What is Graduate Council?

The UA Little Rock Graduate Council is the faculty governing body for all UA Little Rock graduate programs. The Graduate Council is charted under the Constitution of the University Assembly as follows:

On behalf of the Faculty Senate, and subject to that body’s authority, the UA Little Rock Graduate Council shall review and recommend action on new graduate courses, programs, and degrees and consider other matters related to graduate work at UA Little Rock. This Council shall report all of its actions promptly to the faculty.

In reviewing proposals, the Graduate Council shall consider the current policies and criteria of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and those of the University of Arkansas system and the Board of Higher Education.

Proposals for graduate programs and courses which originate with department faculties shall be routed to college or school curriculum committees, to college or school faculties, and to the Graduate Council. In academic units not organized into departments, colleges, or schools, routing shall be according to analogous process certified to the Graduate Council by the vice chancellor and provost. Recommendations of the Graduate Council are subject to review by the Faculty Senate upon decision of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate or upon petition signed by five or more senators and delivered to the president of the Faculty Senate within ten (10) calendar days of passage by the Graduate Council. Proposals not reviewed by the Faculty Senate or having passed Senate review are routed to the vice chancellor and provost and chancellor, and for new degree programs, to the president, the Board of Trustees, and the Board of Higher Education.

The Graduate Council shall be composed of one representative from the Ottenheimer Library faculty, three representatives qualified for graduate faculty status elected from each college and school represented in the Faculty Senate, and three graduate students appointed by the Committee on Committees of the Assembly for one-year terms from nominations submitted by the Graduate Dean, the coordinators of graduate programs, and graduate student organizations. Elected representatives shall serve staggered three-year terms.

This website is maintained by the Graduate Council and the UA Little Rock Graduate School and is the primary reporting mechanism for keeping UA Little Rock faculty apprised of the actions and pending considerations of the Graduate Council.