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FirstͲYearCouncilMeeting––April19,2010
MembersPresent:April,LynR.,Maria,Deirdre,KristinW.,Donna,Jo,LynC.,LindaW.,Inez,Dave,Paul,
Pierre,Chris,Jon,LindaC.
MembersAbsent:Ken,Melissa,Adam,&Katrina
1. DiscussionofCornerstoneSubcommittee’’sProposalfor3ͲhourCornerstoneCourse
a. DiscussioncontinuedfromApril5,2010,meetingsurroundingthepossibilityofofferinga
cornerstonecourseforfirstͲyearstudents.Seenotesbelow.
–– ApriltalkedaboutrelationshipwithLACC&LACͲRSC,whoarebothsupportiveofthis
class.
–– Lynintroducedtheidea&reasonbehindit&overviewedproposal.
–– Couldbeexperimentallyoffered––3times––beforegoingthroughcurriculum.
–– CouldbeofferedtogointocurrentLAC,notwaitfornewLAC(Maria).
–– Donna:Likesthatassessmentbuiltintothecoursefromthestart;portfolios;faculty
developmentbuiltintoit;smallsections
–– PeermentorQ––astudent.Generallypaidorgetcreditforit.
–– Fallonlycourseduringphaseinperiodonly?WhataboutthosewhocomeintheSpring?
Couldtheysubstituteanothercourse?Springofferingwouldbetransferstudentfocus.
JoͲonly50personsintheSpringwhoarenewfreshmen.Therewouldbeadvantagesin
offeringitagainintheSpring,totweakit,experimentally.
–– FirstͲyear,firstͲtimestudents––howdoesthisworkfortheLAC?Couldsetupsomething
asanalternativeorhaveoneforthetransferstudents.
–– Whoisgoingtoteachit?Whatcoursearen’’ttheygoingtoteach?Whoispayingforit?
Wewouldneedtohirenewfacultytoteachtheclassesthataren’’tgoingtobetaught.
RemovinganexistingLACcourse(e.g.,capstone)wouldhelp.
–– Wouldweliketohavethiscourse,evenifit’’snotpartoftheLAC(Jon)?Webelievea
cornerstonecourseisimportant,evenonavoluntarybasisforstudents.Thiswould
allowustogatherdata,showsuccess,betteringthecourse,etc.
–– Emeritifacultycouldbeused,asoneexample.
–– LynC.––thisisfacultyͲdependent.Wewouldneedtoselectpeoplewhoareinterestedin
doingthis.Howmanypeoplewouldbewillingtoteachitwithsomeextraincentive?
(ChrisN.)Dowehaveacriticalmassthereonthis?Couldwesurveythefacultytofind
out?Orcouldweaskdept.headstodothis?Deirdre––wecouldhavebreakoutsessions
atfacultydevelopmentdayinFall.
–– LynC.––wehavetodecidewhetherthisissomethingthatisimportanttodo.
–– Deidre––thisisnotabudgetͲneutralproposal.Wecouldoffervariouswaysof
implementingit.Providesomeexamplesofwaysthegoalscouldbemet.
–– LynR.––therewillbebudgetimplications.Butthereisaninvestmentin
recruiting/retainingstudents.
–– Somedepartmentswouldlovethisopportunitytouseitasarecruitingtool,whowould
puttheirbestfacultyintoit(Deirdre).
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Justificationsforproposal––dataonthosestudentswhowe’’renotretaining(LindaW.)
&makethecoursemorefocusedonthat(e.g.,offͲcampusstudents;highGPAs;atrisk
sections).
–– Jon––butretentionisnottheonlyoutcome.Targetingstudentswhomightbe
successful.
–– Whatdowemeanbyextendedorientationtopics?Jonsaidweneedtoarticulatethese
aheadoftime––whichoneswereallywanttobecovered,intermsofoutcomesof
course.
–– Needstobefleshedoutasacourseproposal(Maria).Thetopicshavetobelisted&how
they’’llbeassessed.Wewillhaveafacultyfleshthisoutintoacurricularcourse
proposal.
–– Marialikestheideaofacourse––butitneedstobeclearerhowitwillbedone.
–– Donna––therecouldbegeneraldescriptions,basicelementsthathavetobeincluded.
Theseneedtobeidentified.
–– Chris––youcandomorewithstudentswhohavehadthisexperience.
–– Deirdre––point10advisoryboard––couldadvisoryboardbeestablishedfirsttosetup
largergoals&developmentstrategies.Couldhaveacoordinatingcommittee
eventually,likecurrentLACC(Maria).Theadvisoryboardwouldtakealeadershiprole
fromthebeginning.
b. Motiontoapprovecornerstonecourseinprinciple,withestablishmentofadvisoryboardto
fleshoutthedetails
ChrisNeuhausmovedtoapprovethefollowingmotion;LynCountrymansecondedthemotion.
Themotionpassed:12infavor;1abstention(concernedaboutlogisticsinrequiringitforall
students).
Ourtaskwastoresearchfirstyearexperienceprograms,determinewhatwould
bebestfortheUniversityofNorthernIowa,andcreateaproposalfortheFirst
YearCounciltoapproveordeny.Inourresearch,wefoundevidencethatthe
majorityofhighereducationinstitutionsareofferingaseminarofonetypeor
another.Abundantresearchshowsthatthefirstyearseminarisattributedwith
increasesin:persistencetosophomoreyear;studentsatisfaction;useofcampus
services;academicabilities;persistencetograduation;gradepointaverage;and
motivation(NationalResourceCenterfortheFirstͲYearExperienceandStudents
inTransitionandPolicyCenterfortheFirstYearofCollegesurveys).
WiththecostofrecruitingonestudenttoUNItotalingnearly$500,itisclear
thatretainingstudentsislessexpensivethanrecruitingthem.Ourexpectationis,
withthecreationofafirstyearcornerstoneexperience,theUniversityof
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NorthernIowawillintentionallyguidethefirstͲyearexperienceandassist
studentstoacquiretheskillstheyneedtosucceed.
WeproposeUNIoffera3credithour(gradedcredit)academicinquiry
cornerstonecourse.Thecourseanditsrelateddeliverymethodswouldbe
developedbyfacultymembers,inpartnershipwithstudentservicesstaff,
students,andadministration.Thiscoursewould,bythenatureofitsassignments
andactivities,provideahelpfultransitiontostudentstocollegeatUNIandwill
includeextendedorientationtopicsinthecontextofaninterdisciplinarycritical
inquirytopicofthefacultymember’’schoice.
April&JonwillmeetwiththeViceͲPresidentforAcademicAffairsandtheViceͲ
PresidentforStudentAffairstopresentthisproposalandrequesttheyappointan
advisoryboardtofleshoutthespecificsothisproposal.Thisboardshouldcontain
facultyrepresentationfromallfivecolleges,staffmembers,andatleastonestudent.
Werecommendthefollowingbeappointedtothisadvisoryboardinitially:Maria
Basom(representingCHFA/CNS&aformermemberoftheLACC),LynCountryman
(representingCNS/COE),DaleCyphert(representingCBA,becauseofherworkwiththe
ProfessionalSkillsinitiativethere),DeirdreHeistad(representingtheProvost’’sOffice),
ChrisNeuhaus(representingthelibrary),InexMurtha(representingAcademicLearning
Center),AlexOberle(representingSBS),LynRedington(representingDOR),and1Ͳ2
studentsappointedbystudentgovernment(orperhapshaveAdamHaselhuhnandnew
studentbodypresidentorviceͲpresidentserve).
Oncetheadvisoryboardhasbeenappointed,thentheirtaskwouldbetodevelopa
curriculumdraftproposalbytheweekbeforetheFallsemesterstarts,inorderforitbe
discussedatabreakͲoutsessionontheFacultyDevelopmentDayfocusedonLACissues
onAugust19.
2. PreviewofMonday,May10FirstͲYearCouncilmeeting,focusedonfirstͲyearstudentlearning
outcomesandassessment(concernraisedbyacademicdeansaboutlearningoutcomes):Donna
Vinton
OpeningremarksbyDonna:
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Noassessmentmeasurementmeasureseverything.
Noassessmentinstrumentisperfect.
Noteverythingisdirectmeasurement––firstͲyearcoursewouldbehelpfulinthis
regards.
Everyfirstyearstudentdoesnothavetobeassessedoneverylearningoutcome.
Wedon’’talwaysneedpre&postdata.
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Assessmentwillneedtobecollaborative––we’’llneedtoworkwithvariousofficesacross
campus.Therewill,though,needtobeacontactpersonforthis.
Assessmentisanongoingprocess.Weneedtolookatplan&improveitovertime.
Donnaprovidedhandoutbasedonherbrainstormingonlearninggoals.
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WealreadyhavefouryearsofNSSEdatathatcouldbeusedforassessmentpurposes.
GotoNSSEdataonwebpagetoseethekindofdatawealreadyhave.
Needdirectmeasureideasfornexttime(fromfirstͲyearcornerstonecourse)––e.g.,
researchprojects,tests––couldhelpFYgroupgetconsistencyinthecourse
3. FacultyDevelopmentgroupisdevelopingabestreadsbibliography.