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, February 10, 2015 in Fidel Center – Collaboration Room – Graduate Office. Members present: Lorie Liebrock, Chairman, Snezna Rogelj, Clint Richardson, Penny Boston, Nikolai Kalugin, Ivan Avramidi, Jamie Kimberly, Frank Reinow,Navid Mojtabai; Corey LeClerc Others who attended were: Tom Engler, William Stone, Mark Samuels, Michelle Creech-Eakman; Sara Grijalva; Sue Dunston; Subhasish Mazumdar
The chairman called for approval of minutes of December 9, 2014 meeting. Creech-Eakman made the motion to approve the minutes, Boston seconded the motion. All approved and the motion passed.
Liebrock had a discussion with the council regarding pen ink color and let them know she will start using a blue pen when signing all her documents. Explaining that students bring in scanned & copied documents to our office trying to pass them off as originals.
Liebrock reminded the council of the deadline for course programs MS/PhD. They need to be submitted by the end of their 1
year. Once the form is received in our office we will perform a degree check. An email will go out to the advisor and student regarding the status. If it has been approved or letting you both know of any discrepancies found. This allows the student plenty of time to get any discrepancy fixed.
Sue Dunston reviewed the catalog changes for the CLASS department:
Title and description change: New
SS 501, Creative Problem Solving, 3 cry, 3 cl hrs. Prerequisites: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor
Techniques for defining problems and generating solution concepts, using Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) methods and incorporating additional tools that provide clarity and flexibility when approaching challenges creatively. Emphasis on qualitative, interdisciplinary approaches to technical problems.Application of these methods to graduate students' own–and peers'–design and/or experimental problems.
SS 501, Interdisciplinary Problem Solving, 3 cr, 3 cl hrs Prerequisites: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor
An introduction to the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), including techniques for problem definition, functional modeling, and concept generation. Emphasis on qualitative, interdisciplinary approaches to technical problems.Application ofTRIZ skills to graduate student peers' design and/or experimental problems.
COMM 5XX: Thesis and Dissertation Boot Camp (1 cr): Boot Camp is a weeklong, intensive course on thesis-writing. Students receive short workshops on time-management and project planning, strategies for overcoming writer's block, peer review, and graduate school thesis requirements (e.g., formatting, copyright, etc.). Additionally, students spend 5-6 hours a day in a distraction-free writing environment and have opportunities for feedback from the instructor or available writing consultants.
Lorie Liebrock made the motion to accept this program in the CLASS department. Penny Boston seconded the motion. All approved the motion passed.
Liebrock handed out the Graduate Educational Day Brochure to all attending members and
gave a brief overall of the day and how well the students did. She also thanked the departments
for working with their students and thanked Megan for all her help.
Liebrock ask for an update regarding PhD program development from Mechanical and Biology
Departments. Kimberly spoke for mechanical stating there has been no decision at this time.
Engler & Liebrock will schedule a meeting with the department for more information. Rogelj stated
no plan at this time for Biology. Tom Keift has agreed to spearhead this process and will be meeting with faculty.
Megan McElroy gave the council a demonstration on Itheticate and Proquest.
Adjournment – The Dean made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 4:45P.M.