MINUTES – OCTOBER 25, 2001
ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT TEAM
The Enrollment Management Team (EMT) met at 10:15 – 11:45 a.m. on October 25, 2001. The following members attended: Sandra Close, Bill Cox, Deborah Horvitz, Carol Kercheval, Sue Kearney, Heidi LeCount, John Mecham, and Sue Todd. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved and follow-up discussion ensued on several items.
Ø An electronic opener for the library entrance is cost prohibitive at this time, per Bill Wade, but attention is being given to how access for disabled students could be improved.
Ø After considerable discussion, the EMT strongly urged the Registrar’s office to consider sending two copies of the class rolls to faculty at the end of drop/add, asking them to return a signed copy with any corrections noted. Sue T. is willing to try this approach for the spring semester. Dr. Reichard has suggested that a study of the current process in the Registrar’s office be conducted. The EMT gave strong support to conducting such a study as soon as possible, to looking at what the Office of Dean of Students is doing in the way of early warnings and how more coordination between the two offices could take place, and to developing a system to have classroom enrollments verified in a timely way by the faculty.
Ø Concerning leave of absence students who do not return when expected, Sue Todd indicated that they receive a follow-up communication from her office indicating that they have been withdrawn and telling the student how to apply for re-admission. Sandra indicated that 23+ Program students are also called. These steps re-assured the EMT that LOA students are not being overlooked in the cycle, even though we do not collect information about why they do not return when planned.
Ø It was agreed that Amy Hitlin should be made aware of the suggestion that faculty advisers be asked to inform students early in their college experience that they can declare a major prior to the end of the sophomore year if they are already definite about their interest. Another suggestion was that Chrissie Bumgardner might be asked to include this as a topic for discussion in FYE classes. A question was raised as to whether the advising manual addresses the possibility of early declarations of major. Retention research indicates that students are more likely to be retained if they get “connected” early in their college experience and that declaring a major/establishing a relationship with a department is one way to develop connections. It was also noted that an early declaration can facilitate the student’s planning and enhance her academic experience in some major fields.
Ø The student forum held on October 9th reflected student concerns about several matters, including the increasing costs, the lack of activities on weekends, and the new policy for graduation with distinction. Heidi indicated that the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development is forming a committee to seek input from students about the type of activities they would want to have offered. A proposal pertaining to the implementation date for the new graduation with distinction policy is being developed by members of the junior class for submission to the Instruction Committee. In answer to Sue K’s question about whether or not students are aware of the higher retention standards that were also passed last year (which were not included in the Herald article), Sue Todd indicated that a letter was sent this summer to all students who had less than a 2.0 GPA at the end of the spring term; other students received a letter this fall concerning the new requirements.
Ø Sandra wrote to the chair of the Instruction Committee about the policy requiring a student seeking a second degree to be pursuing a second and different degree. The chair believes that the Instruction Committee is not the appropriate body to consider this issue. Sue T. will research the Academic Council minutes to determine, if possible, which committee brought that matter to Academic Council originally.
Sue K. distributed a corrected enrollment report to the EMT members and provided a report on new student enrollments that includes information about student characteristics (copy of each report attached to official minutes). She called attention to the information about racial/ethnic representation among the new students; 5.8% of traditional admitted students, 27.7% of 23+ Program candidates, and 17.2% of graduate-level enrollees claim minority status. She also shared information about the racial/ethnic diversity of the student body, which shows that slight gains have been made this year.
Sue also discussed briefly the freshman class profile and the freshman-to-sophomore retention study that were sent to members earlier in October (copies attached to official minutes). Academic credentials are quite similar to previous classes; the greatest difference is in the yield on accepted applicants – down to 40% as compared to the prior low of 46% for Fall 1991. The drop in the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate means that the College needs to do everything possible to retain this group to ensure a satisfactory pattern of graduation rates down the road. Sue reported that two out of the three 23+ Program students in this cohort of full-time students returned for the sophomore year.
Carol reported on undergraduate applications and recruitment
activities for spring and fall admission.
Several new efforts are underway this year to bolster recruitment
efforts. There is a special committee
looking at how we might attract more Honors and Teaching Fellows program
participants. Travel will include the
Toronto area, as well as several other major cities not typically on the
itinerary. And the College is using the
consulting services of Royall, a firm that has been assisting with Search
mailings. The admissions staff is
looking at the possibility of expanding electronic recruitment
communications. John suggested that the admission staff provide
packets of materials to faculty members to have on hand when they attend
professional meetings so that they can help with recruitment and image
building.
Deborah indicated that applications for spring are slow in coming but that the graduate school has several new recruitment strategies planned as we look to the future. New efforts will include a mailing using a GRE “search” list, a mailing to members of the Raleigh Dietetic Association, and possibly a summer school ad in their publication. Carol reported that a number of 23+ Program applications have already been completed and passed along to Sandra and LeNelle for advising conferences.
Sue reminded the group of the next meeting which is scheduled for November 15th. The meeting was then adjourned.
Sue Kearney, Chair