NIU College of Business STRATEGIC PLANNING COUNCIL XV MEETING MINUTES (Academic Year: 2011‐12) ~ Friday, January 20, 2012 ~ 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. STRATEGIC PLANNING COUNCIL XV (SPC) SPC Members: Tim Aurand (MKTG Faculty), Curtis Batterton (Graduate Student), Ann Carrel (Director, Executive, Professional, & Fast‐
Track MBA Programs), Anthony D'Andrea (Director, Development, Senior Gift and Estate Planning Officer – COB), Ken Elliot (MGMT Instructor, UBUS 311), Geoff Gordon (MKTG Chair), Brain Mackie (OMIS Faculty), Peter Magnusson, (MKTG Faculty), Jane Mall (Director, COB Experiential Learning and Corporate Relations), Sarah Marsh (MGMT Chair), Mark Misic (Director of Technology), Jessalyn Murray (Undergraduate Student Rep), Paul Prabhaker (Associate Dean, College of Business), Nancy Russo (OMIS Faculty), Denise Schoenbachler (Dean, College of Business), Rebecca Shortridge (ACCY Faculty), Pam Smith (ACCY Faculty), Kelly Stewart (Office Manager OM&IS), Mike Welsh (Welsh Industries, Owner), Dan Wunsch (Associate Dean for Administration), Jim Young (ACCY Chair), and Lei Zhou (FINA Faculty) SPC Members Unable to Attend: Amy Buhrow (Coordinator AACSB/Assessment), Virginia Cassidy (Vice Provost), Joe Cullinane (President – Joe Cullinane Enterprises, Inc.), Michelle De Jean (Director, COB Marketing), Charles Gowen III (MGMT Faculty), Lenita Hepker (Administrative Assistant to the Dean), Chang Liu (OMIS Chair), Vijay Krishnan (MKTG Faculty), Lori Marcellus (Director Undergraduate Studies), Marc Simpson (FINA Chair)¸ and Beth Towell (Associate Dean of Undergraduate), Guests: Sam Baker (Undergraduate Studies) and Lori Jackson (Coordinator, Retention and Recruitment) The Dean welcomed and thanked the group for their contributions. She listed past initiatives conceived by the SPC: Entrepreneurship/Social Entrepreneurship, Global, New Directions for the MBA Program, Passport, Technology, and Recruiting and Retention. She pointed to the recently revised vision and mission and the core values to guide the group’s activities. The Dean explained the delay in convening the XV SPC group. As a college, we must align with the university strategic plan which the President discussed during the fall semester. The Provost also renewed a commitment to the strategic planning grants and the Vision 2020 grants were introduced. We applied for both grants to fund various intitiatives. Dr. Peters will come to the College on Friday, January 27 at 9 a.m. to discuss the Vision 2020 strategic plan in more detail. Anyone planning on attending should RSVP to Lenita as soon as possible. Introductions were made. Additional representatives are needed from the following areas: Finance faculty, undergraduate students and alumni/business. The Dean asked for approval of the minutes from the May 13, 2011 meeting. Curt Batterton made the motion, Jane Mall seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as presented. SPC XV Meeting Minutes ~ Friday, January 20, 2011 Page 1 Strategic Objectives In accordance with AACSB standards, the 2005 strategic objectives need to be revised to reflect the quality of our degree programs, our focus on continuous improvement, the balance of teaching and intellectual contributions and the students we want to target. A committee of three was requested to work on this. Retention Update In fall 2011 and spring 2012 recitations from UBUS 223 – Business Statistics, a historically difficult course, were required. Improvement in student performance with the required recitations was not statistically significant compared to previous semesters without the requirement. Additional analysis of performance related to class size was done. A study from fall 2008 to fall 2011 showed the larger sections (average size: 158) had an average GPA of 1.61 while smaller sections (average size: 83) had an average GPA of 2.07. Four 52‐student sections will be offered in fall 2012. One of the sections will be in the tiered classroom to allow for any overflow. The recitations will no longer be offered. Other ongoing retention activities include: • The tutoring schedule for the core courses is given to students each semester. • Student response systems (Clickers) are being encouraged to better engage students in the classroom and track attendance. • Lori Jackson, Lori Marcellus, Beth Towell and Chelsea Smith meet once a month to focus on retention issues. As enrollments have dipped, the University has encouraged the College to reduce the GPA requirement for the upper division curriculum. Previous analysis showed incoming junior GPA to be a predictor of success in the upper division. The College is currently studying the performance of 25‐35 students who were allowed in to the upper division (without meeting the GPA requirement) and has two data points. The students who did not meet the GPA requirement did worse in UBUS 310 and this difference was found to be statistically significant. We will continue to track them through the rest of the upper division curriculum. It was suggested that we compare the performance of the students not meeting the GPA requirement with students just meeting the requirement as well. The impact of UBUS 310 on recruitment and retention was discussed. It was determined that we don’t have data showing that UBUS 310 is actually a deterrent. The Recruitment and Retention committee agreed to look at the impact of UBUS 310. Points to consider: • UBUS 310 is the first mass lecture ever taken by many transfer students. • The fear of not passing a course with a nine credit hour weight may cause students to choose a non‐business major. • UBUS 310 taught by a consistent faculty team at the same time ensures all business majors are getting the same content that others can build on in later classes. • The UBUS 310 faculty team is constantly improving how the course is delivered. They have gone from a cumulative, two‐day final exam, to cumulative mid‐term and final exams to non cumulative block exams. • 20% of students change majors during the class. • Separate classes with “smaller chunk” learning also has advantages. • Student representatives felt that passing UBUS 310 was a “badge of honor.” They found it challenging but worth it. A LinkedIn group on How to Succeed in UBUS 310 supports this. Most students who do not pass take the course again. Some take it three times on appeal. • There are many bright students pursuing business minors and non‐business majors. These students should be asked why they choose a non‐business major. • The Dean does not get push back across campus in regards to UBUS 310. • The SPC needs a better understanding of what happens in UBUS 310. • We should manage the language we use when discussing the course with prospective students, community college representatives, parents and the business community as not to project UBUS 310 as a disadvantage. The t‐shirts with “I survived UBUS 310” may send the wrong message. SPC XV Meeting Minutes ~ Friday, January 20, 2011 Page 2 Recruitment Update Faculty, staff, and students have all been involved in student recruitment. The College has been trying to work with the university as much as possible. College‐specific programs include: • Chicago Area Business Educators Association (CABEA): Hosted Entre Day for high school business teachers and business students at the Hoffman Estates campus. Dennis Barsema provided the keynote address and NIU business alumni presented in four of the eight breakout rooms. The College will also host the CABEA spring 2012 meeting in Hoffman Estates. • Community College Day: Hosted a meeting for business faculty, advisors, transfer coordinators and business chairs in fall 2011. Seventeen people from seven community colleges attended. Speakers introduced participants to the College, updated them on new things going on, and gave an overview of UBUS 310. • New Futuro: This is an online platform to educate Latino families on accessing higher education. NIU participated in two Saturday workshops with 300 attendees each. NIU also participated in their summit event at the UIC Forum. 7,500 people including members of the press and the governor attended. • English Language Services (ELS): Presentations were made to students currently enrolled in classes and advisors from Turkey, China and other countries. • College Bridge: Presented to 20 students in the program the summer prior to their senior year. • National Society for Hispanic MBAs: Hosted 20 high school junior and seniors participating in a summer enrichment program. • United Neighborhood Organization (UNO): This group seeks to build grass‐roots leadership within Chicago’s Latino neighborhoods. Presented to 75 sixth graders. Passport Update Ten students gave feedback on the Passport program in a focus group during summer 2011. The program was launched in fall 2011 with a group of 14 sophomores. In fall 2012, it will be offered on a voluntary basis. Passport will be required for all transfer students in fall 2013. It will be required for all incoming freshman in spring 2014. Native students will be introduced to Passport the second semester of their sophomore year. The College Curriculum Committee, CUC and UCC approved the UBUS 200 – Introductory Workshop and the UBUS 201 – Pre‐graduation audit courses, both 0 credit hour courses. The College has applied for two grants to help fund a coordinator in summer 2012. The Great Journeys grant was denied. We are still waiting to hear back about the Vision 20/20 grant. We are in the process of appling for course fees attached to the courses to help fund the program. The Passport committee will meet in mid‐march and again with students in the pilot at the end of the semester. AACSB Update At the May meeting, the SPC discussed the four concerns from the 2008 AACSB visit team in preparation for the completion of the Maintenance of Accreditation Application due to AACSB by July 1, 2011. The responses submitted are included in today’s meeting packets. We were granted an exclusion for the Bachelor of Science in Applied Management. In the next six months our visit team should be identified. MBA Update New MBA brochures were distributed and Paul Prabhaker provided an update on the program. • Revenue has been increasing over the last three years. Paul is projecting a 10% increase in gross revenue from FY12‐FY13. Marketing effectiveness, the quality of the experience, new programs and new markets are driving revenue increases. • The MBA staff is using a three‐step marketing process (Reach & Drive, Capture, Convert) and requested faculty assistance at open houses and making calls to prospects. • Enrollment in the Fast Trak program has doubled. In addition to the cohort starting in Fall 2012, an additional cohort will start in January 2013. • The College was granted approval to offer the MBA program in Chicago. This will be a two night per week EMBA format. Chicago is a fragmented market. Our seven competitors are all experiencing challenges and SPC XV Meeting Minutes ~ Friday, January 20, 2011 Page 3 •
loosing share to for‐profit, online institutions. Paul estimated a 25,500 student market. With our ability to execute our model, our affordable price and our product, the potential is enormous. The MBA staff is investigating physical space with the help of the university. Since the MBA is a commodity product, convenience and price are important, as is signage, when choosing a location. The MBA staff is investigating an additional double degree for the Fast Trak with a school in Spain, similar to the school in Bordeaux. What’s Next? Vision 2020 will provide direction for future initiatives. President Peters will present more information to the college next week. There are two areas that we need to investigate. Alternative Undergraduate Markets: The College is revisiting its previous decision to not offer online education. Research is underway on providing a 100% online degree completion program for the BSBA. Grants have been applied for and $250,000 start‐up funding is needed to implement the program. This is a one‐time investment as the program should be self‐sustaining after the first year. Research has only involved the structure, mechanics and delivery. Intellectual property rights have yet to be addressed. The Accountancy Department is also exploring an online graduate certificate as a stepping stone for an online MAS degree program format. It was noted that students involved in online education will be better prepared for virtual collaboration in business. Differential Tuition: Currently tuition for all NIU Bachelor of Science degrees is the same. Courses carry fees that differ. These fees are controversial and must be applied for, reviewed and approved. Students can apply financial aid to tuition but not fees. It is becoming more common among public US universities (NE, TN, WMU, UIUC) to charge higher tuition for degrees that have a higher cost of delivery. Our MAS program researched the issue and presented student and alumni perspectives to President Peters. They received approval for differential tuition for the MAS program. Denise requested two – three people to further investigate this for our undergraduate program. Action Items and Wrap‐up 1. Strategic objective committee: Amy Buhrow, Geoff Gordon, and Lei Zhou will review and revise the 2005 strategic objectives. They will report back at the next SPC meeting. 2. Differential tuition committee: Rebecca Shortridge, Mark Misic, and Dan Wunsch will work with the Dean on a case for differential tuition. They will report back at the next SPC meeting. 3. Impact of UBUS 310 on Recruitment and Retention: The Recruitment and Retention committee will look in this. Two more meetings will be held this semester, one in March and one right after the semester ends in May. Meeting adjourned at 1:26. Respectfully submitted by Amy Buhrow. SPC XV Meeting Minutes ~ Friday, January 20, 2011 Page 4