<p> MINUTES OF THE APRIL 2016 MEETING OF THE GRADUATE COUNCIL</p><p>The Graduate Council held its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 in Plaster Student Union, Room 313. Acting Council Chair Ching-Wen Chang called the meeting to order at 3:30. </p><p>Members Present: Drs. Beckman, Buchanan, Carr, Chang, Cornelius-White (for Agnew), Dollar, Duitsman, Evans, Finch, Goerndt, Haggard, Kaula, Mantie-Kozlowski (for Franklin), G. Masterson, J. Masterson, Morris, Moses, Novik, Penkalski, Piston, Prescott, Schick (for Gerasimchuk), Stanojevic, Suttmoeller, Test, Tomasi, Williamson, Worman and Yarberry Members Absent: Drs. Berquist, Calihman, Dillon, Ghosh, Gutierrez, Harsha, Hubbard, Kemp and Scott; Ms. Cleveland and Ms. Miller Guests: Drs. Arthaud, Dogwiler, Gouzie and Sexton; Ms. Lisa Taylor </p><p>Approval of Minutes</p><p>A motion was made by Dr. Piston and seconded by Dr. Evans to approve the minutes from the March, 2016 meeting. The minutes were unanimously approved. </p><p>Committee Reports </p><p>Report of the Council Chair – Ching-Wen Chang for Randy Dillon</p><p>Dr. Chang announced that at the May Graduate Council meeting a regular business meeting will be held first with the current council members. Once that meetings is adjourned, a new meeting of the continuing and new council members will be called to order by Dr. Masterson, and a chair will be elected.</p><p>Report of the Graduate Dean – Julie Masterson and Tom Tomasi</p><p>A. Announcements: For a complete listing of announcement and deadlines, see the “Graduate College Update” at http://graduate.missouristate.edu/council.htm under the Graduate Council section. B. Dr. Masterson announced that the Faculty Recognition Ceremony is scheduled for May 4 which will interfere with the Graduate Council meeting. Alternative dates for Graduate Council are April 27 or May 11. The Council voted to hold the May meeting on May 11. Christy will secure a room and email Council members. C. SP16 student grade issue dismissals will be coming up soon. Program Directors are asked to email Julie or Lisa a list of any students you think may go beyond the 9 hours of C grade. Appeals for students wanting to register for summer courses will be held June 3 and 4. Appeals for students not wanting to register until the fall semester will be held later in the summer. D. House bill HR 4223 is currently in the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill would reinstate Stafford Loans for graduate students. Dr. Masterson will email additional information. Faculty are encouraged to contact representatives in support of this bill. E. Dr. Tomasi reported that the University has purchased software for an institutional repository for thesis. This system will allow students to electronically obtain the signatures of the thesis chair and committee and then electronically submit the thesis to the Graduate College for review. This system will also allow a student to sign in and begin working on the thesis from the very beginning and use the available cloud space for storage. Alternatively, a student can complete the thesis in the current way and then upload the document for approval and submission to the Graduate College. A pilot project will be conducted this fall. F. Dr. Tomasi also reminded Council members that all thesis students need to be using the current thesis guidelines. If your department has thesis information on your website, make sure you just link to the Graduate College thesis guideline so that the information is always current. If you have extracted information/documents/examples from the Graduate College thesis guidelines to your website and do not constantly keep them updated, it causes issues when students submit incorrect formatting to the Graduate College. G. Dr. Tomas reminded Council members that IDF is April 23 and judges are needed. Faculty can sign up now at http://graduate.missouristate.edu/currentstudents/IDF.htm. Please volunteer to judge and also share the information with other faculty in your department so they can volunteer.</p><p>Report of the Graduate Student Senate – Tom Tomasi for Brooke Bengel</p><p>Approximately 20 graduate students went to the Research Campus at Mountain Grove to tour the facilities and learn about the great research that is being done by the plant science faculty and students.</p><p>Report of the Graduate Faculty Membership Committee – Bill Piston</p><p>The following faculty were approved for full graduate faculty status:</p><p>Daniel Cardwell PA Professional Paul Carter CSD Professional Jason DeBode MGT Research Alexander Hover PA Professional Mubashir Khan PA Professional Sarah Lancaster AGR Research Phillip Lancaster AGR Research Vanessa McConnell NUR Professional Samantha Mosier PLS Research Donald Nelson PA Professional Matthew Nelson PA Professional Melissa Penkalski NUR Professional</p><p>The following faculty were approved for probational graduate faculty status:</p><p>Sarah Lockenvitz CSD Research</p><p>The following recommendations were tabled at previous meetings:</p><p>John Byrd BMS Professional Jannette Eldred SWK Professional Karen Engler CSD Research - - probational requested Adriane Fain BMS Professional Julie Babb Hitchcock CSD Professional Danielle Lillge ENG Research Holly Metcalf CSD Professional Darcy Miller BMS Professional John Nagelhout BMS Professional Michael Nichels BMS Professional Thomas Rice BMS Professional</p><p>Report of the Graduate Grievance Committee – Tyler Morris</p><p>No report. Report of the Graduate Scholarship Committee – Kevin Evans</p><p>The committee is currently reviewing the applicants for the Enhancing Diversity Scholarship. </p><p>Report of the Graduate Recruitment Committee – Martha Finch</p><p>A Graduate Recruitment grant was awarded to Geography, Geology and Planning for the spring semester.</p><p>Report of the Graduate Screening Committee – Ching-Wen Chang</p><p>Dr. Chang announced that the screening committee had voted unanimously that curricular proposals will be tabled unless a departmental representative is at the screening committee meeting. The Executive Committee of the Graduate Council also supported this decision.</p><p>The following Substantive Proposals were approved:</p><p>Program Changes</p><p>Counseling and Assessment – change admission requirements (no longer allowed to enter from the bachelor’s degree), change required hours from 72 to 27, change degree requirements MSN Nurse Education - - delete accelerated option Secondary Education Core - change research option Secondary Education, Mathematics (Accelerated option) – change mixed credit hours from 6 to 9 Special Education, ASD – change required courses, increase required hours from 36 to 37 Special Education, ASD accelerated – change admission requirements, change mixed credit options Special Education, BLV – change required hours Special Education, SEACT – change core courses for all special ed programs, change SEACT course requirements Sports Management Certificate – change admission requirements and comp exam requirements</p><p>New Courses</p><p>COU 754 Counseling for Post-Secondary and Career Readiness K-12 MED 793 Practicum in Producing or Production SPE 717 Methods of Teaching Mathematics to Exceptional Individuals SPE 740 Verbal Behavior </p><p>Course Changes</p><p>CIS 660 Fundamentals of Cybersecurity – change prerequisite SPE 607 Services and Diversity in Blindness and Low Vision and Additional Disabilities – change periodicity and hours SPE 608 Low Vision, Anatomy and Physiology of the Eye – change periodicity and hours SPE 617 Effective Practices in Special Education – change title, prerequisite, hours and description SPE 618 Application of Applied Behavior Analysis and Interventions for Teacher in Applied Settings – change title SPE 619 Methods of Teaching Students with Learning and Behavioral Disorders – change title, prerequisite, hours and description SPE 621 Methods of Teaching Individuals with Developmental Disabilities and Other Heath Impairments – change title, prerequisite, hours and description SPE 626 Applied Behavioral Analysis for Developmental Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder – change prerequisite SPE 664 Language Development of Exceptional Students – change prerequisite, hours, periodicity and description SWK 743 Management & Program Development in Human Service – change number to 643, change title, periodicity and description</p><p>Course Deletion</p><p>CIS 630 Training for End User Computing BSE 603 Teaching of Business BSE 609 Business Education Workshop BSE 620 Occupational Analysis BSE 622 Philosophy of Vocational Education BSE 623 Guidance for Vocational Development BSE 624 Implementing Vocational Business Education Programs BSE 626 Coordination of Cooperative Education BSE 628 Measurement and Evaluation of Vocational Education Programs BSE 640 Curriculum Development for Business Education BSE 696 Problems in Business Education BSE 705 Curriculum Construction in Business Education BSE 710 Improvement of Instruction in Business Education BSE 730 Research Seminar in Business Education</p><p>Unfinished Business</p><p>None.</p><p>New Business</p><p>None.</p><p>Program</p><p>Dean Julie Masterson presented a Power Point on MSU Graduate Education 2016-2021: Fostering Our Unique Niche. Right now is an optimal environment for Graduate College planning because the Long Range Plan is being finalized, we have the information and recommendations from the external consultant (Dr. Robert Augustine) and the SWOT analysis that were both conducted during the fall semester, and she has almost completed her Listening Tour conversations with department heads and program directors. The Long Range Plan identifies graduate education as one of the primary factors in distinguishing MSU, and Dr. Augustine reported that the university community is excited about graduate education. </p><p>Dr. Masterson stated that 5 themes (or areas of concentration) will be discussed. The first theme is “Strong Infrastructure.” Issues related to this theme include a need for increased recognition, resources, and incentives related to supporting graduate students. Also, there is a need for consistency (or acknowledged inconsistency) for contributions to graduate education workload and focused support and development for Graduate Program Directors/Coordinators (GPD). A new Graduate College Steering Committee will be formed to help with development of yearly focus initiatives, to help with development of inter- and intra- college models of graduate faculty support and graduate student support, and to suggest new ways to reward/recognize research mentoring, innovative programming, etc. Other strategies for strengthening the infrastructure could include a new admissions portal and additional GPD support.</p><p>The second theme is “Strategic Expansion.” The new MSU Long Range Plan includes goals to expand graduate programs to serve distinctive needs; offer cutting edge, innovative programs; and increase interdisciplinary programs. Strategies may include establishing partnerships with regional and state industries for both traditional and executive (cohort) programs. To help facilitate this expansion, a new Graduate Academic Innovations Team (GAIT) committee will be formed. </p><p>The third theme is “Marketing and Recruitment.” The consultant report and the SWOT analysis indicated a wide disparity in individual graduate programs efforts in marketing and recruitment. The Graduate College has been doing a variety of centralized activities including fairs and advertising. Over the next few years, we want to identify the optimal balance in centralized and decentralized approaches. To help with these efforts, a new Recruitment and Marketing Initiatives Team (REMIT) will be formed. This team will help develop a 3-year marketing and recruitment plan and suggest budgetary priorities for these plans. We also hope that the university will purchase a new CRM to assist with these activities.</p><p>The fourth theme is “Student-Focused.” The Graduate College and graduate departments/programs should continue to improve on measures of student success as well as increase student-centered instructional models and schedules while still maintaining academic rigor. Areas that could be expanded include online, competency-based instruction, assessment of prior learning and dual degrees. Other initiatives for this theme might include increases in student funding (assistantships, travel and research support), a summer research opportunity for visiting undergraduate students, and the expansion of a public affairs focus in graduate programs. The newly formed Graduate College Steering Committee may initiate a Graduate Scholars program which would provide GA support to individuals committed to leadership. These students could become the nucleus of the Graduate Student Senate. </p><p>The fifth theme is “Funding.” Funding is always a consideration when building long range plans and strategic plans. The good news is MSU can still offer “high quality education at a competitive price,” and it was noted at the recent MAGS meeting that MSU has a very low graduate debt upon graduation. The bad news is that we expect no significant increase in funding from the state. Also, because the Graduate College is now at full staffing, we will no longer have significant carryforward monies from salary savings. Therefore, we must learn again to live within our means. With focused initiatives and projects, we will spend down our reserves to a targeted level. It is likely that current initiatives (McNair assistantships, diversity scholarship, graduate fellowships, and recruitment grants) will change in some way. To help raise additional funds for continuing initiatives, as well as newly developed strategies, we will begin focused fund raising. An MSU Foundation account for Graduate College has been established and is accepting donations. We may also try to obtain funding for graduate research partnerships and named assistantships. Finally, a new Graduate Education Advisory Board will be formed. This will include alumni and community/regional leaders with a passion for graduate education. This board will provide input on programming, assist with fund raising and be a networking tool for both students and faculty. </p><p>The next year will be an exciting time as the Graduate College works with faculty and students from across campus as well as individuals from outside the university to brainstorm and visualize new ideas for graduate education. Dr. Masterson closed with questions and encouraged Graduate Council members to think about what they could contribute as we move forward. </p><p>Adjournment</p><p>The meeting adjourned at 4:40. The next meeting of the Graduate Council will be on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 in PSU, room 315.</p><p>Ching-Wen Chang, Acting Chair</p>