Provost’s Council
October 9, 2012
8:00 a.m.
Ruby Hicks Hall, Room 245
(Revised 10/23/12)
Members Present: Doug Allen, Jackie Blakley, Amanda Blanton, Tim Bowen, Scott Britten, Scott Harvey, Dan Holland, Lynn Lewis, Amoena Norcross, Sarah Shumpert, Brian Swords
Members Absent:
Others Present:
Length of Meeting: 1.5 hours
Topics Discussed:
The minutes of the September 11, 2012 meeting were approved.
In following up on the minutes, Galen noted that he researched matrix management in community colleges and found that Valencia College uses it very well, in key processes. In the near future he would like to send a team to Valencia College to meet with our two contacts, and to gather information on how they successfully implemented culture change.
Scott Harvey discussed the Summer 2013 and Fall 2013 academic calendars. He noted that the admission deadline and the registration deadline would be updated once those dates are finalized. There are no significant changes in either calendar. Scott mentioned the discrepancy in the number of meeting minutes in Summer Session A. Each meeting pattern had a different number of minutes, and in some cases, there was a significant difference. This will be reviewed and addressed by the Scheduling Charter Committee. It may be that we need to change the class end times. Scott commended the Faculty Senate for catching this discrepancy. He also noted that the number of days in the semester and the calendar constraints are under review.
Amanda noted that our consultant, Jim Black, recommended that the admission deadline be as late as possible but still allow ample time for students to be advised and oriented. Mr. Black suggested working backward from the first day of class.
Galen noted that two key factors that impact deadlines are financial aid requirements and our current inability to predict enrollment. Sarah Dowd is on top of the financial aid issues, and KC Bryson is working on a predictive model for enrollment. This model will use and apply historical data and will be able to provide, by program, enrollment predictions. This will help greatly with scheduling and will help in developing the calendar.
Without a late registration, Amanda noted that we need to be aware of and be prepared for a spike in registrations after the admission deadline. She mentioned that for Spring 2013, we have two different admissions deadlines, one for current students, and one for transient/transfer students. Incentives for registering on time have been approved by Executive Staff. Sarah mentioned an incentive at another college at which students earned points for different positive behaviors and were entered into a big drawing in the spring. This was a very successful initiative and that college experienced a 5% increase in retention. Scott will research the trend for the appropriate number of students to be included in the drawing and suggest a cap. The group also discussed setting a date by which registration must be completed to be eligible for any drawings.
There was a brief discussion about the use/duties of the advisors in the Advising Center. Galen will follow up with Rob Massey on this topic.
Professional Development Day is listed on the Fall 2013 calendar. Typically, this day is only held during an election year. The group agreed. Scott will remove this date from the Fall 2013 calendar and will send it forward for approval by Executive Staff. The group discussed alternate times for Professional Development day, and Galen will discuss this with Sharon Colcolough.
Next, the group discussed the strategic plan. While this year’s report-out will be modified to focus on the priorities, all activities will be reported on a template. The strategies will be organized by color, so that we have a strategy by strategy visual of our progress. The group of color coded templates will be briefly discussed at the report-out meeting.
The report-out’s focus will be on the plan priorities. Prior to the report-out, small teams will meet to discuss what they want to report. Certain points, the importance of the priority, what has been done, a timeline for completion, etc., should be addressed by the team. All templates should be sent to Lisa Saxon by October 24. Lisa will organize them and prepare them for the meeting.
Galen explained the revised planning process. Sarah will facilitate an Executive Staff session to come up with a new way to create/develop a plan. In the future, the goal is to have directions which will be objectified with key strategic objectives and key performance indicators.
The identification of priorities for the Provost Council was discussed. For this academic year, Galen asked the group to consider on what the Provost’s Council should focus its time and energy. The following were suggested.
· Program Review – programs under review will present their findings to the Provost’s Council
· Retention – Provost’s Council would be the quality review group for the retention plan
· Integrating and assimilating advising
· Assimilate strategic enrollment priorities (goals, deadlines)
· Curriculum Committee - address various topics
Philosophy
Roll out WIDs to web in the spring and review electronically
Lack of committee charter
Review of committee membership (needs a CCE representative)
How to align our cycle with CHE and Financial Aid cycles
After discussion, it was agreed that these five items would be this year’s priorities for the Provost’s Council.
At the next meeting, the group will discuss the Curriculum Committee and may invite Tracy Ethridge, Curriculum Committee Chair, to the meeting. During the discussion, it was noted that the College has so many committees that we tend to have duplication of effort. It would be helpful to find a way to better manage committees.
Dan reported on a recent CSSO meeting.
· Horry-Georgetown is considering a policy to not admit a registered sex offender. Discussions about this are taking place throughout the System.
· The Student Code will be revised to make it ADA and civil rights compliant. The revised Code will be discussed at the President’s Council meeting in late October.
· A Title IX coordinator must be identified. The individual’s contact information must be placed on the website and in the catalog. Sharon Colcolough and Dan are Tri-County’s Title IX coordinators.
· Positions that were waiting to be funded by Perkins have been funded. Perkins appears to be “safe” for the next several years.
· An interim suspension for students is being considered under the Student Code. This would allow the student to remain in class until due process is complete. Process rights for faculty need to be considered, as well.
· Conversations are taking place about the development of an incentive plan to encourage students to submit the FAFSA in a timely manner.
· The Lottery Tuition Assistance rally is January 22. Dan noted that some of our students may attend the rally, as they have in the past.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Recorded by: Anne Bryan
Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 23, at 2:15 p.m., in RH 248A
