College of Mass Communication
Advising/Retention/Graduation Plan
Dean Roy L. Moore
February 8, 2013
College Enrollments
Enrolled
Undergraduate
Graduate
4000
3500
2793
2717
3000 2662
2565
2528
2441
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
88
80
76
75
74
70
0
2007 2008 2009 2010
2011
2012
Year
College Graduates
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
565
24
142
546
505
25
162
466
18
19
457
103
25
97
128
234
165
Graduate
J-School
234
131
235
193
127
201
RI
EMC
142
135
2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Current College-Wide Advising
•
Open advising by academic advisors & faculty every semester
•
Pre-candidacy advising by UCAC & MC academic advisors
•
Faculty advisors assigned to students with candidacy
•
“Walk-in Wednesdays” with no appointment needed for
advising
•
Interactive advising guidebook
•
Advising orientation/workshops for new faculty
•
Academic advisors meet with department faculty for
updates/changes once a semester or as needed
•
Future Advising Initiatives
Develop Student-Centered Culture
• Strengthen advising through faculty workshops, online access of candidacy
applications & upper-division forms as well as infographic versions of
curricular maps
• Hire college staff to coordinate advising & retention efforts; serve as
graduation coach
• Create browse-able, user-friendly & compelling catalog
• Continuously evaluate tools/procedures/methods & implement
changes such as one day processing policy on course substitution
& designating program-specific candidacy codes
• Develop peer mentoring & tutoring system
College-Wide Initiatives
Curriculum Development
• New program offerings that reflect industry changes
& new accreditation standards
• Utilize online learning resources such as Lynda.com
• Increase online or hybrid courses, experiential
learning, study abroad & capstone courses
• Strengthen or develop new graduate programs
•
•
College-Wide Initiatives
Continued
Raise Academic Standards
• Implement more rigorous candidacy requirements
• Revise major field test
• Examine alternative path for students not achieving candidacy
• Identify parallel path to candidacy for transfer students
• Attract better prepared students through strategic
marketing & student recruitment campaign
• Provide showcase for students’ best work
College-Wide Initiatives
Continued
Improve Culture of Engagement
•
Increase student involvement in student organizations & co-curricular
opportunities in Center for Innovation in Media, Seigenthaler Chair, MT Poll …
•
Develop community relationships & partnerships
•
Strengthen industry relations through advisory boards, guest speakers, visiting
artists & scholars
•
Establish new program-specific student organizations to develop community
within specializations
•
Alumni outreach
College-Wide Initiatives
Continued
Enhance Student Access to Technology & Facilities
• Regular upgrade of software & hardware in labs &
studios
• Course or lab fee needed to enable college to meet
maintenance & currency requirements & reduce
reliance on TAF funding
• Provide technical support staff in all academic units
Electronic Media Communication
• A strategic analysis of the department
was conducted in 2011-12.
– Student interviews
– Alumni interviews (emphasis on recent grads)
– Department-wide participation
– Use of available studies
– SWOT analysis
– Market analysis
Electronic Media Communication
• Primary issues identified in the strategic
analysis:
–
–
–
–
–
Graduate success and satisfaction
Lack of depth in the major (accreditation issue)
Gaps in curriculum
Challenges of staying current (curriculum & faculty)
Advising issues due to catalog discrepancies & delays
with student records
– Community relations (internal & external)
– Weak marketing, communications, & culture
Electronic Media Communication
• Cleaned up advising issues
– Numerous errors have been corrected in
the catalog, upper division forms, and on
Banner.
– Turnaround of student academic record
updates has been expedited. (transfer
credits and course substitutions)
Electronic Media Communication
• Improving advising
– Advisor training each semester
– Promoting Open Advising
– Using new channels to help students understand
our curriculum, our programs, opportunities, etc.
• Better, more helpful descriptions
– More active communication & coordination
between advisors
Electronic Media Communication
• Improving advising: next steps
– Info-graphic versions of academic maps
– Design a new approach to student records in
Banner: Student profile pages
– Build a user-centric browse-able online catalog
– Engage a research company to study the student
experience at MTSU
Electronic Media Communication
• Lack of depth in the major
– Pursuing a change of accreditation body
– Added 8 hours to the major
– Adding hands-on lower division courses
Electronic Media Communication
• Evolving our curriculum
– Updates across the department
– MFA program in conjunction with Recording
Industry
– Raise the bar for candidacy
– Provide programs for University Studies majors
– Better programs for minors and Gen Ed students
– Better integration with TN Transfer Pathway
Electronic Media Communication
• Provide better support to students
– Establish annual funding for software and
hardware updates
– Budget for supporting student activities such as
remote productions, sets, materials and supplies,
competition and festival fees, travel to events,
etc.
Electronic Media Communication
• Starting new student organizations
– New Media Club
– Photography Society
– National Broadcasting Society
• Supporting existing student organizations
– MT10
– WMTS
– Film Guild
Electronic Media Communication
• Communications & cultural issues
– Creating more shared experiences
– Elevating EMC Productions to “varsity team”
– Embracing social media: blog, Facebook, etc.
– Weekly Friday Forum
– Showcasing exemplary student work
• First Look festival
• Competitions & festivals
– Baldwin Photo Gallery in Mass Comm
Electronic Media Communication
• Attracting qualified students
– Changing program names to vernacular terms
– Participation at events such as career fairs and
Nashville High School Academy Awards
– Marketing-oriented website
– Brochure-in-a-business-card
– TEDx Conference (proposed Spring 2014)
– Blue Spark Awards (next page)
Electronic Media Communication
• Partner with private sector
– Capitol Records Street Party, DWP Live, CT
Touring, etc.
– Internships
– Advisory board
– Classroom visits
Department of Recording Industry
•
In keeping with the University Master
Plan, the Department of Recording
Industry’s retention plan takes a student
centered approach to better serve,
inform, and educate students.
The plan is focused on six key areas
for initiatives:
– Technology and Facilities
– Advising
– Program & Curriculum
– Student Life
– Enrollment
– Administrative Systems
Department of Recording Industry
Technology and Facilities
• Retention Goal: Improve and
enhance student access to technology
and facilities
• Increase the student to computer ratio
in RI Labs to a 1:1 ratio.
• Require a basic technology package
for all students: Laptop and select
software.
• Provide students with subscriptions to
lynda.com.
Department of Recording Industry
Technology and Facilities
• Institute a technology fee for all
•
Continued
Relocate studios and classrooms that are in
Recording Industry students to fund
condemned buildings and isolated
regular technology updates,
locations to a centralized secure facility
lynda.com subscriptions, and
continual facility improvements.
• Increase the number of production
facilities so that students are not
required to work overnight.
and improve all classrooms to create
environments more conducive to learning
Department of Recording Industry
Curriculum and Program
Retention Goal: Enhance and
improve the program offerings to stay
current with industry and serve
student demand.
•
•
•
•
Modernize the curriculum to better reflect
the current state of the industry. Focus on
live event production.
Build more partnerships with programs
across campus to create more collaborative
and interdisciplinary student work
environments.
Build stronger ties with industry through
advisory committees, guest speakers, and
visiting artists.
Bring more industry professionals to
campus as adjuncts to teach specialized,
cutting edge classes
Department of Recording Industry
Advising
Retention Goal: Increase student and
faculty awareness of department
programs, policies, and degree
requirements.
•
Continue having two full weeks of
•
advising and degree information a
central piece
•
all department policies and curriculum
registration.
Hold “Infofest”, a comprehensive
department orientation event, each
semester for new students.
Publish a printed detailed department
information guide each year containing
open advising before and during
•
Improve the Department website with
requirements.
•
Continue the faculty advising committee
to exchange ideas and best practices.
•
Hold semi regular student/faculty forums
Department of Recording Industry
Student Life
Retention Goal: Enhance student
lifestyle to increase every student’s
“time on task” and “time on campus”
• Increase student involvement in
student organizations.
• Bring students into the major
earlier in their academic career.
• Offer peer tutoring for core courses
in the curriculum.
Continue growing the student record label
by producing more special events and
building partnerships with major labels and
publishers.
Department of Recording Industry
Enrollment and Recruitment
Retention Goal: Increase the
percentage of pre-candidacy
students who receive candidacy
without increasing the total number
of students accepted into candidacy.
• Award candidacy upon admission to
the university.
• Enhance recruitment efforts to attract
more students from technical and
creative backgrounds.
• Examine alternate path to candidacy
for transfer students.
Department of Recording Industry
Administrative Systems and Customer Service
Retention Goal: Improve the
departmental administrative systems
to better serve students.
• Put candidacy applications online
to streamline and improve the
process.
• Create an online system for Upper
Division forms.
• Examine course offerings each
semester to ensure that course
offerings are focused on
facilitating student progression
toward graduation.
• Better facilitate students in their final
year before graduation by offering a
wider range of upper division courses
online, in Nashville, and in “Weekend
College” format.
• Hold regular brain-storming meetings
among front line personnel to identify
solutions to administrative problems.
School of Journalism
• Offer Media Studies
concentration
• Faculty review of
candidacy process: improve
writing competencies,
create writing proficiency
exam
• New major orientation
• Enhance TN Transfer
Pathways to expedite
smooth transition
• Excellence in faculty
advising award
• Increase student-generated
content on school website
School of Journalism
Continued
• Update brochure & other
marketing materials
• Sponsor events such as Scripps
National Spelling Bee as part of
• Increase visits to area high schools recruitment of talented students
& junior colleges
• Dual enrollment/credit
opportunities
• Student Ambassadors program
• Participate in advertising &
similar student competitions
• Increase faculty-student
research/creative project
collaboration
School of Journalism
Continued
•
Promote excellence by continuing
•
support of such organizations as
Kappa Tau Alpha Honor Society
Establish Student Persistence Award
($500)
•
Student portfolio reviews by
professionals
•
Enhanced use of exit interviews
including Graduating Student Survey
to strengthen existing programs