GRADUATE COUNCIL
April 24, 1997, 2:00 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr. Connie Taylor (chairperson), Dr. Bob Oliver, Dr. Karla Oty, Dr. Virginia Reasor, Dr. Roberta Wescott, Dr. David Whitlock, Dr. Wayne Dixon, Dr. Ron Finkbine, Dr. Larry Minks, Dr. Chip Weiner, Dr. Jack L. Robinson

MEMBERS ABSENT: Dr. Robert Henderson, Dr. Molly Risso, Mr. Kim Bumstead (Student), Ms. Kristie Sheffield (Student)

GUESTS PRESENT: Dr. Doug McMillan, Dr. Jon Reid, Dr. Kathy Brown, Dr. David Norris

The meeting was called to order by Dr. Connie Taylor at 2:00 p.m. The first item of business was to hear graduate appeals from several graduate students. Ms. Sharon Abrantes requested a time extension for one course taken in the summer semester of 1989 (ENG 5980, Adolescent Literature) so that she could complete her masters degree by the end of the Spring 1997. In her appeal, she indicated that she was leaving the State and moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico, this summer. A phone call from Dr. Blanche Jamison, her advisor, supported the request. Dr. Jamison indicated that personal problems had delayed the timely completion of her degree and that she had worked hard to complete it. After a brief discussion, a motion by Dr. Chip Weiner, seconded by Dr. David Whitlock, passed with a majority vote to approve the request for a time extension.

Two requests by Karen Berghauser were tabled in order to allow the Master of Technology Steering Committee to review her appeals and make a recommendation.

Leah Kay French had filed an appeal to grant her an exception to the residency requirements (completion of the last four hours at SOSU). She indicated that for personal reasons, she did not wish to complete an "I" in the Introduction to Research course at SOSU and preferred to take EDUC 5113 (Techniques of Research) offered through ECU in the summer of 1997 and complete three other hours to finish her masters degree. After some discussion of her case, a motion made by Dr. Reasor, seconded by Dr. Oliver, to deny her request passed with a majority vote. It was noted that Ms. French had not given a compelling reason for requesting an exception to the residency requirement. At this point, she will need to obtain approval from her advisor and the Master of Education Coordinator to substitute the proposed course and will need to complete an additional four hours to be granted her degree.

An appeal from Diane P. Hill was considered requesting an extension of time for course work on her masters degree. Basically, she was requesting that eight hours taken in the fall semester of 1989 be allowed to count for full credit. As her transcript was reviewed, it was noted that she was not enrolled in any courses for the Spring 1997 semester. The Graduate Council wanted to know when she planned to re-enroll and complete her masters degree. A motion by Dr. Oliver, seconded by Dr. Whitlock, to table her request to obtain additional information was approved unanimously. In order to further consider this request, the Graduate Council would like to have a semester by semester plan for the completion of her degree.

A request by Scott Meixl and Marvis Moore to take a three hour financial management course in the summer of 1997 at Texas A&M-Commerce was considered. Dr. Minks, MBA Program Director, supported this request and indicated that the course is equivalent. Due to rescheduling of the frequency of offerings, these two students would be delayed for one year in completing their MBA program. A motion by David Whitlock, seconded by Bob Oliver, to approve the request passed unanimously.

A request by Calvin Lee Reynolds to obtain a time extension for consideration of his masters thesis was reviewed by the Graduate Council. Dr. David Norris indicated that he needs several months to review the thesis and circulate it to other scholars. Due to an unusual set of circumstances, Mr. Reynold's thesis previously had not been considered on a timely basis and his time had expired for the formal awarding of his masters degree. Dr. Norris in the Social Sciences supports this request since the thesis is a very high quality endeavor. A motion by Dr. Whitlock, seconded by Dr. Wayne Dixon, to approve the request passed unanimously. After Dr. Norris has time to review this thesis and authenticate its originality, Mr. Reynolds will be granted a masters degree.

The second item was to consider four graduate faculty nominations. It was noted that all four nominees are current in professional development activities and scholarly activities. In the case of Vicki Hudson, it was noted that she would qualify for Associate Graduate Faculty after the Summer 1997 semester. A motion by Karla Oty, seconded by Bob Oliver, passed unanimously to approve the nominations of the four faculty.

The third item of business was to consider a graduate program modification for the Master of Behavioral Studies degree in Counseling Psychology. The program revision would increase the hours requirement to forty-eight hours. Six new courses were requested along with four course revisions (re4itle course names only). After some discussion, Dr. McMillan noted that the trend in graduate level counseling psychology programs is to move toward programs that have 45-60 credit hours to be consistent with professional licensing requirements. After some discussion by the Graduate Council, a motion by Dr. Dixon, seconded by Dr. Finkbine, passed unanimously to approve the program and course modifications.

The next item was a request for a program revision of the Master of Education in School Counseling program. The revision was requested in order to be consistent with new certification requirements in the State of Oklahoma. The net affect would be to delete two courses and add a new course, Advanced Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence. After a presentation by Dr. Kathy Brown, a motion by Dr. Chip Weiner, seconded by Dr. Wayne Dixon, passed unanimously to approve the modification, course revisions, and new course request. It was also noted that this had previously been approved by the Teacher Education Council.

The fourth item of business was out-of-state tuition waivers for masters students. Jack Robinson briefed the Council about 100% out-of-state tuition waivers that would soon be available to Texas school personnel. He indicated that a formal policy was under development and would be released in the near future.

The fifth item of business was to review draft assessment plans that had been submitted for the Master of Business Administration program, Master of Technology program, and Master of Education program. Some changes in the programs were recommended by the Graduate Council. Jack Robinson requested that the coordinators and faculty for these programs work to develop a time-line to begin program outcomes assessment especially in the area of student academic achievement with the beginning of the Fall 1997 semester.

In the last item of business, the Council reviewed the minutes from the last meeting. A motion by David Whitlock, seconded by Chip Weiner, passed unanimously to approve the minutes for distribution.

The meeting adjourned at 3:40 p.m.