1. GRADUATE COUNCIL Iowa State University
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
3150 Beardshear Hall

2. Graduate Council September Meeting
1. Call to Order - Chair of Council – Debra Marquart
a. Seating of substitute council members
2. Consent Agenda*
a. Minutes of Graduate Council Meeting, August 30, 2016
b. Agenda for September 21 Meeting
C. GCCC Approved Items
X Course Proposal -- C E 489X/589X: Pavement Preservation and Rehabilitation
X Course Proposal -- ENSCI 483X/583X: Environmental Biogeochemistry
X Course Proposal -- Hort 476X/576X: Horticultural Postharvest Technology
Dual List Request TOX 401/501
Change NREM 504 course from 4 to 3 credits
Request to establish TOX 490X
Master of Design in Sustainable Environments (double degree proposal)
Master of Urban Design (double degree proposal)
Name change proposal for Women’s Studies

3. Graduate Council September Meeting
3. Announcements and Remarks
Graduate Council Chair – Debra Marquart
Associate Provost and Graduate Dean – David Holger
Associate Graduate Dean – William Graves
Assistant Graduate Dean – Craig Ogilvie

4. 4.a . Old Business -- Nominations for Vice-Chair
Candidate: Steven Lonegran (Biological & Agricultural Sciences, Animal Science)
ISU Alumnus (BS, 1988; MS, 1991). This fall, starting 19th year at ISU as a faculty member.
I have always recognized the important contributions of the Grad Council to both Graduate faculty and Graduate students. Since arriving at ISU, I have been continuously involved in mentoring my own students and postdocs as well as serving on numerous Program of Study committees.
I have served as my Department’s Curriculum and Assessment Committee Chair (over 4 years), and I am starting my third year as DOGE in Animal Science (representing Animal Science, Animal Breeding and Genetics, Animal Physiology, and Meat Science majors; Animal Science is also home to a number of interdepartmental majors--Toxicology, MCDB, Genetics and Genomics).
All of these experiences have shaped my perspectives in curriculum, outcomes assessment, and specific issues that affect faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. In general, it is my philosophy that the faculty own the curriculum and the standards of the programs.
I have always viewed the Graduate Council as a reliable resource for support for student and faculty issues and think that it is my turn to serve in a leadership role on the council.

5. Executive Committee (membership consists of recent GC chairs)
4.  b. Old Business Proposal: Add Executive Committee to the current GC standing committee structure.
Description & Roles:
Executive Committee (membership consists of recent GC chairs)
Serves in advisory role to current GC chair;
Conducts ongoing review of GC Constitution and By-Laws;
Members may be charged with specific GC tasks that will be brought back to GC as action items;
Members may be charged to follow-up on action items approved by GC to oversee their approval progress beyond GC and into implementation.

6. 5.a New Business Discussion of Overage Course Policy – Pamela Riney-Kerhberg
CURRENT POLICY
6.3.4 Overage Courses. A course is considered overage if it was taken beyond the time limit for the master’s or doctoral program (see Chapter 4 for time limit requirements) unless there was an exemption for the student’s specific program. A written request for acceptance of overage courses should be submitted as an attachment to the POSC form. It should include the following: a justification for why the courses are still relevant, an assurance that the student has kept current with the information covered in the overage, and an explanation of how the student will be evaluated on overage material. Evaluation could include a written examination (a preliminary, qualifying, or comprehensive examination), evidence of satisfactory performance in course(s) for which the overage courses are prerequisites, or the completion of an audit in one or more current courses in the areas encompassed by the overage course. The object should be to determine whether the material learned in those courses is still timely and adequate. The evaluation method should be specified by the committee at the time the POSC form is submitted.

7. 5.a New Business Discussion of Overage Course Policy – Pamela Riney-Kerhberg (continued)
CURRENT POLICY
4.4.5 Time-to-Degree Limit. The Graduate College’s time-to-degree limit for all graduate students, both master's and Ph.D., is seven years.  Graduate programs may establish more restrictive time-to-degree limits.   For example, at the program’s discretion, a student beginning a Ph.D. degree program at ISU with a master’s degree could be expected to complete the program within three or four or five years, while a student beginning a Ph.D. degree program without the master’s degree could be expected to complete the program within five or six or seven years. This is an option that would be enforced at the department level.  Requests to extend the seven-year time limit will only be considered in the event of rare circumstances involving medical or other extenuating situations. Cases in which the student leaves ISU during his or her graduate career and later returns are dealt with individually by the POS committee and the Graduate College. The inclusion in the program of study of course work that is beyond the time limit (“over-age” courses) must be justified by the POS committee in a statement accompanying the submission of the program of study.

8. 5.b New Business -- Clarification of Graduate Assistantship Tuition Scholarship policy – Levi Stanley
CURRENT POLICY
3.3.1 Graduate Assistantship Tuition Scholarships
Graduate students appointed to a graduate assistantship appointment of 1/4-time or more for at least 3 months in fall and spring terms and for 6 weeks in summer term, are assessed tuition at the full-time resident (in-state) rate for the fall and spring term. Summer term tuition is assessed at resident (in-state) rate for the number of credits registered for. The graduate assistantship tuition scholarships are not paid directly to the student, but are applied to the student’s tuition bill. The scholarship awards are equal to:
For a master’s student:
50% of full-time tuition per semester for each student on an assistantship appointment of 1/2-time or more or
25% of full-time tuition per semester for each student on an assistantship appointment of 1/4-time or more, but less than 1/2-time.
For a Ph.D. (and terminal master’s program) student:
100% of full-time tuition per semester for each student on an assistantship appointment of 1/2 - time or more or
50% of full-time tuition per semester for each student on an assistantship appointment of 1/4-time or more, but less than 1/2-time.
For fall and spring semesters, a student must be on appointment for at least three months to qualify for a tuition scholarship. For summer session, a student must be on appointment for at least six weeks during the term to qualify for a  tuition scholarship. For all terms, appointments must have been processed by the Graduate College before the end of the first full month of classes (i.e., usually around the fifth week of the fall or spring semesters). Graduate tuition scholarships not used by the due date of the second fee payment installment will be forfeited. Students who will not be on appointment for the summer session may still be eligible for the resident (GA) tuition rate. This tuition rate is restricted to a summer session following a nine-month appointment. No action is required to receive the resident tuition rate in the summer for students who held assistantships the prior fall and spring terms.

9. 6.a Discussion Item -- Tabled Motion from 2015 – 2016 Proposal to Change Non-Thesis Final Exam
Motion to Change the Requirements for Final Exam of Non-Thesis Masters
Recommendation: Remove the requirement for a final exam for non-thesis students completing a creative component.
Motion under review:
The above recommendation will be implemented in the Graduate College Handbook by adopting the following changes to section 7.1.3, the Final Oral Examinations:
Thesis and non-thesis master’s students and all Ph.D. degree candidates must pass final oral examinations. The final oral examination must be held by the final oral examination deadline date for the semester in which the degree is granted. All coursework in the program of study must either be completed or in progress before the final oral examination can be scheduled. This examination is oral; it may also include a written component if specified by the student’s program of study (POS) committee.
Master’s students completing coursework only or creative component-based programs are not required to participate in a final exam unless the major program requires that one be held.
Rationale
The rationale for this change is that currently only one person is required to be a committee member for non-thesis masters, and the requirement for oral presentation is considered onerous for these supervising faculty.

10. Graduate Council September Meeting
Next Meeting
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
4:15 – 5:30 p.m., 3150 Beardshear Hall

11. GRADUATE COUNCIL Iowa State University
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
3150 Beardshear Hall