MINUTES OF THE GRADUATE
COUNCIL
The University of Alabama
November 28, 2000
The regular meeting of
the Graduate Council was held at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 28, 2000, in
Room 204B of the Ferguson Center.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr. Martin G. Bakker, Dr. Bruce E. Barrett,
Dr. Carol Cassell, Dr. Jeri W. Dunkin,
Dr. Susan C. Fleming, Dr. L. Michael Freeman,
Dr. Ida Johnson, Dr. Laura Klinger,
Dr. Richard G. Lomax, Dr. Sharon O’Dair
Dr. Martha Powell, Dr. Barrie Jo Price,
Dr. David R. Roskos-Ewoldsen, Dr. Nancy Rubin,
Dr. Edward J. Schnee, Dr. Will C. Schreiber,
Dr. Min Sun, Dr. Stephen J. Thoma,
Dr. Joseph S. Thrasher, Dr. Elizabeth K. Wilson.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Dr. Gary A. Copeland, Dr. Michael T. Dugan,
Dr. Lea McGee, Dr. Harry E. Price,
Dr. Paul H. Stuart.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr.
Charles B. Osburn, Dr. George C. Rable,
Dean
Ronald Rogers.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES
PRESENT: Ms.
Francesca Dillman Carpentier
ALTERNATES
PRESENT: Dr George Marsh (for Dr. Cynthia Sunal).
PRESENT: Dr.
Pat Harrison, Assistant Dean
Dr. John F. Schmitt, Associate Dean
Ms. Dianne C. Teague, Records Officer
GUESTS
PRESENT: Dr. Priscilla Hancock, Dr. V. James Knight, Dr. Luoheng Han,
Dr. Katherine Oths, Mr. Gopa Venugopalan (student), Dr. David Weaver.
The
meeting opened with the approval of the September 26, 2000, Graduate Council
minutes. Dean Rogers called for the reports from various committees.
A.
Financial Aid
Dr. Will C. Schreiber, chairperson, stated that
announcements and guidelines for all Graduate Council Fellowships have been
sent to departments. Dr. Schreiber
asked if there were any questions regarding this material, and there were none.
B.
Admissions
and Recruitment
In the absence of Dr. Paul Stuart, chairperson,
Dr. Edward Schnee presented the revised proposals for admission standards for
the graduate programs in Health Sciences, Human Nutrition, and General Human
Environmental Sciences. He explained
that these three graduate programs are designed for practicing
professionals. Students in these
masters programs generally do not continue in a research-oriented doctoral
program. He further noted that these
programs are aggressively seeking older students with significant professional
experience and minorities with the potential to impact the profession. After a brief discussion, the vote was taken
by a show of hands with 18 in favor and three against. The proposal approved is as follows: For the masters’ degrees in Health Sciences,
Human Nutrition, and General Human Environmental Sciences, the university-wide
minimum GPA requirements will be used for all applicants (3.0 for regular
admission; 2.5 for conditional admission).
However, an admisisons test score will not be required if a student
meets the 3.0 GPA requirement for regular admission. An admissions test score will be required if the GPA is less than
3.0, but there will be no required cut-off on the test score.
Dr. Schnee presented the next proposal regarding a
change of policy for conditionally admitted students, probationary students,
and provisional language admitted students holding graduate
assistantships. The committee
recommended that the current policy be changed to allow conditionally admitted
students, in addition to students with regular admission, to hold graduate
assistantships. Dr. Joseph Thrasher
from the Department of Chemistry, who submitted this proposal to the committee,
explained that the purpose of the request is not to lower standards and the
quality of graduate education at The University of Alabama, but to allow
departments to be more competitive with peer institutions in recruiting
graduate students, especially in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering.
Dr. Martha Powell, from the Department of
Biological Sciences, questioned the rationale of allowing conditionally
admitted students to hold assistantships, particularly after their first
semester. She said that unconditionally
admitted students who fail to achieve a B average are placed on probation
after completing six or more hours during their first term of enrollment and
may not hold an assistantship until the probation is removed. However, if this proposal is passed, conditionally
admitted students holding assistantships who fail to achieve a B average
after completing six hours during their first term of enrollment will be
permitted to continue their assistantships during their next term of enrollment
since they are given a total of 12 hours to attain a B average. Dr. Powell noted that this seems inherently
problematic. Dean Rogers asked if she
would like to propose an amendment to the proposal on the floor. Dr. Powell’s amendment states that a student
holding conditional admission with an assistantship who obtains a UA graduate
GPA of less than 3.0 prior to meeting the condition of his or her admission
will not be allowed to retain a teaching assistantship after the first term of
enrollment, but will be allowed to retain a research assistantship. After a brief discussion, the Council voted
on the proposal by a show of hands with 18 in favor and three against. The proposal that passed follows: Students with conditional admission, in
addition to students with regular admission, may hold any type of graduate
assistantship, without departments needing to request special approval. However, a GTA holding conditional admission
who obtains a UA graduate GPA of less than 3.0 prior to meeting the condition
of his or her admission will not be allowed to retain the teaching assistantship
during the next term of enrollment.
For example, if a conditional admit takes nine credits during the first
semester of enrollment and obtains a 2.5 GPA that student may continue to take
courses to meet the condition ( a 3.0 on the first 12 hours), but will NOT be
allowed to retain a graduate teaching assistantship. The student would be permitted to hold a research assistantship.
The graduate policy that a student on probation
may not hold a graduate assistantship remains in place. Beverly York, Graduate Registrar, will
continue to monitor students who obtain less than a 3.0 GPA each semester, and
take appropriate measures if any conditionally admitted students have less than
a 3.0 and should be dropped from a GTA.
C. Graduate Faculty Membership
There was no report.
D. Research and New Programs
The Department of Geography proposed a graduate
certificate program in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Council members had the opportunity to
review the proposal prior to the meeting, and there were few questions about
it. The proposal passed unanimously.
The Department of Anthropology proposed a Ph.D.
program with emphases in the archaeology of complex societies and medical
anthropology. After brief discussion
focusing on faculty, resources, and graduate assistantships, the proposal
passed unanimously.
E. Program and Degree Requirements
The Council unanimously passed a proposal that a
University student in the M.S.N. program who takes specified core courses at
UAB or UAH (which are cooperating institutions in the program) may transfer the
course(s) from the cooperating institution to UA if the overall GPA at the
cooperating institution is less than 3.0.
The student would, of course, need to have an overall GPA of 3.0 or
higher to graduate.
Also passed unanimously was a policy that grades
of “In Progress” (IP) must be removed by the end of the semester following the
semester in which the IP was assigned.
If not removed by that time, the IP will convert to an I, and the
appropriate scholarship rules for grades of Incomplete will be applied.
The Council considered a proposed change to the
policy on seniors taking UA courses for graduate credit. The policy that passed unanimously states
that, “A senior at The University of Alabama who has at least a 3.0 grade point
average overall may petition to take graduate courses toward a graduate
career. Permission to take a particular
course is granted based on approval by the instructor, the instructor’s department chairperson, the dean of the
student’s division, and the graduate dean.
The total course load for an undergraduate taking graduate course should
not exceed 15 hours a semester. A
senior may accumulate no more than 9 hours of graduate credit.”
At two meetings the Committee has discussed the
issue of plus/minus grading for graduate students, an issue that had been
proposed by a Council member. The issue
is only at the discussion stage, and the Committee is seeking input from
faculty and graduate students on whether or not there is sentiment in favor of
plus/minus grading for graduate courses, and if the feeling is positive, which
version of a plus/minus system might be the best fit for graduate students at
The University of Alabama. Dean Rogers
has asked each department with graduate programs for their input by late
December. Students attending the
Council meeting suggested that master’s students, although not unanimous in
their views, seem to have more favorable opinions of plus/minus grading than
doctoral students do. Dean Rogers will
provide the Committee with input when he has heard from the departments, and
the Committee will continue to consider the issue during the spring 2001
semester.
Dr. Hancock gave the Council an update on recent
computing developments at the University.
She provided copies of a white paper titled, “The University of Alabama
Technology Directions for 2000 and Beyond.”
The three main goals she discussed in depth are to (1) provide data
communications network upgrades, (2) enhance and expand the University’s Web
presence, and (3) improve business system functionality.
Dean Rogers discussed the status of his 5-year
review, indicating that the Provost reported that the percentage of faculty
voting for a review was well below the minimum needed for the review to take
place. Nonetheless, Dean Rogers will
give a State of the Graduate School address in the spring of 2001. The address likely will take place at a
called Graduate Council meeting that all graduate faculty are invited to
attend. Prior to the meeting, the
Graduate Council may be asked to survey departments regarding needs and
suggestions for future directions.
Dean Rogers spotlighted the recent edition of the Princeton Review that ranked the
University’s School of Accountancy among the top 10 in the country. He also noted that the number of
publications by UA Ph.D. graduates who went on to positions as Finance faculty
ranked 3rd, behind only The University of Texas and The University
of Chicago.
There were no reports.
There were no reports.
GSA representative Francesca Carpentier mentioned
several issues of particular interest to graduate students. The issues included health insurance (on
which a poll is being taken), childcare (especially at the Recreation Center),
payments for printing costs (Uniprint), and health care for females at the
Russell Student Health Center. Because
of the late hour, there was little time for discussion of these issues. They will be covered at Council meetings in
the spring of 2001.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 PM.