Part II, Section IV: Graduate School Organization

Updated: June 9, 2024

The Graduate Faculty
Directors and Coordinators of Graduate Programs, the Graduate Council, the Graduate Council Executive Committee, and the Graduate Curriculum Committee
The Dean of the Graduate School – Functions and Jurisdiction
Modifications to the Graduate School Organization
1. Graduate Council
2. Graduate Faculty

I. The Graduate Faculty

A. Functions and Jurisdictions

The graduate faculty exercises the authority within the university for development of general policies and procedures for all graduate courses and programs. The graduate faculty may recommend modifications to this document, “Graduate School Organization”, directly or through the concurrent approval of the Graduate Council using the procedure in Part IV of this document.

B. Meetings

The graduate faculty may meet in plenary session. Meetings may be called by the Graduate Council, or upon petition of 15% or more of the graduate faculty to the Dean. Notice of a plenary session with time, place, and agenda will be distributed to members of the graduate faculty at least a full week prior to the meeting.

One-half or more of the graduate faculty will constitute a quorum for purposes of transacting such business as appears on the printed agenda. A simple majority of those graduate faculty members in attendance will govern unless decision to the contrary is made prior to a ballot. When a quorum is not present at a called meeting, agenda items will be referred to the Graduate Council for action.
A plenary session will be conducted according to the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order. Minutes will be kept and distributed to all members of the university faculty not later than ten days following the session.

C. Canvass

Business and opinion polls may be conducted through canvass when approved by the Graduate Council. This canvass may be conducted either electronically or using paper ballots. If paper methodology is used, ballots or other materials will be addressed to each graduate faculty member and sent through campus mail or delivered by messengers. To transact business through a canvass, at least one-half of the total graduate faculty must vote. A simple majority will govern unless the Graduate Council establishes a different criterion when it approved a canvass. When a less than one-half of the total graduate faculty vote in a canvass, business items with the result of the canvas, will be referred to the Graduate Council for action.

When the graduate faculty is canvassed in this manner, each ballot will provide space in which each member can indicate their preference for a plenary session dealing with the issue to be decided. If 15 percent or more of the graduate faculty indicates preference for a session, the canvass will be nullified, and a plenary session will be called.

D. Voting Privileges

Only Graduate Teaching Faculty, Associate Graduate Faculty, and Graduate Faculty members may vote on university-wide graduate issues.

E. Implementation

Each code unit with a graduate program will develop a procedure for obtaining faculty input to the process of nominating graduate faculty and report this procedure to the Graduate Council. In addition, each code unit with a graduate program will examine the educational objectives of their graduate degrees, which were prepared for the SACS accreditation and articulate the types of research, creative activity, or other activities that are appropriate for graduate faculty in their discipline. Each code unit will then submit its articulation to the Graduate Council for approval. Once the articulation is approved, it will be used to evaluate nominations for the graduate and associate graduate faculty from the submitting code unit.

F. Membership

The following paragraphs address the general qualifications for membership, rights, privileges and responsibilities; method of appointment; and method of reappointment of each category of membership on the graduate faculty; and the methods of implementing these policies.
There are four types of membership in the graduate faculty. They are (1) graduate faculty member, (2) associate graduate faculty member, (3) graduate teaching faculty member, and (4) ex-officio graduate faculty member.

Graduate Faculty Members. Qualifications for graduate faculty members include:

The highest earned degree in the field.
Demonstrated evidence of success in research/creative activity.
Demonstrated evidence of successful graduate teaching.
Demonstrated evidence of successful supervision of research or creative activity, if applicable.

In some instances, extensive professional experience, high productivity, or successful competition for research/creative activity support may substitute for the highest degree.

Graduate faculty members are eligible to serve on the Graduate Curriculum Committee, may serve as a Graduate Program Coordinator, may teach graduate classes, and may be a member of doctoral or master’s committees. Graduate faculty members with a terminal degree in an appropriate field of study may chair a master’s thesis committee or doctoral dissertation committee. Graduate faculty members not possessing a terminal degree may co-chair a master’s thesis committee when the other co-chair has associate graduate faculty status or higher and possesses a terminal degree in an appropriate field of study. Exceptions to this requirement may be granted by the Dean of the Graduate School prior to the formation of the committee. Code units may define additional criteria for eligibility to serve in doctoral programs. (FS Resolution #15-18)

Appointment to the graduate faculty occurs as the result of the following procedure. Upon recommendation of the graduate faculty of the code unit (the procedure for which has been outlined as described under Implementation, below), the appropriate unit administrator forwards a nomination to the dean of the college or professional school, as appropriate, and then to the Dean of the Graduate School. Each nomination should state the type of appointment and contain evidence that the nominee has satisfied the criteria for the type of membership sought in a manner consistent with the code unit’s interpretation of those criteria. The Dean of the Graduate School will review the recommendation of the academic unit to determine that it is consistent with the unit’s criteria and appointment procedures. If the dean concurs, they will notify the academic unit and the faculty member of their appointment. If the dean does not approve the unit’s recommendation the application will automatically be referred to the Graduate Council. A two-thirds majority of the Graduate Council will be required to overturn the administrative decision.

Appointment to the graduate faculty is for five years. At the end of the term, the appointment will be reviewed within the unit in the manner outlined for initial appointments, except that the focus will be on the activity during the five years immediately preceding the evaluation. If it is the opinion of the code unit graduate faculty that the appointment should be renewed, the appropriate unit administrator forwards a nomination to the dean of the college or professional school, as appropriate, and then to the Dean of the Graduate School who will review the application. To be reappointed, it is not necessary for an individual to have participated in all phases of graduate education. Individuals appointed to major administrative assignments (department chairs or above) who are members or associate members of the graduate faculty at the time of their appointment are exempt from the re-nomination process until five years after the expiration of the administrative appointment. Individuals with other administrative appointments may be considered for a waiver by Graduate Council upon nomination by their code units. Retired and emeritus faculty who are members or associate members of the graduate faculty at the time of their retirement may be considered for reappointment for five-year renewable terms in the manner outlined in this paragraph. (FS Resolution #16-07, February 2016)

For faculty on probationary appointments, the term on the graduate faculty is coterminous with the length of that appointment or four years, whichever is longer. Tenure track faculty will be re-nominated for the graduate faculty as part of the contract renewal process immediately prior to the expiration of the term on the graduate faculty. The appropriate dean or chair will provide information on the faculty member’s accomplishments during the period to the appropriate graduate faculty in the unit and the nomination process will proceed as outlined above.

Associate Graduate Faculty Members.
Qualifications for associate graduate faculty members include:

Highest earned degree in the field.
Demonstrated evidence of success or the potential for success in research/creative activity.
Demonstrated evidence of successful graduate teaching or the potential of such success.
Demonstrated evidence of successful supervision of research or creative activity or the potential of such success, if applicable. In some instances, extensive professional experience, high productivity, or successful competition for research/creative activity support may substitute for the highest degree.

Associate graduate faculty members may serve as Graduate Program Coordinators, may teach graduate classes, and may be a member of doctoral or master’s committees. Associate graduate faculty members with a terminal degree in an appropriate field of study may chair a master’s thesis committee or doctoral dissertation committee. Associate graduate faculty members not possessing a terminal degree may co-chair a master’s thesis committee when the other co-chair has associate graduate faculty status or higher and possesses a terminal degree in an appropriate field of study. Exceptions to this requirement may be granted by the Dean of the Graduate School prior to the formation of the committee. Code units may define additional criteria for eligibility to serve in doctoral programs. Code units must define criteria for associate graduate faculty members to chair doctoral committees in their unit codes of operation. All procedures for appointment and reappointment as well as terms of office for the associate graduate faculty will be the same as those for the graduate faculty members. (FS Resolution #15-18)

Graduate Teaching Faculty Members.
Qualifications for graduate teaching faculty members include:

Highest earned degree in the field.
Professional certifications or licensure as specified by the code unit.
Demonstrated evidence of success or the potential for success graduate teaching.
Evidence of professional growth, e.g., completion of continuing education, participation in relevant seminars, or other professional activity. In some instances, especially for clinical faculty, extensive professional experience, high productivity, or successful competition for research/creative activity support may substitute for the highest degree.

Graduate teaching faculty members may teach masters or doctoral classes as appropriate for their background, certification, and experience and may be the fourth member of a thesis or dissertation committee upon certification of appropriate experience or expertise by the unit administrator.

All tenure-track faculty members who hold the appropriate terminal degree for the discipline in which they hold their appointments are deemed to be members of the graduate teaching faculty upon their initial appointments. Code units are responsible for notifying the dean of the college or professional school, as appropriate, and the Dean of the Graduate School of these individuals and requesting an appointment to the graduate teaching faculty. As part of their first evaluation for contract renewal of a probationary appointment, if the code unit wishes the person to become a member or associate member of the graduate faculty, it would use the information gathered in the process of contract renewal to provide the nominations as outlined above. If the code unit wishes the person to remain a member of the graduate teaching faculty, it renews the appointment by notifying the dean of the college or professional school, as appropriate, the Dean of the Graduate School, and the individual involved. If the code unit wishes to remove the person from responsibilities for graduate teaching, it notifies the person, the dean of the college or professional school if appropriate, and the Dean of the Graduate School.

Other appointments to the graduate teaching faculty are made by the appropriate code unit administrator, the graduate faculty of the code unit, and the Dean of the Graduate School, in accordance with procedures approved by the graduate faculty of the code unit. These appointments are valid for the terms of the individuals’ contracts.

Ex-officio Members.
Administrators with responsibilities for graduate programs who do not hold other appointments to the graduate faculty will be appointed to an ex-officio membership commensurate with background and experience and will hold that appointment for the duration of their administrative appointment.

Thesis and Dissertation Committee Requirements.
All master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation committees must have a minimum of three ECU faculty members, including the student’s mentor, with graduate faculty or associate graduate faculty status. Programs may require larger committees, if desired. The inclusion of external members is a best practice in many disciplines and is encouraged.

External Thesis and Dissertation Committee Members.
Individuals external to ECU with demonstrated expertise in the area of study in a thesis or dissertation may serve on, but not chair a thesis or dissertation committee. The external member should have a terminal degree in an appropriate discipline or extensive professional experience. This appointment must be approved by the faculty Graduate Program Director or Coordinator and the unit graduate faculty members serving on the thesis or dissertation committee. The Graduate Program Director will maintain a record of external members’ credentials (academic CV or resume) in case they are needed for external review.

G. Removal of Graduate Faculty Members Prior to Expiration of Their Terms

If a graduate faculty member is found to be deficient in carrying out expected roles and responsibilities based on guidelines present in the Unit Code, every effort should be made to remediate the problems identified through normal faculty evaluative procedures. If a faculty member continues to demonstrate serious deficiencies, and/or fails to perform their duties professionally or ethically as a graduate faculty member, the unit head or one-half of the members of the graduate faculty at the same graduate faculty status or higher of the original nominating code unit may initiate a process to recommend removal of a faculty member from the graduate faculty prior to the end of the appointment period. Any such recommendation shall include the reasons for the recommendation in writing from the Graduate Program Director or Coordinator of the original nominating code unit. A two-thirds majority of the members of the graduate faculty at the same graduate faculty status or higher of the original nominating code unit must vote to confirm the recommendation. The recommendation shall be shared with the faculty member in question who has ten working days in which to respond in writing to those making the recommendation. Should a two-thirds majority of the members of the graduate faculty at the same graduate faculty status or higher of the original code unit wish to proceed, both their recommendation and the response of the faculty member shall be forwarded to the Unit head who will review this recommendation and response in consultation with the faculty member’s College Dean and Graduate Program Director or Coordinator. If the Unit Head and College Dean concur that the faculty member should no longer be a member of the graduate faculty, the Unit head makes this recommendation to the Dean of the Graduate School. The Dean of the Graduate School is then authorized to remove the individual from the graduate faculty. If the Unit Head and/or College Dean do not concur with the recommendation of the unit graduate faculty, the non-concurring recommendations of the graduate faculty and administrator(s), and the response of the faculty member, shall be forwarded to the Dean of the Graduate School for final decision. The removed faculty member shall have the right to appeal through general grievance procedures detailed in Part XII of the Faculty Manual.

Before a faculty member is removed the Graduate Program Director must confirm to the Dean of the Graduate School that students under supervision of the removed faculty member have been assigned to appropriate graduate faculty members in a manner specific to the program/department. If at some point in the future the removed faculty member chooses to apply to return to graduate faculty status, documentation regarding the removal of graduate faculty status will be included for consideration along with the request. (Faculty Senate Resolution #16-29, April 2016)

II. Directors and Coordinators of Graduate Programs, the Graduate Council, the Graduate Council Executive Committee, and the Graduate Curriculum Committee

A. Directors and Coordinators of Graduate Programs

Each Graduate Program and Graduate Certificate will have a designated Graduate Program Director or Coordinator who must be a Graduate or Associate Graduate Faculty member, approved by the unit chair and college dean and qualified to lead development and review of the program’s curriculum. In some professionally oriented disciplines, Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators whose job is to manage a graduate program may be approved by the Graduate School without Graduate or Associate Graduate Faculty status. In such cases, a Graduate or Associate Graduate Faculty member must also be designated to provide academic oversight and lead curriculum development of the graduate program. Meetings of Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators will be held at least twice per regular academic term and chaired by the Dean of the Graduate School or designee. These meetings will provide a forum where Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators may provide input to the Graduate School, the Graduate Council and the Graduate Curriculum Committee on any matters related to policies, practices, implementation, and administration of graduate education.
(FS Resolution #18-51, September 2018)

B. Graduate Council

The Graduate Council is comprised of 20 directors or coordinators of graduate programs elected to represent their respective colleges, the Brody School of Medicine and Integrated Coastal Programs; 4 Graduate Faculty (who are not program Directors) elected by the Faculty Senate (each from a different college, the Brody School of Medicine, or Integrated Coastal Programs); plus 3 at-large-appointments by the Dean of the Graduate School. In addition, there will be 5 ex-officio members with a vote, including the Chair of the Graduate Curriculum Committee (GCC), Chair of the Faculty or designee, a representative of the faculty senate, a representative of the Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and the President of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) or designee. The Dean of the Graduate School will be an ex-officio member without a vote. Graduate councilor allocations will be reviewed every three years starting at the beginning of the fall 2015 semester and allocated 50% in proportion to the number of graduate faculty and 50% in proportion to the graduate SCH production in their respective colleges.

Faculty Senate and college representatives are elected to fill expired or vacated terms according to procedures defined by the Senate and each college, at a time appropriate for each unit. All Graduate Council members are elected to serve three-year staggered terms for continuity. Regular terms begin with first Graduate Council meeting in the fall semester. The seat of an elected Graduate Council member who fails to attend more than three consecutively held meetings of the Graduate Council shall be declared vacated by the Chair of the Graduate Council. The Chair of the Graduate Council will contact the unit and request a replacement. The Graduate Council will annually elect a Council Chair and Vice-Chair as well as four persons to serve on the Graduate Council Executive Committee from the elected members of the Graduate Council during its April organizational meeting. (FS Resolution #15-18)

The Graduate Council will be responsible for consideration, debate, and voting on all graduate academic policies, and upon recommendation of the GCC, graduate curriculum and degree programs. Any member of the graduate faculty may recommend agenda items concerning graduate academic policy to the Graduate Council Executive Committee for inclusion on the Graduate Council agenda. New graduate degree programs, new certificates, new concentrations, degree title changes, and moving or discontinuing programs are also submitted to the Educational Policies and Planning Committee (EPPC) for review.

The Graduate Council will make recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate School, who may concur or not. The Dean will forward these recommendations to the Provost and then the Chancellor for final decision. The Chair of the Graduate Council will communicate recommendations to the Faculty Senate for information, comment, and advice.

The Chair of the Graduate Council will convene meetings of the Graduate Council, report at each Faculty Senate meeting on graduate matters, and seek Faculty Senate input. Graduate Council meeting agendas will be distributed electronically to all graduate faculty.

The Vice-Chair will assume the duties of the Chair if the Chair is unable to fulfill their duties.

The Graduate Council will

Approve the membership of the Graduate Curriculum Committee;
Approve Graduate Curriculum Committees (GCC) recommendations;
Participate in the review of all existing graduate programs;
Review all unit appeals of negative decisions made by the Dean of the Graduate School regarding graduate faculty appointments;
Review and develop Graduate School policy including requirements for admission, retention of students, permissible course loads, transfer credit, grading, thesis and dissertation requirements and examinations, and standards for graduate faculty appointment;
Make recommendations relating to graduate education to the Dean, Provost, and the Chancellor;
Report its actions to the coordinators of graduate programs, graduate faculty, and Faculty Senate.

A simple majority of the elected members of the Graduate Council will constitute a quorum.

C. Graduate Council Executive Committee

The Graduate Council Executive Committee (GCEC) is comprised of the Graduate School Dean, the Graduate Council Chair, Vice-Chair, the Graduate Curriculum Committee Chair, and 4 members elected by and from the Graduate Council. The GCEC will meet at least once a month.
The GCEC will

Review and approve all admissions by exception, requests for exceptions to transfer credit policy, and requests for exceptions to the time to degree requirements;
Set the Graduate Council agenda;
Prepare draft policies for consideration by the Graduate Council;
Review the Graduate Council meeting minutes for presentation to the Graduate Council.
Exercise delegated authority from the Graduate Council to consider and make decisions regarding urgent business matters of the Graduate Council during summer months when the full Graduate Council is not in session, with a full written report of any such actions provided to the Graduate Counsel at its first meeting of the Fall term. (FS Resolution #15-18)

D. Graduate Curriculum Committee

The Graduate Curriculum Committee (GCC) will consist of one graduate or associate graduate faculty member (tenure preferred) from each college and the Brody School of Medicine. Members will be nominated by their respective deans through a process established by the school or college. Where possible members will have experience in both masters and doctoral programs. There will be two ex-
officio members with vote including the president of the GPSS or designee and the Director of Academic Planning and Accreditation. The Graduate Council will review the credentials of the nominees and approve members to serve on the GCC. Members will serve staggered three-year terms. The Chair and Vice Chair of the GCC will be elected to serve a one-year term by and from the membership of the GCC. (FS Resolution #18-51, September 2018)

The GCC will review, consider and make recommendations to the Graduate Council on:

Proposals for new graduate programs, certificates, concentrations, degree title changes, and moving or discontinuing graduate programs, certificates or concentrations.
Proposals for new and revised graduate courses;
Degree-related graduate catalog changes;
Requests to delete, bank, and unbank graduate courses;
Other graduate curriculum related matters;
Changes to its charge;
Other duties as assigned by the Graduate Council.
The GCC will determine its own methods and procedures to fulfill its charge.

All recommendations of the GCC will be reported to the Graduate Council. Recommendations on new programs, new certificates, new concentrations, degree title changes, and moving or discontinuing programs will be reviewed by both the Graduate Council and the EPPC who then reports to the Faculty Senate. Both negative and positive recommendations will be reported to the Graduate Council and forwarded to the Provost and Chancellor.

III. The Dean of the Graduate School – Functions and Jurisdiction

The Dean is the chief executive officer of the Graduate School and chairs plenary sessions
of the graduate faculty. The Dean (or designee) will chair meetings of the graduate program coordinators. They will be available to advise and assist schools and departments in the planning and development of their graduate programs. They will be specifically responsible for coordinating with the general administration of the university all new graduate program proposals advanced by schools and departments.

The Dean will be responsible for the implementation and execution of policies, rules, regulations, and procedures established by the graduate faculty and the Graduate Council. The Dean is expected to articulate both the current status and the short-term and long-term concerns and objectives of graduate education at the university and to offer timely and appropriate recommendations for its improvement and greater efficiency in meeting the needs of its constituents.

The Dean will be responsible for the operation of the Graduate School office including the preparation of its annual budget, spending of funds, utilization of allocated office space, assignments of responsibilities to staff, and the establishment of office procedures for effective implementation of all administrative tasks performed by the Graduate School office.

The Dean will develop procedures for consultation with other units of the university and extramural academic, professional, governmental, and community groups.

IV. Modifications to the Graduate School Organization

A. Graduate Council

The Graduate Council may recommend revisions to this document. The Graduate Council will make recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate School, who may concur or not. The Dean will forward these recommendations to the Provost and then the Chancellor for final decision. The Chair of the Graduate Council will communicate recommendations to the Faculty Senate for information, comment, and advice.

B. Graduate Faculty

The graduate faculty may recommend revisions to this document, “Graduate School Organization,” through a majority vote in plenary session where a quorum is established, through canvass conducted according to Part I.C of this document or through the concurrent approval of the Graduate Council. Recommendations of the graduate faculty will be reviewed by the Dean of the Graduate School and Provost and forwarded to the Chancellor for final decision. The Chair of the Graduate Council will communicate graduate faculty recommendations to the Faculty Senate for information, comment, and advice.

Approved by the Faculty Senate: January 24, 2012 (Resolution #12-03)
Accepted by the Chancellor: April 3, 2012 (with approved statement)
Final Document Approved by the Chancellor: May 23, 2013

Revisions:
FS Resolution #15-18, March 2015
FS Resolution #16-07, February 2016
FS Resolution #16-29, April 2016
FS Resolution #18-51, September 2018
FS Resolution #21-17, April 2021
FS Resolution #21-63, January 2022
FS Resolution #22-01, February 2022
FS Resolution #23-33, June 2024