COAH Graduate Studies Subcommittee

Minutes COAH Graduate Studies Subcommittee 8:30am, April 15, 2015 COAH Dean’s Conference Room

In attendance: Elizabeth Kramer, Bob Lane, Joshua Masters, Nadya Popov Williams, Jeffrey Zamostny. Absent: Randy Hendricks, Kevin Shunn. Guests: Patrick Erben, Alicia Freed, Kevin Hibbard, Toby Ziglar.

This was the committee’s sixth and final meeting of AY2014-15.

1. We approved the minutes of our April 1 meeting.

2. Toby Ziglar and Alicia Freed, from the Office of Graduate (and International) Admissions, attended the meeting at our invitation, to discuss the work they do with regard to graduate admissions and how that work has interfaced with that of the GSAs in the various colleges.

Toby let us know that the Office of Grad. Adm. works with prospective students to complete applications and then sends those applications forward to the various departments. They answer student questions and when appropriate refer those questions to the various GSAs (although in the case of COAH, they are currently forwarding those questions to the different graduate program directors). GSAs run Banner reports weekly to generate lists of graduate applicants. These lists show whether or not applicants’ files are complete, but they don’t show what’s missing from those files; for that, GSAs have to pull up each individual student’s record in Banner. The GSAs then contact students whose files are incomplete.

The Office of Grad Adms engages in no recruiting efforts—that is left up to the colleges.

Different colleges shape the work of their respective GSAs differently, e.g., in the School of Nursing, the GSA makes admissions decisions based on whether applicants have met a strict set of criteria. Toby and Alicia are happy to working differently with the different schools to accommodate for this sort of difference in the roles of the various GSAs.

Kristy Gamble, former GSA for COAH, was already phasing out of that role when the Office of Grad. Adm. was founded last year.

COAH’s GSA might be expected to serve as the GSA for COSM as well, although he or she would report only to the Dean of COAH.

Nadya mentioned some communication problems with the Office of Grad. Adm., problems that resulted in confusion about who is following up on incomplete applications. Alicia pointed out that this is the responsibility of the GSAs, who should running Banner reports weekly to look for incomplete applications. Alicia can run these reports for program directors if needed. Toby can give any program directors Banner access that would enable them to run these reports themselves.

Nadya mentioned instances in which applicants to History had accidentally checked the wrong box on the application form and subsequently had their materials routed to a different college. Alicia says that this sort of mistake is frequently caught in the Grad. Adm. office, since their staff lay hands on every piece of paperwork that becomes part of a student’s file, including reference letters, but it is still possible that this sort of thing will fall through the cracks. Bob mentioned that it should still be caught eventually by the program or school that does eventually receive the application, even if it’s not the department to which the student had intended to apply.

Toby offered to put together a document that can serve as a guide for GSAs and program directors. It will include instructions for accessing relevant Banner screens and reports, plus a list of things that the Grad. Adm. office does with regard to the application process.

Patrick asked whether there is anything in the works that would make the process of soliciting and submitting reference letters electronic. Josh pointed out that we had such an online system before the Graduate School was dissolved. According to Toby, that previous system was the Hobsons platform, which we no longer pay for. The new Recruiter software (which is produced by Banner and is supposed to be implemented for graduate admissions at some point in the near future) does not have that capability. Denise suggested that individual programs could perhaps use Qualtrics as a stopgap measure until some general solution is found.

The consensus was that UWG would benefit from a good deal of streamlining and standardization of the graduate application process and how that process is carried out in the various colleges. This led to a brief discussion of the prospects for the Graduate School being reestablished. Denise suggested that a good place to begin a broad conversation about streamlining would be in a regular meeting of all the graduate program directors from across campus. Toby will send Denise a list of all of those directors; he suggested that regular meetings of all the GSAs would probably also be a good idea.

Alicia offered to have our new GSA (whenever he or she is hired) spend a day in the Office of Grad. Adm. to see how they handle grad applications.

3. We briefly discussed the difference between certificates and certifications. Denise told us about the history of the Spanish Education and French Education certification tracks. They are post-bac, non- degree certifications. Enrollments have fluctuated over the years, and there are currently no students enrolled in either track. Kevin let us know that enrollment in the Music Education certification track has also declined, although currently it does have a few students enrolled. The role of COE with regard to these tracks is as follows: they teach some of the required classes, and they process the paperwork that eventually gets sent to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. It’s that Commission, not UWG, that issues the certification, so these certifications don’t get “counted” even as much as our non-degree certificates do. Denise said that our offering these certification tracks is a public service to the field of education.

4. Bob let everyone know that he will be on research leave in fall 2015 and that Philosophy would need a replacement for him on this committee for that semester. He will email a draft of these minutes to the committee before the end of the academic year.

5. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:40am.