DOCUMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE GRADUATE ASSEMBLY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN November 12, 2014

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1 DOCUMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE GRADUATE ASSEMBLY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN November 12, 2014 Chair Jay Hartzell called the second meeting of the Graduate Assembly for the academic year to order on Wednesday, November 12, 2014, at 2:15 PM in the Harry Ransom Center, Tom Lea Room, Faculty Members Present: Anderson, Arapostathis, Balhoff, Canning, Cox, Deigh, Gore, Harrison, Hartzell, Juenger, Kintner, Knopf, Konana, Kwallek, Mackert, Marshall, Matouschek, Ostrower, Rowe, Russi, Schallert, Trace, White, Wilkinson, Worthy Faculty Members Absent: Alper (excused), Busch-Armendariz (excused), Echols (excused), Landsberger (excused), Meyers (excused), Srinivasan (excused) Student Members Present: Roper, Schroeder, Wilkey Student Members Absent: Deka (excused) Ex Officio Members Present: none Representatives from the Office of Graduate Studies Present: Bancroft, Barton, Broadway, Dalton, Ellison, Hackert, Neikirk, Sylvia Visitors: Abrevaya, Altman-Kaough, Parrino, Register, Tewfik Order of Business I. Approval of the minutes of the October 1, 2014 meeting (postponed to February 4, 2015 meeting) II. Report of the Graduate Dean (Judith Langlois) Dean Langlois was unable to attend the meeting. Marv Hackert gave a brief report, mentioning that committees are working on the issues of what constitutes a dissertation and dissertation committee size and that John Dalton is working on improving graduate student housing. He noted that information about graduate school fellowships would be going out soon, that the competition for graduate school central fellowships would begin December 1, and that decisions would be made earlier this year than in the past. III. Report of Chair (Jay Hartzell) Chair Hartzell mentioned that the Provost is scheduled to attend the March meeting and that the President had been invited to a reception following that meeting. Hartzell then turned to Faculty Council items, reporting that the faculty had approved an extended Thanksgiving Break, although whether an extra class day would be added in December or August was not yet resolved. Hartzell commented on a second Faculty Council item, concerning making student comments on Course Instructor Surveys publically available. Hartzell called on Andrea Gore to give an update on that issue. Gore reported that the Provost had received input from the Faculty Council Executive Committee and was working on something to send to the Regents. Gore also noted that, 3204

2 with regard to the Thanksgiving break, the added day was likely to be in August. Hartzell then mentioned one additional Faculty Council item: discussions are happening about changing the faculty deal on football tickets, and members concerned about that issue should talk to him. IV. Academic Committee (Maria Juenger) A. Proposal to create a five-year, sequential dual-degree program leading to the Bachelor of Arts (with a major in Economics) and the Master of Science in Finance (MS Finance) degrees Academic Committee Chair Juenger reported that this program is unique both because it involves two different departments and because it would integrate a Bachelor s degree program with an Option III graduate program. She noted that the Academic Committee had approved the proposal unanimously and that it required a Graduate Assembly vote. Bob Parrino from the Finance Department presented the proposal, which would allow students from the Economics Department to apply for provisional acceptance into the MS in Finance program after the sophomore year. These students then could take a summer intensive course required for the MS Finance after their junior year, enabling them to take an internship after their senior year. As a result, the students would be in a better position to obtain a job in finance after completing the MS Finance. Additional benefits are that students would pay undergraduate instead of graduate tuition for the summer intensive course, it would be attractive to strong students from the undergraduate program, and it would provide an alternate route into the McCombs School. This model potentially could be used with other departments, such as Math and Physics, in the future. Chair Juenger called on Admissions Committee Chair Dan Knopf to report on the requested GRE waiver. Knopf reported that the GRE waiver had been approved by the Admissions Committee, with 5 in support and 1 abstention. In response to a question, Parrino clarified that students would apply for formal admission to the MS Finance program in the final semester of their undergraduate program and get the Bachelor s degree before joining the MS Finance program. John Deigh asked about the types of internships and how their value to students would be ensured, which led to a discussion about internship value and evaluation. Michael White asked whether, given that students would not be moving into the program until after the senior year, the waiver could be described so as to retain the option for students to submit the GRE as part of their application materials if they choose to do so. Knopf noted that this was his committee s intent. Parrino argued that the students 3204a

3 performance in particular undergraduate courses is a better indicator of their potential for success in the MS Finance program than the GRE. The proposal to create a five-year, sequential dual-degree program leading to the Bachelor of Arts (with a major in Economics) and the Master of Science in Finance (MS Finance) degrees was unanimously approved by the Graduate Assembly and it was deemed minor legislation. B. Report on Academic Committee's recommendation to allow roomshare arrangements in the MS Finance option III degree program Chair Juenger reported that the proposal would allow the formulafunded undergraduate students, who have been provisionally admitted into the MS Finance program, to take the Option III summer intensive; this would not otherwise be permitted because formulafunded students normally are not allowed to be in courses with Option III students. She noted that the proposal also contains a provision permitting in-load teaching for Option III faculty. Faculty could teach an Option III course in lieu of an Option I course and, instead of being paid directly, would provide the money to the department as a teaching buy-out. Juenger called on Parrino to explain. Parrino suggested that this system provided greater flexibility. Juenger noted that the current Option III program has this in-load teaching provision because it is grandfathered, as the program existed prior to the restriction against it; but because the sequential MS Finance is a change to the program, the program would lose the provision. The Academic Committee recommended the provision; it does not go to the Graduate Assembly for a vote. Michael White, who had chaired an ad-hoc committee on revising Option III programs, raised concerns that the Option I and Option III programs should be distinct and asked about the possibility for abuse. Parrino noted that class formats differ, and he suggested that the inload teaching provision would be employed only when it improves a faculty member s teaching efficiency and would not be used to substitute for Option I teaching. He suggested further that the proposal was designed to prevent wealth transfer between Option I and III programs. White noted that the Option III committee had an additional concern about salary double-dipping, but he suggested that the current proposal avoids that issue. Juenger mentioned an additional concern, that of faculty being drawn from Option I toward Option III teaching; but she suggested that would be unlikely in this case. C. Proposal to create an option III track for the MSE degree program in Electrical and Computer Engineering (pending approval by the Academic Committee) 3204b

4 This proposal had been approved by the Academic Committee. Ahmed Tewfik presented the proposal, noting that it was a response to the large demand for a terminal master s program. The department plans to use the profits from the Option III program to augment the TA budget and provide fellowships for incoming Ph.D. students. The creation of a separate Option III program for terminal master s students would make more spots available for students interested in the Ph.D. program. It would be an online program with most courses being online versions of existing courses, but two new courses are being developed specifically for the program. The admissions process would be similar to that for regular students. The proposal to create an Option III track for the MSE degree program in Electrical and Computer Engineering was unanimously approved by the Graduate Assembly and it was deemed minor legislation. V. Administrative Committee (Eileen Kintner) A. Report on discussion of dissertation committee composition policy Chair Kintner reported that the Administrative Committee was reviewing requirements on the number of dissertation committee members. They had reviewed the current policy and had collected data from peer institutions. The committee was recommending that dissertation committees consist of a minimum of three members, at least 3 members must be on the student s GSC, and at least one must be an outside member. A committee could be chaired by two cosupervisors, at least one of whom would have to be on the student s GSC. Discussion followed about whether the GSC member needed to be a voting member. Kintner noted that the emeritus faculty policy discussion, which is in process, could address that issue. Chair Hartzell noted that the proposal would not be coming up for a vote until the next Graduate Assembly meeting but that feedback was being sought at this meeting. Diane Schallert asked whether the number of members on current dissertation committees would change. Dean Neikirk noted that students could choose to use the newer policy but would have to go through the formal process of changing the committee. Discussion followed among Aristotle Arapostathis, Administrative Committee Chair Kintner, Administrative Committee member Charlotte Canning, and Marv Hackert about the motivation for the change and potential negative consequences in terms of having 3204c

5 sufficient expertise on the dissertation committee. The Administrative Committee s goal was to craft a simple, elegant policy that could be adapted by individual GSCs. It was motivated by the recognition that other universities required fewer dissertation committee members, and some programs within the University of Texas especially smaller programs were seeking reductions in the required committee size. Hackert emphasized that graduate programs can choose to have a higher minimum. The committee size change, if approved, should go into effect by Fall White raised a question about whether a non-voting member of the GSC could be considered an outside member of the committee. Kintner confirmed that a non-voting member of the student s GSC would be an inside member of the committee. Graduate Assembly Chair Hartzell asked that additional feedback be directed to Administrative Committee Chair Kintner. VI. Admissions and Enrollment Committee (Dan Knopf) A. Report on recommendations to grant GRE waivers to the new BA- Economics and MS-Finance program, and to the existing BS-CS and MS-CSEM program The BA-Economics and MS-Finance GRE waiver was discussed earlier in the agenda, along with the discussion of that program. The GRE waiver for the existing BS-CS and MS-CSEM program had been approved by the Admissions and Enrollment Committee, with 5 members in support and 1 abstaining. The proposed GRE waiver for the new BA-Economics and MS- Finance program was passed unanimously by the Graduate Assembly and ruled as minor legislation. B. Informal report on ongoing discussions to develop guidelines for future such proposals Chair Knopf mentioned that the committee was discussing guidelines for GRE waivers, to promote consistency in responses to waiver requests. The statement will be circulated to the Graduate Assembly at a later meeting. VII. Graduate Student Assembly (Brian Wilkey) The Graduate Student Assembly recently completed a Graduate Student Professional Development week, which included a variety of Speakers and activities, and it was well-attended. 3204d

6 A Graduate Student Assembly Housing Committed has been established to work on graduate student housing issues. A group of GSA members went to College Station for the fall meeting of the Student Advocates for Graduate Education. Inspired in part by discussions at the event, the GSA is undertaking a project to change the conversation about the value of graduate education. VIII. Adjournment at 3:22 p.m. Catharine Echols, Secretary 3204e