Time & Location: 8:30 – 10:30 a.m., 220 Seymour
Attendees
Voting Members
- Sondra Aman
- Mike Andriatch
- James Cordeiro
- Frances Dearing
- Kandie Gay
- Daniel Goebel
- Scott Haines
- Tom Hernandez
- Katy Heyning
- Sara Kelly
- Jose Maliekal
- Pat Maxwell
- Dave Mihalyov
- Kathy Peterson
- Summer Reiner
- Craig Ross
- Ed Ryan
- Elliot Weininger
- Katy Wilson
- Jim Zollweg
Non-Voting Members
- Crystal Hallenback
- Cathy Houston-Wilson
- Karen Riotto
- Jim Wall: Co-Chair
- Melissa Wight
Guests
- Lynda Cochran
- Steve Cook
- Bob Cushman
- Eileen Daniel
- Richard Dirmyer
- Michael Harrison
- Kevin Rice
Regrets
Voting Members
- Meaghan Irving
Non-Voting Members
- Denise Copelton: Co-Chair (on sabbatical)
- President Macpherson
The meeting was called to order at 8:31am
Approval of the Minutes
Mr. Wall asked the committee to review the minutes from the December 12, 2019 meeting. Dr. Weininger motioned the minutes to be approved, Ms. Aman seconded the motion and all present voting members were in favor except for one abstention. Therefore, the minutes were approved.
Announcements
Mr. Wall made the following announcement:
- A reminder that we are still accepting nominations for committee members. There was an
announcement in the Daily Eagle and there is a Mach Form available to fill out for the
nomination process.
Extended Orientation and First Year Programming
Presented by Dr. Sara Kelly, Assistant Vice President of Planning, Assessment and Retention
Note: Presentation is available on Blackboard
Dr. Kelly presented a proposal for extended orientation and first year programming. The following questions, answers and discussion points occurred:
- Clarification was requested on what “SES” stands for. Dr. Kelly stated that is means
socioeconomic status. - Dr. Kelly clarified that the $50 per mentor listed under the mentorship program is for the
mentors to utilize for taking students to lunch, dinner, or coffee. It is to fund small dollar items to help build a positive mentoring relationship. - The question was raised if it is possible to separate the NSSE and SOS data for the 25 students to be able to identify them in this program. Dr. Kelly stated she believed it was possible and that they would looking at all students. Hypothetically we could have more than 25 students participating in the development program and workshops. We would like to see a broader impact across the program. Mr. Dirmyer confirmed that it is possible to identify the 25 students as we can pull from student level aid.
- Clarification was requested regarding the 25 students and whether the program would only be for those 25 students. Dr. Kelly stated that the 25 students would only be involved in the extended orientation portion of the program. All the other parts of the program, we are hoping to have hundreds of students involved with. The extended orientation is new we wanted to try with a smaller group and hopefully expand if we see success.
- The question was raised regarding what the recruitment procedure would be for the program. Dr. Kelly stated that we are looking to mirror what other schools procedures that have been successful. They conduct an application process through Admissions and they take a batch of accepted students and recruit through that group. The process would involve explaining the program and how it will benefit the student.
- The question was raised if the steering committee has quantified the increased retention and persistence rates. Dr. Kelly stated that the committee has not established those goals and committee members decided that it would be best if it was identified through the Enrollment Management Committee.
- The question was raised if we have information from the other SUNY schools regarding the success of this program with retention rates. Dr. Kelly stated that one school saw about a 20% difference within the first five years between the students that participated in the program and those that did not. In recent years they saw a 10% difference. They are still seeing a great difference and we are looking to model some of our programming after what they are doing. This school also has higher than average retention rates across SUNY.
- The question was raised if it is possible for the steering committee to think through about making the program mandatory for a certain group of students and then randomly selecting 25 students from that group to complete the extended orientation portion. Dr. Kelly stated the committee has not talked about that and she is not sure they have enough information to make it mandatory. The only item that has been made mandatory for Emerging Scholars is the 3 credit APS course through College Senate. She does not believe we are prepared to make anything else mandatory, but perhaps Starfish analytics could provide more information.
Members agreed to vote to endorse the extended orientation and first year programming proposal and the following are the voting results of the present voting members:
- Approve - 19
- Not Approve - 0
- Abstain - 1
Mr Wall stated that a possible funding source for the program would be collected funds from Investment Fund projects that were underspent.
Financial Process and Productivity Projects Update
Presented by Jim Wall, Vice President of Administration and Finance
Note: Presentation is available on Blackboard
Mr. Wall presented an update on the Financial Process and Productivity Projects. The following questions, answers and discussion points occurred:
- The question was raised regarding when Cabinet reviews open positions on a quarterly basis, is it certain positions or all open positions. Mr. Wall stated that all open positions are reviewed. Cabinet has to make a decision if the position is needed. All positions are budgeted, but a decision has to be made if the position should be repurposed or refilled.
- Gratitude was extended to all involved in these projects as it is a lot of work and the outcomes are great.
- The suggestion was made to show the presentation at a College Senate meeting so that more faculty can be informed about the work that is being done and accomplished. Dr. Zollweg agreed to this suggestion and Mr. Wall agreed to present at a meeting.
Other Items from the Committee
Dr. Peterson asked when Summer Share funds would be distributed to departments. Ms. Hallenbeck stated that the funds were deposited last week.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m.
Next Meeting: February 27, 2020; 8:30-10:30 a.m.
JW/mw