4-4-2012 GAC Minutes
Minutes of the Council meeting for April 4, 2012
Approved by the Council on May 4, 2012
In attendance:
J. Baronner (staff), J. Bartow (staff), F. Bolton (staff), S. Commuri, C. Duncan,
T. Groves (Chair), L. Halpern, A. Krause, D. Mancini, G. Robinson, M. VanUllen,
K. Williams
Unable to attend: A. Assuwiyan, J. Bissonnette, B. Dieffenbach, D. Dewar,
Guest: Vincent Commisso (Graduate Student, Political Science)
The meeting was called to order by Chair Groves at 2:21 PM.
1. Consideration of minutes for the 3/6/2012 GAC meeting
The Council approved the 3/6/2012 minutes unanimously by a 7-0-0 vote.
2. Dean’s report – K. Williams
The Graduate Education Working Group for the UAlbany Strategic Plan has completed its
first objective of developing metrics to be used to assess doctoral programs. This list was
shared with the Council during discussion of new business.
Graduate enrollment missed its enrollment targets for 2011-12, and hence graduate
admissions is at the top of Administration concerns for 2012-13. Dean Williams, Bruce
Szelest, Director of Institutional Research/Associate Vice President ARP, and Bob Andrea,
Director of Admissions and Enrollment/Associate Vice Provost, met with program directors
to develop realistic Fall 2012 enrollment goals. Graduate applications are up across the board
for most colleges/schools so departments should have the applicant pool to reach their goals.
Hitting target goals has important revenue and budget implications.
Dean Williams reported that there has been some confusion regarding the UAlbany 2020
status. The Governor has not yet signed Albany’s plan, but Stony Brook and Buffalo have
been approved. Senior administration believes Albany’s plan will be approved soon. Albany
submitted their plan last Fall with a biomedical initiative as the centerpiece. Since that was a
duplicate of another school’s submission, Albany was requested to submit a different plan.
3. Chair’s Report – T. Groves
Chair Groves mentioned that the last couple Senate meetings have been tied up with
Undergraduate activities. For the last two years an effort has been underway to revamp the
General Education criteria. The overall purpose of the revamping was to streamline the
process to guarantee students meet General Education goals and ensure an earlier graduation
time. JoAnne Malatesta, Chair of the Undergraduate Council, presented the bill to the
Senate, and the Senate voted to approve the bill.
GAC Minutes
April 4, 2012
Page 2 of 3
4. Committee Reports
CAAS – Chair S. Shahedipour
Chair S. Shahedipour presented the case. GAC approved the report
5
Old Business
Review and possible update of guidelines for addressing academic dishonesty
Chair Groves mentioned that there will be particular language for both Graduate and
Undergraduate bulletins.
Review status of outstanding assessment reviews
The Psychology Department assessment was provided by Council member D. Mancini. The
Council voted 7-0-0 to approve the report.
All Council work for departmental assessment reports has now been completed.
6. New Business
Strategic Theme 3: Graduate Education
Assessment criteria for doctoral programs have been recommended by the Strategic Plan
Working Group on Graduate Education. Dean Williams provided a handout to discuss
“Strategic Theme 3: Graduate Education”. The work started a year ago and will continue for
the next two years. The Doctoral program is presently being studied, and the Master’s
program will be reviewed in the future. Some departments will be responsible for the
assessment criteria while the remaining will be under Bruce Szelest’s supervision. #4
(student research productivity per capita) is a new category
Discussion followed. Program teaching dimensions are not considered in this report.
Although quantitative score will be provided, it is not the same as metric measurements. Is
there some provision for some type of verbal assessment to accompany this? Dean Williams
mentioned that 3-4 reviews would have a narrative attached to the report and not a situation
of just receiving a score. This is desired so that programs may chart results from year to
year. A member inquired of the period of candidacy. Dean Williams mentioned that we will
need to compare our outcomes against national discipline benchmarks for assessment.
Regarding students being well prepared, there will be a semi-annual survey. However, it will
not be part of outcome assessment. A member mentioned that this will not catch quality
regarding impact and also does not catch quality of publications. The steering committee
meets in May, and Dean Williams prefers to have the handout approved ahead of time to
bring it to the May committee meeting. Chair Groves requested that further thoughts be
forwarded to Dean Williams via e-mail.
GAC Minutes
April 4, 2012
Page 3 of 3
Future Meetings:
- Friday, May 4, 2012, 2:45-4:15 PM (MSC 102 Conference Room)
The meeting was adjourned by Chair Groves at3:48 PM.
END OF GAC 4/4/2012 MINUTES
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