Graduate Council Meeting

October 14, 2008

Faculty Prese= nt: Ashley Bennington, Sue Bradley, Linda Challoo, Raj= ab Challoo, Thomas Fields, Michelle Garcia, Enrique Massa, Patrick Mills, Venkatesh Uddameri, George Wagman, LaVonne Williams, Michelle Johnson Vela (for Roberto Vela Cordova)

Faculty Absen= t: Jieming Chen, George Gresham, Fidel Hernandez, Mamoudou Sétamou

Graduate Stud= ent representatives Present: Rosalia Teliz

Meeting called to order at 2:45 p.m.

The minutes from the meeting of September 16, 2008 were appro= ved

Standing C= ommittee Reports

Executive Com= mittee (Dr. Uddameri) – No Rep= ort

Curriculum Co= mmittee (Dr. S. Bradley) – The committee recommended council approval of the following thr= ee new courses: IEEN-07-G-1, IEEN-07-G-2, EDED-08-G-1. The council approved the re= commendations.

Membership Co= mmittee (Dr. Vela) – No Report<= /p>

Program Review Committee (Dr. Gresham) – No Report

Graduate Student Representatives for each college R= 11; Introduction – College of Education Student Representative: Rosalia Teliz.

Interim VP= Report

Handouts and announcements:

1. = Current wording in the IRB manua= l:
The University has identified seven categories of research which are exempt from IRB review based upon DHHS regulations (45 CFR 46, paragraph 46.101-b)= . Research act= ivities in which the only involvement of human subjects will be in one or more of t= hese categories are exempt from IRB review.&nbs= p; However, it should be emphasized that, even if a research activity with human subjects is exempt from IRB review and approval, the general requirements for informed consent where appropriate for ethical treatment of subjects and for protection of participants still apply.

The council recommended t= he following changes for approval by the IRB Board:

Change the second sentence of the above wording in the IRB manual to = read:
All research activities involving human subjects must= be reviewed by the IRB Board. Th= e IRB Chair or designated Committee Member(s) may declare a proposed research activity involving human subjects to be exempt from additional review.

The Council also recommended the IRB Board to review the entire manual for clarity.

2. = Concept: Establishment of an Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) to join currently existing Institutional Review B= oard (IRB) and Institutional Animal Care and Welfare Committee (IACUC).

Context: College Station always served us in the= past for IBC reviews. Situation currently existing in College = Station precludes their serving as IBC for any component university. We must establish our own IBC if we would continue to submit NIH type grant proposals involving recombinant DNA= or research with significant biosafety considerations (Natural Toxins Center).=

A current work committee composed of Sandra Garcia – OS; Juan Garza – Safety Officer; Thomas Fields AVPRGS; Michelle Garcia; Enrique Mass= a; Maribel Gonzalez-Garcia; Ken Escudero, Jean Escudero; John Perez, Randy Pow= ell have been meeting to begin this process.
Sandra Garcia, Juan Garza and Michelle Garcia attended an IBC workshop in <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Austin in early September.

Request for action: The Gradu= ate Council representing the graduate teachers/scholars of the university suppo= rts the IBC concept and will actively participate in the development of the committee to meet the interests and research needs of the university.

The council unanimously supported the above IBC concept

3. = A&M System Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and Vice-Chancellor for Research will be on campus October 16-17.

Old Business<= /b> – TAMUS Pathways – 6^th Annual Student Research symposium – November 7-8, 2008

New Business<= /b> – None.

Motion to adj= ourn at 3:40 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Linda= Challoo