Members Present: Ed Coffman (chair), George Canavos, Kweku-Muata Osei-Bryson, David Dubofsky, Carol Lehr, Deb Cowles, Allen Lee and Tracy Green

Meeting Called to Order: 11:05 a.m.

Business Items:

1. The minutes from the November 13, 2003 meeting were reviewed and approved with changes.

2. The committee reviewed three student requests:
a. Songlan Pen Approved Dissertation Committee
b. Joy Karriker Approved Dissertation Committee
c. Sandra Avery Approved request for retroactive withdrawal from 2 courses.

3. The committee decided that future requests for retroactive withdrawal from courses or other requests for exceptions to university regulation must be accompanied with documented evidence of the student’s current need. Tracy Green will draft language for this procedure and submit it via e-mail to committee members for review and possible approval.

4. The committee discussed issues concerning minor areas in the Ph.D. in Business program that are offered in the School of Business. Deb Cowles will draft a template for distribution among committee members that will allow more uniform presentation of the minor areas currently offered in the School of Business. Ph.D. Committee members are expected to present minor area descriptions from their respective departments via the new format for continued discussion at the January Ph.D. Committee Meeting. The Ph.D. Committee indicated a desire to further discuss two others issues related to minor areas:
a. By what mechanism, if any, will the Ph.D. Committee review the requests of departments to offer minors with less than the normal 4 courses?
b. Determination concerning whether the Ph.D. Committee continues to support the current practice that allows minor areas to determine whether students must take a comprehensive examination in the minor area.

5. Discussion of the proposed BUSN 797 course centered around the pros and cons of creating this new class in order to be categorize the progress of students through the doctoral program. Tracy Green will create a summary of the discussion thus far and distribute to committee members as a grounding point for continued discussion.

6. Due to time limitations, items 6, 8 and 9 from the agenda for the December 3, 2003 meeting will be tabled to the January Ph.D. Committee meeting.

7. The Department of Management will identify a representative to serve on the subcommittee of the Ph.D. Committee that will create assurance of learning goals for the AACSB accreditation standards. Once this individual is identified, the subcommittee will attempt to meet in December in order to lay the ground work for their creation of learning goals and measures.

8. Items for January 2004 meeting:
a. Foundation requirements for the Ph.D.
b. Proposed New Porcedures for Staffing 700-level Courses and Dissertation Committees
c. Other Business – including committee goals/objectives for action in the spring 2004 semester.

9. Meeting Adjourned: 1:05 p.m.