Graduate Academic Council
2004 – 2005
DRAFT
Minutes of the Council meeting of May 4, 2005
Approved by the Council on
In attendance:
F. Bolton (staff), J. Bartow (staff), L.-A. McNutt (Chair), M. Pryse, M. Jerison,
M. Rodriguez, O. Ongiti, S. Friedman, S. Shahedipour,
Guests:
L. Kryzkowski, R. Geer & B. Bangert-Drowns
Unable to attend:
H. Meyer, M. Casserly, B. Joseph, D. Byrd & S. Maloney
1.
Dean’s Report – M. Pryse
Priority attention will be provided after Commencement to the establishment of the Ombuds
Office. GAC will need to appoint two members to serve on the Ombuds Committee.
The Dean engaged a brief discussion about non-academic grievances. Prof. McNutt commented
that CAFECOR is examining the issue also. Dean Pryse reported that she has been exploring
available resources, processes, etc. A meeting with directors from the Office of Human Resources
Management highlighted the availability some opportunities there. Also, the Office of Diversity
and Affirmative Action has some relevant procedures. It appears there is currently no single
formal mechanism available to students to “grieve” over non-academic matters, yet there are some
administrative mechanisms in place (although perhaps not widely known). Work with CAFECOR
on this matter is of great interest. Prof. Friedman noted that Ombuds Office developments as a
pre-cursor to further study on the non-academic grievance issue may be helpful and the Dean
concurred.
2.
Program Proposal – Combined MS Nanosciences & NanoEngineering / MBA
Bob Geer, Associate VP for Academics in the College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering and Linda
Kryzkowski, Director of MBA Programs in the School of Business introduced the dual degree program
proposal. The combination of existing programs with an overlap of 15 credits will allow students to
complete both programs at 63 credits per advisement. Administrative and curricular details as listed in
the printed proposal were summarized. Prof. McNutt noted the unusual combination of the final
project and thesis. After a period of brief discussion the Council voted unanimously (7-0-0) to approve
the proposal and its introduction to the Senate for further consideration.
3.
Minutes of the Council meetings of 4/6/05 and 4/13/05 were unanimously approved as presented,
without amendment.
4.
Chair’s Report – L.-A. McNutt
Prof. McNutt encouraged members to file Senate council preferences with the Senate Office
ASAP.
Chair McNutt thanked the Council members for their work this year, noting significant activity
and flexibility.
Volunteers will be needed for the Ombuds Committee. Prof. Friedman volunteered and it was
suggested that Prof. H. Meyer, not in attendance, also be solicited to volunteer.
The Provost’s Task Force on Plagiarism is also seeking volunteers.
GAC bills recently approved by the Senate were (1) changes to policy pertaining to masters thesis
subject approval, (2) changes to policy pertaining to doctoral candidacy requirements and (3)
policy pertaining to the development, approval and submittal of dissertations. There were slight
changes on the first two, to incorporate attention to not only human research subjects, but also
animal research subjects. There was also a change to the dissertation bill to drop the term “full-
time” from the faculty eligibility requirements for serving on a dissertation committee to become
faculty “with unqualified rank” (tenure track).
A brief discussion of items that might serve as fodder for next year’s GAC included:
1.
Masters thesis policy as it relates to possible future publication rights.
2.
Allocation of assistantship/fellowship/tuition scholarship resources.
3.
Degree audit systems as possible advisement tools.
5.
Committee on Curriculum & Instruction Report – M. Rodriguez
Two reports from the Committee (appended to the end of these minutes) dated 4/18/05 and 5/2/05,
previously distributed, were reviewed and briefly discussed. The Council voted unanimously (5-0-0)
to accept the reports and in doing so approve the proposals therein.
Prof. Rodriguez additionally spoke to thank the Committee and its support liaison Florie Bolton for a
lot of work during the year. She highlighted the need in the next year for a Curriculum Committee
comprised of committed members and of significant size to draw a critical mass for scheduled
meetings.
Professor Friedman noted the need for proposals for curriculum amendment received from schools and
colleges to be complete and with well-documented rationales.
6.
Proposal for an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Graduate Certificate Program – School of
Education
Associate Education Dean Bob Bangert-Drowns introduced the proposal to establish this new graduate
certificate program. He apologized for its late arrival to the Council and for the ability of its primary
proponents to join the Council for discussion.
The proposal was compared to SUNY standards for required components of such a submittal. The
Council identified a number of areas where information either required by SUNY or otherwise desired
was missing:
Faculty listing with course responsibilities.
Specific admission requirements.
Statement of assumption of student native foreign language.
Consistency of course numbers contained in Proposal with official course listing in the Graduate
Bulletin
Specifications about language skill admission requirements; competency in conversational English?
Two-semester practicum requirement at 3 credits total being difficult to implement.
A minor typographical error was noted, that applicants should present a TOEFL score result of 250
(computer) OR 600 (paper), not “and.”
In light of the concerns raised, the Council voted unanimously (5-0-0) to table the Proposal and return
it to the School of Education for further attention and potential re-submittal next year.
END OF GAC 5/4/05 MINUTES
To:
Graduate Academic Council
From:
Monica Rodriguez, Chair
GAC Committee on Curriculum & Instruction (CC&I)
Date:
April 18, 2005
Subject:
Report and Recommendations
The CC&I met on April 18, 2005. In attendance were: S. Friedman, D. Parker, M. Rodriguez (Chair), and
F. Bolton (staff). F. Henderson, B. Keough, H. Meyer, G. Pogarsky,and J. Bartow (staff) were unable to
attend.
The four items of business considered are detailed below and are recommended for GAC approval.
1.
School of Education Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology – Request for
curriculum changes to M.S. in Special Education (Internship Certification), M.S. in Special
Education and Literacy (I), and M.S. in Special Education and Literacy (II) programs
Common to these three proposals submitted by the Department of Educational and Counseling
Psychology was the request to separate two four credit internship courses (ESpe 680 and ESpe 682)
into 3 credit internship courses (ESpe 680 Internship: Teaching Students with Disabilities at the
Childhood or Middle Childhood level and ESpe 682 Internship: Teaching Students with Emotional
and Behavior Disorders) and a one credit seminar (ESpe 681 Seminar: Teaching Students with
Disabilities) which is to be repeated each semester that a student is enrolled in an internship.
Another point of similarity to all three proposals was a revision that would give students an
opportunity to obtain initial/professional certification in Middle Childhood Generalist (5-9) and
Students with Disabilities (Middle Childhood Generalists 5-9) by completing a course on Inclusive
Middle Childhood Education, ESpe 567, for three credits.
In addition specific changes were sought for two of the programs as described below:
M.S. in Special Education (Internship Certification) – Presently students in this Internship
Certification program enroll for ESpe 680 and ESpe 682. A more general option for students not
wishing to pursue a concentration in teaching students with emotional and behavior disorders as
covered in ESpe 682 was proposed. Such students would be allowed to register for two ESpe 680,
Teaching Students with Disabilities at the Childhood or Middle Childhood level, internship courses.
In addition a choice of two special education courses including ESpe 699 and ESpe 673 is to be
offered instead of requiring those two courses exclusively.
M.S. in Special Education and Literacy (II) – As well as splitting ESpe 680 (4 credits) into two
components, ESpe 680 (3 credits) and ESpe 681 (1 credit), ESpe 680 is to be expanded to 6 credits.
This more realistically reflects the additional time required of both the students and their supervisors
for this novice group of teachers. ESpe 563, Essentials of Instruction for Diverse Learners, is to be
eliminated. The requirement to take ERdg 625, Integrated Literacy Instruction B-6, and ERdg 628,
has been eliminated and the ability to make a choice of six credits among options including ERdg
625, ERdg 628, ERdg 504, ERdg 615 or ERdg 655 has been substituted.
After questioning the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology concerning the
relationship between the internship and seminar components of ESpe 680 and ESpe 682, it was
learned that they are independent of one another. The seminar is not dependent on what happens at
the specific internship site. It has a separate instructor, separate competencies and separate course
syllabus. As long as these internship/seminar courses remain jointly configured, it is possible for a
student to pass the internship and not the seminar or vice versa. Separating the two would enable the
student to receive a passing grade in one, but be required to re-do or extend their time to meet the
competencies in the other. The option of taking an additional course to obtain the credentials needed
to teach at the Middle Childhood level seemed advantageous to students and as stated will help meet
“market demand”. These two “common to all” changes and the others proposed allow these
programs to continue to meet all the requirements of State University of New York’s New Vision in
Teacher Education and of the Teacher Education Accreditation Council. The adjustments will
strengthen the programs and enable graduates to be better prepared for teaching.
These three proposals gained the 3-0-0 approval of the Committee to move forward to the GAC.
2.
College of Arts and Sciences Department of History - Request for changes to Ph.D.
concentration area names and program requirements
The Department of History proposed two changes to their Ph.D. program. The first request was to
redefine the concentration areas by renaming them as follows:
State and Public Policy would become Public Policy History
International History would become International, Global, and Comparative History
Work and Society would become Social and Economic History
Gender and Society would become Gender History
Culture and Society would become Cultural History
The second change desired was to have specified that one of the two required history research
seminars be in the student’s area of geographic specialization and that one of the two history
reading seminars be appropriate to the student’s required minor field. Current wording does not
direct the research and reading seminars into such specific areas of study.
Renaming the concentration areas broadens the area’s scope of reading and research which
students and faculty felt was too narrowly confined. This opening up of the concentration areas
will also enable departmental faculty to be better utilized. Specifying the need to concentrate
research and reading within geographic and minor fields more thoroughly conforms to the
program’s intention.
The Committee approved these Department of History program revisions 3-0-0.
3.
College of Arts and Sciences Department of Computer Science – Request for a course addition to
Ph.D. program requirements
There are presently three courses totaling 11 credits that comprise the core computer science
requirements for the Ph.D. program. The Department of Computer Science requested that Csi
509, Theory of Computation, be added to that core. As the topics of study contained in Csi 509
play central roles in much of computer science and encourage students in the development of
modeling and analysis skills, the Committee approved its addition to the Ph.D. requirements 3-0-0.
4.
School of Business – Request to add an elective track in taxation to its Evening MBA Program
The evening M.B.A. is presently structured in such a way that an elective track can be completed
within four specialized fields of study: Marketing, Finance, Change Management and Information
Technology Management. Each track includes a Research Project in the specialized field and the
completion of two other specified elective courses. The School of Business proposed to add one
more track in taxation consisting of three 3 credit courses, one of which would meet the MBA
research requirement. The accounting courses comprising the track are all existing.
As this additional track would produce managers conversant with income taxation and would
attract high, quality students interested in the tax implications of a business transaction, its
addition met with the Committee’s approval 3-0-0.
To:
Graduate Academic Council
From:
Monica Rodriguez, Chair
GAC Committee on Curriculum & Instruction (CC&I)
Date:
May 2, 2005
Subject:
Report and Recommendations
The CC&I met on May 2, 2005. In attendance were: S. Friedman, D. Parker, M. Rodriguez (Chair), and F.
Bolton (staff). F. Henderson, B. Keough, H. Meyer, G. Pogarsky,and J. Bartow (staff) were unable to
attend.
Four items of business were considered and are recommended for GAC approval.
2.
School of Business – Request for a program revision to M.S. in Professional Accountancy program
As part of a recent reworking of the School of Business’s accounting program to bring it into
compliance with new CPA education requirements, six credits of electives in accounting and six
credits of electives in liberal arts were approved by the New York State Education Department.
Upon further reevaluation the School of Business now believes that eliminating the liberal arts
electives and requiring 12 credits of electives in accounting would improve the academic rigor of the
program.
The Committee agreed 3-0-0 with the program revision.
2.
School of Business - Request for a program revision to the M.S. in Taxation program
The M.S. in Taxation was also part of the recent School of Business’s revisions to bring their
programs into compliance with the new CPA education requirements. The program was approved
for three credits of accounting electives, six credits of business electives and three credits of liberal
arts electives. Upon reevaluation it was felt that eliminating the three credits of liberal arts electives
and requiring three more accounting electives would improve the academic rigor of the program.
This request was similar to the program revision sought for the M.S. in Professional Accountancy as
described above and also gained a 3-0-0 Committee approval.
5.
School of Business – Request to add a Tax Practice Track to the M.S. in Taxation program
The recent reworking of the School of Business M.S. in Taxation program to fulfill the new CPA
education requirements resulted in the loss of the School of Business’s ability to serve the needs of
graduate students not interested in pursuing CPA licensure as was once possible. Therefore, the
School of Business proposed the addition of a new Tax Practice track to its M.S. in Taxation
program. The two tracks are very similar except for the following two differences: (1) Applicants
to the Tax Practice track may hold an undergraduate degree in any field versus an undergraduate
degree in accounting. (2) Students in the Tax Practice track will take six business electives that
may include accounting and taxation courses. Students in the M.S. in Taxation program enroll in
six business electives that do not include accounting and taxation courses.
As the addition of this Tax Practice track will enable a number of graduate students to pursue their
interest in the field of taxation without becoming CPAs, the Committee approved this School of
Business program modification 3-0-0.
6.
School of Education – Request to revise the M.S. Teaching English as a Foreign Language (without
NYS Certification) program
The revisions proposed by the School of Education for its M.S. in Teaching English as a Foreign
Language non-certification program aimed at:
a.
Focusing more on teaching language to adults – ETap 635, Methods for Teaching LEP
children, is to be eliminated and ETap 598, Practicum, is to become focused on adults – a
reduction of 3 credits
b.
Eliminating an 8 credit language requirement and replacing it with ALin 552, English
Grammar for 3 credits and the choice of a linguistics elective for 3 credits – a reduction
of 2 credits
c.
Offering more language-oriented courses to students – Instead of choosing a Foundations
of Education course for 3 credits there is to be a choice of three Language in Use courses
for 9 credits – an addition of 6 credits
The net result of these changes is the addition of one credit to the 35 credits formerly needed to
complete the program as well as a stronger focus on adult language teaching.
As these changes appear to meet the new goals set forth for the program as stated in the proposal,
the Committee approved the changes 3-0-0.
