3/23/2020 GAC Minutes
Minutes of the Graduate Academic Council meeting of March 23, 2020, 9:00 AM via Zoom meeting.
Approved by the Council by vote of 10-0-0 on April 10, 2020.
In attendance: G. Berg (Chair), S. Appe, D. Card, A. Dawson, S. Faught, D. Li, O. Lunin R. Morse, K.N.
Stanwicks, C. Wolff, W. Zakrzewski, K. Williams (ex officio member), S. Kent (staff), S.
Pease (staff), C. Davis (staff), J. Deden (staff)
Guests: Dr. Boris Goldfarb – Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Dr. Janell Hobson – Chair, Department of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Rachel French – Registrar’s Office
1.
Chair asked the members if there was any other business to be added to today’s agenda.
There was none.
1.
Consideration of the draft minutes of the GAC meeting of 2/24/2020 was tabled until the April
meeting.
2.
Dean’s Report – Dean Williams summarized different aspects of the current status of academic
continuity in regards to COVID-19. These included support of faculty in teaching online and via
blackboard, use of asynchronous teaching to preserve bandwidth, and handling of internships.
There was clarification of unexpected issues such as FERPA and content being posted elsewhere.
Priority being given to research, data collection and physical lab and animal maintenance, which
are required for doctoral completion of requirements.
3.
Counseling services are available to assist anyone having trouble with the new ‘normal’.
Financing and funding of students are being monitored. Graduate degree conferral is being
carried out as normal. Commencement is still an unknown at this time. Possible virtual hooding
being considered.
Graduate Course drop deadline has been extended to May 1st. Students are being told to check
with advisors before dropping. Dropping with a grade of “W” retains enrollment status and
doesn’t affect loan deferment, but it does affect international student visa status.
Approximately 700 students have petitioned to stay on campus. Disability Resources Center is
working to assist graduate students affected by the move to online courses.
ETS has come up with a way to administer the GRE and TOEFL testing at a student’s home.
4.
Chair’s Report – none given
5.
Report of the GAC Committee on Curriculum & Instruction – Sydney Faught, Chair of
Committee on Curriculum & Instruction reviewed the proposals –
a)
Public Health Fundamentals and Principles CGS Program Proposal
b)
Public Health Surveillance and Preparedness CGS Program Proposal
c)
Computing Education CGS Program Proposal
d)
Curriculum and Instruction PhD Program Proposal
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e)
Women in Public Policy CGS Program Proposal
f)
Social Welfare PhD Program Proposal
g)
History MA and PhD Program Proposals
h)
History MA GRE Program Proposal
i)
Physics MS and PhD Program Proposal
The Committee on Curriculum & Instruction approved all nine proposals.
The CC & I also discussed the outstanding Public Health Ph.D. revisions. The committee
requested more information from the department regarding the new teaching practicum
course. The department provided a syllabus to the committee, but CC&I still has additional
questions and thus the proposal has been tabled.
The Graduate Academic Council accepted the Committee’s 9 proposals approvals by a vote of
11-0-0.
6.
Proposals for three new Graduate Certificates –
Proposal for new online graduate certificate in Topological Data Analysis – Review
and discussion with B. Goldfarb and K. Williams of the Mathematics and Statistics
Department’s proposals for new certificate program in Topological Data.
Proposal was approved by the Graduate Academic Council by a vote of 11-0-0.
Proposal for new online graduate certificate in Machine Learning –
Review and discussion with B. Goldfarb and K. Williams of the Mathematics and
Statistics Department’s proposal for new certificate program in Machine Learning.
There was discussion regarding the name of the program, given that other
departments have “machine learning” courses. The department explained that
adjusting the title to include “Data Science” would be a misnomer regarding the
curriculum. The department is maintaining the proposed title. Proposal was
approved by the Graduate Academic Council by a vote of 9-1-1.
Proposal for new online graduate certificate in Global Gender Advocacy – Review
and discussion by Dr. Hobson of the proposal’s department of Women’s, Gender
and Sexuality Studies. Proposal was approved by the Graduate Academic Council by
a vote of 11-0-0.
7.
New business – A. Dawson reviewed the status of the ad hoc GRE Committee assigned to assess
the effectiveness of the GRE in the admissions process. The committee has collected data and
will issue a memo shortly with the idea of giving guidance to departments wishing to remove
the GRE from their requirements. The committee will send the memo to GAC first before
sending it to departments.
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Meeting adjourned without opposition at 10:30A
End of GAC 3/23/2020 Minutes
Graduate Academic Council
2019 – 2020
Graduate Academic Council 3/23/2020 Minutes
Meeting supplements
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Committee on Curriculum and Instruction
March 20, 2020
Committee Members: Sydney Faught (chair), Billy Zakrzewski, Alec Dawson, Susan Appe, Dylan Card,
Keith Chan, Stephen Weinberg, Christopher Wolff
Staff: Colleen Davis
Proposals reviewed: Public Health Fundamentals and Principles CGS, Public Health Surveillance and
Preparedness CGS, Computing Education CGS, Curriculum and Instruction PhD, Women in Public Policy
CGS, Social Welfare PhD, History MA and PhD, History MA GRE requirement, Physics MS and PhD
Public Health Fundamentals and Principles CGS Program Proposal
The School of Public Health is requesting the following changes to their Public Health Fundamentals and
Principles CGS program:
· Remove HEPI500 from the course options. Currently the program requires either HEPI500 or HEPI501.
The change removes HEPI500. This course is no longer offered. The total number of credits will not
change.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (8 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
Public Health Surveillance and Preparedness CGS Program Proposal
The School of Public Health is requesting the following changes to their Public Health Surveillance and
Preparedness CGS program:
· Remove HEPI500 from the course options. Currently the program requires either HEPI500 or HEPI501.
The change removes HEPI500. This course is no longer offered. The total number of credits will not
change.
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Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (8 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
Computing Education CGS Program Proposal
The Department of Educational Theory and Practice has submitted a prior proposal during the Fall 2019
semester that was approved. In that proposal, the concentration of instructional technology was
removed, in addition to requesting that the program become a licensure qualifying program. The
department is removing the licensure qualifying request and submitting an additional program change
request. They are asking that the program name be changed to Computer Science Education. The
department feels that this name is more recognizable to potential students. Students can still request
initial certification in computer science, without making this program a licensure qualifying program,
which is why that program change request was removed.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (7 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
Curriculum and Instruction PhD Program Proposal
The Department of Educational Theory and Practice is requesting the following change to their PhD
program:
· Remove the specialization/concentration names from the official Graduate Bulletin description. The
specialization/concentration requirement of 15 credits still exists, but the specified names are out of
date. The department allows doctoral students to craft their specialization/concentration courses based
on their interests/research and evolving faculty research.
· Change the language for the Doctoral Qualifying Exam requirement from “portfolio” to “pilot study.”
The department no longer uses a portfolio and instead utilizes a pilot study. This change better prepares
doctoral students for research and assessing their readiness to move onto dissertation proposal and
research.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (7 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
Women in Public Policy CGS Program Proposal
Rockefeller College is requesting the following change to the Women in Public Policy CGS program:
· Reduce the overall requirement from 18 credits to 15 credits. The college will be changing the course
credits from 4 to 3 credits for the majority of their courses and this change is in line with this program
proposal request. The students will still need to take 5 courses, but the total credits will be reduced due
to the overall credit change of individual courses.
· Add two courses as options to the core seminar requirement (WSS/PAD 604 Inequality and Public
Policy; POS 509 Citizen Participation). These courses are relevant to the program and provide more
options for students.
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· Remove PUB 507 (1 credits) from the requirements. This course is no longer offered by the
department.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (7 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
Social Welfare PhD Program Proposal
The School of Social Welfare is requesting the following changes to their doctoral program:
· Remove the Predissertation research requirement.
· Remove the Qualifying Exam requirement.
· Adjust the current Doctoral Essay (literature review essay) to be a Comprehensive Essay requirement.
· The doctoral program committee conducted an extensive review of the curriculum (which included
interviews and surveys with current students and alumni) and decided that the Predissertation research
requirement, combined process of 3 Qualifying Exams, and the Literature Review Essay were no longer
desirable means for assessing students’ entrance into candidacy.
· The Qualifying Exam requirement assessed core advanced knowledge within social work; the Doctoral
essay assessed specialized knowledge in an area of the student’s choosing. The new Comprehensive
Essay requirement will measure these two requirements while demanding greater rigor (i.e.
demonstrating mastery of Social Policy, Research and Social Work Practice, and student’s mastery of a
specialized subject matter). Within the new Comprehensive Essay requirement, students will need to
write a research proposal which eliminates the need for the Predissertation research requirement.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (7 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
History MA and PhD Program Proposals
The Department of History is requesting the following change to their MA and PhD programs:
· Eliminate the various research seminar courses they offer; replace it with one course AHIS610. The
current requirement for both the MA and PhD requires “one research seminar in the appropriate major
field.” This is being changed to “one research seminar.”
· Many of the existing research seminar courses are no longer offered. Switching to one course, AHIS610,
does not change the students’ overall requirement. The student will still need to work on an appropriate
and feasible research project with a faculty member.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (7 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
History MA GRE Program Proposal
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The Department of History is requesting that the GRE admissions requirement be removed from their
MA program. The department indicates they have strong anecdotal evidence that the GRE requirement
discourages individuals from considering and applying to their program. Moreover, graduate programs
across the country are increasingly eliminating the GRE for either MA or PhD applications so this change
would put them in the company of a growing number of schools. Finally, the department views the GRE
score as the least valuable element of the application and not a strong predictor of how a student will
do in the program. They do not feel this change would hurt the quality of their incoming MA students;
they feel it would net them more and possibly better applicants.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (7 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
Physics MS and PhD Program Proposal
The Department of Physics is requesting the following change to their MS and PhD programs:
· Remove the 3.0 GPA requirement for the elective requirement in the programs. Currently the
department requires the following: overall 3.0 GPA (this is a University requirement), 3.0 GPA in the
Core courses, 3.0 GPA in the elective courses. This has prevented students from graduating. The
department wants to maintain the Core GPA requirement and overall 3.0, but eliminate the elective
area GPA.
· In the MS (thesis route) program: Adjust the 12 credits of research (APHY695 or APHY699) to allow for
elective credit with at least one course in APHY699. The restriction of these credits has limited flexibility
for students.
· In the MS (non-thesis route) program: allow for APHY680 to count as a seminar. Currently the program
requires 2 credits of APHY784 distributed over 2 semesters. Removing the semester restriction and
allowing APHY680 to count in addition to APHY784 provides the students with more flexibility.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (7 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
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Proposal for new online graduate certificate (AGC) in Topological Data Analysis
The Graduate Certificate in Topological Data Analysis is designed to guide students through the
foundations and latest applications of Topological Data Analysis (TDA), which is viewed as an
integral part of the field of modern artificial intelligence. In addition to TDA proper, the courses in
the program include the background needed to break into this advanced field and also develop
practical skills using TDA in the data science pipeline.
The program requires 9 credits with an average grade of B or higher.
Requirements for admission: undergraduate degree (which is not necessarily in mathematics) and
knowledge of calculus through a semester of multivariable calculus.
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Program Description: The program starts with a background and necessary special topics from
linear algebra, graph theory, and homological algebra. After this preparation, the students are
taught the first major tool in TDA which is persistent homology. The students learn the precise
meaning of this advanced feature of data sets, its properties, several modes of computation and
state-of-the-art software packages. The students then learn basics of discrete Morse theory
necessary for implementations of persistent homology in the “big data” setting. The last major
topic in the program is the Mapper algorithm. In particular, the Mapper is applied to feature
selection and feature generation in machine learning and to the architecture of artificial neural
nets for deep learning.
Required courses consist of AMAT 522 – Linear Algebra for Applications; AMAT 583 – Topological
Data Analysis I; AMAT 584 – Topological Data Analysis II.
Proposal for new online graduate certificate in Machine Learning
The Graduate Certificate in Machine Learning is designed to provide students
with foundational skills in machine learning. Students will also develop practical
working skills in this area. The program requires 9 credits with an average grade
of B or higher. Required courses consist of AMAT 590 – Function Theory and
Functional Analysis for Applications; AMAT 591 – Optimization Methods and
Non-linear Programming; AMAT 592 – Methods of Machine Learning. These
courses are currently part of our M.S. in Data Science program. This material
builds a solid foundation for application of machine learning methods in practice
and research. Requirements for admission: undergraduate degree (which is not
necessarily in mathematics) and knowledge of calculus through a semester of
multivariable calculus.
Proposal for new online graduate certificate in Global Gender Advocacy
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University at Albany is an interdisciplinary field
exploring social, cultural, and political issues that intersect gender, race, class, sexuality, and
nationality through global and transnational perspectives. Educating on both undergraduate and
graduate levels and providing opportunities for advocacy and activism that combine theory and
practice, the Department is well positioned to launch a subfield in Global Gender Advocacy.
The advanced online graduate certificate in Global Gender Advocacy prepares scholars, artists,
community organizers, and professionals from a variety of fields to apply the skills and values of
gender advocacy in global contexts, from feminist activism to anti-racist organizing to LGBTQ
rights. The program is developed specifically for students who seek to expand their knowledge of
women’s, gender, and sexuality studies with cultural competencies across racial, ethnic, and
national differences. Students will analyze social problems at the intersection of gender,
sexuality, race, class, and nationality and also evaluate best practices for advocacy within and
across national borders. Those who complete the certificate program gain the equivalence of 9-
12 elective credits toward the Master of Arts in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, should
they elect to continue their studies. These credits may also be transferrable to other graduate
degree programs. Offered part-time for working professionals and international students, the
Certificate in Global Gender Advocacy is a fully asynchronous online program, providing students
with the flexibility of accessing course materials, discussion forums, and assignments during
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times that fit their schedule. Courses for the certificate will be taught by core, joint, and affiliated
faculty in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
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