Meeting of the First Year Experience (FYE) Steering Committee
Thursday, January 24, 2013
NOTES
Present: Dave Arnold, Bob Brown, Sheila Hall, Angelina Hill, Pam Kessler, Lisa Liken, Ruth Moon, and
Erin Wall. Rachel Anderson participated by conference phone.
The following suggestions and statements were made:
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We should identify the obstacles that students encounter with the application, assessment,
advising, and enrollment processes--up through the first week of classes. If we make
improvements to the processes, it will help students have a more successful first year experience.
Part of the focus needs to be on technology. We need to invite the programmers into the
discussion to help improve the processes. We should have an assessment of Student Services’
processes and discuss any problems with the Data Owners Group. We already have staff in
Student Services who are working on the processes. We need a way to get feedback from other
people on campus about what is being done. Email Angelina the information about any technical
problems, and she will take it to the Data Owners Group. Email Sheila the information about
problems related to matriculation (advising, assessment, and orientation).
It was suggested that a statement be added to the fee notice stating that students will be
dropped from their classes if payment is not received by a specific date.
Organize an orientation day fair and involve everyone—advisors and faculty. Personal
connections make all of the difference. The timing of this event is very important. Could faculty
assist with advising in their own disciplines? Could placement be part of the fair?
We are developing a new student orientation video.
We could use basic skills funding for temporary positions and to pilot a program.
Erin distributed the FYE draft and reviewed some of the information. The following statements were
made:
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We are targeting all first-year students. All first-year students should have an SEP and attend a
mandatory orientation. We will do more intervention with basic skills students because they will
have greater deficiencies to overcome. The students should take the English and math
assessment, and we should identify students placing in English 350 and Math 380.
Math Intervention: Students placing in Math 380 should meet with an advisor/counselor to
determine whether they would be candidates for Math 302 or Math 302 and Math 303 to
remediate either over the summer or during the fall, 2013 semester. Math 302 and 303 teach
math refreshing skills. Students can take what they need to get back to the level they left off in
math.
The Remediation Joint Statement document had a lot of good ideas that might change the way
we advise. We need to clarify the roles of counselors and advisors. We need to train the advisors
so the message is consistent and helpful to students. Counseling positions are a top priority.
Sheila showed everyone a copy of the new student letter and reviewed the letter and the process. The
following suggestions were made:
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There is too much text on the new student letter, and we should bold the sentence that states
that students must check their MyCR email account on a regular basis. The students’ CR email
accounts should be active when they receive the new student letter.
At the very top of the letter we should have a statement that tells students to watch the
orientation video. The video tells students the importance of checking their MyCR email
account. We need to put a link to the video on the letter.
Dave’s main objection: IT is not letting us contact students by using their personal email
addresses. We need to find out if students can update their personal information from the
MyCR email account. We need to get students to access their MyCR email accounts.
We should have a diagram on the letter that illustrates the steps (in logical order) students need
to follow to move through the process. We could give students a ticket when they complete a
step.
There have been complaints about giving placement tests at the high schools. We should have
a more controlled environment for placement testing. We should make a recommendation that
placement tests be taken at CR or proctored for students that are out of the district. There
should be a designated time and room for the tests. We should encourage students to prepare
for the tests and take practice tests. The placement test practice information is included in the
new student letter, but it could be changed to be easier to access. The practice information
should be updated with Math Jam information. Students should take the initiative and come to
CR and take the tests. Sheila will work with Keith or MaryGrace about the placement test
situation.
It was suggested that we keep a record of our phone calls and the types of questions students
are asking.
Students need to step up and become college students. Enrollment in a GS class could help.
Students who have high school GPA’s that are below a certain level would be
encouraged/required to take a GS6 class. We would need to get high school transcripts if we do
this, or we could just review placement test results.
Everyone agreed that this semester we should work on streamlining the processes and ask IT for
assistance when necessary.
At the next FYE meeting, we will look at placement.
We could have a subgroup of this committee that could look at obstacles and send this
information to Sheila or Angelina.
Having a meeting with staff, faculty, and Student Development people could be very helpful to
address specific issues. Angelina could bring this up with the Academic Senate. They could also
talk to Keith about it.
Everyone agreed the FYE meeting schedule was fine. The meeting adjourned at 3:00.