2026-2027 Graduate Council Standing Committee Members
Curriculum
The Curriculum Committee shall consist of one person from each college with Graduate Faculty and graduate programs, holding Full or Associate Membership, and one graduate student appointed by GSA. The duties of the Curriculum Committee shall be to make recommendations to GC on all new courses offered for graduate credit, both on and off campus, regardless of format, and on all new graduate degree programs and to review all changes to existing graduate degree programs and in graduate course title, credit hours, and catalogue description, and to recommend action to GC when changes are considered significant by the committee. At any time, the Curriculum Committee may approve routine changes limited to course title changes, course renumbering and course catalog description changes. These approvals will be reported as a consent agenda item to GC at the next scheduled GC meeting. The Curriculum Committee will take action on all curricular proposals within 30 business days of initial receipt of the proposal by GC. In late March each year, each Curriculum Committee member shall inquire into curriculum proposals forthcoming to the Curriculum Committee during the summer months and rationales for why approval during the summer is sought with their respective college curriculum authorities with an eye towards sharing this information with the Chair of the Curriculum Committee and the Vice Chair of GC.
Members listed alphabetically by academic college:
Arts, Social Sciences and Education - Patricia Case, Ph.D., Professor, Sociology
Business and Innovation - Mai Dao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Accounting
Engineering - Glenn Lipscomb, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor, Chemical Engineering
Health and Human Services - Jennifer DeVries, D.N.P., Assistant Professor, College of Nursing
Medicine and Life Sciences - Jianmin Zhang, Ph.D., Professor, Cell and Cancer Biology
Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Peter Andreana, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences - Steven Peseckis, Ph.D. (Committee Chair), Assoc. Professor, Medicinal & Biological Chemistry
Membership
The Membership Committee is empowered to make GF membership decisions. It shall consist of one person from each college with Graduate Faculty and graduate programs, who holds Full Membership on the Graduate Faculty. The duties of the Membership Committee shall be to review nominations and renewal applications for membership (see Article I) on the Graduate Faculty and to present their decisions in a report to GC. At the direction of GCEC, the Membership Committee may be convened to review and determine the membership status of an individual member of the Graduate Faculty.
Arts, Social Sciences and Education - Svetlana Beltyukova, Ph.D., (Committee Chair), Professor, Research and Measurement
Business and Innovation - Jenell Wittmer, Ph.D., Professor, Management
Engineering - Meysam Haghshenas, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Health and Human Services - Eileen Walsh, Ph.D., Professor, Nursing
Medicine and Life Sciences - Guillermo Vazquez, Ph.D., Professor, Biochemistry, MSBS Medical Sciences
Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Zeljko Cuckovic, Ph.D., Professor, Mathematics and Statistics
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences - Viranga Tillekeratne, Professor, Medicinal and Biological Chemistry
Graduate Student Affairs
The Graduate Student Affairs Committee shall consist of eight persons, four holding membership on the Graduate Faculty (at least one from each campus) and four officers of GSA or their appointed representatives. Among the GSA representatives at least one must be from colleges on the Main Campus and at least one from colleges on the Health Science Campus. Also, at least one of the faculty members of this committee must be a member of GC and will serve as the ex-officio, non-voting GC faculty representative in the GSA Executive Committee. The Senior Vice Provost for Academic and Graduate Affairs or their designee shall chair the Graduate Student Affairs Committee. The duties of the Committee shall be: to act as a liaison between Graduate Faculty, the University administration and GSA; to counsel GSA in resolving issues related to academic, professional and social programs; to assist the GSA in planning university-wide events; to deliberate on the selection of GSA Awards recipients from among nominees.
College of Graduate Studies - Scott Molitor, Ph.D., (Committee Chair), Senior Vice Provost for Academic and Graduate Affairs
Medicine and Life Sciences - Kandace Williams, Ph.D., Sr. Associate Dean for Graduate Programs & Professor, Cell and Cancer Biology
Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Jon Bossenbroek, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Environmental Sciences
Graduate Faculty Member, At Large - Vacant
Graduate Student Association, President - Dorcaslove Naa Oyo Quartey
Graduate Student Association, Representative - Andrew Larbi (Main Campus, Engineering)
Graduate Student Association, Representative - Robert Stiller (Main Campus)
Graduate Student Association, Representative - Vacant (Health Science Campus)
Academic Standing Committee
The Academic Standing Committee shall consist of one person from each college with Graduate Faculty and graduate programs, holding Full or Associate Membership, and one graduate student appointed by GSA. The duties of the Academic Standing Committee shall be: to serve as a final body to hear (1) academic dishonesty appeals, (2) academic grade appeals, and (3) academic grievances of all graduate students. The procedures for each of these processes are detailed in the Graduate Student Handbook. A decision of the Committee shall be forwarded to the Senior Vice Provost for Academic and Graduate Affairs for administrative implementation; and, may also serve as an advisory committee to the Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs and Dean of COGS on matters of policy related to academic standing.
Arts, Social Sciences and Education - Ruslan Slutsky, Ph.D., Professor, Early Childhood Education
Business and Innovation - Ainsworth Bailey, Ph.D. (Committee Chair), Associate Professor, Marketing and International Business
Engineering - Ala Qattawi, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Health and Human Services - Laura Schmeltzer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Occupational Therapy
Medicine and Life Sciences - Ivana de la Serna, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Cell and Cancer Biology
Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Michael Young, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences - Varun Vaidya, Ph.D., Professor, Pharmacy Practice
Graduate Student Association, President - Dorcaslove Naa Oyo Quartey
Academic Programs and Regulations Committee
The Academic Programs and Regulations Committee (APRC) shall consist of one person from each college with Graduate Faculty and graduate programs, holding Full or Associate Membership, and one graduate student appointed by GSA. The duties of the APRC shall be to serve as an advisory body to GC or the Senior Vice Provost for Academic and Graduate Affairs regarding policies, procedures and actions to promote academic standards.
Arts, Social Sciences and Education - Snejana Slantcheva-Durst, Ph.D. (Committee Chair), Professor and Chair, Educational Studies
Business and Innovation - Heba Abdel-Rahim, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Accounting
Engineering - Anju Gupta, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Health and Human Services - Jennifer Peterson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
Medicine and Life Sciences - Tao Yang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Physiology and Pharmacology
Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Jeanine Refsnider, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Environmental Sciences
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences - Virender Kumar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice
Liaison - Teri Green, Director, Academic and Student Affairs, College of Graduate Studies
Graduate Student Association, Representative - Grace Kim
Fellowships & Scholarships
The Fellowships and Scholarships Committee shall consist of one person from each college with Graduate Faculty and graduate programs, holding Full or Associate Membership on the Graduate Faculty, including the Senior Vice Provost for Academic and Graduate Affairs who shall be the Chair of the Committee. The duties of the Fellowships and Scholarships Committee shall be: to advise the Senior Vice Provost for Academic and Graduate Affairs on the award of the COGS University Fellowships and Endowed Fellowships and Scholarships; to advise the Senior Vice Provost for Academic and Graduate Affairs on matters relating to the financial support of graduate students; and to make reports and recommendations to GC concerning financial support of graduate students.
College of Graduate Studies - Scott Molitor, Ph.D., (Committee Chair), Senior Vice Provost for Academic and Graduate Affairs
Arts, Social Sciences and Education - Patrick Lawrence, Ph.D., Professor of Environmental Geography
Business and Innovation - Marcelo Alvardo-Vargas, Ph.D., Professor of Management
Engineering - Brent Cameron, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Bioengineering
Health and Human Services - April Ames, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Population Health
Medicine and Life Sciences - James Burkett, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Neurosciences
Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Deborah Chadee, Ph.D., Professor, Biological Sciences
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences - Fred Williams, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Pharmacology
Graduate Student Association, Representative - Boitshoko Molefhi
Constitution & Bylaws (ad Hoc)
At the request of the GCEC, the ad hoc Committee shall submit a written report to GC at a regularly scheduled meeting. Should changes to the Graduate Faculty Constitution or Graduate Council Bylaws be recommended by the ad hoc committee, the Chair of the ad hoc Committee shall provide two readings of the newly proposed Constitution or Bylaws at two regularly scheduled meetings of GC in order to help GC members comprehend the changes and offer suggestions for revision. Following the second reading, but at that same GC meeting, the GC may vote to send the revised Graduate Faculty Constitution to the Graduate Faculty for ratification, or, in the case of Graduate Council Bylaws may vote to ratify its own Bylaws.
Representatives to University Committees
Research Council
Graduate Council Representative - Dawn Goldstein, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Nursing
University Academic Program Review Committee (UAPRC)
Two Graduate Council representative appointments pending.