Graduate Council Meeting Agenda

Coastal Carolina University

January 18, 2006

11:30 AM, Dawsey Conference Room, E.M. Singleton Building

I. Call to Order

II. Approval of minutes from the November 16, 2005 Graduate Council meeting (see attached)

III. New Business

IV. Old Business

V. Announcements

New Business

Spadoni College of Education

The Spadoni College of Education proposes the following changes in the admission requirements to the Master of Education (M.Ed.) program and the Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program.

1. All Master of Education (M.Ed.) programs

Recommendation: Discontinue the admission requirement expecting applicants to have a passing score on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) or the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and add a minimum undergraduate GPA admission requirement of 3.0.

Rationale: The M.Ed. program at Coastal Carolina University is a professional development program designed to enhance the pedagogical skills of current teachers in Horry County and other school districts. In order to increase the number of teachers enrolled in the program and improve the pedagogical skills of more teachers in local school districts, the faculty recommends that both tests be removed as entrance requirements, and, in lieu of these tests, add the admission requirement of a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0.

2. All Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) programs

Recommendation: Discontinue the admission requirement expecting applicants to have a passing score on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) or the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and add a minimum undergraduate GPA admission requirement of 2.75 in the applicant’s content area and a minimum 2.5 GPA for all undergraduate coursework.

Rationale: The M.A.T. program at Coastal Carolina University is an initial licensure program that leads to teacher certification. The M.A.T. degree is a terminal degree and does not regularly qualify students for a doctoral program. Because of the nature of the degree, the faculty recommends that both tests be removed as entrance requirements, and, in lieu of these standardized tests, the faculty recommends the entrance requirements be changed to a minimum 2.75 GPA in the content area and 2.5 GPA for all undergraduate coursework.