Minutes of the Graduate Academic Council meeting of January 11, 2021, 12:00 PM via Zoom meeting.
Approved by the Council by vote of 10-0-0 on 2/8/2021.
In attendance: G. Berg (Chair), S. Appe, A. Dawson, S. Faught, M. Ferraino, A. Gill, O. Lunin, R. Morse, E.
Pacer, K.N. Stanwicks, C. Wolff, K. Williams (ex officio member), C. Davis (staff), S. Kent (staff),
J. Deden (staff)
Guests: Zina Lawrence – Assistant Dean, Director, Full-time MBA program, School of Business
Melissa Powers – Associate Registrar, Registrar’s Office
1.
GAC Agenda for today’s meeting approved.
2.
The minutes of the GAC meeting of 12/2/2020 were approved by a vote of 11-0-0.
3.
Dean’s Report – Dean Williams reviewed academic continuity updates of COVID-19 arrangements.
Fall 2020 went acceptably, with the Grad School receiving less complaints of the quality of education
than the undergraduate side. Spring 2021 enrollment is the same as last year and number of
continuing students is higher than last year. Retention will be watched. Planning is ongoing for
going back to full in-person course delivery for the Fall 2021 semester. Registration for the Fall 2021
semester starts later this year, roughly around April 1, 2021. Reminder of this year’s 3 Minute Thesis
event.
4.
Chair’s Report – Chair Berg shared relevant highlights from the recent Senate Executive Committee
meeting. Provost Kim attended the SEC and the current budget reduction situation was outlined. All
units are affected. Town Halls are scheduled. Chair Berg will continue to disperse information to GAC
members as he receives it.
5.
Committee on Curriculum and Instruction Report (CC & I) –
Atmospheric Science MS and PhD Program Proposal to remove admissions requirement of GRE.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology MA Program changes.
S. Faught gave the review of the latest CC & I report. Discussion followed on GRE requirements and
the reasoning for Atmospheric & Environmental Science’s request not to require GRE for their
admissions.
No questions raised on the I/O Psychology MA program changes.
The GAC voted to accept the CC & I report by a vote of 11-0-0
6.
Biology MS, PhD, and Forensic Biology MS Distance Education Proposals – C. Davis explained that
normally this would go to the CC & I first, but the extension for distance education format is ending
as of Spring 2021. Programs who plan on continuing to offer online courses will want to apply for
distance education formatting quickly. C. Davis fielded questions from the counsel on the proposal.
If Distance learning is on the program’s record as an approved mode, it does not mean that a
department has to offer courses that way. It provide flexibility for possible future changes.
Biological Sciences department wants to add the Distance Learning option to their three programs.
The GAC voted to approve the proposal by a vote of 11-0-0
Meeting adjourned without opposition at 11:40 AM.
GAC meeting minutes 1-11-2021 Page 1 of 3
CCI Report
Meeting via Zoom 12/21/2020 9am
Committee Members in Attendance: Susan Appe, Dylan Card, Haijun Chen, Sydney Faught (chair), Andrew
Gill, Ilka Kressner, Jeannette Sutton, Stephen Weinberg
Staff: Colleen Davis
Program Proposals Reviewed: Atmospheric Science MS and PhD Program, Industrial and Organizational
Psychology MA Program
Atmospheric Science MS and PhD Program Proposal – Removal of GRE
The Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences is requesting the removal of the GREs as an
admission requirement. They indicate there is a current trend in removing the GREs in graduate programs in
meteorology, climate, and geosciences. GRE scores may still be provided by applicants as auxiliary
information and they will still be considered by the department’s graduate recruitment committee members
in their holistic review process. Prospective students can still submit their GRE scores if they believe the
scores will enhance their application. The department considers the following in their admissions review:
journal publications, products from research activities, presentations at conferences/workshops, created
web page content, computer code, data visualization dashboards, teaching material from tutoring activities,
scientific outreach materials. Submitting the GREs will not disadvantage applicants; the committee evaluates
all mandatory application materials from all applicants, and reviews and considers any relevant
supplementary information provided. It is a holistic review, and a lack of supplementary material does not
discount an application in any way.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (8 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
Industrial and Organizational Psychology MA Program
The Department of Psychology is proposing the following changes to the Industrial and Organizational
Psychology MA Program:
Add the grading requirement of B- or better in the core courses. Students must retake the courses if
they obtain less than a B-.
Add APSY760 (Workplace Diversity and Discrimination) to the list of approved seminar courses. No
changes to the current list other than adding this course as an option.
GAC meeting minutes 1-11-2021 Page 2 of 3
Adding the option of repeating APSY756 (Practicum in Organizational Research) towards the 6 credit
Thesis/Practicum requirement. Students can currently take this course towards this requirement;
the department is allowing students to take it twice towards this requirement now.
Based on the department’s justification above, the committee voted to approve the proposed program
changes (8 approve, 0 disapprove, 0 abstain).
GAC meeting minutes 1-11-2021 Page 3 of 3
