College of Graduate Studies

Graduate Council Minutes

November 28, 2023

Present:     Marcelo Alvarado-Vargas, Brian Ashburner, Tomer Avidor-Reiss, Sharon Barnes, Larissa Barclay,
                    Saurabh Chattopadhyay, Qian Chen, Mai Dao, Jennifer DeVries, Jim Ferris, Timothy Fisher, David Giovannucci,
                    Dan Hammel, Noela Haughton, Andrea Kalinoski, Kristen Keith, Addison Kittel (GSA), John Laux, Patrick Lawrence,
                    Bindu Menon, Megan Petra, Barbara Saltzman, Youssef Sari, Connie Schall, Rebecca Schneider, Zahoor Shah,
                    Snejana Slantcheva-Durst, Kuo-hui Su, Jami Taylor, Varun Vaiyda, Jerry Van Hoy, Eileen Walsh, Kandace Williams,
                    Jianlong Zhu.

Absent:      Halim Ayan, Bashar Gammoh, Ling Na.

Excused:    Patricia Relue.

Guests:      Tara Hanna -COGS.

 

Call to Order, Roll Call, and Approval of Minutes
The meeting was called to order and roll called.

Executive Reports
Report of the Executive Committee of the Graduate Council
On behalf of Graduate Council, Chair, Dr. Patrick Lawrence reported:

• GCEC Meeting November 21, 2023

• • Set agenda for GC meeting November 28, 2023.
  • We discussed the status of nominations for graduate student awards, 40+ nominations submitted. We have determined how to move forward. Due to logistics, the nominations have been divided between two groups in order to recognize half at the December 12, 2023 GC meeting, including those who will graduate in December. The other half will be recognized during Spring Semester 2024, rather than a second call for nominations.

• Provost Search Committee
  • Four Semifinalists
    Coming to campus this week to meet with major stakeholder groups, including GCEC. We are creating a short list of questions for the candidates. Questions from Graduate Council should be sent to GC Chair and search committee member, Dr. Patrick Lawrence by tomorrow, November 29, 2023.
  • Timeline
    Search Committee will meet and make recommendations for at least two finalists to bring back for full-day forums in January. Announcements to follow. The President and the Search Committee are excited about the range of experience and qualifications of the current semifinalists. We are optimistic and hopeful this process will be successful and that President Postel will finalize a decision early next year to have a provost in place late spring/early summer.
    
    
• Other
  Listed under Old Business on agenda.
  
  
• President Postel’s visit with Graduate Council
  Due to scheduling conflicts, President Postel was unable to attend to Graduate Council this month, however, his visit has been rescheduled to January 23, 2024. We will seek questions from the Council prior to his visit.

Report of the Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs
Dr. Dan Hammel, Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs provided the following updates:

• Out-of-State Tuition International Students
  We tried an experimental program last year to recruit international students who were fee paying. It was successful enough that we will repeat it this year with the colleges of Business, Engineering and Natural Sciences and Mathematics, although it is likely to grow the most in Business. We will extend the program to selected other programs, and this has been discussed with associate deans. If you have programs that fit with this opportunity, speak to your associate deans. We will waive OSS, so students are paying ISS plus $100.  These students are not on an assistantship, or any other form of aid university sponsored aid (donor scholarships are OK). Were able to attract more than 15 students starting very late in process. COGS is expending funds from its own limited budget, so we will monitor closely.
  
  
• Carnegie Research Status
  R1 status is good news and we were moving in that direction, even without the simplification in the classification. Some factors to consider for maintaining that status are the fluctuation of external funding and the number of Ph.D.’s granted, which has been declining. The current  benchmarks may increase, and we will have to monitor our trends.
  
  
• Commencement - Fall Semester l December 16, 2023
  No separate graduation ceremony for graduate students.  Both master’s and doctoral graduates will attend both ceremonies by college. Larger numbers of graduates in spring may necessitate a separate graduate student only ceremony on a Friday evening.

Discussion:
Dr. Tomer Avidor-Reiss expressed enthusiasm for the initiative and asked how to go about implementing.

Dr. Dan Hammel replied that he could meet with Dr. Avidor-Reiss and NSM Associate Dean, Dr. Brian Ashburner to discuss.  He noted that it is important to determine the likelihood of the student coming to UToledo. If they need full funding, this will not suffice. We do not want students showing up who cannot pay tuition as it becomes problematic for them. The I-20 should provide the necessary verification.

Dr. Avidor-Reiss will keep in touch with Dr. Hammel.

Dr. Youssef Sari expressed interest in the initiative noting his connection with Jordan University.

Dr. Hammel further explained that this initiative is a push for finance to allow us to have more tuition waiver money to because it is a money maker for the University, because we are bringing in paying students who would not otherwise have attended. It is limited because we are using existing resources.

Dr. Sari asked whether this could be applied to students who are supported on an NIH grant?

Dr. Hammel replied no, out of state tuition for grant supported students is provided under a different pot of money. With this initiative we are trying to provide some support but not cover the entire cost of attendance.

Report of the Vice President for Research
Interim Vice President for Research, Dr. Connie Schall, provided the following updates:

• IRB Processing Time
  This data was pulled together by our IRB group and Director of Research Compliance, Dr. Mahesh Pillai, from FY 21 to date in FY 24 to provide a sense of processing time. Significant points regarding the data:
• • Staffing issues where staff were recruited to other institutions in 2021. Three senior staff left.
  • Fairly new staff in the Research Office are continuing training through certification. Within six months to a year, they are quite familiar with regulations. The expectation is that within three years, compliance analysts are certified through an organization, PRM&R.
  • More weight should be placed on medians than averages.
  • FY 24 is starting out without significant submissions.
  • As soon as someone has entered a record into the IRB manager, even if they do nothing for several weeks, that is the beginning of the processing time.
  • Once a decision is determined, communication is sent out and this is the end of processing time.
  • Goal and strategy is to improve processing time.
  • Faculty should be in touch with Compliance Analysts, subject matter experts associated with protocol development, and participate in Research Compliance Training. The Office of Research staff are glad to meet with departments or provide group training. Please contact us.
    
    
• InfoEd Updates
  Registration for in-person training is required to ensure there is sufficient space.

     Training (scheduled):
     11/07/2023: RSP Webinar: Budget 201. 1:00 - 2:30 PM. Meeting Link.
     11/08/2023: In-Person Session: NSF submissions in InfoEd. 3-4:30 PM in North Engineering,
     NE 1320. Details to follow.
     11/15/2023: RSP Webinar: Budget 201. 10 - 11:30 AM. Meeting Link.

     Training (to be scheduled):
     2-3 NIH-centric workshops over the last week in November and the first two weeks in December,
     which will include grants coordinators to help with content in addition to InfoEd support team for system help                                                 https://www.utoledo.edu/research/rsp/infoed-explainer.html.

Discussion:
Q:  Dr. Jami Taylor inquired how UToledo processing times compare to other universities noting that colleagues at other universities
      have complained, as she has about UToledo delays, which have held up research projects.
Q:  Dr. Noela Haughton suggested benchmarking with peers and aspirational institutions for efficiencies.
A:   Dr. Schall responded that it is difficult to accurately assess processing times at other universities. The medians provided are
      comparable to many other universities. However, a lot of this is anecdotal. With most of the information that is publicly available,
      there is not a clear definition of the start date. Clearly, the stop is when the committee makes a decision.

Q:  Dr. Sharon Barnes questioned whether the clock could start when the proposal is actually submitted, as opposed to when the first
      record is entered. It might provide a more accurate assessment of the time the office is actually taking to do the review.
A:  Most of the time, when the record is started, information is loaded with respect to their protocol. If submitters get hung up at that
     stage, they should reach out to our analysts sooner rather than later. As a reminder, we will provide additional training as
     requested.

Q:  Dr. Sharon Barnes asked the length of time for review of a completed proposal.
A:   Dr. Schall stated that the timing between events (a listing of actions) can be determined. It is possible to see where delays are.
      We strive to be quick and responsive. If there are hurdles, most experienced analysts will work with others to resolve.

Chair Lawrence asked Dr. Schall for an update on UToledo’s Carnegie classification status.

• Carnegie research classification status
  It is great news! The metrics that are being used to determine R1 and R2 status have drastically changed and, and very much simplified. There are only two metrics that are being looked at to determine, one is research expenditures (total expenditures) that is not the same as awards. This data is publicly available if you search on NSF HERD data. Carnegie classification reviews three year averages and this year is included. The metric is for research expenditures of $50 million or greater. We are on track to meet this metric. The second metric is 70 Ph.D. graduates, which we meet. It appears UToledo will be classified as R1 in the next round. The goal will be to maintain that status. It is expected that Carnegie would officially announce in late 2024 or early 2025.

Report of the Graduate Student Association
Addison Kittel, Vice President of the Graduate Student Association (GSA) reported:

• GSA General Assembly - Monday, November 27, 2023.

Information and Discussion Items
None.

Standing Committee Reports
Report of the Curriculum Committee
On behalf of the Curriculum Committee, Dr. Mai Dao, Graduate Council Curriculum Committee (GCCC) member, presented the committee’s report.  Graduate Council approved unanimously.

The proposals listed below were reviewed by the members of the GCCC with recommendations to approve.

Notes:
BU– streamlined admission requirements, simplifying and removing GMAT.
SM – course revision, credit hour change from 3 to 1-3 hours.

Discussion:
Dr. Jami Taylor asked why admission changes would come before Graduate Council as it seems to be a change in process?

Chair Lawrence replied that all these types of changes go through the CIM curriculum system which feeds into the catalog. Additionally, we are approving language for pipeline programs for the catalog, which are also required to go through CIM as well.  

Dr. Lawrence reminded Council of upcoming curriculum deadlines permitting incorporation of changes into the 2024-2025 catalog, as listed on the Provost’s website under curriculum. He extended appreciation to the committee for their significant work.

Curriculum Deadlines

• All curriculum changes must be fully approved through Faculty Senate and Graduate Council before February 28, 2024 in order to have course modification effective fall term for the upcoming school year and published in the 2024-2025 catalog. Otherwise, programs will have to wait until the following year to get these changes on the schedule.
• Courses that are approved after registration is opened will be assigned an effective term for spring semester. Please plan accordingly.
• Any changes to admissions requirements must be submitted as a program modification in the CIM system.

Old Business
Chair Lawrence presented updates on discussion items from previous Graduate Council meetings.

Parking
Chair Lawrence reminded Council that this item brough up during spring semester of the last GC, 2022-2023. Faculty Senate took the initiative to create subcommittee, to look at issues and challenges involving parking, which included GC members. Subcommittee chair, Dr. Deborah Coulter Harris, presented the group’s report to Faculty Senate on November 21, 2023 and will report to Graduate Council at its December 12, 2023 meeting. The report will be shared in advance and questions can be addressed.

Title IX – Graduate Students in instructional capacity as mandatory reporters
Chair Lawrence stated that this item resulted from a question directed to Dr. Dan Hammel when he gave his address to the Graduate Faculty in fall 2023. A question was raised whether graduate students are overseeing other students, whether teaching or overseeing a lab, whether in that capacity, they be mandatory reporters. Dr. Hammel and Dr. Lawrence met with Vicky Kulicke, Director of Title IX and Compliance and Title IX Coordinator. Graduate students overseeing other students in an instructional capacity should receive Title IX training. All TAs funded by college, departments and COGS receive training that includes their role as a mandatory reporter. To be clear, that role and function of graduate students as mandatory reporters only exists within the role as overseeing other students in the class or lab. It does not extend to the other activities or experiences, such as sitting in another class with those same students or having lunch with them. Faculty are mandatory reporters. Title IX reps are more than happy to meet with you or your group to provide guidance in general or for unique situations.

Vacation Policy for Graduate Students
In response to a question that arose at Graduate Council whether there is a need for a vacation policy for graduate students, GCEC discussed this topic with the Provost’s Office and COGS. Dr. Hammel discussed with Vice Provost/Graduate Deans from peer institutions across Ohio. There is not a universal vacation policy and not a need for a comprehensive policy, with the exception of 12-month graduate students. Some graduate programs hire graduate assistants for a 12-month period and those programs have policies/guidelines/handbooks that address time off/vacation within their college. There are such examples for programs that wish to discuss implementing. A clarification is that many GA’s funded by the department/college/COGS for fall semester only, spring semester, or both semesters that reflect the academic calendar. They are not required to work when the University is closed or when classes are on break, such as fall break or spring break. It also needs to be reflected in our roles as graduate faculty when we mentor our graduate students, to make sure that we are fair and equitable with our expectations.

Faculty should be aware of the requirements  addressing hours spent in a lab or research setting. We are all aware that, especially grant funded graduate students, there are specific deadlines and obligations with the funding agencies. That is understood and accepted. As mentors, the well-being, professional and mental health of our graduate students are part of our professional responsibility, we need to apply standards in a  clear, concise, fair and equitable, manner. We need to formally communicatee our expectations to students formally whether through the program handbook or lab polices so they know when they may take break within the academic calendar.

Dr. Dan Hammel added that there can be some reasonable flexibility. If the graduate student has a valid reason to be out for a week and they have informed you well in advance, it is reasonable to let them make up the hours within the time limit of the semester in which they are employed. Students should not be taking vacation and not informing the program/advisor. Similar to 9-month faculty, graduate assistants do not have vacation during the semester.

Chair Lawrence reiterated that graduate assistants should be aware of the expectations of their offer letter agreement, a contract, so there are not assumptions of vacation or other time off. He pointed out that this department, Geography and Planning, has a handbook that specifically lays out the duties and expectations of grant-funded or college/department funded graduate assistants, in terms of work hours per week, start and end dates of the beginning and end of the academic term, and how requests for additional time off are handled well in advance. This is setting professional setting expectations. But they need to be aware and they need to be in a culture where they can have raise such questions with the graduate program director or graduate advisor.

Lastly, Chair Lawrence stressed that the end of semester is a stressful time for students and faculty. Faculty serve as mentors as well as educating and preparing our students. These are challenging times including world events that affect many of our graduate students with increased stress and mental health concerns. He encouraged faculty to be aware of this in working with graduate students, being sympathetic and responding to concerns or issues and providing them with University resources.

New Business
None.

Adjournment
There being no further business, the Council adjourned at 1:37 p.m.