MINUTES OF THE GRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING
Fidel Center – Collaboration Room – Graduate Office
The Graduate Council Meeting was called to order at 3:50 P.M. on Tuesday, April 14, 2015 in Fidel Center – Collaboration Room – Graduate Office. Members present: Lorie Liebrock, Chairman, Snezna Rogelj, Clint Richardson, Penny Boston, Nikolai Kalugin, Andrei Zagrai, Navid Mojtabai; Corey LeClerc , Mark Samuels, Michelle Creech-Eakman, Sue Dunston, Subhasish Mazumdar .Others who attended
were Frank Reinow, Sara Grijalva, William Stone, Jamie Kimberley, George Becker & Bryan Watson
The chairman called for approval of minutes of February 10, 2015. Creech-Eakman made the motion
to approve the minutes with one correction. S. Dunston seconded the motion, all approved and the motion passed.
Liebrock reminded the council of the upcoming graduate community spring picnic
that will be held on April 15, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.
Liebrock asked for updates from Biology, Mechanical and Other Engineering Programs:
Biology: Rogelj let the council know that not much has been done. They need to work out
some specifics internally. Also the department needs to come up with another title to change to PhD
so funding would not be affected.
Mechanical Engineering: Kimberley still addressing some outstanding items. The department
plans on hitting this hard during the summer semester. They hope to have it ready for the first
Other Engineering Departments: Mojtabai stated that not much has been done so far. Liebrock let Mojtabai know that if engineering wants to have a consolidated proposal with mechanical engineering, they need to do so by the end of the year at the latest & preferably by October 1
.
Other engineering programs include Mineral, Electrical, Civil, Chemical and Environmental.
Liebrock asked for the council feedback on their thoughts on virtual communication which was suggested to her by Rebecca Clemens after a conference she attended. Liebrock suggested this should be available to all students and maybe faculty and admins instead of just for DE students. Liebrock did talk to Dr. Ostergren regarding this and has also spoken to the DE committee. Richard Helbock from DE is looking into the best way to get this up and running effectively. The council had some concerns: G. Becker commented about liability issues. Stone suggested not having faculty and admins included. Creech-Eakman suggested that all departments need to make a better effort to keep webpages updated. The GSA will provide input before any decision is made.
Mark Samuels reviewed the catalog changes for MST program. Samuels made the motion to
approve catalog changes. Mojtabai seconded the motion. The changes as attached were approved
Andrei Zagrai & Jamie Kimberly reviewed the catalog changes for Mechanical Engineering. Kimberley
made the motion to approve catalog changes. Creech-Eakman seconded the motion. The changes
as attached were approved by the council.
Michelle Creech-Eakman reviewed the catalog changes for the Physics Department. Creech-Eakman
made the motion to approve catalog change. Samuels seconded the motion. The changes were approved by the council
Physics 448/548: Introduction to Particle Physics
This course provides an introduction to elementary particles and their inter-
actions, at a level that does not require quantum field theory. Covered topics
include particle phenomenology and conservation laws, relativistic kinematics,
symmetries, Feynman diagrams, gauge theories, and the Higgs mechanism. Lec-
tures are shared between the two courses; students taking the graduate-level
version are expected to solve more difficult homework and exam problems.
Prerequisites: Phys. 222 and Phys. 340, or consent of instructor.
Nikolai Kalugin reviewed the catalog changes for the Material Engineering Department. Kalugin
made the motion to approve catalog changes. Boston seconded the motion. The changes
as attached were approved.
GSA President B. Watson informed the council of an upcoming GSA event - Astrobiology
Research Symposium which will be held on April 23 from 10:00-4:00. They have scheduled
several speakers for this event on life outside our planet. If anyone knows anyone who might be interested in speaking, please let the GSA know.
Liebrock informed the council of the 5% tuition increase. Fees also increased by $30.00 per student
per semester for health service and $16.00 per student per semester for a counselor. This tuition and fee increase will be effective for the summer 2015 semester. Also the graduate office is printing new brochures, so if any departments would like any changes made, please get with Megan by the end of the semester.
Adjournment- The Dean made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:50 P.M.