Graduate Council

Committee Charge

The Graduate Council is responsible for reviewing and recommending to the Provost the addition of new or the deletion or modification of existing graduate curricula and graduate policies. This Council has primary responsibility, as representatives of the faculty, for the content, quality, and effectiveness of graduate programs at Florida Tech.

Specifically, this committee reviews and makes recommendations to the provost regarding:

Adding graduate academic programs at a new or existing off-campus instructional site
Adding a new graduate degree, major, certificate, specialization, or concentration to the curriculum or re-opening a program that was previously offered
Adding a new method of delivery to an existing graduate academic program (face to face, distance (at least 50%))
Changing co/pre-requisites or credits of a graduate course
Changing graduation requirements in a graduate program (including changes in program length or credit hours)
Closing a graduate program (including at an off-campus site or ending a program in a specific modality)
Requesting an online graduate course to have the same number as an on-campus graduate course
The academic components of any cooperative academic arrangements (defined by SACSCOC as an agreement with an institution or entity to deliver program content with credit being recorded on our transcript as our own)
The addition of a new graduate course to the curriculum
The establishment of a dual degree or joint academic award with another institution
The need for new or modification of existing graduate policies
Requests for Master’s level graduate faculty appointments
Reaffirmation of the full-time graduate faculty appointments (Graduate Faculty Review Committee)
Appeals for academic misconduct dismissals (Academic Misconduct Dismissals Appeal Committee)
Requests for deletion of courses from overall GPA of Master’s students who are changing majors (Standards Committee)

In their reviews and recommendations this committee is careful to ensure that Florida Tech’s educational programs embody a coherent course of study, are compatible with the university’s mission and goals, and are based upon fields of study appropriate to higher education. The Council ensures that program requirements conform to commonly accepted standards and practices for degree programs.

The Council also ensures that graduate degrees are progressively more advanced in academic content than undergraduate programs and are structures (a) to include knowledge of the literature of the discipline and (b) to ensure engagement in research and/or appropriate professional practice and training.

The Council ensures that all graduate curriculum is reviewed consistently regardless of location or modality.

Committee Membership

The voting membership of the Graduate Council is comprised of one full-time graduate faculty from each academic unit offering graduate programs and one full-time library faculty.

Academic unit representatives are elected by the respective academic unit and nominated by their respective Dean to the Provost for a committee service term up to two consecutive years on a staggered basis. Re-appointment is possible.

If a member of the Graduate Council cannot complete the two-year, the academic unit head will nominate a replacement for the unexpired duration of the term. If a dean or academic unit head wishes to replace a representative for any other reason, the respective dean will recommend the change with accompanying rationale to the provost for approval.

The chair of the Graduate Council is elected for a two-year term by the voting members of the Council. The role of the Council chair is to call the meetings, set the meeting agenda, ensure review of curricular proposals, and oversee the operation of the Council to ensure adherence to university policy and accreditation standards. Re-election is possible.

The Graduate Council chair, academic unit heads/chairs, academic deans, library dean, provost, the Office of Graduate Programs representative, academic program assessment committee chair, registrar, and the university accreditation liaison are ex-officio, non-voting committee members.

*If a vote results in a stalemate, the ex-officio members present will vote in the following order: First, the deans of the colleges will vote. If a tie vote still exists, chair of the Graduate Council will vote. An unbreakable tie defeats a motion. (See Graduate Policy 4.2.2)

2022-2023 Voting Members:

College of Aeronautics (COA)
- Dr. Deborah Carstens, Professor
College of Business (COB)
- Dr. Enrique Perez, Assistant Professor & Associate Dean
College of Engineering and Science (COES)
- Dr. Chelakara Subramanian, Professor, Department of Aerospace, Physics, and Space Sciences (APSS)
- Dr. Roberto Peverati, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering and Science (BCES)
- Dr. Anthony Smith, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Engineering and Sciences (CES)
- Dr. Jewgeni Dshalalow, Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences (MTH)
- Dr. Pei-Feng Hsu, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (MCE)
- Dr. Charles Bostater, Professor, Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences (OEMS)
College of Psychology and Liberal Arts (COPLA)
- Dr. Youngju Sohn, Associate Professor, School of Arts and Communications (SAC)
- Dr. Bryon Neff, Associate Professor & Program Chair of Online Programs, School of Behavior Analysis (SoBA)
- Dr. Patrick Converse, Professor, School of Psychology (SoP)
Evans Library
- Suzanne Kozaitis, Collection Development & Analysis Librarian

2022-2023 Non-Voting, Ex-Officio Members*:

Graduate Council Chair:
- Dr. Jian Du, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences
Ex-Officio Members:
- Dr. Marco Carvalho, Executive Vice President, Provost, and Chief Operating Officer
- Dr. Munevver Mine Subasi, Associate Provost, Office of Graduate Programs & Academic Program Assessment
- Dr. John Deaton, Interim Dean, College of Aeronautics
- Dr. Theodore Richardson, Dean, Nathan M. Bisk College of Business
- Dr. John Harris, Dean, College of Engineering and Science
  - Dr. David Fleming, Department Head, Aerospace, Physics, and Space Sciences (APSS)
  - Dr. D. Andrew Knight, Department Head, Biomedical and Chemical Engineering Sciences (BCES)
  - Dr. Philip Bernhard, Department Head, Computer Engineering and Sciences (CES)
  - Dr. Ashok Pandit, Department Head, Mechanical and Civil Engineering (MCE)
  - Dr. Gnana Bhaskar Tenali, Department Head, Mathematical Sciences (MTH)
  - Dr. Richard Aronson, Department Head, Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences (OEMS)
- Dr. Robert Taylor, Dean, College of Psychology and Liberal Arts & Head, School of Arts and Communications
  - Dr. David Wilder, Head, School of Behavior Analysis
  - Dr. Gary Burns, Head, School of Psychology
- Nancy Garmer, Interim Dean, Evans Library
- Jessica Ickes, Vice President for Compliance and Accreditation
- Caroline Johnston, Registrar

Standing Committees

Academic Misconduct Dismissal Appeals

Standards

Graduate Faculty Review

Meeting Calendar

The Graduate Council meets at least monthly during the academic year. The engagement of Council members is critical to the work of the Graduate Council. The voting members are expected to be available throughout the academic year to regularly attend meetings and to make best efforts to attend any special meeting outside of the typical academic year. During summer term, minimum of 50% quorum is sufficient to vote for agenda items. The voting members are also expected to have read materials in advance of the meeting and to be aware of relevant university policy.

2022-2023 Graduate Council Meeting
Meeting Schedule	Agenda Items Due
Thursday, August 25, 2022, 1:00-2:00 PM	August 18, 2022
Thursday, September 29, 2022, 1:00-2:00 PM	September 15, 2022
Thursday, October 27, 2022, 1:00-2:00 PM	October 13, 2022
Thursday, November 17, 2022, 1:00-2:00 PM Deadline for new graduate programs to APAC	November 10, 2022
Thursday, January 26, 2023, 1:00-2:00 PM Deadline for 2023-2024 catalog changes	January 12, 2023
Thursday, February 23, 2023, 1:00-2:00 PM	February 9, 2023
Thursday, March 30, 2023, 1:00-2:00 PM	March 16, 2023
Thursday, April 27, 2023, 1:00-2:00 PM	April 13, 2023

Guests and Open Meetings

The Graduate Council may regularly invite faculty and other guests who are subject matter experts in the curriculum matter being discussed to provide context and answer questions from the Council members.

The Council meetings are open to all Florida Tech faculty, administrators, and staff. Guests in attendance can contribute to the discussion and provide questions, comments, and other information for the committee to consider as part of their deliberations. After the open discussion, the Council members deliberates and votes. Guests may not disrupt final deliberation and voting.

All faculty and staff are welcome to bring forward prospective items for the Council’s consideration. Those items should be submitted in advance to the Council chair or brought up at the end of the meeting as other business and will be considered for a future agenda.

Graduate Council