1 GRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING 18 January 2012 102 Kern ...

Minutes of the Meeting December 14, 2011
The Graduate Council -2-
Dr. Hajnal reported that the Committee had not met since the last meeting of Graduate Council. He
remarked that the various subcommittees continue to review award nominations and reported that the University
Graduate Fellowships (UGF) summary report has been submitted to Dr. Foley for consideration.
Committee on Graduate Research
Dr. Foley recognized Dr. David Spencer, Chair, Committee on Graduate Research
Dr. Spencer reported that he recently attended the meeting of the Senate Committee on Research. Three
items were presented at the meeting for consideration. The first presentation was on the changing landscape of
research administration and appropriately charging expenses associated with funded research. Dr. Peter Schiffer
made the second presentation, on instructional and intellectual property as it relates to online programs. He
noted that the University is developing specific policies on this. The third item was that faculty representatives
from the Commonwealth College campuses are investigating options to increase recognition for the research
they conduct and, they hope, to be included as members of the Graduate Faculty, with the intention of serving
on graduate student committees.
Graduate Exhibition Subcommittee
Dr. Foley recognized Dr. Suzanne Adair, representing the Graduate Exhibition Subcommittee.
Dr. Adair reported that the Subcommittee had met prior to Graduate Council and is moving forward in
preparations for the 2012 Graduate Exhibition. She noted that announcements will be sent in January to
students, faculty, program staff, and past judges.
Committee on Graduate Student and Faculty Issues
Dr. Foley recognized Dr. James Nemes, Chair, Committee on Graduate Student and Faculty Issues.
Dr. Nemes reported that the Committee met prior to today’s meeting of Graduate Council. He indicated
that the Committee continued its discussion of leave guidelines for graduate assistants, including the new parent
accommodation guidelines and guidelines for medical leaves; the Committee is looking at the broader picture
and considering the issue of leaves as a whole.
He noted that the Committee reviewed data collected from the colleges to see how many students have
requested leaves during the past five years and how these requests were accommodated by the colleges. He
reported that, University-wide, 23 students were involved during this time (approximately 4-5 per year). He
added that colleges reported that the graduate assistantship duties were accommodated by the colleges by either
moving the teaching responsibilities to an earlier part of the semester or changing the students’ duties.
Dr. Nemes remarked that many graduate students still are not aware of the guidelines for the new parent
accommodation or medical leaves. He noted that the new parent accommodation guidelines are on the web, but
the medical leave guidelines are not. He added that once the Committee has finalized the guidelines, they should
be posted in a more intuitive location so that students and faculty/staff can access them more readily. In
addition, the Committee hopes that all colleges will be as accommodating as possible when requests are
submitted. It was reported that if a student is funded by an external agency, e.g., NSF, NIH, etc., the policy of
the funding agency will take precedence over the University’s guidelines.