Student Development Committee

Minutes from February 21, 2006

Cascade TH 112

Submitted by Wendy Palmer

Members in attendance: Laurie Bales, Andrew Brookins (student), Barbara Eby, Kendi Esary, Leah Gibson (student), Tony Greiner, Kelly Marks, Rebecca Mathern, Jessica Morfin, Pamela Muir, Linda Palmer, Wendy Palmer, Linda Reisser, Mary Severson, Ray Taha (student), and Dee Wilson.

Items of Business:

• We reviewed and approved the minutes from the last meeting.

• Rebecca Mathern reported on two Title III activities:

• Katy Ho is working on an early warning system whereby instructors can set off a trigger when they have students who are falling behind or are in the wrong class.

• They’ve reviewed the submissions of successful classroom activities and have selected several winners.  These winners will receive cash awards, demonstrate their ideas at TLC presentations, and have their plans posted on the retention webpage.

• Enrollment Management (EM) discussion points:

• The Enrollment Management group is suggesting a change in the refund drop deadline for students.  Currently, students may drop a full-term course by the second Friday and have tuition charges removed.  The EM feels this is too long.  By the end of the second week, if a student drops, it’s not possible for another student to add the class so late in the term.  PCC loses revenue, classes may be cancelled, and students lose opportunities to take classes they want.  The EM would like to free up slots in classes earlier so that other students can enroll.

• The EM would like to change the refund drop deadline to the end of the FIRST week of classes, rather than the end of the second week.  They believe this would give students enough time to decide whether a class is appropriate.  By the second Monday, an Instructor could add additional students to the class.

• There has also been discussion about an enrollment purge two weeks prior to the start of a term if students have not paid.  This would also free up extra seat for students who really want a class.

• SDC Members Responses:

• Are faculty really willing to let students add a class during the second week?  If so, this could be a benefit to students.  We recommended that the committee get more faculty input.  Rebecca said that they are considering doing forums. 

• The number of appeals would skyrocket and the number of advisors would need to be increased to help students reschedule.

• What are other community colleges doing?  This would put PCC at a disadvantage if we are the only school in Oregon doing this.

• Disabled students often wait until just prior to the drop deadline to give them time to be sure that the instructor’s style meshes with their learning needs.
  
• Paying for classes prior to the first day of a term would be problematic for financial aid students.  They are paid after the refund drop deadline date.

• Is information about how to drop classes covered in orientations?  Mary Severson said that students get so much information that they don’t pay attention to this topic.  Students are worried about getting into classes, not dropping them.  The first week of a term is very hectic and a one week deadline is difficult to meet.

• Many other schools have proven that special orientation/survival events enhance student success.  Linda Reisser reported that the Deans of Student Development created a “first term experience” work group to look at other college’s successful retention initiatives and make recommendations.  Many of us volunteered to be on that committee.

1. Mary Severson presented our Smoking Ban recommendation to the EAC as a discussion item.  The body determined that we had been premature in recommending the implementation process and voted to create a fact-finding task-force.  Kendi Esary will represent the SDC.

1. Dee Wilson, Kelly Marks, and Mark Fennell revised our last Children on Campus policy draft.  Dee took it to a meeting with Deans of Student Development.  They viewed this as a serious risk management issu.  Dee thinks there’s a way to rework our proposal to allow children only in designated areas and then ask that both the original and modified plans be reviewed by the college legal team.  Pamela Muir will share with Dee the survey results of faculty she conducted last year.

1. Leslie Riester is recommending a computer literacy placement test for all in-coming students.  Mary gave us information on ETS’s 75-minute test and we’d like to see what ACT offers since they do our COMPASS exams.  Issues of concern: cost of the software program; ability of testing staff and centers to handle this increased load; and if a student loses some of his Financial Aid if he has to take a computer class.  We agreed that it’s important for students to have computer skills and would like to see the creation of a task-force that included our computer tech. and campus testing staff.  Linda Reisser will take it to the next DOI/DOSD meeting for their thoughts and ask them where they think the recommendation should come from.

1. Tony Greiner raised the concern that students who attend classes on Saturdays don’t have adequate access to student services.  We noted that the bookstore, business office, and registration are open on several Saturdays during the term and agreed that students would benefit from improved support services.  We discussed the status of student service departments that do and don’t have extended week night hours. 

1. Dee Wilson shared copies of graphs showing the volume of appeals petitions and the allocations by campus.  One noticeable point is that Sylvania has approximately 44% of the total student population but produces 61% of the petitions.  She reported that the petition process guidelines have been revised to include a waiver option if the student can’t use the voucher, and a secondary dispute process.  Mary suggested that Dee get guideline copies to advisors.

Respectfully Submitted,

Wendy Palmer