Deans’ Council Meeting
Held: May 16, 2013
Attendees: B. Barnett, E. Daffron, L. Chakrin, E. Saiff, S. Rosenberg, S. Perry, H. Nejad and
C. Romano.
Admission Report
C. Romano announced that the 911 deposit number was met.

Scholarship yields have not been as good as they should be.

Schools of lesser quality are competing with Ramapo on money with scholarship
applicants.

Ramapo is now the 2nd most expensive public school in NJ.

The only yield that has increased for the schools is undeclared.

Would like to involve conveners and faculty earlier in the enrollment process.
OSS Report
M. Cammarata and D. Nast – discussed current policies and procedures for OSS students and
the types of disabilities that are being handled.

OSS typically serves 320 students in the fall and spring semesters.

Most students have learning disabilities or attention deficit disorder.

Students with psychological disabilities, such as depression and anxiety, are increasing
and present more of a challenge to OSS.

Students with disabilities are to be held to the same code of conduct as other students;
focus has to be on the behavior not the student.

When faculty has a concern regarding an accommodation they should stop by the OSS
office and speak to staff.
New accommodation disclosure system allows students to provide notices to their professors
about academic accommodations. Students who choose not to distribute the disclosure form
are not eligible for accommodations, although OSS still identifies students with disabilities to
the faculty.
A suggestion was made about OSS students and advisement; particularly about seeing their
Academic Advisor, rather than their OSS advisor, as their primary advisor.
Living and Learning Communities
Aaron Lorenz gave an update on Living/Learning Communities and plans for expansion for
fall 2014. He reviewed the first year of LLC and what is happening now.

The program remains highly successful.

Retention rate is 91% which is slightly higher than the retention rate of the college at
88%.

Will implement an early alert system in the fall of 2013.

Data indicates that students have developed strong study habits and engagement in
campus events.

Goal for 2013 is to enroll 90 students. The proposal doubles the size of the LLC for
2014-15.

Current LLC structure provides Social Issues and First-Year Seminar as the two
required courses. All of the first year seminars will be taught by full time faculty.

Expansion of the program will continue to allow the positive aspects of the program to
reach more students.

Will implement an early alert system to monitor the progress of students.

Residence halls will not change with an expansion. LLC students are now on the 2nd
floor of Mackin Hall and half of the 1st floor of Mackin Hall.
PLEX
T. Lamprey introduced revisions to the undergraduate Plex policy and procedure (300-H).
The rational for change is attributed to growth of program and intent to make sure it was in line
with best practices.
Title: Removing the word experience from PLEX and changing title to Academic Credit for
Prior Learning Assessment; it was pointed out that credit is awarded for learning not
experience.
Under Procedure:
Deletion of line about students needing to complete 16 credits at Ramapo before any credits
earned through PLA can be posted to the student’s transcript. There can be a delay in
processing credits on a student’s transcript which can hold up the student’s academic progress.
Other suggestions were noted to change the portfolio review process and give the assessor the
option of resubmission, for one time only.
This policy/procedure will be put on the agenda for the next Provost’s Council meeting.