Minutes of the Graduate Committee

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO
5240 N. Jackson Avenue, M/S UC 43
Fresno, California 93740-8023
Office of the Academic Senate Ext. 8-2743

September 30, 2008

Members Present: T. Skeen (Chair), S. Brown-Welty, K. Carey, P. English,
G. Kriehn, S. Skelton, Z. Wang, R. Yazdipour.

Members Absent: N. Mahalik (excused).

Visitors: None.

The meeting was called to order by Chair Skeen at 2:00 p.m. in the University
Center Room #203.

1. Minutes: MSC to approve the Minutes of September 23, 2008 as amended:
   Add an “s” at the end of the word “student” in item 4.c.
2. Agenda: MSC to approve the Agenda as distributed.
3. Communications and Announcements.
   Chair T. Skeen distributed copies of two new programs sent to the committee
   for review- “Communicative Disorders and Deaf Studies” and “Special
   Education”. The committee scheduled discussion of the first program for
   10/21/08. S. Skelton will communicate the date to involved parties at his
   school. Chair T. Skeen will contact Paul Beare for scheduling a date for the
   second program- Special Education.
4. New Business. The International English Language Testing Service (IELTS).
   The committee discussed setting a minimum score for the said test, as
   requested by Dean K. Carey. It was stated that the average acceptable score
   for the test among CSU campuses seemed to be around 6.5/8. The committee
   also found out that the score for the Pencil/Paper version of the test ranged
   from a low of 313 to a high of 677. Given more data was needed to make a
   final decision, it was decided that the issue be placed on the agenda for the
   next meeting.
5. Graduate/undergraduate cross-listed courses.
   Chair T. Skeen mentioned that he and G. Kriehn would get back to the
   committee with some new information and facts by the next meeting time.
6. Graduate student symposium.
   Dean K. Carey started by saying that there seemed to be some concerns
   regarding the proposed graduate-level symposium vis-à-vis the already
   established Central California Research Symposium (CCRS). Specifically, some
   were concerned that the proposed new symposium might take away from the
   CCRS, especially when the 2011 Statewide competition for CCRS would take
   place in Fresno.
   Discussions continued on such possibility. After examining the two symposia
   more closely, it appeared that there were clear distinctions between the two
   venues- esp. when the proposed grad-level symposium would mostly focus on
   projects and theses. Also the new venue would not have the “Math and
   Science” emphasis that the CCRS currently seems to have. Moreover, CCRS’s
   March date is too early for many graduate students as such students would
   benefit from a May date- the tentative date proposed for the new symposium.
   At the end, it was suggested that the item be placed on the agenda for next
   meeting for further discussion. In the meantime, it was suggested that the
   committee members to find out how the faculty and students at their
   respective schools feel about the new proposal.
7. Graduate student advisory board.
   Postponed.

MSC to adjourn at 3:00 p.m.

The next scheduled meeting of the Graduate Committee is Tuesday, October 7, 2008
at 2:00 p.m. in the University Center, Room #203.

Agenda.

1. Approval of the Minutes of 9/30/08.
2. Approval of the Agenda.
3. Communications and Announcements.
4. M.A. in International Relations and the M.P.A. in Public Administration.
5. The International English Language Testing Service (IELTS).
6. Graduate student symposium.
7. Graduate student advisory board.

Download the PDF

This PDF is provided as a print-only reference document and may not be fully accessible to users of assistive technology. For more information, please visit Title II Rule on Digital Accessibility page.