PRESENT: George T. Barthalmus, Salah M. Bedair, Fonda J. Daniels, Abdel-Aziz Fahmy, Edwin R. Gerler, John G. Gilligan, Bruce Hammerberg, Margaret F. King, Charles R. Knoeber, Elana L. Leithold, Charles D. Livengood, Thoyd Melton, Carolyn R. Miller, C. David Raper, Jr., Daniel L. Solomon, Robert S. Sowell, Debra W. Stewart, Paul Tesar and Nanda W. Irons (Recorder)
ABSENT: John R. Kolb, John C. Park and Beth E. Wilson
SUBSTITUTES: D. Lester Holley, Jr., substituting for Beth E. Wilson
All of the many parts of the complex new funding plan continue to fall smoothly into place. Dean Stewart and Dr. Sowell commended Rick Liston, Chris Buchanan and Joe Perez for all of their hard work. As the numbers have come in, some colleges have enrolled more students than they anticipated, some have increased stipends to make more students eligible for the support plan and; overall, more students were eligible for the support plan than was originally anticipated. At this time, there are over 2,000 students enrolled in the health insurance, including over 900 new students with in-state tuition awards. One hundred forty FTEs were projected for the 1997-98 academic year and 175 were actually generated. Spring FTEs will be less, but we should have an average annual FTE of 140 for the year. The Graduate School needs feedback from Board members, departments and students as to how the plan is working for them, including suggestions for improvements, streamlining, etc. Both Dean Stewart and Dr. Sowell are available to visit with colleges/departments to aid with any problems in administration of the plan. Improvement in the quality of new students is apparent at this time although the final numbers will be the certain indicator. GPAs and GRE scores are up over the previous fall semester.
The Administrative Board of the Graduate School unanimously approved the following new Policy Regarding the Appointment and Service of Graduate School Representatives at Oral Examinations for Ph.D. and Ed.D. Degree Candidates:
The Graduate School Representative is appointed as an impartial observer of preliminary and final oral examinations for the doctoral degree. The representative, who should not have worked closely with the candidate on the dissertation research and who should not take a dominant role in the examination, serves to protect the interests of the student, the advisory committee and the Graduate School and may serve as a source of judgment and counsel to the Dean should questions arise about conduct of the examination.In fostering the Graduate School Representative as a part of the examination, a desired expectation is to forestall problems that jeopardize the integrity and fairness of the process. If this expectation is met, the considerable faculty time committed to serving as Graduate School Representative and the associated difficulties in procuring this individual and scheduling the examination to accommodate him/her is justified. There is, however, no evidence that suggests that such problems would occur in the absence of a Graduate School Representative. On the other hand, it is clear that some candidates and graduate committee advisors may desire the protection traditionally offered by the presence of the Graduate School Representative during the oral examination, a view that is not to be dismissed lightly.Thus, the policy of the Graduate School regarding the appointment and service of Graduate School Representatives on doctoral oral examining committees will be changed as follows for a two-year trial period:
- Beginning with the adoption of this policy, the Graduate School requirement that a Graduate School representative be present at doctoral candidates' oral examinations will be suspended for a two-year trial period, provided that the advisory committee includes at least one member whose primary faculty appointment is outside the academic department(s) or program(s) in which the chair (and co-chair) has his/her primary appointment. When a minor representative is a member of the committee, he or she will fulfill this requirement.
- Departments or programs may elect to continue requiring Graduate School Representatives to serve at examinations for all doctoral candidates within the department or program. In these cases, the Graduate School will appoint Graduate School Representatives to all doctoral students' committees in that department or program at the time that it approves the committees. Also, the candidate, the chair of the advisory committee, or the Director of Graduate Programs may ask the Graduate School to appoint a Graduate School Representative when the request to schedule the examination is submitted. In addition, the Graduate School will randomly appoint Graduate School Representatives to some committees as part of the evaluation process described below. Neither the Graduate School nor the Director of Graduate Programs will divulge the source of a request for a Graduate School Representative to be appointed to a student's examining committee.
- For doctoral committees appointed prior to the Fall 1997 term to which a Graduate School Representative has already been assigned, the student, with the consent of the Director of Graduate Programs and the chair of the advisory committee, can omit the representative when scheduling preliminary or final oral examinations if Item 1 above is satisfied.
- During this two-year trial period, the impact of the presence or absence of a Graduate School Representative at doctoral oral examinations will be evaluated. Evaluation strategies will include the following: (a) monitoring the number of requests to appoint Graduate School representatives; (b) monitoring the increase/decrease in numbers of grievances filed regarding problems in doctoral oral examinations; adding a question on the doctoral student exit survey regarding satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the presence/absence of a Graduate School Representative; and (d) surveying Directors of Graduate Programs regarding the impact of the absence of Graduate School Representatives at oral examinations during the trial period.
A committee has been established and charged with planning the study required by the pilot program guidelines (See Item 4 above). Dr. C. David Raper (Soil Science) will chair. Other members of the committee are Dr. Charles R. Knoeber (Economics), Dr. Elana L. Leithold (Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences), Dr. Moon W. Suh (Textile and Apparel Technology and Management), Dr. Robert T. Nagel (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering), and Dr. Robert S. Sowell (Graduate School).
The Board acknowledged the overall endorsement of the pilot program by the Faculty Senate. The Governance Committee of the Faculty Senate has submitted to the Board a report of its position, which includes recommendations regarding the gathering of information on the impact of the presence/absence of the Graduate School Representative at doctoral oral examinations. The Board pledged that all suggestions included in the Governance Committee's report will be considered by the committee in crafting the evaluation strategies for the pilot program.
The Graduate School will address the issue of dissemination of the new policy to all doctoral students as soon as possible.
Dean Stewart announced that the Committee to Study ESL Screening, Placement and Instruction of International Graduate Students has been established. Dr. Margaret F. King (Graduate School) will chair. Other members of the committee are Dr. Lawrence R. Schehr (Foreign Languages and Literatures), Dr. Bill Oxenham (Textiles), Dr. Arnold Reisman (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Dr. Dan Solomon (Physical and Mathematical Sciences). Several graduate students will be asked to serve as well. The committee is charged with studying the current practices for testing the general English proficiency of newly enrolled international graduate students who score between 550 and 590 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the oral English proficiency of prospective international Teaching Assistants, as well as the resulting placement and teaching of these students in ESL (FLE) courses on our campus. The committee will make recommendations as to any changes that they think should be made in these practices to improve the quality of testing and instruction for greater benefit to our international graduate students and their graduate programs.
At the last Board Meeting, Dean Stewart announced that Dr. D. Mason Pharr (Horticultural Science) will be chairing a committee to study the Graduate Program Review process. The rest of that committee has now been established, as well. Other members are Dr. Margaret E. Daub (Plant Pathology), Dr. Elizabeth A. Stone (Companion Animal and Special Species Medicine), Dr. Arthur W. Cooper (Forestry), Dr. James C. Mulligan (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering), Dr. Charles R. Knoeber (Economics), Dr. Thoyd Melton (Microbiology and the Graduate School) and Dr. Robert S. Sowell (Graduate School). This committee will reexamine the Graduate Program Review process, ensuring that all accreditation objectives are met and that the process is as effective and beneficial as possible.
Dr. Sowell updated the Board on the status of the course renumbering project. The Graduate School has received responses to the proposoed renumbering scheme from almost all departments, and is in the process of compiling them for all graduate level courses. Some departments have totally restructured their course numbering schemes. For the most part, recommendations from the departments for course numbers are being followed. Only in a few cases of cross-listed courses has the Graduate School found it necessary to suggest changes. In these cases, every effort has been made to find a compromise course number that will be acceptable to both departments. The revised renumbering schemes will be returned to the departments for final approval in the next few weeks and the Board felt that a letter of explanation to the departments with cross-listed courses in question, explaining the need for a change(s), would be a good idea. The target date for submission of the new master course numbering scheme to the Office of Registration and Records is January, 1998, or as early thereafter as possible, so that the new course numbers can be published in the Fall 1998 TRACS Book.
Dr. Melton reported to the Board on recent changes in how his office presents/advertises diversity grant programs to prospective graduate students and to the general public. He has had numerous dialogues with the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (Affirmative Action) and the University Attorney's Office in an effort to develop fair and legal policies on diversity. All Graduate School efforts in this regard are related to the University's Strategic Plan and, recruitment of a quality, diverse pool of students is the highest priority. The university is very proud of the diversity of its student body and continues to make deliberate efforts to recruit from all ethnic groups. The Graduate School's approach is not to dismantle what is already in place but to ensure that diversity grant programs meet all federal guidelines for legality and that every effort is made to increase and diversify the highest quality student body possible.
Efforts to develop programs to increase the pool of African-American undergraduate applicants to graduate programs at NC State include developing linkages with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), especially in areas that we have not previously focused upon. Programs already in place are the BRITE and BRIDGE Programs. BRITE brings undergraduate students from HBCUs to our campus for 9 weeks of summer research.
The BRIDGE Program goes beyond BRITE in that, through NIH sponsorship, faculty members at NC State are carefully identified and placed on the committees of master's students in selected areas of study at HBCUs. The program helps to smooth the transition from master's to doctoral program and creates a link to this university.
The Graduate School is also involved with several locator services which identify and communicate names and information to Dr. Melton's office about minority undergraduate students in specified areas of the country. His office then contacts students who might be interested in programs offered at NC State. The Graduate School participates in recruitment fairs and national consortia to ensure that NC State's Graduate Programs are well-publicized and represented to potential students.
Efforts are also focused on expanding grant funds for graduate education with emphasis on minority representation. The Minority Presence Grant (MPG) and the Diversity Graduate Assistance Grant (formerly the African-American Graduate Assistance Grant) are both administered by Dr. Melton and his staff and students are encouraged to pursue these and other sources of funds if eligible. Mr. David Shafer, Director of Graduate Fellowship Programs in the Graduate School, also maintains a premiere database on funding sources for graduate education at NC State.
Dr. Melton encourages students who are having academic difficulty to talk with him and, in most cases, something can be done to help the student. At what can be a large and sometimes impersonal institution, most students are surprised and relieved to find that someone cares about their individual problems and their success.
And, finally, the annual African-American Awards Banquet showcases the quality of our students and encourages and recognizes excellence.
At the last (September 25, 1997) Board meeting, members voted to recommend variable credit (1-3 hours) enrollment for continuing research courses once a student has finished all research requirements for the degree rather than a minimum of three credit hours each semester until graduation. Dean Stewart reported to the Board that the UNC-General Administration policy on thesis and dissertation credit has now been finalized; and the issue of variable credit or a minimum of three credit hours of enrollment is to be left to the discretion of the individual universities in the UNC System. For NC State, the Graduate School has decided to allow departments to make the decision for their own students except for students who are on stipends. A policy for our supported students will be developed as soon as possible. Of course, these hours do not contribute to the 72 hour minimum doctoral requirement.
| EAC 587 | Integrating Technology Into Training Programs, 3(3-0) - New course. | Approved. |
| EAC 604 | Continuing Education for the Professions, 3(3-0) - New course. | Approved. |
| MA 573 (BMA 573) | Mathematical and Experimental Modeling of Physical Processes I, 3(3-0) New course. | Approved. |
| MA 574 | Mathematical and Experimental Modeling of Physical Processes II, 3(3-0) - New course. | Approved. |
| PP 605 | Molecular Biology of Plant Viruses, 3(3-0) - Revision in content, credit and contact hours, and description. | Approved. |
| SOC 535 | Rural Sociology, 3(3-0) - New course | (Action was postponed on this course until the next Board meeting by request of the College.) |
| SOC 638 | Race and Ethnic Inequality, 3(3-0) - New course | (Action was postponed on this course until the next Board meeting by request of the College.) |
| TOX 510 | Biochemical Toxicology, 3(3-0) - Revision in prerequisite and description. | Approved. |
| *VMC 872 | Clinical Small Animal Veterinary Cardiology, 2(0-80) - New course. | Approved. |
*Note: The above Veterinary Medicine Professional Course has been reviewed by the
D.V.M. Professional Curriculum Review Subcommittee, Dr. Bruce Hammerberg, Chair.
November 6, 1997
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Alumni Conference Room