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PROPOSAL FOR A RESTORED

GRADUATE COUNCIL

AUGUSTA STATE UNIVERSITY

SPRING 2001

NARRATIVE

In 1998, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs appointed, formally, a Graduate Council consisting of representatives of the graduate programs on the campus. Prior to 1998, all graduate programs were administered wholly by the individual colleges in which the programs were housed. Beginning in 1998, all graduate student permanent records were transferred to the Registrar's office where all undergraduate student records are kept as well. New prospective graduate students are advised by the Office of Admissions as are new undergraduate students. Recruitment is handled in a collaborative manner between the college and the Office of Admissions.

The administration of graduate policies and programs is the responsibility of the Graduate Council. Because of current university policy, all academic matters are submitted to the faculty by the Academic Policies Committee in accord with the governance structure at Augusta State University. The normal governance route for academic matters is for the matter to be initiated in the various departments (or the College of Business Administration), be forwarded, with a recommendation, to the respective college curriculum committees, be submitted, with a recommendation, to the Academic Policies Committee, be submitted, with a recommendation, to the University Council (which only rules on the recommendation's appropriateness for the agenda of the faculty meeting), and, finally, be submitted to the full faculty for a vote.

Any and all proposals dealing with policy or programs in teacher education are submitted to the Teacher Education Council, with a recommendation, from the college curriculum committee. The Teacher Education Council, in turn, submits the proposal, with a recommendation, to the Academic Policies Committee. Thus, the only difference which occurs when a matter deals with teacher education is that the Teacher Education Council is inserted into the governance line.

Proposals dealing with graduate policies and programs are handled in the same manner as matters pertaining to teacher education except that, naturally, in these cases, the Graduate Council is inserted into the governance line instead of the Teacher Education Council. The Graduate Council is also authorized to initiate proposals dealing with graduate work on its own, which would then be submitted to the Academic Policies Committee, and eventually to the full faculty. In matters which deal with graduate teacher education proposals, both the Teacher Education Council and the Graduate Council are inserted into the governance line.

Although it is assumed that proposals related to graduate work which receive positive recommendations from the Graduate Council would likely be approved by the entire faculty, this procedure keeps the full faculty completely in control of curricular matters as directed by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

The Graduate Council has also become an essential element of any and all policies at Augusta State University which deal in any way with graduate work. For example, the Program Review requires that the Graduate Council approve the review of any graduate program.

MEMBERSHIP

The membership of the Graduate Council was devised by the Vice President for Academic Affairs after much deliberation and careful consideration. The issue of membership is inseparable from the issue of representation, and the latter engendered much controversy during the history of the Graduate Council in the 1970s and 1980s. Indeed, controversies over representation contributed to the demise of the Graduate Council, in tandem with the dispute regarding the authority of the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The office of Dean of Graduate Studies has been dispensed with in the document that follows. Similarly, the VPAA has balanced representation so that equity and fairness are evident in the choice of areas represented.

The Council is chaired by the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. All three Academic Deans sit on the council, as well as the Registrar and Director of Admissions. Seats are provided proportionately so that those departments with graduate programs have an adequate voice in our deliberations. The chair of the Psychology Department speaks for the MA program in her area; the director of the Masters degree in Public Administration is likewise present. The Associate Dean of the College of Business Administration sits for the MBA.

The majority of ASU's graduate students are enrolled in the College of Education, and therefore equivalent representation is granted to those COE departments. Teacher Development and Clinical and Professional Studies each have a pair of representatives, respectively. Kinesiology and Health Science is allowed one council member.

Key discipline areas in the College of Arts and Sciences are also represented. There are members (one each) in LLC/Social Sciences and Mathematics/ Sciences. Finally, a currently enrolled graduate student sits on the Council. Appointment to these areas are made by Academic Affairs. The membership and authority of the Graduate Council rest upon the prerogative of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

MISSION

The mission of the Graduate Council is to help maintain the high quality of graduate education at Augusta State University by reviewing and making recommendations to the faculty and the Vice President for Academic Affairs on matters related to all graduate programs of the University.

To accomplish this mission, the Council receives and reviews periodic reports from graduate programs on their compliance with University and individual graduate program standards and policies, and on proposed changes in individual graduate program requirements, curricula, and on matters related to official University record keeping.

The Council also serves as a forum for addressing concerns common to all graduate programs.

GOALS

In order to carry out its mission, the Council has the following principal goals:

To help assure that all graduate programs operate within established University and individual graduate program policies, especially on matters involving admissions standards and student performance standards.
To help assure that graduate program changes are reviewed appropriately before they are submitted to the Teacher Education Council (if the program is one involving teacher participation), and the Academic Policies Committee for consideration for recommendation to the faculty.
To propose or modify needed policies and procedures in a way that will benefit all University graduate programs.

PROCESSES

To carry out its mission and achieve its goals, the Council operates in the following way:

Meets at least once per academic term to consider an agenda of pending business, including scheduled reviews of individual graduate program reports.
Receives, reviews, and makes appropriate reports to the VPAA at least annually on each graduate program's performance during the previous year related to:

- admission decisions in compliance with actual admissions standards

- graduate student performance, including attention to academic deficiencies, performance reports and standardized test results where appropriate

- graduate student completion and retention rates

- graduate student enrollment trends and characteristics

- graduate program marketing efforts

- use of graduate research assistants

Receives, reviews, and makes recommendations throughout the year to the University faculty, as appropriate, on:

- proposed changes in individual graduate curricula recommended by individual program curriculum committees.

- proposed changes in admission, probation, and related academic policies recommended by individual program curriculum committees.

Serves as a forum for review of and discussion of new graduate program proposals.

MINUTES OF GRADUATE COUNCIL