Commission on the Status of Minorities
Meeting Minutes: April 15, 2014
Call to order
Arthur Garrison called to order the regular meeting of the 2013-14 Commission on the Status of
Minorities at 11:12 am on April 15, 2014 in the third floor Psychology conference room in Old Main.
Attendance
The following persons were present:
Qin Geng-College of Business
Arthur Garrison – College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Mary Ann O’Neil – College of Education
Soo Goh- College of Visual & Performing Arts
Rhonda Branford – Division of Multicultural Services
James D. Jackson – African American Professional Organization
Guest: Kimberly Scranage, Vice President of Enrollment Management
The following persons were absent:
Thomas Robinson – African American Professional Organization
Jose A. Molina-Latino Caucus
Kiara Richardson-Student President of BSU
Ryan Wheeler – Black Student organization representative
Louis Rodriquez – Latino Caucus
Karen Deysher- Graduate Student Representative
Christopher Wentzel- Non-minority Student Government
Jackie Fox – Office of Social Equity
1. Approval of the Minutes
Motion called for the minutes to be accepted. The motion to accept was made by Mary Ann O’Neil and
seconded by Qin Geng.
2. Treasure’s Report
Final report was tabled for next meeting.
3. Old Business
Discussion on the Focus Group planning was tabled for next meeting.
4. New Business
a. Election of 2014-2015 Executive Board tabled for next meeting
b. 2014 Administrative Council Report
Arthur Garrison submitted a draft report to be presented at the April 18, 2014 meeting of the
Administrative Council. The draft was approved.
c. Discussion of enrolment
Kim Scranage was given the floor to discuss three areas to be addressed; information on service,
data collection, and financial aid. She also discussed surveys that are currently being analyzed
regarding student perceptions of the quality of service received from departments under her
direction; Public Safety, Housing and Residence Life, Financial Aid, Admissions, Registrar and
the Bursars Offices. Inconsistencies in service to the undergraduate students and the service
culture are areas that are being explored. The agency that was hired to develop the survey has
received over 2000 responses, some of which were open-ended questions. The responses will be
used to develop service culture standards and training modules.
She reported that although KU has data on enrollments and admissions - it is not data rich. She
explained that it is surface data and the quality needs to be refined. The institutional review is
cutting apart information and going multiple layers deep. Kim asked for the questions CSM is
seeking to answer and she will go back into the institutional climate review. James Jackson will
send her the questions and she will provide data on the results within the month. Arthur
commented that the demographic data will be helpful. Kim stated that she can pinpoint the exact
term when intervention is needed.
Financial aid has been revamped. She also discussed University policies regarding admission to
Kutztown as well as how financial aid that is made available to incoming students as a means of
attracting them. In the new program accessibility, affordability, and quality go together. SAT
score 820, ACT score of 17 and 2.0 GPA required for admission. If students do not meet these
requirements they are referred to a community college until they can transfer to KU to avoid
failure. Advise out and away so they can come back and be successful. There will be no
automated telephone messages in admissions in order to develop and build positive relationships.
The Admissions Office is targeting students who will fit here and be successful and stay to
complete their programs of study. Money for initiatives is also being made available (filing for
PELL early). The projection is that there will be increased enrollment.
She concluded that she would make the data that was available to the CSM on any requests it had
regarding the student of color acceptance, retention, academic success and graduation rates of
students at Kutztown.
d. discussion of CSM 2014-2015 events tabled for next meeting
5. Additional meetings for the semester
The next meeting of the commission is scheduled for May 8, 2014 at 10 am in the Psychology
conference room.
Adjournment
James Jackson made the motion to adjourn at 11:59. The motion was seconded by Mary Ann O’Neil
Minutes submitted by: A. Garrison and M. O’Neil