July Meeting Minutes

Provost Council

July 5, 2012

Martin 128

The following were present: Dr. Deborah Curtis, Dr. Mike Grelle, Dr. Shari Bax, Dr. Rick Sluder, Dr. Jim Graham, Dean Gersham Nelson, Dean Roger Best, Dr. Joyce Downing (for Dean Mike Wright), Dean Alice Greife, Dean Joe Vaughn, Dean Mollie Dinwiddie, Dr. Joy Stevenson, and Ms. Debbie Combs.

Information Items
Dr. Sluder announced a development session for academic advisors has been scheduled for July 10. The purpose of the session is to discuss the way military transcripts are being assessed and evaluated and to develop a method to improve the process.

Report Items
President’s Cabinet: Nothing to report.
Faculty Senate: No report.

Discussion Items
Focused Marketing Initiatives and Returns: Dr. Sluder distributed a document noting specific graduate program mini-campaigns provided by Robin Krause. Central spends $425,000 on advertising in the Kansas City area. Robin Krause is tracking the sourcing of marketing initiatives. Next fall money will be spent on new undergraduate programs being offered at Central’s Summit Center.
Admissions & Recruitment Planning for 2012-13: This item was delayed to another meeting.
Status of Online Course Reviews: Dr. Graham reported six programs have been put in place for online course reviews. The quality matters template is being followed. It supports the HLC review process. Dr. Graham asked the deans for assistance in leveraging departments to identify problems with the online course reviews. All courses should be reviewed before putting them online but that doesn’t always happen. All departments should use the same template. Sixty- four courses are impacted and 28 of them have not been scheduled for review. An update on this item was provided on May 1 and the deans were asked to give an update by June 1. On June 21 a summary was sent out indicating current status. Dr. Graham wants to have a plan in place no later than the end of October for a process for online course reviews. Staff in the OT area has tried working directly with the faculty and now they are seeking the deans’ assistance. The faculty were all contacted the end of the spring semester.
Blackboard Courses: Dr. Graham reported an announcement went out last week with the timeline for preparations for the fall semester. Blackboard will be upgraded to the new version on August 3 and will be offline for a minimum of 48 hours.
Planned Assessment of Diversity Office/Community Engagement: Dr. Sluder announced the Diversity Office and Community Engagement have been combined. Robert Page will be coming to campus to do an assessment of that area to help determine the correct placement of the office. Mr. Page is a graduate of UCM and helped KU set up their program. Dr. Sluder distributed a document Mr. page has created which will be shared with people on campus. The goal is to get the office situated so it is clear what they should be doing. They are also looking for a new name for the area that will reflect what they do. Mr. Page will be on campus within a couple of weeks following the completion of the agreement and will be here for 30 days.
Retention Planning Update: Dr. Sluder reminded members this is a University priority and he hopes to keep this on the agenda as a regular report. A report is being put together for the Provost’s approval. There are approximately 54 days to get the plan into motion to take advantage of things that can be done for the spring semester.
Wait Lists for Fall 2012: Dr. Sluder stated all courses have waitlists but the courses that have 15 on the list need to be looked at differently. Students have the option of self-enrolling on wait lists but most of them come from the advisors. Dr. Sluder will discuss this with advisors. The goal is for every student to get into courses they need. Another option stated is for advisors to be more aggressive in putting students in alternative courses for gen ed requirements (i.e. British Lit instead of American Lit).
Planning for Spring 2013: Department chairs will have access to the spring schedule on July 13. Dr. Sluder hopes they can increase the number of general education courses.
Gen Ed Course Offerings: Dr. Sluder stated advisors are aware additional gen ed courses will be coming. A lengthy discussion was held on how to communicate to the students the courses that are available. Dr. Curtis asked if courses can be held for the International students and how to prioritize the needs. Lisa Runyan has asked all advising centers to review the lists of holds by college to see if any of them may be dropped.
RFP China Program: Dr. Sluder distributed information for a possible International Exchange with two universities in China and midwest institutions. Keith Crumbly and Tom Smith are working on this project and like the size and friendliness of UCM. Universities being considered besides UCM are MU, University of Iowa, and Missouri State University. Dr. Sluder will provide more details when they become available.
MONG MOU: Dr. Sluder distributed copies of the Missouri National Guard Memorandum of Agreement signed in January. This agreement could expand in time. Conversations are occurring regarding educational services for officers who have 90 hours but need a degree to advance in their careers. There are 63 officers that fall into this category at the present time. Dr. Vaughn said they are working with the National Guard to figure out specifically what they need – days, weekends, nights, etc. Courses might be offered via ITV or online. More information on this will be forthcoming.
International Enrollment Update for Fall 2012: Dr. Stevenson distributed an enrollment update. She hopes to have between 175-200 students at orientation. The yield is usually 40% of those admitted. Dr. Stevenson’s report included information on incoming and outgoing exchange students for summer and fall and International professional development grants for 2011-12.

Other
Dr. Grelle encouraged members to play in the sandbox that was set up for Task Stream. They plan to do a follow up session.

Dr. Bax reported MAXIENT training has been scheduled for August 6. Dr. Corey Bowman will be contacting people across campus that need to load student data for disciplinary purposes.
Dr. Best reminded members of the formal announcement at Skyhaven Airport on July 10 at 11:00. Tony Monetti will be introduced.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Combs, Recording Secretary

Provost Council
July 12, 2012
Martin 128

The following were present: Dr. Deborah Curtis, Dr. Mike Grelle, Dr. Rick Sluder, Dean Gersham Nelson, Dean Roger Best, Dr. Joyce Downing (for Dean Mike Wright), Dean Alice Greife, Dean Mollie Dinwiddie, Ms. Traci Butler (for Dean Joseph Lewandowski), Dr. Joy Stevenson, Ms. Cheryl Riley, Ms. Melissa Jones, Ms. Ann Nordyke, Mr. Grant Schmidt, and Ms. Debbie Combs.

Information Items
None.

Minutes
The minutes were accepted as presented.

Report Items
President’s Cabinet: Dr. Curtis announced the name has been changed to Strategic Leadership Team (SLT).
Faculty Senate: Ms. Riley reported the Senate has not met this summer.
Retention Planning Update: Dr. Sluder announced a meeting has been set and a plan for the strategy has been set to get this in motion. The principal work group meets next week and will discuss who the team members should be. This process has been modeled after the president’s rapid response teams.

Discussion Items
Google Services: Melissa Jones attended the meeting in Jim Graham’s absence. Ms. Jones reported they have received several requests for additional Google services but unfortunately they cannot support all the services. Some of the services mentioned were iGoogle, Google translator, Google reader, and Google+. Ms. Jones asked if anyone objected to turning on the additional services. None being noted she said they will be turned on sometime this summer. A list of additional services will be distributed to members.
Admissions: Ann Nordyke and Grant Schmidt attended to update members on upcoming meetings they will be having with academic departments. During these meetings they will be receiving information on new programs, accreditations, etc. that they may use when recruiting new students. Once this information is collected training materials will be updated for the reps.

Other
Reorganization of Provost Council Calendar: Dr. Curtis stated she is thinking of revising the meeting schedule for the Provost Council. Her suggestion was to meet with the four academic deans on the first and third Thursdays of each month and the traditional Provost Council on the second and fourth Thursdays. When a month has a fifth Thursday it will be held in case a work session is needed for either group. If it’s not needed, everyone will have a free Thursday. Dr. Curtis asked members for their thoughts and they agreed it sounds like a good idea. This new schedule becomes effective immediately.
Dr. Sluder distributed an update on the projected number of additional enrollments for fall 2012.
Dr. Grelle alerted the deans to some information that will be forthcoming from the gen ed committee. They will be asking for proposals they can begin reviewing.
Dr. Sluder reminded members the spring 2013 schedule will become available on July 13. He will have information available at the next Provost Council meeting on the last three springs that may be used for planning purposes.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Combs, Recording Secretary

Provost Council
July 26, 2012
Martin 128

The following were present: Dr. Deborah Curtis, Dr. Shari Bax, Dr. Rick Sluder, Dr. Jim Graham, Dean Gersham Nelson, Dean Roger Best, Dr. Nicole Nickens (for Dean Mike Wright), Dean Joe Vaughn, Dean Mollie Dinwiddie, Ms. Traci Butler (for Dean Joseph Lewandowski), Dr. Joy Stevenson, Ms. Donna Mayeux, and Ms. Debbie Combs.

Information Items

None.

Minutes

The minutes were accepted as presented.

Report Items
Strategic Leadership Team: President Ambrose will share his goals with the campus at the State of the University Address. Provost Curtis will also speak during the address. SLT acted on the personnel recommendations that were submitted. Dr. Graham shared information with SLT on Google services. Some services are not available through the educational license so if people want to use them they will have to use an alternate Google email account. A marketing update was also provided by University Relations.
Faculty Senate: Dr. Rennels was absent so a report was not given. Dr. Curtis reported she met with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting on July 12 and she plans to be as clear a communicator with them as possible.
Retention Planning Update: Dr. Sluder plans to keep a running timeline. The committee meets on July 27. Members of the Rapid Response Teams have been identified.

Discussion Items
Academic Calendar - Summer Schedule: Dr. Sluder reported the calendar is put together five years at a time. A request was received asking if they would consider changing the finals schedule for Fall 2012 to a four day schedule. Due to the way the winter break falls they will have less time for processing and posting grades. After some discussion members agreed it is too late to adjust this year’s schedule but the finals schedule needs to be looked at for future years. Another item discussed was having a dead week between the end of the spring semester and beginning of the summer semester. Dr. Curtis will form a group to look at summer sessions (i.e. dead week between spring and summer semesters, length of courses, number of hours that have to spent in class as well as outside of class, and a four day final schedule).
Gen Ed Course Capacity: Dr. Sluder distributed an update on course capacities.
Report on Advisor Meeting: Dr. Curtis reported she recently met with the advisors to begin brainstorming the issue of gen ed capacities and wait lists. They are going to remove the option of upper class students being able to bump the lower class level students if they procrastinate enrolling in their classes when they first have the opportunity. A suggestion was made to develop a campaign during the fall on personal responsibility. Students need to understand there will be consequences for procrastinating. Dean Best suggested an email be sent to all students to clarify the wait list process. Include language that if students fail to register during their assigned registration time they will be put on a wait list and will not be able to bump anyone else.
Messaging in Processes and Communications: Dr. Sluder reminded members of the importance of creating a positive student environment while preparing for the fall semester.
Education Advisory Board Contact: Dr. Curtis reported that she recently met with Cate David from the University Leadership Council of the Education Advisory Board. This council does custom research reports. When they heard about the Missouri Innovation Campus they called because they want to know more about it. Dr. Vaughn has been happy with their services. Dr. Curtis said she is looking for someone that doesn’t let things slide. Dr. Curtis will schedule a teleconference with them at an upcoming Provost Council meeting.
Other Enrollment Management Update Items: Dr. Sluder report 144 drops were made on July 16 for nonpayment and 75-80% of them will try to get back into classes. The Student Success Program has 145 students so that program is almost full. Some seats have been released that were being held for Learning Communities. Post cards will be sent out in the next week for students that have not enrolled. Dr. Sluder distributed data on gen ed course enrollments for fall 2010, 2011 and 2012 to date. He will distribute the same information for spring and discuss it with Dr. Curtis to ensure there are sufficient gen ed courses for students enrolling. He has been receiving questions on where we are this year compared to last year. That data is unavailable due to the change in the college structure effective July 2011. At this point there are 1,799 students yet to enroll by the first day of classes. That number includes approximately 700 graduate students.

Other
Dr. Graham announced Blackboard will go down on Friday, August 3, for an upgrade. It will be unavailable no more than 48 hours. They will also be doing a Banner upgrade at the same time. He said if anyone needs to request additional storage space those requests need to be made as soon as possible.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Combs, Recording Secretary