GRADUATE COUNCIL
August 22, 1996, 3:00 p.m.
Members Present: Dr. Sheila Barnes, Dr. James Britton, Dr. Pat Dunham, Dr. Connie Taylor,Dr. Wayne Dixon (MBS Program Coordinator), Dr. Ronald Finkbine (MT Program Coordinator), Dr. Larry Minks (MBA Program Coordinator), Dr. Charles Weiner (Med Program Coordinator), Dr. Jack L. Robinson (Chairperson)
Members Absent: Dr. Robert Henderson, Dr. Molly Risso
The first item of business was an appeal by Aaron Spratt to be admitted to the School of Graduate Studies at Southeastern. Mr. Spratt's undergraduate retention GPA was 2.47 and his cumulative GPA on the last 61 hours was 2.41. Both of which made him ineligible for full admission. Mr. Spratt appeared before the Council and indicated that he would like to work on a master's degree in elementary education or special education. The Council noted that he did not have the prerequisites to be admitted to the MEd program. After considerable discussion, a motion to deny admission, made by James Britton and seconded by Connie Taylor, passed unanimously. The Council urged Mr. Spratt to obtain a teaching certificate, make a 3.00 GPA, and then reapply for admission to the Graduate School. The Committee indicated that he would be admitted at that time.
The second item of business were four nominations to the Graduate Faculty. It was noted that all four faculty had current professional development and scholarly activities to make them eligible. A motion was approved unanimously to approve Shawn Adams for the Temporary Faculty for the Fall 1996 semester, Dr. Larry Minks as a Temporary Graduate Faculty for the Fall 1996 semester, Barry Ellis as an Associate Graduate Faculty, and Dr. Michael McDougal as an Associate Graduate Faculty member.
The third item was a previously tabled program modification to change the name of the MAS degree to an MBA degree program. The Chair noted that the Council had tabled this request to seek information about an accreditation time-line and faculty who would teach the core courses. The Chair gave names of the faculty teaching the thirty hours of core courses and noted that they all had doctorates or terminal degrees. Additionally, the School of Business is seeking a new faculty member with Ph.D. in Marketing. In terms of accreditation time-lines, Dean Masters had indicated that the School would be seeking ACBSP accreditation by the year 2000 and then seek the more stringent AACSB accreditation after the year 2000. He had also indicated that he hoped to have 66% doctorates by 1997-98 and 80% doctorates by the year 2000. The Council also discussed the issue that the name change had already been approved at the State Regents level but had not received local approval by the faculty governance system as of this date. The Chair noted that the substantial curriculum changes had been made in the MAS degree and that several prerequisite courses had been added and the master's program curriculum had been revised to emulate that of an MBA program and that the name change was appropriate. Members of the Council noted that the proposals should complete their routing through the committee system before being submitted to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Bypassing the committee system is not appropriate and sends the wrong message to faculty who serve on the committee system. One faculty member suggested that when timing is critical a telephone conference call with committee members would be an appropriate way to move proposals through the system without jeopardizing windows of opportunity outside of the institution. A motion by Chip Weiner, seconded by Jim Britton, carried to approve the name change.
In the fourth item of business, the Chairman briefed the Committee about some conversion policies that have been developed that would enable former graduates with the MAS degree to convert their degree to an MBA degree. A number of phone calls requesting name changes from former MAS graduates prompted these policies. The Chair indicated that there were two views about these policies. One that they are special policies for a limited number of graduates and that this might be a School of Business matter. However, another view would be that the Graduate Council should be involved in examining these policies. It was noted that graduates requesting a degree conversion would have to demonstrate outcomes based competencies for four courses (BIM 5793, ECON 5133, MNGT 5223, MNGT 5603). Competencies could be demonstrated by having taken the courses previously, through the submission of an experiential portfolio, or by taking the courses in the near future. After some discussion, a motion by James Britton, seconded by Wayne Dixon, was approved unanimously to endorse these policies as appropriate to help former MAS graduates convert their degree to an MBA degree. It was also noted that significant faculty time would be required to examine experiential portfolios. It was also noted that there are other groups of current MAS students who may wish to obtain the MBA degree and that policies are being developed for these students, but they have not been submitted to the Graduate Council at this time. One group are students who are nearing the end of their MAS program and are likely to graduate December 1996 or May 1997. One Council member noted that these students had contracted for an MAS degree and not an MBA degree, and it was the general sentiment of the Council that December 1996 graduates and May 1997 graduates should be able to show the same competencies for the four previously mentioned courses that former graduates will have to show. Otherwise there will be an appearance that these two groups have not been treated equability and fairly. It was also the sentiment of the Council that students who are in the middle of their graduate program should be told that they are on track to receive the MAS degree; however, if these students wish to receive the MBA degree they should demonstrate the competencies for the four courses. Additionally, students who are in the beginning stages of their graduate program should be given the same advise strongly encouraging them to convert to the MBA track rather than remaining on the MAS track. A motion by Ron Finkbine, seconded by Jim Britton, passed unanimously requesting that Dean Masters meet with the Graduate Council to discuss the proposed conversion policies for students currently enrolled in the MAS program.
The fifth item of business centered around 3000-level courses. The Chair briefed the Committee that this matter had been discussed at a previous Graduate Council meeting and that the committee system had already passed a request to no longer allow 3OOOAevel courses to be counted on the MAS degree and that MBS degrees did not use 3000-level courses. It was noted that the committee responsible for the Master of Technology program has recommended that effective Fall 1997 30004eve1 courses no longer count for students entering the MT degree program. During the course of the discussion, it was noted that Dean James Pate and the Administrative Council in the School of Arts and letters had voted to recommended that SOSU eliminate offering 3000Aevel courses for graduate credit. A memo from Dean Barbara Decker and the School of Education also recommended that 3000-level courses no longer be approved for graduate credit in the Master of Education program, and she also recommended that all 4000-level course syllabi clearly distinguish requirements for scholarly work above and beyond initial level requirements and that the syllabi be approved by the Graduate Council. After much discussion about the pro's and con's of allowing 3000-level courses to be offered for graduate credit, a motion by Sheila Barnes, seconded by Ron Finkbine, was approved by a majority vote that effective Fall 1997, 3000-level courses will not be counted on all master's degrees for new graduate students entering Fall 1997. A part of the discussion was a question whether 3000-level courses be upgraded to 4000Aevel. The sentiment of the Graduate Council was that the course level (3000 or 4000) should be consistent with the practice of our peer institutions.
The sixth item of business was the current requirement of having graduate students take the GRE or GMAT test. In introducing this topic, the Chairperson noted that this topic had been discuss at the March 14, 1996, Graduate Council meeting and that the Council had requested additional information before making a recommendation. The Committee commended Dr. Pat Powers for doing a study of GRE test scores and graduate and undergraduate grade point averages. His study revealed that there was not a high correlation between individual GRE scores and graduate grade point average, but that there was a more significant correlation between undergraduate grade point average and graduate grade point average. One committee member also pointed out that tests of this type frequently have a gender bias. It was also noted that the GRE test scores are seldom used as a part of the admissions process to Graduate School or specific graduate programs at Southeastern and that testing is becoming costly to individual students. It is anticipated that the GRE will soon be totally computerized, that students will have to go to Oklahoma City or Tulsa, and the test costs will be about $100.00, not including travel or overnight lodging expenses. After other discussion, a motion by Chip Weiner, seconded by Pat Dunham, carried by a majority vote that effective immediately, Southeastern will no longer require the GRE, GMAT, or other standardized tests for admission to the School of Graduate Studies. A part of this motion was that cut points should be established and that these tests could be used as an optional way for a student to be admitted to the School of Graduate Studies in the event that their GPA or work experience did not qualify them for admission. A part of the motion was that standardized tests of this type, if desired, should become a part of the admissions process to specific graduate programs. For example, one step of being admitted to the MBS is test scores.
The seventh item of business, review of minutes from the last meeting, was postponed since the time was approaching 5:00 p.m.
Other things to consider: