DISTRIBUTION DATE:  December 5, 2007

All actions taken by the Graduate Council will have a twenty-one (21) day faculty protest period except for new courses, course changes and petitions which will be considered approved by the Graduate Faculty if no written protest is received in the Graduate College within seven (7) days.

Present: Janis Paul, Sally Beach, Denise Beesley, Michael Bemben, Beverly Bowers, John Duncan, Charbel Khoury, Maureen Taylor, Theodore Trafalis

Absent: Lee Williams, William Ray, Julia Abramson, Sanaz Aghazadeh, Samir Barman, LeRoy Blank, Sudarshan Dhall, I-Kwang Chang, Charity Gillman, Mary Linn, Sam Stalcup, Irvin Wagner, Bret Wallach

Guests: Debra Bemben, Noel Brady, James Rosenthal

General Business

• The minutes from November 5, 2007 were approved.

Committee Reports

• CDRP – there was no CDRP report given
• Faculty Senate – Dr. Trafalis reported that the Faculty Senate met on November 12, 2007. At the beginning Prof. Deborah Dalton gave a presentation on Focus the Nation. One of the action items was UOSA resolution on climate commitment.

• Prof. Dalton said that in April OU President David L. Boren signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment which is a statement on the part of presidents and chancellors to recognize the negative effects of global warming and develop an action plan to become climate neutral.
• Eric Pollard, author of the UOSA bill and political science senior, said it’s important for OU students to recognize that their generation is responsible for making the changes. He also said that there have already been positive signs of change for the university. When OG&E’s plan for a coal plant fell through, the company made a decision to quadruple its wind energy, according to Pollard. OU has committed to purchase all of its allotment of wind power-generated electricity from OG&E.
• However, there are some challenges facing OU. The main challenge will most likely be figuring out a cost-effective, yet efficient way to serve the thousands of students at OU. Pollard said he hopes the plans will save OU money in the long-term. The goals are not only long-term. UOSA has some short-term solutions as well, such as a housing recycling, energy-use competition and using recycled printing paper. The bill will be updated and reconsidered every two years by the legislative branch of Student Congress.

Finally The Faculty Senate voted overwhelmingly to endorse a UOSA concurring resolution regarding OU Climate Commitment of 2007.

• Inter-liaison - Dr. Duncan reported that the OUHSC Graduate Council last met on November 15, 2007.  Since a quorum was not present, several motions were made and seconded to approve committee recommendations, and are waiting for results of email votes until the next meeting.  Motions made included the addition of a new course, OEH 6514 (Occupational and Environmental toxicology), the expansion of the orthodontics program from 65 to 70 credit hours to match the national board accreditation requirements, and several graduate faculty appointments. Dr. Bowers gave a short overview of the Responsible Conduct of Research Subcommittee and there have been no new developments since the previous meeting and the committee is still looking at several alternative approaches to implementing the training.  Dr. Tomasek discussed a new program to assist HSC students in improving their scientific writing abilities.  No other business was discussed in the meeting.

Program Modification

• The Educational Leadership and Policy Studies PhD program modification was withdrawn.  It will be resubmitted for consideration at a later time.

• The proposed Health and Exercise Science Master of Science program modification was approved.  The changes include the addition of two new options, Exercise Physiology and Health Promotion, and restructuring the current Master of Science in Health and Exercise Science.  The new program will emphasize research in the specific area, better prepare students for the doctoral program, and aid in the recruitment of new students. 
• The proposed Health and Exercise Science PhD program modification was approved.  The changes in the Exercise Physiology Option & the Health Promotion Option program include the elimination of the research tools requirement, the restructuring of core area courses, and the specification of Zoology courses that will fulfill the physiology requirement.  The changes will streamline the program and ease the tuition burden on students by reducing the number of required hours for enrollment each semester.
• The proposed International and Area Studies Master’s program modification was approved.  The addition of one core curriculum course and the reduction from 18 to 15 credit hours in the number of electives will enhance the identity and cohesion, and the professional degree aspect, of the MAIS program.  The Global Management option was suspended two years ago because of lack of interest; the option is now being deleted.
• The proposed Mathematics PhD program modification was approved.  The proposal changes the foreign language requirement from proficiency in two foreign languages to proficiency in one foreign language.  The student’s PhD advisory committee will determine which foreign language is appropriate.
• The proposed Social Work Master’s (MSW) program was approved.  The establishment of two new major codes will enable OU data tracking systems to distinguish between Advanced Standing MSW students and regular MSW students. 

Special Program

• Damien Williams’ proposed Interdisciplinary Degree Program was withdrawn.  It will be considered at a later time.

The following course changes and proposals were unanimously approved.  Only brief information regarding approved changes follows; however, original course change proposals will be on file in the Graduate College through the seven-day protest period if you have questions or concerns about any of the following.  Please contact the Graduate Council Secretary, Clarissa Dobrinski, at 325-3811 if you wish to review any of these materials.

AME 5763. Change prerequisite
ANTH 5083. Course addition
ANTH 5403. Course addition
CEES 5763. Change prerequisite
CHEM 5213. Course addition
CHEM 5313. Course addition
EACS 6103. Course addition
EACS 6203. Course addition
EACS 6303. Course addition
EACS 6503. Course addition
EACS 6693. Course addition
EIPT 6313. Change long title; change description
EIPT 6333. Change long title; change prerequisite; change description
EIPT 6343. Change long title; change prerequisite; change description
EIPT 6433. Course addition
EIPT 6533. Change prerequisite; change description
ENT 5912. Change prerequisite
FIN 5322. Change short title
FIN 5332. Change short title
HES 5000. Change description
HES 5523. Change prerequisite
HES 5553. Change prerequisite
HES 5563. Change prerequisite
HES 5953. Change long title; change description
HES 5970. Change credit hours
HES 6000. Course addition
HES 6723. Course addition
HES 6743. Course addition
HES 6823. Change course number; change credit hours; change description
HES 6833. Change course number; change credit hours; change description
HES 6843. Change course number; change credit hours; change description
HES 6883. Change course number; change credit hours
HES 6940. Course deletion
HES 6943. Change long title
HES 6970. Change credit hours; change description
IAS 5113. Course addition
LIS 5323. Course addition
LIS 5733. Course addition
MATH 5853. Change prerequisite
MIS 5652. Change prerequisite
PHIL 6383. Course addition
P SC 5703. Course addition
P SC 5743. Course addition

With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:01 p.m.  The next regularly scheduled meeting will be January 9, 2008.