Enrollment Planning Team

Minutes

November 21, 2005

Present:  Mr. Andrew Hendrix, Dr. Ann Willbrand, Dr. Braden Hosch, Dr. Deb Kladivko, Dr. Deidre Martin, Dr. Ed Callen, Mrs. Gail Ratchford, Mr. Glenn Shumpert, Ms. Gwen Ashley, Ms. Jennifer Lake, Mrs. Katya Terry, Mrs. Lisa Lyle, Mr. Randy Duckett, Mr. Randy Warrick, Ms. Stephanie Foote, Dr. Suzanne Ozment, Dr. Tom Mack, Mr. Tony Ateca, Dr. Val Lumas

The meeting was called to order at 3:05 pm with Randy asking if there were any programmatic updates.

Programmatic Updates

• Andrew Hendrix shared that Ms. Ashley Ball has accepted the New Admissions Counselor position and has been working for the past two weeks and he would be sending out an e-mail to inform the campus.
• Dr. Deb Kladivko informed us that there would be changes to the format for the January orientation in regard to the academic information that would be following the welcome information.

Research Updates

• Dr. Braden Hosch presented information to the committee about the AASCU (American Association of State Colleges and Universities) National Graduation Rates Outcomes Study, (which he and Randy participated as members of separate visitation teams) pertaining to four major categories: culture, leadership, program characteristics, and policies& location.  Braden shared the important points of the report and said the full report can be viewed on-line at http://www.aascu.org/GRO/docs.htm.
• Dr. Braden Hosch distributed a “Retention of USCA Scholars 2001-2005” study and reported that targeting HS scholar students with the higher GPAs as well as higher SATs could have an affect on retention rates.
• Andrew Hendrix reported on the criteria required for being selected as USCA Scholar and indicated that students were required to be in the top 15% of the class (junior year in high school)  They are not only looking at the top GPA’s but higher SAT scores.
• Randy shared how the Gateway program had started in fall 2004 and that the program indicated a significant increase in retention and seemed to “connect” these students to the campus but did not show any significant increases in grade point averages.  It appeared that more emphasis needed to be placed on academic support and this would be the goal of the program next year.  The Gateway advisors will be meeting after fall 2005 semester to discuss and evaluate the program.

Action Team Reports

• Stephanie Foote presented the Provisional Program Model with the program details. The model is being developed to offer assistance to the lower 40 % of the graduating class.  It will be a Pilot program that will be strongly recommended during Summer II.  After much discussion it was determined that the program would move forward with some adjustments made to the resident/non-resident aspect and the academic courses.  The At Risk Committee would meet and make the adjustments and circulate to the EPT committee.
• Andrew Hendrix gave a brief update from the Freshman Admissions Action Team.  The team is looking at various demographic and academic qualities that we want to see in our new freshmen.  The overall idea is that we need to look for “growth in quality” in various forms and definitions.  They will be compiling some basic information to consider at the December 19 EPT meeting.

Perspectives

• Dr. Deidre Martin shared that Jennifer Lake and Braden Hosch were working with focus groups on how USCA is perceived and are having a good response.
• Dr. Martin had also learned about “Face Book” an on-line web-site that college students use that may not be projecting USCA in a positive way.  We need to get involved with the students to help them and know how they feel.
• Stephanie Foote shared that there would be three Webinar’s in the spring from the National Resource Center and would be keeping us informed about the times.

Randy closed the meeting by reminding everyone of the next EPT meeting on December 19^th at 3 pm and thanked everyone for their efforts.  Meeting was adjourned at 4:10 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Gail Ratchford