(1)
Graduate faculty council (GFC)
(a)
Purpose
The GFC shall be the standing committee
of the college of graduate studies. The GFC counsels and advises the dean in
matters of:
(i)
The administration of COGS;
(ii)
Academic rule
and procedure;
(iii)
Approval of new graduate courses and
programs;
(iv)
Evaluation of program quality; and
(v)
Approval of new
graduate faculty and the reappointment of graduate faculty.
(b)
Officers
(i)
The dean shall serve as chair and preside at meetings
of the GFC. The office of the dean shall send notices of and agendas for all
meetings and shall record and maintain the minutes of all meetings of the
GFC.
(ii)
The vice chair shall be elected by the GFC from its
membership and shall preside over GFC meetings in the absence of the chair. The
vice chair shall serve a three-year term.
(iii)
The vice chair,
in consultation with the chair, shall solicit agenda items from the GFC and
have authority over setting the agenda for GFC meetings.
(c)
Membership
(i)
The ex officio membership of the GFC shall be composed
of:
(a)
The
program directors of each of the NEOMED graduate programs offered through
COGS.
(b)
The NEOMED associate director of the biomedical
sciences program shared with Kent state university.
(ii)
The departmental
and student membership of the GFC shall be composed of:
(a)
At least one and
no more than two members from each NEOMED academic department. One individual
may serve both in representing a graduate program and as a departmental
representative.
(b)
Two students enrolled in any of the graduate programs
offered through COGS, including up to one student from the biomedical sciences
program shared with Kent state university.
(iii)
Voting
privileges
All members of the GFC are voting
members and shall have one vote each with the exception of the chair, who shall
only vote in case of a tie.
(a)
The usual methods of voting on motions are by voice or
show of hands. A written ballot may be used when requested by a GFC
member.
(b)
A voting member may not designate any other person to
vote on his/her behalf.
(d)
Terms of the
departmental and student members
(i)
Faculty members of the GFC shall serve staggered
three-year terms. Members may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. No more
than two members of the faculty of any department may serve on the GFC during
any given year unless they are representing a graduate program.
(ii)
Student
representatives on the GFC serve one-year terms and may be reelected for one
additional term.
(e)
Nominations -
faculty members
The office of the dean shall notify the
chair of the department(s) in which faculty members' terms on the GFC are
expiring. The chair will submit two faculty nominations for each pending
vacancy by February 1.
(i)
The nominations shall be transmitted to the dean by
April 1 and the dean shall circulate the slate to the GFC.
(ii)
On or about
April 15, the dean shall send an electronic ballot to each member of the
graduate faculty. The ballot shall list all nominees for the GFC, classified by
department. Faculty members shall vote only for the representative of their own
department and shall vote for one nominee only. Voting should be completed by
May 1.
(iii)
The GFC shall then tally the vote. In the event that no
candidate for a given position receives a majority of the votes cast, there
shall be a re-ballot between the two candidates with the largest pluralities.
Results of the election shall be announced to the graduate faculty, and the
newly elected members shall take up their duties on July
(iv)
If a vacancy
should occur on the GFC with one year or more left in the term, a special
election shall be held. The newly elected member shall serve for that portion
of the term for which the originally elected member shall be absent. For the
special election, department chair of the vacating member will be asked to
submit two names from their department. If a vacancy occurs with less than one
full year remaining in the term, the dean may recommend a person from the
appropriate department or group to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the
term.
(f)
Nominations - student members
Student members may be nominated by any
graduate faculty member and shall be appointed by the
dean.
(g)
Procedures of the graduate faculty council (GFC)
(i)
The GFC shall use
Robert's rules of order newly revised
to facilitate its meetings, unless it conflicts with
this rule.
(ii)
Meetings shall be held at least bi-monthly for a
minimum of six times per calendar year or upon ten calendar days' notice by the
office of the dean.
(iii)
A meeting shall also be held upon the written request
of three members of the GFC addressed to the chair.
(iv)
GFC meetings are
open to any faculty member, student, or staff member.
(v)
The dean shall
have discretion for acting on resolutions and recommendations put forth by the
GFC.
(h)
Liaison between graduate faculty council (GFC) and
university leadership
The dean will facilitate communication
across all colleges and with the vice president for academic
affairs.
(2)
Committee on academic and professional progress
(CAPP)
(a)
Purpose
The purposes of the committee on
academic and professional progress (CAPP) is to assess student academic
performance and professional readiness for continued studies, determine
appropriateness of curricular leave, and to enforce specific guidelines for
academic advancement while reviewing each student's individual situation and
aggregate performance. The CAPP process includes timely notice to the student
of the CAPP referral, disclosure of evidence on which the referral is based,
opportunity for the student to respond, and an opportunity for due process. All
CAPP meetings are private, and all material presented and discussed in CAPP
meetings is confidential.
(b)
Membership
(i)
COGS CAPP
membership includes:
(a)
Two COGS program directors (one of whom will be
designated chair), voting;
(b)
Two additional
members of the GFC, voting;
(c)
One
NEOMED-enrolled COGS student, voting;
(d)
One program
coordinator to represent the program in which the invited student is enrolled,
non-voting;
(e)
University registrar (ex officio),
non-voting;
(f)
Student advocate, non-voting.
(ii)
All
voting CAPP members are recommended by the GFC and appointed by the
dean.
(iii)
Voting members serve staggered three-year
terms.
(iv)
The dean appoints the chair of the committee based on
the recommendation of the GFC.
(v)
The office of the
vice president for academic affairs will provide administrative support for
this committee.
(c)
Procedures
(i)
Quorum will be
based on the majority of the voting membership of the committee. The committee
may meet by any electronic means necessary to establish a quorum and/or
facilitate the meeting.
(ii)
Students are required to appear in person or via
electronic means at a meeting of COGS CAPP and may be accompanied by an advisor
of their choosing from the NEOMED faculty, staff or student body. Because this
is an academic hearing, not a legal hearing, the student may not bring an
attorney, nor is the student permitted to bring a relative. Other persons may
be invited by the chair to provide information that may augment or clarify
information presented. Individuals found to have a conflict of interest may be
recused from the meeting and/or the committee vote.
(iii)
The committee
makes a recommendation to the dean. The dean has the discretion to affirm,
reverse or modify the committee recommendation. The dean's decision is
final.
(iv)
Students will receive an electronic written statement
of the dean's decision within five working days of the
decision.
(v)
If a student is dismissed by COGS CAPP, he/she may
submit a petition to appeal the dismissal within four working days of the date
of decision notification.
(3)
CAPP executive
review committee
(a)
Purpose
The purpose of the executive review
CAPP is to review appeal petitions from students dismissed by COGS CAPP, and to
uphold the decision made by COGS CAPP or remand the case back to COGS CAPP
based on one or both of the following circumstances:
(i)
Compelling new
information that was not available to COGS CAPP at the time of their
deliberation;
(ii)
Evidence of a defect or irregularity in the COGS two
CAPP proceeding. The student petition for review must include significant and
new information that was not available for presentation to COGS CAPP, or
evidence of a defect or irregularity in the committee
proceeding.
(b)
Membership
(i)
Membership includes:
(a)
Vice dean or
designee, college of graduate studies; serves as chair for COGS CAPP executive
review cases; ex officio member; votes in the case of a tie for COGS cases;
voting member for other college CAPP cases;
(b)
Vice dean or
designee, college of pharmacy; serves as chair for cop CAPP executive review
cases; ex officio member; votes in the case of a tie for cop cases; voting
member for other college CAPP cases;
(c)
Six faculty who
are standing members of the committee; three from the college of graduate
studies and three from the college of pharmacy; voting; staggered three-year
terms;
(d)
Four faculty delegates, two from each college, who are
invited by the respective chair to participate when appropriate (e.g., when
voting members are unavailable or college representation is
needed;
(e)
University registrar; ex officio, non-voting;
and
(f)
Student advocate; non-voting;
(ii)
Decisions made by CAPP executive review are
final.
(iii)
Students will receive an electronic written statement
of the CAPP executive review decision within seven workings days of the
decision.
(iv)
The office of the VPAA will provide administrative
support for this committee.
(4)
Graduate program
advisory committees
(a)
Purpose
The purpose of the graduate program
advisory committees is to oversee the individual COGS graduate programs. The
responsibilities of these committees include, but are not limited to the
following: admissions, faculty assignments, curriculum, teaching assistant
assignments, stipend funding decisions, program budget review, student
progress, program assessment and evaluations, and other student-related
issues.
(b)
Membership
Membership will consist of a minimum of
four and a maximum of ten voting members, including:
(i)
The relevant
program director who will act as chair of the committee;
(ii)
One NEOMED
faculty content expert;
(iii)
One non-NEOMED content expert; and
(iv)
One graduate
student representative.
(c)
Terms
Membership terms are determined by each
graduate program advisory committee.
(d)
Nominations
Membership nominations are determined
by each graduate program advisory
committee.
