Minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 19, :00 p.m., Adamany Undergraduate Library, Community Room

Transcription

1 The Graduate Cuncil Minutes f the Regular Meeting f Nvember 19, :00 p.m., Adamany Undergraduate Library, Cmmunity Rm Members Present: E. Ash, C. Bell, R. Benkert, A. Biswas, K. Braunschweig, S. Brwn, C. Chw, G. DeBlase, H. Dillaway, P. Dubinsky, D. Dungee-Andersn, A. Feig, S. Firestine, W. Gibsn-Scipi, J. Green, B. Haynes, R. Hlley, K. Jacksn, S. Lean, A. Mathur, D. McGrann, K. Paesani, D. Pattersn, J. Pruchnic, P. Samuel, P. Spry, S. Terlecky, A. Yaprak, Members Absent with Ntice: Members Absent: Als Present: M. Clark, T. Gates, G. Kapats, J. Martin, J. Mldenhauer, S. Ng, D. Yingst J. Dunbar, C. Giurgescu, A. Vallerand, D. Walster P. Beavers, P. Jhnsn, L. Rman, M. Winters The meeting was cnvened at 2:06 p.m. by the Chairpersn, Ambika Mathur. I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION was made by Dr. Bb Hlley, secnded by Dr. Abe Biswas, and passed t apprve the minutes f Octber 22, II. REPORT OF THE CHAIR Dean Mathur reprted that Wayne State University has fficially been awarded ne f ten BUILD (Building Infrastructure Leading t Diversity) grants awarded by the NIH Cmmn Fund. Wayne State University is a member f a cnsrtium including the University f Detrit-Mercy, Wayne Cunty Cmmunity Cllege District and Marygrve Cllege. The Detrit-based grup is ne f ten cnsrtia arund the cuntry t be awarded this grant wrth $21.2 millin ver a perid f five years. Dean Mathur cmmended the wrk f the grup, which included cntributins frm clse t 90 faculty members. Dean Mathur nted that Wayne State University has jined the University f Califrnia San Francisc as ne f nly tw universities t receive the BEST and BUILD grants (bth awarded by the NIH Cmmn Fund) ver the past tw years. This speaks t the recgnitin f Wayne State s leadership in graduate educatin. III. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Dr. Pradeep Spry, Executive Cmmittee Chair, annunced that the cmmittee did nt meet in Nvember. Office f the Graduate Cuncil 5057 Wdward, Ste fax:

2 Graduate Cuncil Minutes Page 2 B. NEW PROGRAMS COMMITTEE The New Prgrams Cmmittee, n behalf f Graduate Cuncil, apprved the deletin f five bridge graduate certificates in Kinesilgy.(Per university prcedure, the creatin, deletin and revisin f bridge graduate certificates requires apprval frm the New Prgrams Cmmittee f Graduate Cuncil, the Graduate Schl Dean and the Prvst). The Prvst has als apprved this request. The cmmittee als reviewed minr revisins t the PhD in Anthrplgy, and the MA in Sprts Administratin. C. ACADEMIC STANDARDS COMMITTEE Assciate Dean Andrew Feig reprted that Respnsible Cnduct in Research (RCR) training was the main tpic fr the Nvember meeting f Academic Standards. There has been sme discussin f creating a standardized curriculum acrss the university. The Academic Standards Cmmittee discussed the lgistics f intrducing university-wide RCR training that wuld be inclusive f the needs f all disciplines. Assciate Dean Feig invited cuncil members t prvide input. D. ACADEMIC SENATE LIAISON Dr. Lu Rman, President f the Academic Senate, reprted n sme recent tpics in Academic Senate. The Dean f Students Office (DOSO) is spnsring a Care Reprt fr faculty t handle disruptive students thrugh the submissin a frm available n the DOSO website. The Dean f Students will intercede and use the reprt as a mechanism t help the student(s) in questin. The Directr f the Cunseling and Psychlgical Services (CAPS) unit, which is part f student services, presented t Plicy Cmmittee. Accrding t Dr. Rman, this unit is nw well-staffed and functining very well. Dr. Rman als annunced that Prvst Winters is lking fr peple t serve n the Accreditatin Cmmittee. She will als be lking fr a faculty member t serve as a c-chair f the cmmittee. Anybdy interested in serving in either rle shuld cntact Dr. Rman r Prvst Winters. IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Other Old Business Graduate Open Huse On Nvember 13, the Graduate Schl helped t crdinate the first Graduate Open Huse in several years. Every schl and cllege participated and arund 140 peple attended. The Graduate Schl will be reviewing the cst/benefit margin fr the event, but minimally, the intentin is t make this an annual event. Master s Innvatin Fund Assciate Dean Heather Dillaway annunced that the Graduate Schl received 36 submissins in respnse t the Request fr Prpsals. The prpsals will be reviewed by the Master s Advisry Cmmittee and awards will be annunced by mid-december. The 6 th annual Graduate Exhibitin is scheduled fr March Because the exhibitin is geared tward dctral students, the Graduate Schl will be intrducing a Master s Shwcase in April Mre details will fllw. Prvst Winters jined the meeting.

3 Graduate Cuncil Minutes Page 3 V. NEW BUSINESS A. University Strategic Plan Prvst Winters gave a presentatin n the prcess fr creating a new University Strategic Plan. Cmplete details, including the planning prcess, cmmittee membership and fcus grups are available at When President Wilsn jined WSU in 2013, the University Strategic Plan was ut f date; hwever, he wanted t get acclimated befre starting the prcess f creating a new strategic plan. The current prcess began in spring 2014 and was led by Prvst Winters, Chief f Staff Michael Wright and Vice President f Administratin Richard Nrk. The full Steering Cmmittee was filled ut with ther administratrs, tw regular faculty members, and ne student representative. After a series f interviews, the University has cntracted with the Barthwell Grup t cnsult n the planning prcess. Additinally, the Steering Cmmittee has created separate fcus grups fr students, staff, administratin, alumni and faculty. In terms f the planning prcess, Prvst Winters stressed that the University is nt starting frm scratch. She stated, There are places where we thught that, fr strategic reasns in defining where the university is ging, it was wrth simply talking abut things we already d; ther times where we thught that they have t be mentined because they have t be enhanced, and there are few where it s just plain we have t start frm scratch. Prvst Winters intrduced the six fcus areas fr the Strategic Plan: 1. Student Success... we want t cultivate a culture, an entity, a university entity where everybdy thinks abut the students. 2. Teaching Excellence What d we d t value teaching? What d we d t prmte teaching? 3. Research We have t maximize hw we fcus n certain strengths withut frgetting the ther areas, withut frgetting als the basic research that leads t applied research and translatinal research. 4. Entrepreneurship... this is ne that we feel we being the steering cmmittee, the president, [and] the university ultimately it pervades everything we d. 5. Cmmunity Engagement We need t d a better jb f tracking civic engagement in rder t supprt it and prclaim it as what Wayne State is. 6. Financial Stability We need t imprve ur prcesses, and make sure that nce they re imprved, we keep an eye n them.... And in sme cases, it means becming effective rather than mre efficient. It desn t necessarily mean cutting back n things because this circles us right back t students are ur number ne pririty. Prvst Winters recmmended cuncil members visit the website fr mre infrmatin, and submit any cmments t the address prvided there. She cncluded her presentatin by annuncing tw tasks fr each schl and cllege: 1. Thse schls and clleges with current strategic plans shuld review these t be sure they are in alignment with the current directin prpsed in the University s new strategic plan. Any schl r cllege withut a strategic plan shuld develp ne as sn as pssible.

4 Graduate Cuncil Minutes Page 4 2. Each schl r cllege plan needs t be reviewed t determine hw it will be implemented amng departments (i.e. which departments are respnsible fr which areas). Dr. Rman, wh is a faculty representative n the Steering Cmmittee, added,... [E]verything in this strategic plan is ging t have t be dne by the faculty; therefre, faculty shuld be engaged in and participate in the planning prcess. Dr. Rman stated that success in these areas will lead t a better image fr Wayne State University reginally and natinally. Dr. Hlley asked if ther institutins had been benchmarked during this prcess. Prvst Winters respnded that the cnsultants prvided numerus examples relevant t the prpsed fcus areas. Paul Dubinsky, J.D., asked abut measuring and defining the success f the strategic plan. Prvst Winters and Dr. Rman agreed and replied that metrics will be built int implementatin plans, defining metrics fr success. Dean Mathur added that a gal, fcusing explicitly n graduate educatin, has been included in the student success area,. Prvst Winters pinted t Dr. Rman as being a spkespersn fr graduate educatin during the planning prcess. Prvst Winters exited the meeting. B. Clsure f the Graduate Certificate in Analytical Txiclgy Accrding t infrmatin prvided by the Cllege f Pharmacy and Health Sciences, The Occupatinal and Envirnmental Health Sciences Prgram in the Department f Health Care Sciences was clsed by the Bard f Gvernrs at its meeting f September 21, Clsure f the Graduate Certificate prgram in Analytical Txiclgy was nt included in the Bard s actin t clse the Occupatinal and Envirnmental Health Sciences prgram. The three Occupatinal and Envirnmental Health Sciences curses required fr the certificate are n lnger ffered. As a result the Certificate has remained drmant since MOTION was made by Dr. Jeff Pruchnic, secnded by Dr. Ramna Benkert, and passed t apprve the disslutin f the Graduate Certificate in Analytical Txiclgy. C. Graduate Schl Strategic Plan Dean Mathur stated that the Graduate Schl administratin is wrking n creating a new strategic plan in accrdance with the University s brad plan. She asked Mr. McGrann, wh is crdinating the effrt, t prvide an update. Mr. McGrann reprted that a draft has been created and revised t align the Graduate Schl s gals with the university plan. The revisins were made after reviewing the Key Pririties and Metrics utlined in the mst recent draft (Nvember 2014) f the University s Strategic Plan. The fllwing are areas f fcus fr the Graduate Schl t use as a starting pint fr the strategic plan: Increase the six-year graduatin rate, imprve verall retentin, and grw enrllment Eliminate the gaps in graduatin and retentin between students frm underrepresented ppulatins and students frm majrity ppulatins Ensure that faculty and advisrs wrk make better use f available data Expand the percentage graduate students invlved in research

5 Graduate Cuncil Minutes Page 5 Increase cmmunity engagement initiatives Strengthen relatinship with OVPR Encurage Entrepreneurship Several cuncil members prvided cmments. Mr. Dubinsky suggested that the Graduate Schl s plan need t include a defined internatinal student cmpnent. Dean Mathur agreed and stated that pstdctral trainees must be cnsidered as well. This was fllwed by a general discussin f the scpe f university supprt and services fr the Graduate Schl and graduate educatin. Dr. Rman said that Graduate Cuncil members culd imprve the awareness f graduate educatin at Wayne State University by vlunteering t act as liaisns t Academic Senate Cmmittees where they culd prvide a larger vice. He added, There are very few peple wh think abut the Graduate Schl except the peple ding graduate research, and the nes with graduate students. Cuncil members cntinued t discuss elements f the strategic plan including the enrllment, research and cmmunity engagement cmpnents. Dean Mathur encuraged all cuncil members t help with the creatin f the strategic plan. Anyne interested in vlunteering was directed t cntact Mr. McGrann. VI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjurned at 3:36 p.m. Respectfully submitted, David McGrann Manager f the Graduate Cuncil