Students Prospective Students Parents Faculty & Staff Alumni Donors
Graduate Affairs Committee :
November 22 Agenda
Graduate Affairs Committee November 22, 2005 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
UL 1126
1. Approval of the minutes for Oct 5, 2005 Queener
2. IU Dean's Report Queener
3. Purdue Dean's Report Story
4. Graduate Office Report Koerner
5. Graduate Student Organization Report Robinson
6. Committee Business
● Curriculum Subcommittee Report O'Palka
● Fellowship Subcommittee Report Koerner
7. Program Approvals
● Computer Science Certificates
● Bioinformatics Certificate
● Biometric Computing Certificate
● Cyber Security Certificate
● Database/Data Mining Certifcate
● Software Engineering Certificate
Queener
8. Discussion
● TOEFL iBT
9. Next Meeting (January 24, 2006) and adjournment
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Students Prospective Students Parents Faculty & Staff Alumni Donors
Graduate Affairs Committee :
November 22, 2005 Minutes
Present: Margaret Adamek, Subir Chakrabarti, Pamela Crowell, David Ford, Jeffrey Goebl, David Handel, Elisabeth Hinshaw- Osgood, Dolores Hoyt, Andrew Hsu, Marvin Kemple, Joyce Mac Kinnon, Chris Miller, Sherry Queener, Simon Rhodes, Sharon Sims, Jon Story, Marianne Wokeck.
Guest: Sarah Ally, Sheldon Rung, PhD, Thom Upton, PhD.
Staff: Dswanda Jones, David Koerner, Susan Wheeler.
Approval of the Minutes - Dr. Queener
Minutes from the October 5, 2005 Meeting Approved.
IU Dean’s Report – Dr. Queener
There has been a spotlight on all universities. The spotlight is looking at the quality indicators of programs; those indicators are retention rates, quality of faculty, and the quality of students. We have to be extremely careful on this campus to be very clear of what is expected of all. Applications for admissions where the GPA does not meet the standard set by this university, cannot be accepted as a regular admission.
Purdue Dean’s Report – Dr. Story
We’ve had several opportunities to talk with different groups to improve/strengthen our efforts of collegiality across all campuses. We’re continuing to work on the quality of relationships and communication.
Graduate Office Report – Mr. Koerner
Students are currently registering for Spring, but if the Fee Remissions aren’t received the students will not be paid. If you have any Spring admissions the fee remissions should be in sooner than later.
Committee Business
Fellowship Subcommittee Report - Mr. Koerner
We’ve met and the university fellowship isn’t due until February. Please look over the instructions, because they have changed.
The instructions will be sent out to Deans and Chairs in a few weeks.
Program Information - Dr. Queener Computer Science Graduate Certificates
● Bioinformatics Certificate
● Biometric Computing Certificate
● Cyber Security Certificate
● Database/Data Mining Certificate
● Software Engineering Certificate
-All Approved contingent on minor revisions
Discussion
● TOEFL iBT - A new internet-based version of the TOOEFL test. To succeed academically in English-speaking colleges and universities, students need to be able to apply their language skills in the classroom. Integrated questions or tasks, in the new test will help learners build the skills and confidence needed to communicate effectively in the academic environments they plan to enter. The new integrated tasks will ask test takers to read, listen, and then speak in the response to a question. The new test also requires writing a response to material they have heard and read, and to compose an essay in support of an opinion. This test is approximately 4 hours long. All section will be completed in one day, to minimize travel expenses.
No change is projected in the locally administered ESL examination which international students must take once they arrive on campus.
Next Meeting January 24, 2006
Meeting Adjourned 4:45 pm
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IUPUI Graduate Office
620 Union Drive | Union Building, Rm 207 | Indianapolis, Indiana 46202 Phone 317-274-1577 / Fax 317-278-2380 | [email protected]
This page last modified on March 9 2006 Indiana University | Purdue University | IUPU Columbus
Copyright © 2002-2007 The Trustees of Indiana University — Copyright Complaints
Biometric Computing Reviews
10-20-2005 After reviewing the certificate requests from CSCI, I have the following
suggestions/questions:
1. The department has included letters of support from community workplaces. I would suggest that this be mentioned explicitly in the body of the proposal as they will strengthen the proposal as it goes forward.
2. I would suggest that requirements for admission be listed as 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for undergraduate course work rather than using the phrase
“outstanding academic achievement as evidenced by 3.0 on a 4.0 scale”.
3. Dos the applicant need to have a baccalaureate degree? If so, please list as a requirement.
4. How can an applicant demonstrate core background requirements?
Formal course work, certificates, job duties?
5. Are letters of reference needed for admission? It doesn’t appear as though they are-might be a good idea to include.
6. Is a personal statement or a statement of academic or career
objectives needed from the applicant? It doesn’t appear as though it is; might be a good idea to include to permit alignment of student objectives with program offerings.
7. Under the plan for sustaining steady state enrollment, enrollment projections are provided but there is no plan provided.
8. When listing required courses, I was unclear as to flexibility in the specialization courses. Also, course numbering was not clear; for example, there were 4 courses listed with the number 590.
I am supportive of the concept of providing these types of certificates; I just had questions on some of the details.
Joyce L. Mac Kinnon PT, EdD
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
11-3-2005 These are my comments regarding the Biometric Computing Certificate. I did not receive any detailed paperwork regarding the other certificates.
Regarding your questions below, everything seems in order regarding time allotment, missions, etc. I only have one other comment. They mention in the Statement of Purpose that an “objective of this program is to provide an integrative experience by applying to a complex problem of a practical nature the theory and skills learned in the course work.” Yet I can find no
requirement as in independent study project or paper that addresses this.
The only requirements are coursework and I don’t find anything that would address this in any of the course descriptions. I don’t think it is necessary for a certificate, but it would be an excellent idea. It should either be built into the program or removed from the documentation because, as is, it is misleading.
Mark Goebl, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry
Database Data Mining Certificate Review
October 25, 2005 After review of the two certificate proposals and communication with the
principal SLIS faculty in this area of online information searching, we conclude that these are clearly stated, have reasonable goals and academic standards, and are welcomed additions to the cluster of certificates on the IUPUI campus, especially at the graduate level. The course content is very specific to the needs of the science field and do not overlap with the more general public/academic electronic information searching and selection skills taught in SLIS graduate courses. Clearly, these certificates will serve students in science and engineering well and may be of interest to some in the field who wish to return to IUPUI for acquiring these specific data mining skills.
Daniel Callison, Professor and Executive Associate Dean School of Library and Information Science – Indianapolis
October 25, 2005 First, the goal of the program is clear and appears to be achievable. From the letters of support, it looks like this and the other certificate programs proposed have diverse support. The only question I have is that three of the courses have prerequisites. I don’t know how difficult it will be for prospective students to have met these prerequisites or whether this might impact the potential pool of students.
Second, not knowing the field, I assume that the program is academically sound.
Third, the availability of faculty resources should not be an issue since they are using existing courses and existing faculty.
Fourth, there is no apparent overlap with other programs or units.
Fifth, the program seems to be consistent with the mission of the school and institution.
Thanks, Dave Handel
School of Public & Environmental Affairs
Pamela Crowell, Ph.D.
School of Science October 24, 2005
Software Engineering Graduate Certificate Review Department of Computer and Information Science
Program goals: The goals of the proposed graduate certificate in software engineering are clear and attainable. The department has consulted its advisory committee to assess need for the certificate program, and letters of support from Eli Lilly and the Institute for Forensic Imaging in Indianapolis attest to the community support for the program. The certificate is built upon existing courses, so no new resources are required. Thus, the implementation of the certificate program is attainable.
Academic strength: The program is academically sound because is built upon existing approved graduate courses, and the 12 credit hour requirement meets the credit hour requirement for IUPUI and for Purdue graduate certificates.
Faculty resources: The certificate program will utilize existing approved courses and thus no additional faculty time is required. Five students per year are anticipated in the first year, and the program has room for expansion.
Potential overlap with other units: There is no evidence for overlap with other IUPUI units. In fact, letters of support from the School of Informatics and the School of Engineering and Technology, the two schools with most closely related disciplines, are very supportive of the certificate proposal.
Relationship to the mission of the unit, school, and institution: The proposed certificate program is completely in line with the mission of the Computer and Information Science Department in that certificate program graduates may apply all of the coursework toward the existing M.S. or Ph.D. degrees offered through the department. The certificate
program also meets the IUPUI and School of Science missions of teaching and
community service. Many of the students are expected to be full-time employees in the Indianapolis community who which to enhance their education and skills in computer software engineering.
Sharon Sims, RN, PhD 10/27/2005
Review of Bioinformatics Certificate Department of Computer and Information Science
School of Science 1. Are the goals clear and achievable?
“The objective of the proposed graduate certificate program in bioinformatics is to develop in the student skills and knowledge of the computer science fundamentals and an ability to apply these to practical problems as it relates to bioinformatics. Another objective is to provide an integrative experience by applying to a complex problem of a practical nature the theory and skills learned in the course work.”
This certificate fits very well with the department’s mission to provide service course programs—and judging from the letters of support from community businesses, it will meet current needs for a more technically sophisticated workforce. Given that the certificate program relies on existing courses and faculty, the goals seem quite
achievable.
2. Is the program academically sound?
This certificate requires 12 credits of coursework, including 3 credits of core (genetics/molecular biology); introduction to bioinformatics (required of all students), and the selection of 6 additional credits from 4 courses in database systems, data mining, etc. These courses seem to fit very well together, while allowing the student some customization based on personal goals. The academic standards are clear, and a timeline is in place for program completion.
3. Are faculty resources available to offer this certificate without undercutting other key missions of the unit?
Clearly, there are plenty of qualified faculty available to teach the courses—its not as clear what the effect on workload would be for these faculty—are these students in addition to the Master’s students, or will they come from the Master’s ranks? Five students won’t stretch the resources, but is there an upper limit to enrollment, beyond which resources would be stretched?
4. Is there overlap, either real or potential, with any other unit that could harm the program or be exploited to help the program?
Letters from other schools and programs indicate strong support for the certificate.
I think the certificate program should be approved, with some additional information about the anticipated student body.
Review of Proposal for a Graduate Certificate in Bioinformatics from the Department of Computer and Information Science
Documents reviewed: Certificate proposal and supporting letters
Summary: The proposed graduate certificate in bioinformatics is appropriate. Given the demand and the need for expertise in bioinformatics, this program can expect a good enrollment. The curriculum outlined in the proposal is sound. No new expenses are projected and appropriate faculty to execute the program are available in the CIS Department. The suggested courses for the certificate already exist.
Recommendation: Accept without revision
Discussion: This certificate is especially appropriate for IUPUI with the current
emphasis in central Indiana on health sciences. The certificate appears to be designed for people who are working locally and could use the program to increase their knowledge base and to assist them in their careers. The certificate meshes with the M. S. degree program of the CIS Department and would allow students to reach a milestone on their way to obtaining an M. S. degree. Overall the certificate program should aid in retaining students in the CIS graduate program.
There are a couple of items that might be addressed at some stage regarding the required courses. For a graduate certificate, is it appropriate to allow credit for an undergraduate course? Biology 322 is listed as a core course. Also is the course list exclusive? There are additional courses in various disciplines that could be given consideration for the Core category. For example, Bio 564 (Molecular Genetics of Development) or Chem 533 (Introductory Biochemistry) could be appropriate. Also Informatics I590 (Information Retrieval Chemical and Life Science Databases) could be considered.
Reviewer: Marvin D. Kemple Physics Department
11/8/2005
