COAA
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Union Board Room, 10:30 AM
Present: Bryan Barker (UAASC), Laurie Black (Registrar’s Office), Donna Bradford (COEHS), Jane Coplan (UAASC), Sue Dagit (Registrar’s Office), Jeanne Gage (COEHS), Jennifer Grimm (Communications), Molly Homer (Honor’s College), Ember Keithley (CBT), Ehren Kuzekob (Study Abroad), Lisa Melz‐Jennings (Athletics), Kathy Meyers (SAPSC and VRC), Caryn Morgan (CAS), Julie O’Brien (UAASC), Jinny Page (BA/BGS), Larry Pickett (Military Science), Jennifer Sandrik‐Rubio (Physical Sciences), Vicki Walters (Biology), Michelle Yager (UAASC) Guest: Iraj Kalantari, Chair, Department of Mathematics Dr. Kalantari spoke about items regarding Math 099 forced enrollment. The University Senate decided to promote the idea of students taking Math 099 as soon as possible. This forced enrollment is similar to that used by the English Department. Students will be forced to enroll in Math 099 following their third semester here at WIU. The Math Department has championed this idea of forced enrollment as a relevant issue since some students were putting off taking math until their senior year. The Department formulated a policy and presented it through appropriate channels until it had university approval. The Math Department did their job promoting and presenting the idea and it is now the role of the university to try and handle the rest of it. In a situation where a student is requesting to be exempt from a forced enrollment, both Drs. Kalantari and Lynn are comfortable allowing advisors to decide IF the request is valid. If advisors find that the student has a very good reason for not taking it that semester, then the forced enrollment should be waived. If advisors think the student is going to take it in the summer, for example, exempt the student but emphasize how important it is to take it the class soon as possible. The exemption can be waived on MVS in the ADEN screen. There is no permission code to enter; the “N” simply needs to be changed to a “Y”. Any advisor can give permission to drop the course after a student has registered for it, but currently only Caryn and Boris can waive the forced enrollment. Dr. Kalantari would like to request that all advisors have this option because he doesn’t want to have this waived through the Math Department and Caryn shouldn’t have to handle it for all students. Dr. Kalantari will speak to Dr. Lynn about this. Hearing no other questions about the Math 099 forced enrollment, he presented the following informational items: 1) More than half of our students entering the university need to take Math 099. In order to improve that, the Math Department is offering less and less mass lecture sections. Beginning spring semester, classes will be smaller. The Provost has given money to have more graduate students teaching classes. 2) Students who place in Math 099 during SOAR but who are close to placing in 100 are given an opportunity to receive online tutoring and can come back to campus in the fall to retake the COMPASS and try to place in Math 100. There is no cost to the student, although there is a cost to the Math Department. This is called PIP (Placement Improvement Program) and was implemented during the 2012 summer. 3) The Department is working on changing the Math 099 & 100 textbooks and their on‐line component. The online system has experienced some problems, especially this semester. The new textbook will be tailored for Math 099. The Department is still debating what to call the text, Pre‐Competency Math (Math 099) and Competency Math (Math 100) are titles being considered. The Math Department is also negotiating with the author to have him expand the text so it can also be used for Math 100. It is the desire of the department that students taking Math 099 and 100 in sequence will only need to buy one book. The cost of the textbook will be reasonable. If the student doesn’t pass the class, they won’t have to rebuy a new book in order to get a new online code. They are still in negotiation about the price but it will be less than students are presently paying. All students taking the class will have access to the textbook during the first week of classes. If they stay in the class they can purchase the book and, conversely, they can drop the class without having to pay for a book they will not use. Another element of Math 099 is that students can bypass Math 100 if they do well in 099 and if their instructor recommends that route. Students will be able to choose between an e‐book or a hard‐backed textbook available. They are trying to negotiate a price … an e‐book and access to software would be approximately $55.00, the current price for a textbook is $80. The hard‐backed version of the textbook will be tailored to WIU and would cost approximately $110. Students would not be able to sell the textbook back online but could sell it back to students on our own campus since it is tailored strictly to WIU. There will be a code for the online portion. If a student purchases the text and later fails or drops the class, they would not have to repurchase the book when they re‐register for the course. Credit for Math 099 is supported by Dr. Kalantari and the idea has been presented to the Chair’s Council, Provost, and President. This has mixed support among the faculty. Dr. Kalantari won’t drop the case because he thinks there is no shame in offering it and it is the right decision, but the chance of its approval within the next 3‐4 years is 50‐50. An advisor pointed out that students and parents are opposed to paying for a class for which they don’t get credit. There is talk from the State that they would like to see all remedial, non‐credit classes moved to a community college setting. If that occurs, our entry math class would have to be Math 100. If a student failed Math 100 they would have to take remedial math classes at a community college. We may hear more about that later. Dr. Kalantari has concerns about that because 1) more than ½ of our students would be sent to community colleges 2) who would teach these courses, 3) we would be admitting students to the university but telling them they don’t really belong here, 4) how would students be bussed to the community college?, and 5) it would impact our graduate students because 2nd year math graduate students teach a section of Math 099 and eliminating that course would impact the department and graduate students. He felt that is a concern and that WIU should be critical of it. Making 099 a credit course might be a remedy for that, or have Spoon River College instructors come to WIU to teach. This proposal is still in the talking stage and only at the state level. I.
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Approval of the November 15, 2012, minutes No changes were suggested so the minutes stood approved Freshmen and Transfer NSR Review The November NSR schedule was discussed at the UAASC staff meeting and some changes suggested. Next year will probably look different with freshman not taking English placements, although transfer students would probably still need to take it. **Addendum to the minutes: The English Dept does not want to have transfer students take an English placement exam. They will use official and unofficial ACT scores to place transfer students. The English department is also developing an Appeal process to be shared with the COAA in January. 1) Everything was fine with the Honors table and speech, but it seemed to take too long for students to register. With the change of freshmen not having to take English placements next fall, they would stay for the panel discussion and the transfer students will either be sent to do English testing, math testing, or to their advisors if they don’t need either testing. In that way, students would register in more differentiated way and in stages. 2) Advisors were waiting for students and they had changed majors … advisors can utilize their time more efficiently. Students who had originally been on an advisors list could either have changed majors or been a no‐show. Next year the no‐show files will be brought to Stipes so that advisors can be notified if their students aren’t there. There may be a table placed at check‐in for those wanting to change majors and the change can be done there so that advisors know how many students they will have before the program starts. A list of those who have changed majors will also be compiled so advisors can be notified. 3) There were a lot of questions from parents and students about lunch. Letters sent to students and parents need to emphasize that lunch is on their own and to please have it completed before the program starts. Michelle will take this back to the committee. III. Early Warning Grades Discussion Michelle asked what types of interventions/procedures are done after early warning grades are announced. Several advisors send out emails strongly encouraging students to see their advisor for assistance. Advisors were encouraged to send sample email templates to Michelle who in turn will send them out with the COAA minutes. Although everyone would like to see the percentage improve, the number of faculty who submitted early warning grades without being mandated was up from last semester. IV. FL 12 Undergrads Not Enrolled for SP 13 – Michelle Yager Although Michelle hasn’t received official word, she believes advisors will soon be asked to contact students from fall 12 who are not registered for spring 13 and get them signed up for classes. Administration was pleased with the results last spring/summer when the advisors intervened to get late students signed up. The Provost is presenting this request to the deans and chairs as well. Advisors felt it would be helpful if the list had graduating seniors removed. Jennifer Grimm reported that she has letters to students who have not registered being hand delivered by faculty members, as well as e‐mail attempts. A lot of students seem to have financial holds keeping them from registering for next semester. Regardless of holds from other departments, advising holds should be removed once they’ve met with the student and not delay meeting with student because of other holds. Furthermore, classes are determined by enrollment numbers. If students aren’t enrolled in classes, there is an increased risk of a needed course being cancelled. Notes have been sent to students who have been in to see their advisor but have not registered yet. ENC and ENR reports are sent to advisors. If students have all holds lifted and have not registered, it was felt that these students are at high risk of not returning for the spring semester. It’s suggested that advisors create a list of reasons why these students aren’t returning. This information could help direct retention efforts. Freshmen may not know what to do since this is the first time they are registering on their own. It may help if Building Connections mentors reach out and remind students to see their advisors and get registered. Sometimes it helps to hear the same message from different sources. This suggestion could be brought up at the mentor evaluation meeting since it was not mentioned during the planning process. V. ROTC: LTC Larry Pickett The government requires students to fill out a “contract” showing how many hours are remaining before graduating in a specific major. Advisors are being asked to sign the back of the forms as the Official Verifying Agent. Some advisors felt uncomfortable signing as they felt the Registrar’s Office is Official Verifying Agent. Those advisors who do sign have inserted a handwritten note on the form saying, “subject to change”. In addition, UA students are not declared into a major. Since going through the Registrar’s Office would just add another level, it was suggested that the wording be changed to “advisor” or “university official”. If advisors don’t want to sign it, they should have the student return the form with a sticky note attached indicating their reason for not signing and then ROTC will send it to the Registrar’s Office. It was explained that this is a projected worksheet. LEJA advisors sign it because it is not official and can be updated. It is simply a contract with the army that students are going to graduate in a specific major. Students need to get all major changes approved with the Army. This is a federal form used on campuses across the country. It’s next to impossible to make changes to the wording. Also, an electronic form can’t be used because not all universities have access to electronic formats. ROTC tells students to see their advisors and asks them to get the form completed as soon as possible. There is no deadline date for the form to be returned but the longer an advisor has it, the slower it will take for the official contract to be completed. Send students to the Registrar’s Office and ask for Donna or Joyia to see if all classes to graduate are listed. LEJA has an electronic version and they will send it to Michelle she will send it out to advisors. VI. Tutoring Website Discussion The tutoring website can still be accessed the old way but it is also under “quick links” on the UAASC website. Go to wiu.edu/advising and there is a link to tutoring there. The tutoring website lists information about guided small group sessions, academic assistance centers, and walk‐in tutoring in the library. Julie has made the headings larger. Michelle, Julie, Estelle, Tim and some students will meet to see what changes need to be made and will bring their suggestions back to a future meeting. Julie will look at other institution’s websites for tutoring ideas. Other areas of tutoring are included such as study skills and test taking strategies. Julie would like feedback from other advisors about ideas they have seen on other campus’ sites that we could incorporate. Good navigation tools and less wordiness were suggested. Students are looking for something that is quick and easy. Things that need to be looked at: 1) Under Tutoring and Learning Center …. the University of Chicago link is not active. 2) In Academics under academic assistance … nothing is listed there that says anything about tutoring so our page needs to be linked on that page. Julie will ask Heather about who maintains that page so it can be included. 3) “Ask a question”… goes to an Admissions form and asks about information on the university. Is this correct? If you have any other ideas such as how to navigate the website, what type of information is needed, dead links or links that not very helpful, send them to Julie O’Brien. VII. CAS Standards. CAS Standards were unanimously approved as written VIII. Standing Committee Reports Professional Development and Networking The NACADA workshop was presented. Other topics related to NACADA might be presented in the future. Campus Affairs The professional dress drive will start shortly. Committee members are currently obtaining permission from departments to put boxes in their areas. Assessment Committee members are continuing to look at student surveys and trying to come up with common themes. Information will be shared with everyone and questions revamped. They will be having one more meeting to go over the survey and then will begin working on questions for next year. Next year they are opening it up to every student so that they can get a better assessment of advising. CAS Standards were approved and they will now be sent to Ron for approval and then will be put on the website. Addendum to minutes: The Provost has approved the updated CAS standards. After the by‐laws are approved they will be put on the Academic Advising page on the UAASC website. Addendum to minutes: The Provost has approved the updated By‐Laws. It was suggested that if students get a survey too often they will stop responding and that would skew results. It was suggested that maybe it should be sent every 2 years. The committee is not going to send it to freshmen in the fall because they have not been on campus long enough to generate valid data. The committee is striving to gather more specific information that will help WIU’s advising program. Awards Committee This committee will meet this month to select the recipient of the November Advisor of the Month Award. IX. CAGAS None X. News from the Registrar’s Office – Sue Dagit Grades GRRP (grading screen) will open Monday, 12/3 and will close at noon on Monday, 12/17. Final grades will be available on Tuesday, 12/18. Graduation 1/04/2012 (Friday) is the deadline for degree requirements to be met for 2012FL. 1/08/2012 (Tuesday) Fall degrees will be conferred. CAGAS Next Thursday, 12/06/2012, is the next meeting and the last regular meeting of FL12 Tuesday, 1/08/2012, is the meeting during which special appeals will be heard. 1/03/2012 (Thursday) is the deadline for appeals to be submitted for the January 8 meeting. XI. QC and CODEC final exam times can be found on Course Search.
College Area News No updates on the SOAR timeframe. The December 13th COAA meeting and Assessment Committee meeting will be cancelled because it is during finals week. Everyone was invited to attend the UAASC Holly Bowl on December 14th, from 10:00‐2:00. Stop by during your break or lunch for a cookie, punch and a quick round of Wii bowling. Prizes will be awarded to top score, lowest score, and if anyone bowls a perfect game. Please still come even if you don’t want to bowl!! The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 pm. Respectfully submitted, Debbie Carithers