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Office of the Dean of the Graduate School

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GRADUATE COUNCIL MINUTES

April 16, 2009

MEMBERS PRESENT

Voting: Professors C.R. Geren, A.E. Ellstrand, C.H. Hughes, D.A. James, J.B. Kerr, T.W. Martin, L.C. Purcell, F. M. Scheide, P.R. Selvam, M.R. Thomsen; Mr. B. Chastain; Ms. S. Sweeney

Non-Voting: Professors B.E. Hinton P.R. Koski, J.R. Young: Ms. S.L. Theiss

MEMBERS ABSENT

Voting: Professors D.W. Finn, M.B. Orr, L.M. Webb

Non-Voting: Professors C.H. Adams, W.P. Curington, D.L. Graham

GUESTS Professors J. Aloysius, M. Miller, L. Myers; Ms. T. Fisher; Mr. B. Winston

The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by Chair Patricia Koski

  1. Minutes for the March 26, 2009, Graduate Council meeting stand approved, as no changes were suggested. The minutes may be found at http://www.uark.edu/depts/gradinfo/dean/gradcouncil/minutes/index.html.
  2. Professor Koski modified the agenda to remove item 4(d)., the proposal to modify the Marketing concentration in the Ph.D. degree in Business Administration.
  3. Announcements:
    1. Professor Koski introduced Mike Miller, who will be replacing Barbara Hinton as the Associate Dean of the College of Education & Health Professions. Dr. Hinton will be retiring this summer.
    2. Professor Koski also announced that Don Finn, a member of the Council representing the Walton College of Business, will be leaving to take a position as Chair of the Department of Accounting at the University of North Texas.
    3. Professor Koski gave the Council an update on the viability review mandated by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
    4. Dean Geren told the Council that the Federal Omnibus funding bill was approved, resulting in:
      • $100,000 for the Arkansas Research and Technology Park
      • $1.9 million for the clean-up of SEFOR
      • $475,000 for NCREPT
      • $575,000 for the bus terminal and buses
      • $3.3 million for bionanosensor research
  4. Professor Koski reported on the activities of the Academic Appeals Subcommittee and the Teaching Assistant Effectiveness Advisory Committee (TAEAC). The Academic Appeals Committee did not meet this month. The TAEAC sponsored three workshops this spring semester: In February, over 50 teaching assistants attended an interactive workshop titled “Using Blogs, Wikis and YouTube in Teaching Your Courses,” presented by Dr. Linda Jones from the Department of Foreign Languages. In March, the subcommittee hosted two workshops entitled “Introduction to Blackboard Course Management Software” presented by Chris Bray, Blackboard instructor for the U of A. The Committee will meet soon to assess the spring semester activities and make plans for next year. This report was provided by Diane Cook.
  5. There was no old business.
  6. New Business:
    1. Professor L. Myers presented a proposal from the Department of Accounting to modify the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting in these ways: replace a previous seminar requirement with ACCT 6433; change course requirements; change elective requirements; require a second year summer paper; and eliminate the three paper dissertation option, to be replaced by a one or three paper format at the discretion of the dissertation chair (Attachment A). Following discussion, the proposal was approved unanimously and will go next to the Faculty Senate.
    2. Professor J. Aloysius presented a proposal from the Department of Information Systems to modify the Ph.D. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems in these ways: change decision-making authority for deficiencies and the summer research paper; modify the comprehensive exam policy; change catalog copy to reflect a change in a course requirement from ISYS 6011 to ISYS 601V (1-3 credits); modify the summer research requirements; and add a deadline for the summer research requirement (Attachment B). Following discussion, the proposal was approved unanimously and will go next to the Faculty Senate.
    3. Professor A. Ellstrand presented a proposal from the Department of Management to modify the Ph.D. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management by adding a specialty area to the existing comprehensive exam (Attachment C). Following discussion, the proposal was approved unanimously and will go next to the Faculty Senate.
  7. The Council approved the course change report from the University Course and Programs Committee contained in Attachment D.
  8. The Council approved the graduate faculty requests contained in Attachment E.

There being no other business, the Council adjourned at 2:53 p.m.

Submitted by: Patricia R. Koski, Chair

Approved by: Collis R. Geren, Dean

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