ENROLLMENT SERVICES
DIVISION COUNCIL MEETING
DATE: MARCH 9, 2012
Chairperson:
Arvid Spor
Members Present:
Theresa Clifford, Robin Dreizler, Liz Fernandez, Brooke Matson,
Harnish Patel, Breanna von Stein
Recorder:
Lucy Nelson
The meeting began at 9:00 a.m.
Review January 13, 2012 Minutes
1. No changes were made to the minutes.
2. Financial Aid wanted a larger drop box made but not sure if it would take care of issues with
students struggling with completing and turning in forms. A. Spor is discussing purchasing
online forms software with Jo Ann Higdon, VP of Administrative Services. Online forms would
speed up processes by making students submit required information - financial aid students
could receive their money faster. Bond money could fund software costs.
3. The second floor concierge was very well received. Student ambassadors are periodically
scheduled based on need. Ambassadors tracked the type of questions asked.
Accreditation
1. Recent letter from Barbara Beno, head of the accreditation commission. Five recommendations
remain from the 2008 visit – tied to Compton on their eligibility requirements and accreditation
standards. Compton’s past problems include not meeting the 50% law (at least half of funding
received from state must be spent on direct instruction) and fiscal issues. Compton is not as far
along as ECC with linking planning, program review and budgeting. Planning workshops will
be held at ECC and CEC which are mandatory for all managers. Even after meeting the original
nine recommendations after the 2008 visit, there may be sanctions against ECC after the next
team visit in fall. ECC will need to develop plans to show how CEC will be brought up to speed.
Budget
1. The State reduced the amount of funding the College will receive. $5.5 million and $1.8 million
(trigger cuts) were factored in the total level of cuts. The State trimmed back an additional $2.6
million (February surprise mid-year deficit). Total of $9.9 million less ECC will have for 201112. ECC budgeted for most cuts – short just $650,000 which will probably come from the
reserve to lessen the impact to programs and services. Compton not as fortunate and will face
further cuts. $9.9 million cut (1/10 of annual general fund budget) will occur again next year.
2. Elimination of winter session in 2013 will go before the March Board. The economy is picking
up very slowly; unsure if and when winter session will return. The State is receiving less
revenue from property taxes than expected.
Student Services Task Force
1. Chancellor’s office and Board of Governors put together special committee to assess student
success. Task force made up from members of Board of Governors, faculty, managers, students,
and community. Task Force gathered information for a year and came up with 22
recommendations that include first year experience, learning communities, supplemental
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instruction, and diagnostic assessment taken before the assessment test. Mandates include: all
students have an educational plan, address basic skills right away, and limit the number of units
to 110 to qualify for BOG fee waiver. The Enrollment Management Task Force began to
address recommendations months ago. B. Matson will find a student representative to attend
Enrollment Management meetings (held on the second Thursday of each month from 2:00pm3:30pm in Library 202).
How basic skills classes are currently taught does not work for a lot of students. FYE worked
with Math and Humanities to create pilot accelerated basic skills courses. Students who signed
up for these courses got better grades, completed more courses, and fewer dropped or failed.
Planning to expand accelerated courses.
There is discussion about expanding FYE as a requirement for all incoming first-time, freshmen
students. They will participate in orientation, diagnostic testing, take FYE cohort courses and
basic skills courses in the first semester. FYE applied for priority registration but Sacramento
legislation could change the priority registration process. Expecting to start FYE expansion later
this spring. Need to increase space and staff/faculty to expand the program.
FYE could easily be marketed to high school students through high school counselors. The
program is already well-received and well-publicized at the high schools. Some high school
students believe they can automatically be an FYE student no matter what their scores. Outreach
could clarify FYE information with the high school counselors.
There are an estimated 2,200-2,400 incoming full-time, first time students at ECC. FYE
currently serves 700-750 new students. There are plans to add two more full-time counselors
and one full-time advisor. Part of the reason FYE works is the ‘one-on-one’ service provided to
the students. FYE financial aid students are better prepared with their paperwork. Participation
in cohorts builds camaraderie and confidence in students. A cohort’s success depends on the
type of course, instructors and students. A discussion took place about other ECC programs
modeling their programs after FYE. President of Santa Ana College intends to use ECC’s FYE
model to address a large number of the Student Success Task Force recommendations at their
college. There are 22 colleges across the state that have visited and copied ECC’s FYE program
model.
Open Forum
1. Some students get “constituency redirection problem” message when they apply and log on to
the portal. The full message is “constituency redirection is enabled but the user does not have a
primary constituency.” This warning message does not help students or staff understand the
problem. One explanation given was ITS erases all user name and password information to save
space on the server if a student applied a previous semester but didn’t attend. Can’t
automatically be fixed with a student’s new application. Have no control over the warnings –
controlled by Datatel. One suggestion made to fix the problem fairly
quickly would be for students or staff helping students click on the online
operator on the MyECC main page. One comment made was that it
doesn’t work for students. This is a link to the ITS Help Desk. Suggestion was made to contact
Will Warren in ITS about correcting the problem. If this doesn’t work, then spread the word
about staff using the Online Chat feature for the student. Maybe post a clearer explanation on
the portal. Let R. Dreizler know of other issues students may have with registration.
2. Discussed problem faced by high school students who turn 18 after August 1st and must prove
they are high school graduates when applying to ECC and for financial aid. Discussed the need
to provide new students with better and correct information.
The meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m.
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