WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING
October 17, 2005

MINUTES

1. The meeting was called to order at 2:40 p.m.
   
   
   Voting members and alternates present were: G. Alter, S. Baird, B. Baker, K. Bennett, G. Bernhardt, N. Bourbakis, W. Carmichael, C. H. Chen, R. Dodge, J. Dombrowski, B. Farmer, B. Fowler, R. Grandhi, B. Jung, J. Leung, S. McConnell, T. McKee, S. Narayanan, S. Nelson, J. Ovington, L. Ream, J. Rudisill, C. Ryan, J. Sherman, T. Sudkamp, J. Thomas (Chair), P. Vermeersch, A. Wendt
   
   Non-voting attendees were: S. Foster, J. Hail, B. Hopkins, A. Johnson, J. Kimble, G. Malicki, E. Reinsch-Friese, D. Sauter, J. Sayer
   
   
2. Approval of Minutes
   
   It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the April 25, 2005 meeting be approved as written. Motion carried unanimously.
   
   
3. Election of Secretary
   
   It was moved and seconded that Larry Ream be appointed as Secretary of the Graduate Council for 2005-06. Motion carried unanimously.
   
   
4. Report of the Dean (J. Thomas)
   
   J. Thomas reviewed the faculty vote of last June that approved a revised faculty constitution (267-20) and defeated an amendment that would have replaced Graduate Council with a Senate committee (84-200).
   
   The Graduate Council operates through four standing committees. These committees and their 2005-06 chairs are: Policies Committee (L. Ream, Chair), Membership Committee (J. Petrick, Chair), Student Affairs Committee (no chair selected to date), and Research Committee (J. Thomas, Chair).
   
   The fall, 2005 graduate enrollment headcount increased 1.3% and credit hours increased 1.9% Over the past five years, 2000-2005, graduate headcount increased by 13.4% and graduate credit hours by 28.6%..
   
   Program Review for master’s degrees is being reinstated at WSU, motivated by preparations for the upcoming NCA re-accreditation and the related WSU Plan for Institutional Improvement.
   
   NCA requires that they approve all distance learning degree programs. As part of the on-going NCA self study, WSU will request exemption from this requirement.
   
   The proposal for a new graduate program, Master of Arts in International and Comparative Politics, was approved by RACGS September 30, 2006, and will be an agenda item for Board of Regents approval in November, 2006.
   
   The time table for a program development plan for a Master of Social Work has been delayed. The Social Work faculty will first collaborate with Ohio State University on an OSU off-campus MSW to be offered in Dayton
   
   Electronic thesis and dissertation submission will be a focus this year with a target to require electronic submission by Summer 2006.
   
   Five meetings of the Graduate Council are scheduled for this academic year, to better work with the scheduled meetings of the Faculty Senate.
   
   
5. Reports by Invited Guests
   
   James Sayer, Faculty President: J. Sayer commented on the faculty vote this past June that was favorable to retaining the Graduate Council as it currently functions. He affirmed the Faculty Senate’s confidence in the job that the Graduate Council has been and is currently doing.
   
   J. Sayer also commented on procedures to approve distance learning formats for existing degree programs. He stated that Graduate Council approval will be sufficient and the Faculty Senate should be informed.
   
   David Sauter, University Registrar and (newly appointed) Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management: His new duties entail looking across the spectrum of undergraduate, graduate, and Lake Campus enrollment and retention trends. WSU wants to grow enrollment from 1­2% per year to increase headcount by 1,600 students by 2010. State share of instruction is now less than tuition, so WSU needs additional numbers. Currently, the Noel Levitz consulting firm is on campus to review WSU’s recruitment and enrollment operations. Also, an Executive Enrollment Management Committee has been instituted at WSU by the Provost to develop a strategic Enrollment Management Plan. Banner systems software implementation is also on-going and will impact most operations at WSU.
   
   Stephen Foster, University Librarian: S. Foster briefed the Council on Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) submission. ETD submission for Ohio universities was formulated in 1999 with archival storage at OhioLINK. It is now required by several Ohio universities including OSU. It is suggested that electronic submission be required at WSU by fall 2006. His recent memo in regard to the Library no longer intending to bind theses mistakenly assumed that this decision had been made. The Student Technology Assistance Center (STAC), in University Libraries, will be available for user-friendly technical assistance and instruction. The Fall Thesis and Dissertation Preparation Workshop is scheduled for October 26. Additionally, an ETD workshop will be scheduled if the demand is present.
   
   
6. Committee Reports
   
   • Policies Committee (L. Ream)
     
     The Committee met September 26 and October 7, and discussed and acted upon the following issues:
     
     Master’s level program review will be reinstated at WSU, motivated by the NCA self-study and Institutional Plan for Improvement. Only masters programs that presently are not reviewed by a professional accreditation body will be included in the internal review process; however, externally accredited programs will need to report to the University on the results of their accreditation reviews. In all, some 30 master’s programs will be subject to review, which means that there will be 4 to 5 programs reviewed annually. The new process may include external as well as internal reviewers, which would add an outside perspective of the program. Doctoral programs will continue to be reviewed according to OBR criteria. Tentative planning anticipates that a “program review committee” will be formed annually; the dean of the program will review the report provided from the review committee; and the Policies Committee would then review each review. The programs will be reviewed on a 7-year cycle
     
     The NCA mandates NCA approval of WSU distance learning programs that have more than 50% of their courses online. NCA provides criteria for such approval as well as a compendium of Best Practices. An internal review process is being developed. It is intended to ask NCA for blanket approval of distance learning programs as part of the upcoming NCA evaluation. Such approval will be based in part upon following WSU’s own internal process.
     
     Electronic submission of thesis/dissertations will be mandatory in the near future. At present, students have the option of submitting an ETD in lieu of a paper copy, but this will change rapidly over the next year or so into a mandatory ETD process. J. Thomas is working with the University Librarian on this transition.
     
     
   • Membership Committee (R. Dodge)
     
     The Committee met April 21, 2005 and considered and recommended 11 nominations for full graduate faculty membership and 10 nominations for adjunct full graduate faculty membership.
     
     The full member nominees are:

     Basista, Beth	Physics/S & M
     Claflin, Dragana	Psych/S & M
     Duren, Dana	Anat/SoM
     Elased, Khalid	Pharm/Tox/SoM
     Engisch, Kathrin	Neurosci/SoM
     Futamura, Natsuhiko	CS&E/Egr&CS
     Rich, Mark	Neurosci/SoM
     Rigling, Brian	EE/Egr&CS
     Sherwood, Richard	Anat/SoM
     Simman, Richard	Pharm/Tox/SoM
     Wu, Zhiqiang	EE/Egr&CS

     The adjunct full following nominees are:

     Chen, Yanfang	Pharm/Tox/SoM
     Conolly, Rory	EnviroSci/S&M
     Cross, Charles	MME/Egr&CS
     Gallucci, Randle	EnviroSci/S&M
     Hofmann, Marie-Claude	BIE/Egr&CS
     Junker, Andrew	Psych/S&M
     Moore, Thomas	Psych/S&M
     Park, Youngchoon	CS&E/Egr&CS
     Pohl, Edward	BIE/Egr&CS
     Yu, Chansu	CS&E/Egr&CS

     It was moved and seconded that the nominees be approved; the motion passed unanimously.
     
   • Research Committee (E. Reinsch-Friese)
     
     WSU had research and other sponsored program awards totaling over $62 million for 2004-05 which is a new record.
     
     In July, the National Science Foundation awarded Wright State $3 million over five years for an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program. This will support more than ten doctoral-level fellowships per year with a stipend of $30,000 per year, plus tuition. The students will be enrolled in Learning with Disability tracks recently approved for the Biomedical Science, Computer Science and Engineering, Engineering, and Human Factors/Industrial Organizational Psychology doctoral programs.
     
     The Ohio Board of Regents Research Challenge Program Technology Commercialization competition is presently underway. Maximum request is $50,000.
     
     The Ohio Board of Regents Research Challenge Early Start/Augmentation program is underway. The deadline for receipt of proposals in Research and Sponsored Programs is November 10.
   
   
7. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m.
   
   NEW COURSES October 15 through November 10, 2005

   DEPT	COURSE NUMBER	COURSE TITLE
   Political Science	PLS 651	Contemporary Brazil
   Psychology	508	Enviromental Psychology
   Psychology	509	Behavior Modification: Method & Theory
   Psychology	510	Psychology of Women & Men
   Psychology	629	Interpersonal Relations Skills
   Psychology	636	Behavior Modification: Method & Theory
   Psychology	637	Behavior Modification
   Psychology	650	Biofeedback: Research & Application
   Psychology	657	Psychological Administrative Principles for Social Agencies
   Psychology	682	Theories & Systems in Psychology
   Psychology	777	Visual Science Laboratory