Enrollment Planning Team

Minutes

January 23, 2006

Present:  Mr. Andrew Hendrix, Dr. Ann Willbrand, Dr. Braden Hosch, Mr. Corey Feraldi, Dr. Deidre Martin, Dr. Ed Callen, Mrs. Gail Ratchford, Mr. Glenn Shumpert, Ms. Jennifer Lake, Mrs. Katya Terry, Mr. Marshall Davis, Mr. Randy Duckett, Mrs. Stephanie Foote, Dr. Suzanne Ozment, Dr. Tom Mack, Mr. Tony Ateca, Dr. Val Lumas, Mrs. Vivian Grice

Not Present:  Mr. Ahmed Samaha, Ms. Gwen Ashley, Mr. Nickolas Kelch, Ms. Jennie Volforte, Mr. Randy Warrick, Ms. Stacie Williams, Dr. Deb Kladivko

The meeting started at 3:04 pm with Mr. Randy Duckett informing the EPT that we had a full agenda and would get started with Dr. Deidre Martin’s update on the Communication Action Team.

Dr. Deidre Martin informed the EPT of the last Communication Action Team meeting updates.

• There will be another article placed in the “Post Time Notes” in Spring ’06 that will include information on the new PACE Program and the Financial Aid Scholarship update.
• As part of an initiative of the Action team, Peggy Elliott who is a member of this team, as a class project allowed 3 students to research and develop ideas on “how to become a better student”.  The findings will be shared in a mini ad campaign from articles and posters after the review of the Communications Action Team.
• Jennifer Lake and Dr. Braden Hosch have been conducting focus groups, involving faculty, staff and students, concerning their thoughts and perceptions about USCA.  Once compiled this information will be discussed by EPT.  Dr. Braden Hosch is working on the Enrollment Stat Dashboard which is still under development.
• Randy Duckett and Dr. Braden Hosch will start setting up meetings with the Academic Council and Student Government Association.
• Gail Ratchford is keeping the web-page updated and sending e-mails regarding action team meetings.  It was suggested that the chairs give three points to Gail to add to the e-mail message sent.
• Dr. Braden Hosch noted that communication is important, but results, such as inquiries and others joining Action Teams because of this communication would be an indicator that we would want to monitor.

Programmatic Updates

• Corey Feraldi presented how to use the “Pacer Career Connections” web-site to the committee.  This site utilizes CCN (College Central Network) and is designed to allow both students to search for employment, and employers to post employment opportunities.  This new service will be advertised this Spring to our students.  At the present time we have 248 students and 120 employers registered.  It also has an alumni component, and Corey will work with the Alumni Office to publicize it to that group as well.

• Stephanie Foote reported that she and Sarah Keeling held an Academic Success Workshop on January 6, 2006 for students on Academic probation.  A total of five students were in attendance.  Although low in attendance, the workshop was beneficial to those who attended.  Stephanie indicated that additional workshops along this line would be held this semester.  It was interesting to note that “family responsibilities” seemed to be a major issue for these students.

The next scheduled workshop has been designed for student athletes having academic difficulties.

• Randy Duckett explained how “complete” withdrawals were processed.  The Registrar’s office forwards the withdrawals to several offices including Enrollment Services.  Randy reviews (to determine if immediate intervention is needed) and Gail Ratchford sends a letter to the student that has withdrawn.  A record, including the reason for the withdrawal, and number of students who withdraw for the semester is maintained.  This information is shared with the Survey/Strategic Planning Action Team on a monthly and annual basis.

• Randy Duckett shared the progress of the One Carolina project.  There are three vendors who are providing demonstrations and by the end of February the USCA team will discuss and make the recommendations to Columbia.  The new system will have at least a three year phase in.

Research Updates

• Randy Duckett and Dr. Braden Hosch have met with the EPT Action Team Chairs about reviewing the AASCU/USCA Graduation/Retention Self Study and identified specific areas that mention in their program reviews or other documents as having an intentional impact on the retention of our students.  The AT Chairs and other administrators have been asked to update or complete an internal self study regarding these areas:  Strategic Planning – Randy Duckett; Enrollment Planning Team: Dr. Hosch; Admission Policies – Andrew Hendrix; New Student Orientation – Dr. Kladivko; Advising – Marshall Davis; First Year Experience-Stephanie Foote; Multicultural Affairs-Stacie Williams; Financial Aid-Glenn Shumpert; Academic Support-Stephanie Foote. These individuals will utilize the same frame work as found in the AASCU Retention Study.  Each report will include the following components:
  • Overview (History, Purpose, Organization, Integration, Pervasiveness, Impact)
  • Assessment
  • Continued Development

This document will then be used to communicate to the campus and others regarding specific retention initiatives and to be a guide for others to develop their own intentional initiatives.

• Dr. Braden Hosch emphasized that efforts to date are focused on improving student success rather than just boosting retention rates, and he observed that retention rates are just one indicator of the student success we are hoping to foster. He also gave an update on issues or projects that his staff had recently completed:

Ø      A beta version of SADI (Statistical Admissions Data Interface) online interface is in a testing phase with IE and Admissions. SADI will provide the Admissions Office with the capability to monitor student quality in the admission pool.

Ø      An analysis of DFW rates in an entry-level science course revealed that the best predictor of course performance was doing well in other courses. While there were strong correlations between students’ concurrent math grades and their performance in this science course, correlations were almost as strong between concurrent grades in English and their grade in the science course.

Ø      One explanation for the type of student performance noted above may be that students do not spend enough time studying or doing homework. Similar to findings from other studies of USCA students, including the 2004 NSSE, a survey of full-time residential students in Fall 2005 indicated that 75% of these students spend 10 hours a week or LESS doing homework or studying.

Action Team Reports

• Financial Aid Scholarship Action Team – Glenn Shumpert informed the EPT that the first draft has been sent out and they are waiting for feedback from some of the committee members.  As soon as the feedback is complete the team will be ready to present to the EPT.  Target date for implementation will be ‘07/’08.

• Students At Risk – Stephanie said that this team was working on the “Early Warning Network”.  They are discussing ways that they can involve more faculty and do a better job communicating the importance of an Early Warning system.

Perspectives

• Dr. Tom Mack shared that at his departmental meeting there was concern raised about the students who were required to take English 111 (English as a Second Language) and those who were not required, but needed to take it.   The criteria used to determine if these students have the required English proficiency to be successful at USCA needs to be examined. This also should include those who have received English 101 credit from other institutions.   

Dr. Mack has spoken with Stephanie Foote and her Action Team will be addressing this concern.  Andrew Hendrix’s staff is also looking at this concern.

• Mr. Andrew Hendrix explained how USCA has been reshaping the Freshman class over the past several years.  He provided the history, including the research conducted, the variables studied and the gradual increase in standards.

Ø      Prior to the Fall of ’99, students with a predicted GPA of 1.4-1.79 were admitted as provisional students, those with a predicted GPA  of 1.8 or above were admitted as regular students

Ø      In Fall of ’99 those with a predicted GPA of 1.4-1.8 were denied admission, 1.8-1.99 were admitted as provisional students,  2.0 and above were admitted as regular students

Ø      In Fall of ’00 those who predicted a GPA of 1.8-1.99 were denied admission, 2.0 and above were admitted as regular students

Ø      In Fall of ’04 those who scored below 800 on the SAT were denied admission

Ø      In Fall of ’05, more emphasis was placed on appropriate courses and more students were denied admission based on Tech Prep courses taken in high school

Ø      In Fall of ’06, applicants who are in the bottom 3 deciles of their HS class will be denied admission

Due to increasing standards, fewer students were offered admission and the freshman class did not grow, or at least not grow as fast as other institutions.  232 students who currently attended USCA based on the former admission standards would not have been admitted this fall.

• New student enrollment projections for the fall are well above last years figures, but this was the same trend we had last year, and applications will level off soon, and cancellations will begin to take place.  We are aggressively pursuing students who have a predicted GPA of 3.0 and higher, but as you can imagine, there are a lot of others trying to recruit those students as well. 

• Admissions is also determining which students should be notified about the new PACE program.

• Tony Ateca asked Andrew Hendrix if the rates were up because of the new efforts.  Mr. Hendrix said it was too early to tell, but most students are applying early and applying at more universities then in years past.  Dr. Braden Hosch explained that this trend will probably level off due to the number of 18 year olds we have now versus what we will have in 2009.

Resources/Learning Opportunities

Randy reminded the EPT to check out the learning opportunities listed on the agenda.

Meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Gail Ratchford