Graduate Studies Committee

March 3, 2006

105 Hullihen Hall—8:30 am

Members present: Charles Mason, Chair; John Sawyer, Paula Vasquez (Graduate Student), Robert Opila, Andrew Teplyakov; Ali Poorani; Pablo Huq, Susan Brynteson, Peter Kolchin, Linda Bucher, Matthew Kinservik, Dewey Caron and Mary Martin

New Business: James Magee and Dan Green attended the meeting to respond to two items related to changes proposed in the Political Science and International Relations program. The Committee had questioned the use of America in the proposed course POSC 867 “America and the Global System.” Dr. Magee explained that “America” is regularly used in the discipline to represent the U.S. of America and that he would take the issue back to the faculty for a final decision on whether to revise the proposed name of the course. The second item of discussion related to the request of the Committee to clarify requirements of an applicant to the PhD program who holds an M.A. degree from another university. It was agreed that a statement in the admission section of the program policy document would indicate that each student’s requirements for satisfying the master’s equivalency would be determined and that qualified applicants who do not meet the master’s equivalency requirement at the time of admission will be required to do so while at the University of Delaware in order to continue in the Ph.D. program.

Scott Stevens presented the rationale for the proposal of the Combined BA in English and MA in Teaching English as a Second Language. There is a critical need for certified TESL teachers in the state of Delaware. Undergraduate students classified as Junior’s with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 and an English major GPA of 3.00 are eligible to apply to the combined program. A GRE score is not required for admission. A total of 145 credits are required for the combined degree using 12 credits of the MA to satisfy requirements in the BA. The Committee unanimously approved the proposal upon clearance of the program policy statement review by Chuck Mason and Mary Martin.

Susan Hall and James Richards attended the meeting at the invitation of the Committee to respond to the Academic Program Review Report for the permanent status of the Health Promotion Program. It was clearly stated that a Health Promotion Program at the University of Delaware is appropriate and needed. Issues were presented relating to the definition of the program and the administration of the program. At the time of the program’s inception, it was defined as an interdisciplinary program designed to draw on resources from many different units. It was reported that since its inception, the Director of the program has developed the program with minimal interdisciplinary courses and minimal faculty from other units. The open discussion of the Committee recommended that Chuck Mason write a memo based on the comments and concerns of the Committee members. Chuck is to circulate the memo for Committee input. The memo will be sent to the Dean of the College for a response. The decision on the recommendation for permanent status was tabled to the next meeting.

Chuck Mason reminded the Committee to follow up on the graduate courses on the Challenge List.