ENROLLMENT PLANNING TEAM
MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 13, 2006
Present: Ms. Gwen Ashley, Mr. Tony Ateca, Dr. Ed Callen, Mr. Marshall Davis, Mr. Randy Duckett, Mr. Corey Feraldi, Ms. Vivian Grice, Mr. Andrew Hendrix, Dr. Braden Hosch, Dr. Deb Kladivko, Ms. Jennifer Lake, Dr. Val Lumans, Dr. Tom Mack, Dr. Deidre Martin, Dr. Suzanne Ozment, Ms. Gail Ratchford, Mr. Ahmed Samaha, Mr. Glenn Shumpert, Ms. Katya Terry, Mr. Randy Warrick, Ms. Stacie Williams, Mr. Deri Wills
Guest: Mr. Mike May
The meeting began at 2:05 pm and the chairs of each Action Team committee reviewed their list of members and were asked to make any updates as necessary. Each chair introduced members on their Action Team.
After the introductions Randy stated that it was important to solicit student involvement on the Action Teams and he asked the chairs to be sensitive to this issue and make recommendations if they become aware of students who might be interested in our work.
Programmatic Updates
Andrew made a brief presentation and provided a handout regarding “Freshman Enrollment Fall 2006”.
1) Applications for freshman were deferred for the Spring semester beginning
July 1st
2) 672 new freshmen (full and part-time) largest class in USC Aiken history
3) 50% graduated in the top 25% of their HS class
4) SAT averaged about 990
5) 64% were female, 36% were male
6) 38% are from Aiken County
Andrew also shared that each of the admissions counselors were targeting a specific territory and are already on the road recruiting for next year (Kathy Brantley- Midlands, Kristin Allen – Lowcountry and Ashley Ball – Upstate). 12 new target counties have been identified, in which extra efforts will be placed. These are areas of the state that we do not have a presence and have not spent much time in the past.
Andrew briefly discussed the Noel-Levitz (Admissions/Marketing consultant) visit to campus on August 9-11th. He thanked all who were involved in the process and feels as if the consultants did a very good job. After a more detailed review of the report, he and Jennifer Lake will be making a presentation to EPT.
Action Team Report
Dr. Deb Kladivko informed us that the CHAT (Campus Housing Action Team) had met 4-5 times over the summer. That they were now on the “Fast-track” to complete the new student housing by fall ’08.
Deb wanted to publicly recognize Tony Ateca for his endless hours spent on this project. She stated that the CHAT team discussed many issues before deciding on a design. These issues included:
1) Basic needs for 300 students
2) Student development opportunities
3) Supportive environment for academics and facilitating a greater sense of community.
The CHAT team had to decide on the issues and also the design, and style of housing. It also has to be able to accomplish two goals 1) Support Academics 2) Facilitate a community engagement.
She stated that at the same time that the CHAT was forming, Deri Wills was hired as our new housing director, and has done a tremendous job hiring several new staff members, preparing for move in, training new RA’s, while dealing with the largest waiting list ever.
Dr. Kladivko provided background information on the project including the description of pod-type design that the CHAT committee had been considering. There has been much debate about the design within the Action Team. She mentioned that there had been discussion at the Monday Group and Chancellors Panel as well. She deferred to Deri who has been at several institutions utilizing different residential designs. He made a case for this type of living arrangement as a student development opportunity. In addition to the normal assimilation issues, he sees this model (layout) as an opportunity to transform the RA program into a much more proactive living-learning environment. He feels this design works very well for students. The design includes:
1) 300 bed facility for freshmen only (288 FY and 12 RA’s).
2) Suite style concept (2 beds per room with shared bath among 2 people) with a total of 8 per suite.
3) RA to every 3 pod suites (giving each RA 24 residents).
4) Group study room and one kitchen common area for the 24 residents.
5) Building would have quiet study areas and academic space.
Randy Duckett expressed that he has had some concerns about the design, but certainly liked the 8 person pod suite-style much better than an earlier consideration.
Randy Warrick asked if there were any like it on other campuses and Mr. Ateca indicated that he did not know of any, but stated that suites were very common throughout the country. Dr. Kladivko added that the USC Honors Program has designed (not built) a pod style concept.
Dr. Deidre Martin inquired about the number of freshmen who were living on campus this fall. Mr. Wills said 330 needed housing and that 300 were housed with 30 on a waiting list. Deidre’s concern was for the housing in 2008 for any remaining students. Would these students have the same sense of community and opportunities as the students in the new housing facility?
Professor May asked about the food preparation. The answer was that the SAC will be renovated when the Convocation Center is complete and there will be a larger food service area. Also, they have discussed moving the food service area from Pacer Downs to Pacer Commons on the first floor and expanding it for high traffic times.
At the conclusion of the discussion Mr. Duckett asked for a motion concerning this effort. Andrew Hendrix made the motion that EPT endorsed the work and concept that the CHAT team is pursuing. Randy Warrick seconded the motion. There was not further discussion and an unanimous affirmative vote followed.
Programmatic Updates – part 2
Deri gave us a “Fall 2006 Occupancy” handout expressing that housing has been a little crazy with the turnover in staff and finding housing for incoming students. The continuing students posed the most problem because they only had 300 beds with approximately 200 more needing housing. He dealt with numerous ‘troubled” parents.
With the addition of Mr. Kelvin Rachell, the Housing Office now has two assistant Directors. Mr. Nick Shrader’s office is located in Pacer Commons while Mr. Rachell’s office is in Pacer Downs.
Deri and his staff are already looking at ways to make next year a little easier, but feels that things will not get better until Fall ’08 when the new housing is complete. He would like to see students make an earlier decision about housing and this is an issue he will address.
Stephanie opened by thanking all the people that had been involved with the new “First PACE” program this summer. Even though this program was not mandatory we had 18 students who participated. The students were here for 3 weeks (July 10-31) and all took English 101 and met with tutors on a regular basis. 13 of these students successfully completed the English requirement, but all 18 are enrolled in the fall semester.
Each of these students were asked for feedback on the program and two main responses were: 1) Learning what college is all about and 2) Learning how to manage their time. Stephanie will follow these students and continue receiving feedback from them.
Corey Feraldi noted that these students formed a bond (support group) during the summer and are often seen together throughout the campus.
Randy Warrick provided a very informative PowerPoint presentation on the Athletic Department’s response to the Athletic Task Force recommendations in Spring of 2005. Randy outlined the actions the Athletic Department has taken to address many of the recommendations made by the Task Force.
The presentation can be found at: http://www.usca.edu/ESIP/ept/discussions/.
The EPT expressed appreciation for the update and Dr. Val Lumans made comments concerning the positive transformation of the student athletes over the last few years. He stated he looks forward to having student athletes in his class because he knows they are motivated and take the word “student” seriously. Glenn Shumpert also expressed that he has also noticed a change in the demeanor of the athletes and the type of relationship his staff has with the coaches as well.
Research Updates
Dr. Hosch distributed a handout: “Preliminary Report on One Year Retention rates Fall First-Time, Full-Time Cohort”.
At this time Randy Duckett said that several other items on the agenda would be covered at our next meeting and we would have Andrew Hendrix report on Freshmen Provisional Admissions Proposal (FAAT) and Stephanie Foote report on Summer Program for Provisional Students (SAR).
Provisional Admissions Program
Andrew Hendrix
As chair of the Freshman Admissions Action Team (FAAT) Andrew Hendrix has been updating the 2005 Action Team report which proposed the establishment of a provisional admissions program for freshmen. This information has been presented to the Scholastic Standings and Petition Committee (SS & P) and will be presented at the Faculty Assembly meeting on September 29th. Key points:
1) This would involve about 40-75 students that will be the first-year students at USC Aiken beginning Fall 2007.
2) These students will be required to successfully complete a Summer Provisional program in order to register for classes in the fall semester.
While there was much support for the proposal, a concern was expressed that since scholarships and financial aid was not awarded for the summer preceding the freshmen year, some students may not be able to participate due to financial circumstances.
Stephanie Foote
After discussing the successes and concerns about the “First PACE” (Provisional Pilot Program), the (SAR) team turned to the task of how this pilot program could be implemented as a mandatory Summer Provisional Program. Some of the suggestions included:
1) Offering two different tracks – hope to have at least 60 participates
a) English 101
b) Math 108
2) Continue with the tutorials and supplemental instruction
3) Tutoring
4) First Year Advisors
5) End with a workshop – one day focus on what to do next for the student.
Mr. Duckett asked members of the Enrollment Planning Team to review both the Freshman Provisional Proposal and the Summer (First PACE) component and communicate with him, Andrew Hendrix or Stephanie Foote if they had additional concerns or issues. Randy indicated that we would reconvene the EPT prior to the September 29th faculty meeting to discuss any issues.
Meeting was adjourned at 4:35 pm.