University of South Carolina Aiken
Program Review for 2004-2005-2006
Enrollment Services
Enclosed are the reports from the units within this division: Admissions, Advisement Services, Career Services, Financial Aid, and the Registrar.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Division of Enrollment services is to provide timely, beneficial, and accurate information to all individuals interested in pursuing educational, professional and personal goals, which can be obtained by attending the university. Providing these services to prospective and current students as well as other constituents is integral to the ongoing success of USCA and those we serve.
2004-2005 Review
The 2004-2005 Year has brought more applications, more services, more programming, more referrals, more financial aid awards, increased use of technology and more graduates than any previous year in the history of our division. Establishing and maintaining a supportive, friendly, efficient work environment, a strong work ethic among employees and student workers, and a genuine concern for our students and our campus have been priorities which we feel are reflected on a daily basis. The following Program Reviews from the Offices of Admissions, Financial Aid, Records & Registration, Career Services and Academic Advisement will highlight continuing programs, new initiatives, and needs.
In the past 5 years freshman enrollment (first time, full time) has grown from 471 to 571, an increase of 18%, and 87% (305 to 571) since 1997 . Yet in the same 5 years the undergraduate student body enrollment has only grown by twelve students from 3139 to 3151, and 10% since 1997. (See Enrollment Growth charts on page 6).
Of course there are several reasons for this trend, and some of those which have been examined include: discontinuation of completion programs offered by the Schools of Business and Education at USC Beaufort, the discontinuation of a very popular Associate Degree in Nursing, a decrease in the number of transfer students, more traditional aged freshmen being admitted at the lower spectrum of the admissions pool, a decrease in the number of non-traditional students, tuition increases, and fewer students retaining state scholarship eligibility after their freshman year, . There are certainly other factors we have yet to identify and will continue to be a focus of my office, the office of Institutional Effectiveness and the Enrollment Planning Team. (EPT). In addition, one of the most alarming statistics we have examined reveals in the last 4 years, our freshman class retention rate (those who continue to their sophomore year at USCA) has dropped from 75% to 60%. This is alarming. Based on these trends it is easy to understand why retention of students is the most critical enrollment issue we face today, and one of the major reasons that we must reshape our freshman class.
2005 – 2006 Initiatives
Many articles have been written and much research conducted regarding “student engagement.” and its direct relationship to student success. The amount and quality of student engagement is often cited as a major factor in the student’s ability to successfully obtain a four year degree. Students must be able to make the transition from high school to college, feel a sense of belonging, and find “true” success in and out of the classroom. They must also understand (very early) the appropriate amount, and type of engagement that must take place to be a successful college student. The students that never make the transition (academically or socially) to the USCA community are the ones who leave and are the ones in need of additional guidance or assistance.
Considering our history as a “feeder”, “hometown”, “commuter” institution, student engagement has always been a major challenge. While many prospective students and parents still view USCA as the institution we once were, some evolutionary changes have taken place on this campus. In the coming year the Enrollment Planning Team (EPT), Action Teams within EPT, and the Enrollment Services division will address many of these perceptions.
In an effort to contribute to student success, it is critical that we and every department on this campus attempt to engage our students in appropriate learning/developmental opportunities. While this is being done successfully in many classrooms and corners of the campus we must all understand that student engagement involves each of us, and is the key to student success. Therefore, our services, programs, and activities will take a more aggressive approach in attempting to engage more students, in many different ways. As an example, all new students are engaged at some level by the Office of Admissions. We will continue to strive to make the application process, smooth, informative, supportive and very different from institutions who do not attempt to engage students (at a high level) through this process. At the same time the Admissions Office will be have as it’s number one priority the “reshaping” of the freshman class. The same challenge is faced by the other offices in the division and we will make a renewed and focused effort to “engage” our prospective and current students at new levels. One of the driving forces for this new level of engagement is the tremendous amount of work that the Enrollment Planning Team has and will continue to do. For more information about the efforts, discussions, the year end report, and priorities set by EPT, I encourage you to visit the web site at: http://www.usca.edu/ESIP/ept/
You will note in the following pages that the Admissions Office initiatives include recruiting a more diverse group of students; concentrating on more academically prepared students, implementing a strategy to recruit students from other areas of the state, and begin discussions with the EPT regarding the merits of an out of state recruitment initiative. Financial Aid with the assistance of the Enrollment Planning Team is addressing current scholarship and financial aid strategies, and identifying issues, concerns and trends we need to address. Career Services will introduce a new process to connect all incoming freshmen with a four year career planning process, and examine the current student employment process in an effort to engage students in ways that will assist them in future interview and employment opportunities. The Advisement Office will be proposing that we request the services of an outside consultant to evaluate our current advisement system and make recommendations for changes or enhancements. The Records Office will be undergoing major internal personnel responsibility changes which will create better service for our students, faculty and staff. The Enrollment Planning team will continue to pursue issues, monitor progress, and communicate findings and concerns to appropriate campus committees, offices and/or individuals.
In the midst of these plans, the USCA campus and the USC system have embarked on a MAJOR initiative which will have a tremendous impact on the services of the offices and Directors within the division. Called the One Carolina project, it is the University's multi-year initiative to replace its outdated administrative computing applications, including Student Information Systems, Finance, Sponsored Programs and Human Resources into one easily-accessible, Web-based system. Over the next 4 years, the USC System and USCA will be involved in this project which will require input, patience, training, and a positive attitude. More information about this project can be found at: http://www.sc.edu/OneCarolina/project.shtml As part of the USC Aiken team, the Registrar, Directors of Financial Aid and Admissions, and Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Services will be devoting a significant amount of time and energy to this project. It is a tremendous challenge and requires this level of input from our campus to ensure that our needs will be met. Unfortunately the time commitments we have to make to this project will impact the present services we provide.
Finally, as previously stated, we firmly believe that providing appropriate opportunities of Student Engagement will be the key to student success at USCA. In order to accomplish this goal, we must continue to address many “infrastructure” issues throughout the campus, and in particularly within the Division of Enrollment Services.
Needs:
Personnel and Programming
Hire consultant to assist in the evaluation of the current Advisement System at USCA. $1500
· The Office of Enrollment Services will be initiating retention communication/surveys, etc…
· Advisement Services can no longer rely on “bulk” mailing for one of it’s mailings and must have more money to send mailing first class
· Every 3-5 years the Financial Aid Office completes a cost of attendance survey which must have a high return rate to be valid, and we must provide postage paid envelopes for this to occur.
· Additional funds will be needed to expand our recruitment efforts in targeted areas of the state. (12 additional counties: Greenwood, Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg, York, Richland, Sumter, Florence, Horry, Charleston, Berkley, Dorchester)
a. we will need to institute a wide-ranging student search process. Search, which involves buying students’ names and contact information from testing services or survey organizations and then sending them an unsolicited contact about USCA, is a traditional means of getting our institution’s name in front of students who have not heard of us or investigated us. Creating new search pieces, posters, multi media campaign to new areas of the state, website upgrades, postage, phone and travel expenses $14,000
Technology needs:
· Financial Aid needs an additional computer in our student work station area from the migration process
· Financial Aid Office needs assistance from CTC on implementing expanded electronic contact options that would serve all of our students.
Enrollment Growth Charts
Total Headcount Growth since 1997 = 10.0%
Total FT Freshman Headcount Growth since 1997 = 87.2%
USCA
Office of Admissions
Program Review 2004-2005
The Office of Admissions strives to facilitate the recruitment and admissions process of undergraduate and graduate students, administers residency policies, and coordinates international student admissions and NCAA admissions compliance.
Year In Review 2004-2005
The 2004-2005 academic year was, as usual, a busy one in the Office of Admissions. It included implementing new freshman admission requirements, further implementing revisions to our transfer credit evaluation process, continuing our involvement in the Enrollment Planning Team and its action teams – all while recruiting what would turn out to be the institution’s second largest freshman class ever.
□ High School Student Recruitment continues to take most of the time and efforts of the admissions staff. Therefore, Admissions was pleased for the second consecutive year with the increased number of applications received from high school students for Fall ’05 and the continued strong yield rate on those admitted. Counselors participated extensively in recruitment fairs and conducted limited private high school visits throughout South Carolina. Most of our in-state travel revolves around the western region of SC, although we have pushed out to more distant areas, such as parts of the Greenville, Spartanburg, Columbia, Sumter, Florence, Orangeburg, Charleston, and Rock Hill areas.
The most important change instituted a year ago was the implementation of a minimum SAT/ACT score (800/17) for freshman applicants. Implemented for Spring ’05 applicants, this change has brought about a new decision category and rejection letter and has resulted in our staff having discussions with students and families about being denied admission under this category and opportunities for future admission to USC Aiken.
Another major point of discussion over the past year has been the possibility of implementing a provisional admission category based on students high school class rank. Coming out of the EPT’s Freshman Admission Team, this proposal would identify applicants who meet the standard admission requirements but who rank in the bottom 40% of their high school class. They would be admitted provisionally, compelled to complete some additional level of requirements in order to make their admission complete.
□The USCA Scholars Program continues to be one of the most successful high school recruitment activities in which we participate. It is truly an example of the entire campus participating in a variety of activities to attract quality students to this campus. This program (as many others) could not be accomplished without the tremendous support we receive from faculty, staff, students and the senior administration. We have expanded the Scholar program to include additional South Carolina high schools (primarily those with counselors visiting our campus as part of the Guidance Counselor Bus Tour) and we expanded it for the Class of 2004 to include the top 15% (up from top 10%) of each school’s junior class. Adjustments were made to the reception invitation process to help equalize the numbers of visitors for each reception, primarily the local students/families. Discussion has also taken place as to whether to institute a minimum SAT/ACT score as part of the Scholar requirements for the future. If implemented, this change would reduce the numbers of Scholars named, but would increase their quality and would allow for a more personalized recruitment effort.
□Maintaining a positive relationship with our high school Guidance Counselors statewide continues to be a critical function. In October ’05, Admissions hosted “Counselor Day at USCA” which attracted 27 counselors from 17 high schools across the state. This event gave us the opportunity to showcase the people and programs our campus can offer the state’s students. Overwhelmingly positive evaluations of the program have encouraged us to consider making this a yearly event. In addition, we have continued our traditional “Road Trip” to the statewide guidance conferences (including our offer of transportation for the Aiken/Edgefield counselors to the nearest program), our annual business luncheon on campus, and a once-a-semester meeting with our Aiken County High School Guidance Counselor Advisory Committee. A (hopefully) one-year only hiatus of the statewide public college tour for guidance counselors denied us this opportunity in June 05. We look forward to the resumption of this positive opportunity to have counselors visit our campus next summer.
□The Pacer Spirit volunteer group completed its second year and began its third with great results. Formed in Spring ’03 and now comprised of 15 members, the group conducts tours for all major recruitment events (Freshman Friday, Second Saturday, Transfer Friday, USCA Scholars reception, Counselor Day, Guidance Counselor Bus Tour, etc). The group also handles the vast majority of our weekday campus tours (Mon – Fri 10 a.m., Tues/Thurs 2 p.m.), allowing our visitors for those individual visits to interact with a current student as well as our admissions counselors. Strong feedback from campus visitors continue to show that these student volunteers are having the desired effect of effectively sharing their first-hand USC Aiken experience with our guests.
□ The Admissions web site and e-mail continue to be ever-increasingly key components in our recruitment activities. We have worked to ensure our pages are kept up to date and new information is added as quickly as possible. The campus webmaster’s assistance continues to allow for upgrades to our content’s quality and quantity. Use of the Virtual Advisor function on the website continues to exceed our early ideas about its usefulness – enough so that we have signed a two-year renewal with the vendor. We continue to offer a digital viewbook, campus webcams, virtual tour, a USC Aiken Orientation “diary,” and the Pacer Student Diaries. A specific effort was made in the development of the ’04-’06 printed Viewbook to include references to a variety of campus websites of interest to prospective students. Admissions received over 1,700 electronic requests for various information this year (we received over 6,500 the previous five years), including the admit@usca.edu address, counselors’ personal addresses, and the webpage’s information request form.
□ Electronic Applications For 2005, over 1800 applications for admission were completed and submitted online. This number continues on a steady rise (approximately 325 In ’99, 535 in ’00, 840 in ’01, 965 in ’02, 1440 in ’03, 1650 in ‘04), allowing these files to be downloaded directly into IMS each morning without our staff having to key them in. This frees our staff for other duties required in the processing of applications (following up with incomplete apps, data entry of transcript info, creation/mailing of decision letters/packets, updating of files with final transcript info, etc)
□The effectiveness of institutional scholarships in the recruitment of high-caliber students seemed to continue to decline in comparison to recent years. Because of students declining original offers, several Chancellor’s Scholarships had to be re-awarded to other students after they had already made the decision to enroll in Fall ’05. Several Ford Scholarships went unused. The effort in Admissions to verify the academic qualifications of potential LIFE and HOPE scholarship recipients in June and July declined this year due to new use of the IMS “LIFE” screen to track information. Admissions has also partnered with the Office of Financial Aid on the review of transcript information related to the awarding of LIFE Scholarships to transfer students. Scholarships and Financial Aid have and will continue to be one of the most critical components in student recruitment, and Admissions is pleased to continue to be represented on the EPT “Scholarships/Financial Aid Strategies” action team.
□ The Transfer Student Recruitment Program (concentrating on the 2-year colleges in South Carolina), continues to result in solid numbers of applications from most of these institutions as well as much better working relationships. The PATS (Parallel Advisement for Transfer Students) program was introduced at Aiken Technical College in 1998 and approximately 175 students are presently participating in this program. Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and Piedmont Technical College (in Greenwood) have also PATS programs on their campuses. We have spent a great deal of time continuing to foster relationships related to the PATS programs at these campuses. Transfer enrollment has been an up and down affair recently, with a decrease in Fall ’03, a modest increase in Fall ’04, and another decrease in Fall ’05. More effort will be paid to this effort – especially now that the Transfer Counselor is not consumed with the effort to revamp our transfer credit evaluation process.
□Again this year, a good deal of time was spent troubleshooting our new Degree Audit Recording System (DARS), and transitioning to the new discipline-based evaluation of transfer credit (as was requested by the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs). This was a labor intensive process and included bringing on a new part-time employee responsible for the day-to-day operations of DARwin and the transfer credit evaluation process. Marcia Vernberg left our staff and was replaced by Kendall Tubbs and later Ashley Ball. This position has been invaluable to making our use of DARwin and the new discipline-based credit evaluation system work. Implemented in April 05, the new credit evaluation format has shown itself to provide a more accurate review of incoming transfer coursework, but it does have some limitations which are currently being worked through.
□ Speede (the ability to electronically receive official transcripts from other colleges and eventually high schools) continues to be an efficient way to receive transcripts from other colleges and universities via this electronic, paper-free process. Since 1999, USCA has received over 800 transcripts in this manner, peaking in 2000 and dropping a bit since. Increased usage is hoped for, although it is dependent upon other institutions.
□ Admissions’ successful on-campus visitation programs, (Freshmen Fridays and Second Saturdays) continued in 04-05, with two of the Freshman Fridays being offered during the busy fall semester. With the ever-growing attendance for campus visit opportunities, Admissions decided to move to a total of six Freshman Fridays for 05-06. Second Saturdays have continued to grow in attendance and updates to the agenda and information flow at the events have helped to ensure their effectiveness.
□ To provide contact between current and prospective USC Aiken students, the fourth annual student phonathon was conducted in spring ‘05. Coordinated by Admissions and Student Affairs, the incoming group of Pacesetters attempted approximately 1300 calls and completed just under 40% of them to newly admitted freshmen or their parents. This productive effort has become a standard part of Admissions’ yield-enhancing activities. More attention must be paid to student-to-student phone calling. Expansion based on additional volunteer and/or paid student telecounseling are being considered by Admissions and will be a key future opportunity.
□After a hiatus, Admissions returned to a more appropriate focus on minority student recruitment, approaching these students in an intentional way. This focus was integrated within efforts to communicate with USCA Scholars, applicants, and admitted students. A new brochure was created to provide a tangible information source for minority-focused campus programming. The Multicultural Affairs Office provided invaluable assistance to these efforts.
□ Recognizing a need to be more proactive and intentional in the way we communicate visually with prospective students and their families, Admissions this year formally designated both a Publications Coordinator and Web Associate from our staff. These staff members have taken the “point position” on the creation and revision of recruitment publications and websites and have worked closely with the Marketing and Visual Communications staff members.
□ Admissions partnered with the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures to revamp the foreign language placement process for newly admitted freshmen. Instead of these students taking an online placement exam, their high school transcripts are now reviewed and documented by an Admissions (student) staff member and then forwarded to LLC for evaluation and placement. The forms are then added to the students’ advisement folders.
□Admissions coordinated efforts with Academic Affairs to help effectively promote the newly reestablished Honors Program. Admissions worked with Marketing to produce an Honors brochure (paid for from the Marketing – A022 – budget). We also worked with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness to identify for the Honors Pgm director quality students who were offered the chance apply to participate in the program.
□ Coordinating efforts with the Student Life, Enrollment Services, and Academic Advising offices, Admissions drastically improved the creation process for advisement folders for newly admitted students. By only making folders for students who signed up to attend a new student orientation session, we were able to reduce paper, copying, and student worker salary costs, while at the same time reducing our impact on environmental resources.
□ Admissions continued its efforts to have more contact with outside schools, groups, and agencies, including WJBF-TV (Best of the Class recognition), Augusta Chronicle (Best & Brightest competition judge), and Aiken Technical College (School to Work program, “Education Consultants” program). Some of these institutional awareness efforts are advertising, some professional service, and some community service. They all serve to get USC Aiken’s name in front of various constituencies.
□ Admissions continued using both a Recruitment Retreat for the counseling staff and a general Office Retreat for all staff. These two day-long events allowed the staff to leave the hectic office atmosphere for a chance to review processes, assess effectiveness of various efforts, and discuss new initiatives. Plans call for both to be continued in the future.
□Admissions was heavily involved in the Enrollment Planning Team, with the director, an assistant director, and a counselor all involved with different action teams (Freshman Admissions, Fin. Aid/Scholarship Strategy, and Minority Student Success). This time commitment was difficult but important to Admissions’ role in overall campus enrollment.
□ Graduate Studies continues to function smoothly, the result of an experienced and knowledgeable coordinator. The consolidation of this office with the Admissions suite continues to be one of the best personnel/facility decisions made at USC Aiken. The presence of the residency officer in Admissions is key to that assessment. Some cross training has taken place between Graduate and Undergraduate staff members and will continue resulting in a more efficient operation of both offices and better service to our students.
Challenges/Obstacles
□ As noted last year, “keeping up with the Joneses” is an ongoing issue. Our staff is one that continually observes what our competitors are doing and tries to incorporate opportunities into our activities. While the creative juices keep flowing and the enthusiasm level is high, there are limits – both financial and staffing – that limit what we can continue to add year after year. Continuing programs are evaluated for their continuing effectiveness, but few are actually eliminated. The additional admissions counselor position just approved will allow for additional focus on current programming and will allow us to explore new recruitment efforts, although we are keenly aware that the new counselor’s focus will primarily be to augment our current efforts.
□ Time constraints and effective budgeting of that limited time continued to restrict opportunities to conduct strategic thinking in Admissions. Retreats helped to engage the counseling and support staffs in long-term thinking/planning, but the high volume of day-to-day activity in the office bog down the counseling staff, primarily the director. The coming of the new OneCarolina ERP will exacerbate this high activity level in the coming year.
Major Unit Goals for 2005-2006
□ The creation of a new admissions counselor position in October 2005 has made
clear the need for Admissions to bring in an appropriately sized freshman
class each fall of 600-650 students; a process complicated by factors such
as a possible provisional admission program, increased tuition rates, admissions
policy changes at USC Columbia, transition of USC Beaufort to a four year
campus, etc. The new admissions counselor will help us expand our efforts to
create additional applications, provide additional focus and follow-up to those
applicants, and to focus on the importance of getting our prospective students
and their families to visit the campus.
□With the proposed (discussed) transition of the Transfer Credit Analyst
position from Admissions to Records, the Transfer Coordinator (Asst. Dir. of
Admissions) will be placing more emphasis on transfer student recruitment.
From additional visits to feeder technical colleges to more consistent mailings
to prospects and PATS enrollees, we will be more proactive and intentional in
our efforts to reach out to this group of prospects.
□ We will continue to provide outstanding campus visit opportunities, including Second Saturday “small group presentations” every month except August, November, January, and March. Due to their success, our expanded Freshman Friday program will be expanded to a total of six events – three in fall, three in spring. A similar open house program will continue for transfer students in February. We will continue to participate in and enhance the 30+ recruitment programs/activities we currently sponsor in an effort to recruit the highest quality students possible.
□ Our attention to younger students will continue. Participation in the Higher Education Awareness Program (HEAP) continues to create opportunities for involvement with middle school students. During our Spring break, hundreds of middle school students are given tours of the campus. Additionally, we have committed to attending several HEAP-related college fairs for 8th-grade students not directly associated with USC Aiken this fall. We continue to work with the Ruth Patrick Science Center in the GEAR UP program and provided sessions for these middle school students and their parents. We also visit middle schools during career days, and talk to them about the courses they will need to take in high school if they plan to attend USCA. Several of our staff participate as CACRAO “Education Consultants” and in a new effort, we have made a concerted effort to reach out to guidance counselors – especially those locally – to carry the message of higher education to ninth and tenth-graders – while technically not middle school, still an effort to get the word out to younger students.
□Graduate Admissions continues to have several areas of challenge and opportunity. The M.S. in Applied Clinical Psychology had a larger and better pool of applicants this fall. The applicant pool for the M.Ed. in Educational Technology and Elementary Education programs declined.
Strong competition in the areas of Elementary Education and Educational Technology is an issue. There are many nontraditional programs being delivered in our area, including weekend and web based programs. Some of these programs have less stringent admission requirements and can be completed in less time. These issues need to be addressed by the School of Education so that USC Aiken programs remain competitive.
Marketing of Graduate Programs and graduate recruitment continues to be an issue. The Graduate Admissions budget has a very limited amount of money available to print marketing materials. There are no travel funds available for recruitment in the Graduate Admissions budget. The role of the Graduate Coordinator in any marketing/recruitment effort is not well defined. A marketing/recruitment plan and funds to support that plan are needed. The strategic plan calls for the development of a recruitment plan that increases the number of qualified applicants from current levels by 20% in 2004, 25% in 2005, and 30% in 2006.
Due to USC Columbia’s recent move to Value Centered Management the future of the USC Columbia Extended Graduate Campus Office is uncertain. Changes in the USC EGC Office directly impact the USCA Graduate Studies Coordinator.
Although there is a web-based Graduate application, the data is not automatically updated on IMS. The current electronic application needs to be altered to require certain fields to be completed.
Assessment activities:
In an effort to evaluate our programs and activities, we utilize a variety of assessment tools.
The feedback we have received from these sources has lead to some dramatic changes as to when, how, and if we deliver our programs. In contrast, much of the information we have gathered has confirmed that we are on the right track to meeting our goals. It is clear that this type of information is invaluable in our current planning process and that more time and effort must be invested into research and assessment in ’05-’06.
Advisory Committees:
The Aiken County Secondary Guidance Counselors Advisory committee consists of all the head guidance counselors at the Public Secondary schools in Aiken County. This group meets once a semester on the USCA campus with the Admissions staff to discuss local, state, national and international issues which may affect their students. They serve in an advisory capacity and make recommendations to the admissions staff in regards to:
Discussions with this group have led to the staff initiating discussions with our SS&P and HAS committees about several issues, which have resulted in policy and procedure changes. This group is a tremendous asset to the Office of Admissions. This committee will continue to provide us with information and insight we need to effectively meet the needs of our prospective students.
Program Resource Needs
Personnel and Programming needs:
1.
With the coming of the
OneCarolina ERP student information system, Admissions will face a staggering
change in the way we handle the processing of applications for admission.
Anecdotal feedback from colleagues at other institutions and from team leaders
with USC lead us to believe that our time commitment to the processing of each
application will increase substantially. I am therefore requesting funding in
the amount of $31,500 for a full-time permanent position to assist with
the processing of admission applications. Two employees have managed these
tasks for the past 14 years, with no increase in support while the numbers of
applications have skyrocketed. While the electronic application used for the
past six years has reduced some of the data entry requirements, each increase in
applications adds to the processing requirements on these staff members. Unless
we are satisfied with the prospect of increasing the amount of time it takes us
to respond to our applicants – one of our true competitive strengths at this
time – we must invest additional resources in this effort.
2. In an effort to expand our recruitment reach statewide, we will need to institute a wide-ranging student search process. Search, which involves buying students’ names and contact information from testing services or survey organizations and then sending them an unsolicited contact about our USCA, is a traditional means of getting our institution’s name in front of students who have not heard of us or investigated us. I am requesting an initial $5,000 investment, which should cover purchase of 15,000+ student contacts.
3. Costs continue to increase for Advertising, Marketing, and Recruitment/Retention Initiatives, and while we have seen additions to our marketing budget (A022) over the last two years, an additional $20,000.00 will allow us to maintain the same level of coverage that we have had in the past several years and expand our efforts a bit. This additional marketing funding will be crucial to supporting efforts such as new expenses for “searchpiece” publication/postage to reach out to more distant areas of South Carolina that we’re targeting this year as well as additional advertising, website upgrades, postage, phonathon expenses, on- and off-campus workshops, travel, and professional development opportunities.
4.
Recruiting and enrolling more
out-of-state students has been cited as an opportunity for growth for
USC Aiken by many on our campus. A proposal for an out-of-state recruitment
plan is attached to this program review as Addendum A. A list of personnel
and programming needs is included as part of that plan.
5. Additional office space is an issue that continues to grow more desperate. We have been able to shoehorn our new part-time employee into the Enrollment Services suite lobby area and have added more shelving to our small storage room. This year, we’re faced with having to find space for a new Admissions Counselor. Again this year, I would like to request extra storage space within Penland (perhaps under the stairwells) for Admissions materials. This may allow us to use our current storage room for a small makeshift office for the admissions counselor or a workroom. We would also like to again request space for a conference room for meeting with prospective students and parents and to conduct staff meetings, which currently take place within full view of our visitors. A more permanent opportunity may be to consider redefining our open student workspace into two additional offices (for our new counselor and requested processor).
Technology needs:
·
Participation in
the selection of and transition to the new OneCarolina ERP student
information system will be by far the most challenging aspect of technology
use/implementation in Admissions in the coming year. Based on informal
conversations and advice, our office is planning to undergo incredible slowdowns
and increased workloads as the system is implemented. Close coordination with
USCA CSD and the OneCarolina selection/implementation team will be necessary to
ensure as smooth a process as possible.
·
Increasing
campus bandwidth
continues to be an issue for our use of DARwin for our transfer credit
evaluation process. Network slowdowns have reduced the effectiveness of our
office in this area. While we have been pleased with this new system overall,
these speed issues must be answered by either Columbia or Aiken CSD.
·
We must see, in
conjunction with the campus Director of Visual Communications (webmaster),
continuous upgrades and additions to the Admissions web site. Students –
and their parents – are continuing to increase their reliance upon institutional
websites as one, and sometimes the, most important information gathering
resource in the college search process. The past year has seen in the
implementation of an Admissions “web associate” for making minor day-to-day
updates to our website, but larger scale upgrades and changes are dependent upon
the webmaster.
·
Admissions would
like to request a “shared” campus purchase of a walkie-talkie system
for use by campus members. We envision a system that lies somewhere between the
power/quality of what Operations/Public Safety use and those that can be
purchased at Wal-Mart. Having access to 8 or 10 of these would certainly be
beneficial to Admissions for Freshman Friday, Second Saturday, Counselor Day,
Bus Tour, etc. when our staff are stretched across campus and are trying to
coordinate multiple activities at the same time. Offices such as Records,
Student Activities, Housing, Athletics, etc could reserve/check out the set of 8
– 12 units for special events, such as commencement, convocation, orientation,
move-in days, polo match, etc.
·
With the coming of
the new OneCarolina ERP, we must prepare to shift our current Web-based
application to one contracted by the SC CHE (College Net), as updates to provide
more reliable automatic flow of information into/out of the IMS mainframe will
not be available.
·
Phase 2 of the
continued improvement of our Web-based application. As students
apply for admission via the Web, the data is automatically added to the IMS
mainframe. This year we would like to provide students the opportunity to have
24-hr access to the status of their admissions application and a variety of
additional information. We envision this “web portal” option, which is
available at many of our competitors, being expanded in future years to include
more and more information.
· Increased utilization of SPEEDE transcripts (seeking more partners).
Some of these are examples of issues that CSD Columbia has handled for us in the past and one of the biggest questions which we must answer is whether or not we continue to rely on Columbia or request additional services from Aiken CSD. In the past, Admissions has relied on the Columbia CSD staff to provide a tremendous amount of support, which is shrinking. They have provided leadership, human resources and finances in regards to our electronic application, Transcript Evaluation System and any Mainframe custom design – (web interfaces) issues. It has recently been more difficult to get projects completed through Columbia and raises the issue of continuing to make additional requests of our Aiken CSD staff.
USC Aiken
Office of Admissions Staff
October 2005
Andrew Hendrix Directs and administers all aspects of the undergraduate
Director of Admissions and graduate admissions office. (Recruitment, residency,
101 C Penland NCAA Admissions compliance.) Serves as a campus
x 3490 resource for enrollment issues.
Karen Morris Directs and administers graduate recruitment, enrollment,
Coordinator of Graduate Studies and record keeping. Responsible for making residency
101 A Penland decisions for both graduate and undergraduate students.
x 3489
Barbara Henkes Interprets policies and procedures, state and federal laws
Asst. Director of Admissions in an effort to make appropriate admission decisions and
101 J Penland assist with residency issues.
x 3478
Sandy DeWitt Represents USCA in an effort to recruit transfer students.
Asst. Director of Admissions Counsels transfer students, family members and contact
(Transfer Students) persons at the two-year colleges in the state. Visits the 101 B Penland
two-year colleges, creates and revises articulation
x 3363 agreements coordinates the transfer process, develops on-
campus transfer visitation programs.
Kristin Allen Represents USCA in an effort to recruit students. Recruits
Admissions Counselor new students, transfer students and assists students
(High School Students) gaining readmission; conducts special programs with an
101 K Penland an emphasis on high school and minority student
x 3454 recruitment. Counsels prospective parents and students
as well as high school guidance counselors and administrators.
Kathy Brantley Represents USCA in an effort to recruit students. Recruits
Admissions Counselor new students, transfer students and assists students
(High School Students) gaining readmission. Counsels prospective parents and
101 L Penland students as well as high school guidance counselors and
x 3292 administrators.
Ashley Ball Represents USCA in an effort to recruit students. Recruits
Admissions Counselor new students, transfer students and assists students
(High School Students) gaining readmission. Counsels prospective parents and
101 Penland students as well as high school guidance counselors and
X 3432 administrators.
Aileen McTaggart Establishes files, makes admissions decisions and
Admissions Specialist communicates with applicants and accepted students.
101 G Penland Provides data entry and other computer support for the
x 3556 Office of Admissions.
Angela Taylor Coordinates and manages the daily activities of the
Office Manager Admissions Office. Answers and directs incoming phone
101 Penland phone calls, meets the public, schedules and supervises
x 3366 student workers, maintains inventory of brochures and
supplies. Coordinates purchase requests and budgeting
activities.
Ashley Ball Distributes credit evaluations to faculty evaluators, includes
DARwin/Transfer Credit Analyst appropriate info in advisement folders, mails info to
101 Penland students, builds/updates/revises articulation tables,
X3432 performs and audits data entry of transfer courses into
DARS, compiles data for internal usage/reporting
USCA
Advisement Services
Program Review, 2004-2005
I. Mission Statement
The primary purpose of the Office of Advisement Services is to assist students in the development of meaningful educational plans compatible with their life goals. The Office of Advisement Services coordinates advisement for the entire campus, which includes thirteen academic units. The mission of the Office of Advisement Services is accomplished through a collaborative effort of the advisor and the student. Recognizing that the ultimate responsibility of making decisions about life goals and educational plans rests with the individual student, the office personnel and faculty advisor assist by helping to identify and assess alternatives. Together, the office personnel and the advisor provide guidance to the student in developing and completing an acceptable program of study leading to a degree. The Office of Advisement Services also coordinates placement testing and works with students who are interested in changing their major, uncertain about their major, or wish to explore different majors.
II. Unit Report
The Office of Advisement Services realizes that effective advising is an essential component of the higher education process. We recognize that effective advising is vital to students as they define and develop their interests, abilities, and goals. We also know that effective advising does not just happen; it is the result of a carefully developed plan which relies on the commitment of the entire institution to excellence in advising. The bottom line of effective advising is improving educational/career planning, facilitating academic success, fostering student growth and development, and lowering the dropout rate.
Our office continues to benefit from the addition of an academic counselor to our staff. As mentioned in our review of last year, one of the primary responsibilities of this person is the coordination of all efforts associated with the First Year Advisement Program to help make it an effective and comprehensive component of the First Year Experience. During her second year in our office she has continued to make valuable contributions to our office. As a result of her efforts there are specific functions of our office that are administered more efficiently. She has voluntarily assumed responsibility for the maintenance of our department website. She has modified it as such that it is now more easily navigated and aesthetically it is now a more homogeneous blend with the other departments’ websites. She has continued to provide the first year advisors information at strategic points in the semester that has proven to be valuable tools in the advisement process.
A major accomplishment this past year was the implementation of the Gateway Program. The Gateway Program is a first semester early intervention program for at-risk residential students. These students were advised by five specially trained First Year advisors who provided them with a more intrusive first year advising experience. Each advisor was assigned a maximum of 12 advisees each and met with them at six strategic points during the semester. See appendix A for a complete review of this program prepared by Sarah Keeling.
Enhancements were also made to early warning system. The early warning form has been modified so they it can now be electronically submitted to our office. Our goal was to make the submission process less cumbersome for faculty, which will hopefully result in an increase in use of the form.
Another major accomplishment was the second annual first year advisor training session that was held this past summer. The first day included information for all first year advisors and the second day was for new first year advisors. During the first day of training we had presenters from various offices and programs on campus providing information that will help our first year advisors become better resources for our students. The second day of training for new first year advisors included all the basics of the advisement and registration process. Attendance during both days was very good.
The only obstacles that our office faces are the lack of resources needed to reach more students that we know are in need of academic assistance and support. Specifically, we would like to assist in programs designed to provide academic support to those students who are on probation and those who have been suspended and readmitted to the institution.
III. Major Unit Goals
One of our goals is to strengthen the entire advisement program at USC Aiken. We plan to do that by making ourselves available to more professional development opportunities so that we can bring this information back to all of our academic advisors. As an office we have been very vocal regarding the integral role advisors play in the development and retention of our students. In an effort to reinforce that belief we plan to have an academic advisement consultant visit our campus and review our current advisement process make recommendations as to how we can make improvements. We also plan to present an advisement training session facilitated by one or two of the most respected advisement “gurus” associated with the National Academic Advising Association. We also continue to offer training/information sessions on a variety of topics and explore/investigate the best way to get this information to our advisors.
We have begun the process of evaluating the present early warning system in an effort to determine what should be done to make this a more effective intervention system. Several discussions have already taken place to determine our approach in refining this system. Our goal is to combine some of the existing progress reports generated by different departments on campus and so as to increase faculty involvement in this system
The next academic year the university will explore the possibility of establishing a new provisional admissions program. These students will take the place of our current Gateway students and will tentatively be advised by the current Gateway advisors.
In addition to the
new provisional admissions program, we also see another obstacle as one of our
goals. That is the obstacle of not being able to reach a broader population of
students. As I have said year after year we would very much like to be a part
of program that addresses the needs of our students who are on probation and
those who have been suspended and allowed back into the institution.
With the current probation and
suspension levels it is possible for a student to earn a 1.8 grade point average
or lower during her/his first semester of college and not be placed on probation
or suspension. It is also possible for that student to continue to make
mediocre grades and have a cumulative grade point average of 1.8 for
approximately six semesters (89 hours) before being placed on probation. Once
that student with the cumulative 1.8 grade point average reaches the range of
between 90-105 grade point hours s/he is now on probation, but the minute s/he
accumulates 106 hours s/he will be placed on academic
suspension. It will be very difficult for someone who has accumulated that many
hours and who has a history of making average and below average grades to raise
her/his cumulative grade point average to 2.0 within one semester. For someone
who has cruised along without any
kind of formal intervention, they tend to
gain a false sense of security. We feel we have a moral obligation to assist
these students in getting back on track academically before they find themselves
on academic suspension. We want to make certain that we are doing everything
possible to ensure the success of our students.
IV. ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES
Transaction Data:
#
of # of #
of # of
changes of placement
students students seen
Year major/advisor tests
tested by Director
2005 782 16 363 495
______________________________________________________________________
#
of # of # of
placement tests transfer
credit early warning
Year letters mailed summaries requested
letters mailed
2005 1223 110 5660
# of early
warning # of AEGL 101 &
forms received AEGL 102 failure
Year from faculty letters mailed to students
2005 293 227
The number for the changes of major/advisor does not include the additional 1400 to 1500 major/advisor transactions for new students that are processed by our area each year.
Survey Information
For the past eight years we have conducted a survey of advising during the advisement and priority registration period of the spring semester. For the first four years there were a total of 15 questions on this survey. As indicated in last year’s review, in an effort to get a greater response from our students, the advisement survey instrument was revised during the 2001 - 2002 academic year. There are now a total of eight questions on the survey. Two of the questions relate to the student’s responsibility in the advisement process and the remaining questions relate to the student’s perception of her/his advisor and the advisement process. These questions are now rated on a scale from 1 – 5 (1-strongly disagree, 2-disagree, 3-neutral, 4-agree, and 5-strongly agree. One of the questions on the survey is “My advisor helps me review my academic progress.” The mean results for this question for 2004 and 2005 were 4.58 and 4.54, respectively. Another question is “Overall, I am satisfied with my advisor.” The mean results for this question for 2004 and 2005 were 4.71 and 4.7, respectively. There are also two questions regarding advisement on the annual student survey and one question on the alumni survey. Although the results of these surveys have been positive we are always seeking ways that we can make this process most effective for our students.
V. Program Resource Needs
v Funds to invite one or two nationally known advisement experts to campus to present a one day or day and a half workshop on the importance of the advisement process in the development and retention of our students. We would also need funds to bring an advisement consultant on campus to review the current advisement process. The consultant fee through the National Academic Advising Association is $500.00 per day. The consultant may also be the same person to present the workshops. That being said, we would like to request funds totaling $1,500.00 for the consultation as well as the workshop.
v Funds to hire two office personnel to handle the additional duties associated with the new provisional admissions program and the enhancement of both the first year advising program and the early warning system. These two individuals may be able to assist in the Advisement Services Office as well as the Office of Academic Support and the First Year Experience.
v “R” funds to cover the meals/snacks associated with training sessions and workshops. ($500.00)
v Increase three line items in annual budget. Our postage budget should be increased to accommodate the annual mailings. We would like to increase this line item by $2,200.00, for a total of $4,200.00. Recently we sent a piece of correspondence to students which included the final drop date. We sent this information utilizing bulk mail. The students did not receive the letter until after the drop date. We need to send this notification via first class mail. In addition to this mailing we also send initial notification of placement testing dates to our prospective students as well as English and foreign language failure letters to our currently enrolled students. Our printing budget also needs to be increased now that our office is responsible for printing advisement forms. We would like to increase this line item by $1,000.00 for a total of $3,900.00. We would also like an increase in our ISE budget by $1,000.00 for a total of $2796.00. It would be very beneficial to our office if we had student support during the summer months.
USCA
Career Services Office
Program Review, 2004-2005
The mission of the Career Services Office is to assist all USCA students with their career-related concerns -- choosing a college major, choosing a career, career planning, experiential learning and job search. Realizing that career planning is a lifelong process, our objective is to teach effective self-assessment and skill development that will aid students and alumni in their pursuit of career goals. The office advises students to get involved early in career planning and assists them with taking charge of their career future through self-empowerment. It is the goal of Career Services to work in partnership with faculty, staff and the community towards student development. Another component of the office’s mission is the posting of on-campus student employment positions and the campus-wide segment of student employment training. Along with providing quality services, as a member of the Enrollment Services Division, Career Services strives to assist with the attraction and retention of all students.
Major Accomplishments
· Major Mondays
Fall 2004 saw the implementation of the Major Mondays Program at the Pacer Commons residence hall. Each Monday a different academic major was featured, and career planning issues were discussed relating to that major. For several sessions, upper level students from the featured major attended to speak to and answer questions.
While some majors had better turn outs than others, over 50 students attended the program for the fall semester. The success ensured that Major Mondays will run again during the 2005-2006 year.
· Career Day 2005
For the first time in the current Career Service Director’s tenure, the annual career fair was held in a different location. Career Day 2005 took place in the SAC Gym resulting in more room, more employers, and more students. Employer feedback was very positive on the location. The only negative is that we must wait until late March in order to secure the location due to the schedule of the basketball team.
· GRE Testing