.

    Donna Kidd further explained that approximately 100 such students have some tuition waived, largely through ENG waivers. (She will have more information re: grants, and their impact on tuition and revenue, next semester.)

    Linda Schwartzstein noted that waivers represent the “unpaid part” of tuition; revenue is shown on the books, then taken away. Grants, in effect, are funds that are transferred from one area to another. This led to the question of what, exactly, should be shown as revenue in the first place. Further discussion should include a look at reflecting on the books what we really expect to collect in graduate tuition.

    Provost Stearns noted that there is funding available -- $350,000 for next year -- for graduate support, with varied amounts allocated for each unit. About one-third of the requests were funded, based on plans submitted last Spring. He suggested that, this Spring, units might want to revisit their initial requests, after considering additional financial information -- i.e., re: grants and ENG waivers -- that is specific to their unit.

    Donna Kidd will gather more program-specific information, for further discussion and consideration next semester.

    *** Again, in order to accommodate time constraints, two new action items were addressed at this point in the meeting:

    Proposals from the College of Nursing and Health Science
    Four new courses were approved:

      HSCI 525 Risk Analysis in Health & Biosciences
      HSCI 610 Maintaining Business Continuity for Health
      HSCI 745 Health Care Security Policy
      HSCI 746 Advanced Seminar on Security

    Proposal from the School of Information Technology and Engineering
    After some discussion, a new program was approved:

    Provost Stearns noted that there had been initial concerns about this program from both the School of Management and the School of Public Policy. Although these concerns were addressed in the proposal provided by Stephen Nash, Dr. Nash agreed with Provost Stearns that more specific information would be required before presenting this program to SCHEV. Provost Stearns encouraged Dr. Nash to work as quickly as possible with Wendy Payton to address specifics, such as resources required, before the next Board of Visitors meeting.

    *** The Council then continued with discussion items as planned.

    B. Drop Policy for Graduate Students

    Continuing a consideration initiated by Cliff Sutton and Senate members in April, Provost Stearns discussed a change in drop policy for graduate students, to correspond with policy approved last Spring for undergrads. Dr. Sutton suggested that graduate students be allowed basically the same window to drop one, or possibly two courses in their graduate career, with the permission of the instructor and the department.

    As Provost Stearns understands this policy, “what’s on the books” is more stringent than what is actually allowed. Linda Schwartzstein agreed that, informally, students are often given permission to withdraw from a course. Council members noted that grad students, as adults, generally have more constraints than most undergrads, including jobs, families, and cost concerns, thus requiring a more generous drop policy.

    Dr. Stearns suggested a policy with the same window for all: at approximately the middle of the semester, there will be a 3 – 4 week period during which a student may drop a course without penalty. The student will still have to pay for the course, however. It should be clearly understood that this withdrawal does not preempt special permission withdrawals, such as those due to personal hardships or other specific non-academic reasons.

    Provost Stearns would like to return to this discussion in November, to determine a more definite phrasing of the policy.

    C. Criteria for Assessing New Degree Proposals

    As discussed in September, Stephen Nash presented information to be used in refining the process by which the Council reviews new degree programs. Dr. Nash provided a summary of the procedures used by SACS and SCHEV, with particular focus on criteria relevant to both this committee and the Board of Visitors. Using this information as a guideline for preparing proposals should prove beneficial as the material moves from this committee to BOV, SCHEV, and, ultimately, SACS accreditation.

    Provost Stearns suggested that, along with a written proposal prepared in advance, presenters give a brief oral report at these meetings, allowing members the opportunity to voice any concerns, and to more effectively consider the proposal as a group.

    Also, Provost Stearns, at a Spring Deans and Directors meeting, is willing to ask for a list of potential new degree programs by May 1st, which he could then present to this committee for the Fall.

    Council members agreed that an idea of what to expect in the way of new programs, over the next year or even the next two years, would allow more efficient monitoring of whether needed resources are increasing as well. Provost Stearns and council members noted that, in regard to needed resources for these programs, it is better to be reasonably candid, both with this Council and with SCHEV. Indicating that no resources are needed is generally unrealistic and often counter-productive.

    Members also discussed the importance of evaluating the success of a new program, the time allowed -- perhaps a more definite window -- before such an evaluation, and the number of students expected to maintain a viable program. Linda Schwartzstein noted that SCHEV does have quite reasonable expectations re: these issues.

    Provost Stearns then reiterated the need for a forecast before the last meeting in the Spring to better prepare the Council for the coming year. He will also review the processes that are in place to evaluate existing programs.

    Dr. Nash offered to re-edit his summary of policies, for continued discussion at the next meeting.

    There was also mention of an eventual template to use as a guideline for proposals and collaborative programs. (Provost Stearns feels that there has been positive response to inter-unit program possibilities.) Future considerations for new programs should include both how these programs relate to the marketplace, and how the external community perceives new programs. Provost Stearns and Council members discussed internal coordination, outside representation, response to web sites, and improving those web sites. Also, as mention was made of the Grad Fair, Linda Schwartzstein noted that Beverly Davis, Director of Graduate Admissions, is working on a presentation for the Council in regard to graduate admissions and recruiting processes. (That presentation has been postponed until December.)

V. Old Business

    None

VI. New Business

VII. Further discussion

    Prior to adjournment, there was some discussion re: concerns that interest in Masters Programs is decreasing. Provost Stearns noted that it is a generally difficult environment for graduate programs. Linda Schwartzstein agreed that, as discussed in her meetings with representatives from other Virginia grad schools, there is an overall softening of numbers: nothing too dramatic -- figures range from 1 to 4 per cent -- but a trend, nonetheless. (Though numbers in Master’s degrees are down, PhD numbers are presently up. Certificate programs are considered separately; but it was agreed that there are not significant numbers in certificate programs to account for the dropping master’s figures.)

    This led to more remarks about the Grad Fair, which appears to be more beneficial for some programs than for others. Most members felt that, at the very least, it is good advertising for the University. This will be explored in more detail following Beverly Davis’s presentation.

    Still to be examined are policies for international students who have a three-year degree from a university outside the U.S.. (This is specifically relevant now for the dance department, with regard to students who have three-year degrees from Italian universities.)

    These discussions will be continued at future meetings.

VIII. Adjournment at 2:40 p.m.

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