Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

Phil Adams, TU

Keith Brooks, UMB

Gary Grodzicki, SSU

Dave Hollander, UMBC

Dennis Ignasias, UMES

Trudy Lindsey, UMCP

We started with a general discussion of the lack of interest and representation from the ICC graduate section. It was decided that we should provide an agenda that is more practical and less theoretical. An agenda that is more pertinent to the daily operation of our programs will be more useful and more appealing to constituent members. This agenda will encourage topics of immediate concern and provide access to direct knowledge of how colleagues deal with specific issues. It will also provide an opportunity to voice potential solutions and receive pertinent feedback for further consideration.

Question: Is the number of ICC meetings we have each year detrimental to attendance, and should we consider replacing one or more of these gatherings with electronic meetings? This will continue to be a topic of consideration (at least until attendance improves), but the face-to-face gathering now seems more appropriate with our decision to focus primarily on current/emerging problems and issues. Note: I asked other groups about their concerns regarding ICC attendance by their group members and what, if anything, they did to enhance attendance. The universal response was to poll the group for topics of concern, and members who were interested would attend.

Therefore, we have decided to concentrate more on the day-to-day concerns and problems surrounding graduate education. Our discussion will encourage a question/answer, point/counter point approach, and thus better utilize the knowledge and experience of our system colleagues. The varieties of anecdotal references provided during this meeting proved informative and made the meeting far more enjoyable.

A few of the system schools will waive the application fee for a student applying to graduate school directly from an undergraduate program. Suggestion: consider restricting this fee waiver to a specific GPA (IE: must have a 3.50). This is an inexpensive means to develop student loyalty and increased graduate attendance.

2. Application for Non-Degree students:

Basic agreements regarding Transcript requirements:

Require the student to list all colleges attended, but only submit a transcript from the degree awarding institution.

Most schools accept unofficial transcripts for non-degree graduate students, but may impose:

A limit to the number of credits a non-degree student can complete before

providing an official transcript

A deadline for providing an official transcript

3. Readmission Application:

The length of time (following the last term attended) that necessitates a Readmission Application varies from institution to institution. The one common factor was that none of our institutions required a readmission fee for graduate readmission.

We had an involved discussion on the pros/cons of the electronic application and the likelihood of prospective applicants using this media. We also speculated on the benefit of including the international graduate application. This topic produced a great deal of discussion with little resolution. The present committee standing is "wait and see."

Most institutions require a new residency form (regardless of undergraduate residency) and will discuss specific issues as related to the new period of enrollment.

The primary question is whether or not a certificate program is approved by MHEC.

It was suggested that Certificate Programs include an application process similar to the Non-Degree application process. In fact, a single application form could be used for both certificate program and non-degree student application. There was agreement that a student admitted to a graduate program who completes the requirements for a certificate, be awarded the certificate without additional application process or fee.

7. National Association of Graduate Admissions Professions (N.A.G.A.P.):

Keith Brooks (UMB) provided a synopsis of his research into the possibility of forming a N.A.G.A.P. chapter in Maryland.

Basic requirements to receive a charter:

An outlined means of governance - including a constitution and bylaws

A formal statement of purpose including a clear set of goals

A financial statement with projection of costs and funding

A list of elected officers and chapter members

The only requirement for charter is that the President of a specific chapter be a N.A.G.A.P. Member.

N.A.G.A.P. no longer requires a local chapter to maintain a minimum of 15 N.A.G.A.P. members, or a state chapter to maintain a minimum of 50% of the total N.A.G.A.P. members from the state.

Note: there are no institutional memberships, only individual memberships. However, the cost per member is reduced by each additional member from the same institution.

The basic feeling of the ICC Graduate Section was that a state N.A.G.A.P. chapter would be beneficial to the state, the system and the individual institutions. It was decided that each of us should return to our home campuses and inquire about membership interest from appropriate staff and faculty.

8. State Requirements that Catalogues be Published:

In answer to the question of how we responded to the state requirement that every college/university publish their catalogue for public access, it was noted that UMCP provides their graduate catalogue only on the web. They do not produce a graduate catalogue in a "hard-text" format. Their web copy is available universally and hence meets the stated requirements for producing a catalogue that is available to the public.

If an institution is contemplating web publication only, consider these issues:

1. Be aware that you will need to web archive enough previous catalogues to cover the maximum time allowance for degree completion. If your graduate programs allow a maximum of seven years for degree completion, you must maintain catalogues covering at least the previous seven years.
2. It is strongly advised that individual departments produce a Department Brochure for dissemination. As they will be a partial replacement for the catalogue, the budget source will need to be determined.

Most of the system schools had little or no study abroad programs designed for graduate students. While there are graduate students seeking to study abroad, they are directed to the undergraduate student programs. The question of whether or not we would benefit from designing study abroad programs specifically for graduate students was left with an unqualified "it depends..."

Ranking Graduate School Graduates (topic from Dave Hollander)

The Quality Teacher Incentive Act of 1999 provides for a "signing bonus" for teachers who graduated in the top 10% of their class. This was likely designed for undergraduates, but the legislation simply refers to "an individual who graduates from an accredited institution of higher education in the top 10% of his/her class".

Some former students who earned our M.A. have approached the Registrar's Office seeking written verification that they "graduated in the top 10% of their class" so that they will be eligible for the bonus.

UMBC has never calculated class-standing rankings for recipients of graduate degrees. Question: what would be the appropriate cohort?

New BOR Residency Policy for In-State Status for Tuition Purposes

NAGS (Northeast Association of Graduate Schools)

If there is an additional topic you would like discussed at ICC, it will be helpful to e-mail your topic to the Graduate Section so we may prepare in advance.

Remember, there was a committee request that we bring a complete Graduate Application Pack (everything required for the graduate student to be admitted) for group discussion.

The 10 Year USMD strategic plan for education can be found at: www.usmd.edu/10yrplan/index.html

icc-gps@usmd.edu