MINUTES OF THE GRADUATE
COUNCIL
The University of
Alabama
February 27, 2001
The regular meeting of the Graduate Council was held at
3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27, 2001, in the Forum Room of
the Ferguson Center.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr.
Martin G. Bakker, Dr. Bruce E. Barrett,
Dr. Carol Cassel, Dr. Jeri W.
Dunkin,
Dr. L. Michael Freeman, Dr. Ida
Johnson,
Dr. Laura Klinger, Dr. Richard
G. Lomax,
Dr. Lea McGee, Dr. Sharon
O’Dair
Dr. Martha Powell, Dr. Harry E.
Price,
Dr. David R. Roskos-Ewoldsen,
Dr. Nancy Rubin,
Dr. Edward J. Schnee, Dr. Will
C. Schreiber,
Dr. Paul H.
Stuart, Dr. Min Sun,
Dr. Cynthia S. Sunal, Dr.
Stephen J. Thoma.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Dr.
Gary A. Copeland, Dr. Michael T. Dugan,
Dr.
Susan. C. Fleming, Dr. BarrieJo Price,
Dr. Jack Sulentic, Dr. Joseph
S. Thrasher,
Dr. Elizabeth K. Wilson.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Dean Ronald Rogers.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES
PRESENT: Ms.
Francesca Dillman Carpentier, Ms. Melanie Eddins.
PRESENT: Dr. Pat
Harrison, Assistant Dean,
Dr.
John F. Schmitt, Associate Dean,
Ms. Dianne
C. Teague, Records Officer.
The meeting opened with the approval of the November
28, 2000 Graduate Council minutes.
Dean Rogers called for the reports from various
committees.
I. Reports from Graduate Council Committees
A. Program and Degree Requirements
Dr.
Stephen J. Thoma, chairperson, reported that the Graduate Student Association
solicited comments between November, 2000 and February, 2001 regarding a
proposal to institute a plus/minus grading system for graduate students. An estimated 85% of graduate students
indicated a preference to keep the current grading system, and fewer than 15%
of all graduate students are estimated to support the implementation of a
plus/minus grading system. Dean Rogers
added that an informal poll of department chairs on this subject revealed that
one-third of the departments are in favor of a plus-minus system for graduate
students, 52% are against, and 12% are equally split. Dr. Thoma stated that, based on this information, the committee
recommends that there not be a change in the current grading system. The vote was taken by a show of hands with 7
voting in favor of changing to a plus/minus grading system, 9 voting against
changing to a plus/minus grading system, and no one abstaining. The motion to change to a plus/minus grading
system at the graduate level fails.
Dr.
Thoma presented the next recommendation from the Program and Degree
Requirements Committee, which is to alter the existing policy on academic
warning (probation) for regularly admitted graduate students. The current policy allows regularly admitted
graduate students to be placed on academic warning (probation) after completing
six semester hours, whereas conditionally admitted graduate students complete a
minimum of 12 semester hours before being placed on academic warning. The committee recommends that a graduate
student with regular status in a graduate program who drops below a “B” average
(at any time after earning 12 semester hours) will be placed on probation. The rationale for this change is that the
current policy is unfair to regularly admitted graduate students. After a period of discussion , the council
voted unanimously to change the current policy to read “A graduate student with regular status in a graduate program who drops
below a “B” average (at any time after earning 12 semester hours) will be
placed on academic warning.
Dean
Rogers informed the Council that the UA System Strategic Planning Initiative
has not received support from the faculty at UA, UAB, and UAH due to its
top-mandated format and the unworkable nature of certain of the
initiatives. Chancellor Meredith has
been advised of this position. An ad
hoc committee has been formed to study the Initiative and its impact on the
three campuses. Dean Rogers asked if
the Council wished to be involved in any way with this committee. He explained that The University of Alabama
stands to lose the most if the Initiative is set in motion. Dean Rogers asked Dr. Jeri Duncan how the
co-op program in nursing is going with UAB.
She said it is terrible, that there is no cooperation on UAB’s
part. Dean Rogers went on to state that
over half of UA’s doctoral programs are not represented, even at the bachelor’s
level, on the other campuses. The
Council indicated a willingness to be involved in examining the strategies of
the Initiative. Dean Rogers said that
each of the initiatives would be referred to the appropriate Council committee
and that if anyone not on those committees would like to help, they should let
him know. Dean Rogers asked if the
College of Education representatives wish to form a subcommittee to look at the
education patterns of the plan. They
declined and noted that this review should be conducted by the College of
Education.
B. Admissions and Recruitment
Dr.
Paul Stuart, chairperson, announced that at the January 31, 2001 meeting of
this committee, they discussed the current use of the Miller Analogies Test
(MAT) for UA graduate admissions. The
MAT is used as an alternative to the GRE by several UA graduate
departments. The committee discussed
their concerns about the limitations of the MAT (e.g., measures verbal
analogies only, limited data on validity) and noted that the MAT is accepted by
fewer than half of the universities of the Southern Universities Group. The committee discussed that the GRE and
GMAT have superior psychometric properties and voted unanimously to submit the
following recommendation to the Graduate Council:
Beginning with applications for fall semester
2002, the Miller Analogies Test should not be used for admissions to doctoral programs at The
University of Alabama. Colleges and
departments may elect to use the MAT as one of their admissions test
alternatives for admissions to masters and educational specialist programs.
The
committee noted that this new policy would have no impact on departments that
currently hold approval NOT to require an admissions test.
In
addition, the committee noted that for those departments using the simplified
or expedited application process for students moving from a master’s degree
program to a higher degree program in the same department, they may elect to
allow students to use an MAT score from their master’s application when they
apply to the higher degree program.
This would include doctoral programs in the same department.
Dean
Rogers noted that Provost Barrett had recently expressed her concern over UA’s
using the MAT as an acceptable graduate admission test.
Dr.
Harry Price and Dr. Steve Thoma said that this seems to be a 180 degree turn
from the Graduate School’s recent philosophy, which has been to defer such admissions decisions to the
individual departments. He cited the
example of the numerous departments which no longer require any admissions
tests.
Other
College of Education representatives noted that their faculty were opposed to
the motion. They requested additional
time to discuss the topic at the college level and to evaluate the technical
data for the MAT.
After a
period of discussion, Dean Rogers indicated that perhaps it would be a good
idea to postpone this discussion until the committee has received more input
from the Council members. The Council
agreed. Dean Rogers asked for
volunteers to form an ad hoc committee to study the technical data. Dr. Paul Stuart, Dr. Steve Thoma, and Dr.
Richard Lomax will work with Assistant Dean Harrison on the ad hoc committee.
Dr.
Stuart then brought before the Council the committee’s recommendation regarding
assistantships for international students holding provisional language
admission. According to current policy,
“Students who have provisional language admission are accepted to the Graduate
School, but must attend full-time intensive English language instruction at the
English Language Institute (ELI). The
student must complete the ELI’s Intensive English Program with a minimum GPA of
3.5 in the advanced levels (levels 4, 5, and 6) and earn a score of at least
550 on the TOEFL before he or she will be allowed to enroll in graduate courses
and/or be awarded a graduate assistantship.” (p. 81 of the Graduate
Catalog) The committee reviewed the
reasons that the provisional language admission policy was approved by the
Graduate Council in fall semester 1998, including the use of the policy by
applicants who are being sponsored by their governments for study in the U.S.
(e.g., the Royal Thai program, the Saudi Arabia program) and who need the
opportunity to study English full-time before taking graduate classes. The committee unanimously recommends the
following to the Graduate Council:
Students who have provisional language admission
may be approved to hold an externally funded research assistantship through a
contract or grant. Dr.
Stuart explained that the wording, “externally-funded,” is in place because ELI
students don’t take graduate classes outside ELI, and internally-funded
students are required to take classes.
After a period of discussion, the vote was taken by a show of hands with
all voting in favor except for one dissenting vote. There were none opposed.
C.
Teaching and Research Awards
Dr. Carol Cassel, chairperson, reported that the
winners of the 2000-2001 Graduate School Awards for Outstanding Teaching and
Research are:
Teaching at the master’s level, Michael Shiffler, Biology,
A&S
Teaching at the doctoral level, Sondra Yarbrough,
Secondary Education, ED
Research at the master’s level, Matthew Gage,
Anthropology, A&S
Research at the doctoral level, Trent Selby,
Chemistry, A&S
Dr. John Schmitt reported that the winner of the
Thesis Award is Benjamin Murphy in Mechanical Engineering, College of
Engineering, adviser, Dr. Beth Todd; the Dissertation Award winner is Dorina
Miron in Mass Communication, College of Communication and Information Sciences,
adviser, Dr. Jennings Bryant. The title
of Mr. Murphy’s thesis is Using the
Finite Element Method to Develop a
Testing Standard for Determining the Effectiveness of Exercise Countermeasures
for Long Duration Space Flight. Dr.
Miron’s dissertation title is The
Relationship Between Fantasy in Children’s Television and Preschoolers’
Creativity in Solving Problems.
II. Reports from the Dean’s
Office and Academic Affairs
Dr.
Schmitt announced that the Graduate School Web Page now provides forms which
can be completed at the computer, printed and mailed to the Graduate School
office. This is more user-friendly than
the previous offering which required downloading, typing at a typewriter or
hand-writing, and then mailing. The
files are all in Adobe .PDF format.
Dr.
Schmitt advised the Council of the upcoming SACS self-study in 2002-2003 and of
the SACS site visit in 2004. Many of
the new SACS statements have to do with distance learning programs. During the
self-study the university will need to demonstrate full compliance with regard
to the DL programs. Dr. Schmitt noted
that SACS must be notified six months prior to implementation when 50% of an existing or new program will
be delivered via distance learning (QUEST, IITS, Web). Currently, The University of Alabama has 13
SACS-approved DL programs. Dr. Schmitt
explained that additional SACS requirements are orientation and training of
faculty for DL activities; “continuous, systematic evaluation” of DL programs;
and an institutional plan for ongoing data collection about DL. Those data also must be used in the planning
and evaluation processes. Dr. Schmitt
asked the Council to assist in making sure UA is in compliance with regard to
the number of courses and programs being offered in departments through DL
III.
Reports from Standing University Committees
There were no reports.
There was no old business.
VI. New Business
There was no new business.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:20