Planning Council
September 19, 2001
President's Conference Room
Those
present were: Erik Bitterbaum, Pat Bitner, Tim Beardsley, Paul Milhoan, Jack
Simpkin, Curt Fulmer, Alita Sellers, Connie Dziagwa and Patsy Bee.
Dr.
Bitterbaum opened the first meeting of the 2001 Fall Semester by reporting on
two major projects he wants Planning Council to be involved. These are:
·
North
Central Association of Colleges and Schools Accreditation Plan - Develop plan
for upcoming evaluation in 2003-2004.
·
Enrollment
Plan - Develop an enrollment plan that focuses on admissions and
retention. Currently there is no
overall plan or commitment in place.
He
asked members of the Council to make suggestions for other areas of focus this
year:
- Assessment Plan - A
plan needs to be developed to address all parts of assessment including
graduate follow-up.
- Oracle system - A plan
to deal with and advise users of the the potential problems with the new
system.
- Banner - Need to
develop a plan to get to the next level such as dealing with budget
issues.
- Contact Hours in
Technology - Develop a plan to see how programs are being developed--by
accident or through design. Review
how technology programs are being promoted.
- College Appearance -
Develop a plan to improve the facial appearance of the college to match
the new sign at the entrance of our campus - start with trimming trees.
- Retention - Develop a
plan and commitment to retaining students that apply to our college. Improve our current advising
system. Improve Learning Center. We need to have a mechanism to help
students be successful.
Instructors need to bridge the gap between the different learning
styles of students. Recruit older
students.
- Financial Aid - need
computerized financial aid and need knowledgeable person to work with
Banner.
- Coops/Internships -
develop a plan to provide students more access to the work
environment. Encourage areas
businesses to hire more of our students.
Planning Council
September 19, 2001
Page 2
- Access Plan - develop a
welcome center to assist students in becoming familiar with the college
and what it has to offer. Students
need to be socialized into the college environment and make it work for
them. Have folders of information
ready to hand out to students that come into the college for the first
time. Assign a mentor (another
student) to assist them with questions.
Have a checklist of things potential students need.
- On-line Registration
and Telephone Registration - need to develop a plan where students will be
able to register online or by telephone.
Training has been completed on Banner and should now be
implemented.
- On-line
Courses/Programs - need to develop more online courses and provide support
for those courses. There has been
many increased requests for more online courses.
- Marketing Plan - there
is currently no marketing plan because there is no formalized enrollment
plan in place.
- Compact/Master Plan -
Need to be proactive not reactive.
There
was a discussion regarding our residency policy which can be a stumbling block
for some students who move to this area and purchase a home. It was noted that
the policy and the college catalog indicates that students must live in the
area for twelve months. Other parts of
the policy clarify that statement. Dr.
Bitterbaum will review the policy with Cabinet members on Monday. He will also share discussions of the
Planning Council at that meeting, and he will call on members of Council to
work on some of the issues raised today.
Minutes of today's meeting will be provided to Council members next week
and another meeting will be scheduled for October.
Respectfully submitted,
Patsy Bee
Administrative Assistant to the
President