To The Academic Senate
From: William L. Green, Committee Chair, 2002-03
Subject: The Annual Report of the Graduate Committee, 2002-2003
The Elected faculty members of the Graduate Committee for 2002-03 were Sue Ann Bidstrup-Allen (ChE), Ann Bostrom (Pub Pol), Steven DeWeerth (ECE), A. Dan Fisk (PSY), William L. Green (MATH), Monson Hays (CE), David Hertling (ECE), Julie Jacko (ISyE), Jeff Jagoda (AE), Sabir Khan (ARCH), Kok-Meng Lee (ME), Jianmin Qu (ME), Leonard Parsons (MGT), Thomas Sanders (MSE), H. Venkateswaran (CoC), Minami Yoda (ME), and Kenneth Will (CEE). Graduate student Asthana Gaurav (ECE) represented the Graduate Student Senate. The ex officio members of the Committee were Jo McIver (Registrar) and Charles Liotta (Vice Provost for Graduate Studies).
William Green and Thomas Sanders served respectively as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, and the Registrar served as Committee Secretary. The Committee’s liaisons to the Institute Review Committee and to the Studies Abroad Committee were Jeff Jagoda and Thomas Sanders respectively. The liaison from the Executive Board was Andrew Peterson (ECE).
The Committee met twelve times during the period from Fall 2002 through Summer 2003. The subcommittee to review petitions (Chair, Registrar, Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies) met seven times.
The Committee approved the following new degree programs:
PhD in Bioinformatics
PhD in Paper Science and Engineering
PhD in Digital Media
MS in Biomedical Engineering (terminal degree)
MS in Paper Science and Engineering
MS/JD joint program in City Planning and Law (joint with Georgia State)
BS/MS in Polymers, Textiles and Fiber Engineering
BS/MS in Aerospace Engineering
BS/MS in Chemical Engineering
It approved non-thesis options for the MS programs in Architecture, in Building Construction, and in Chemical Engineering. Two designated MS programs in PTFE were deleted at that school’s request. The Committee also approved curricular revisions for the MS in Nuclear Engineering and the Master of Business Administration. A total of sixty-seven new courses were approved, and five courses were deleted at the request of various units. Some of the new courses associated with the MBA revision were approved in a half-semester format.
The Committee heard 132 petitions from students, including two appeals. Thirty-three of these were denied, and the remainder were approved. The number and type of petition do not appear to differ greatly from those of recent years.
The Committee also took up various policy questions, relating in particular to standards for admission and full graduate standing. It approved one change of name and course designator (PTFE) and approved some catalog cleanup (change of course numbers and prerequisites, additional deactivations, etc.) proposed by the Office of the Registrar. As a part of the continuing program review and assessment process it completed reviews of the graduate programs in Public Policy, Biology, and Architecture. Finally, the Committee participated in the effort to integrate the Institute for Paper Science and Technology with the Georgia Institute of Technology.