Academic Affairs Council
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Conference Rooms 3304-3306
Wells Fargo Place, St. Paul, MN 55101
Meeting Minutes
Committee Members Attending in Person: Donna Brauer, Kelly Charpentier-Berg , Elsbeth Howe,
Shirley Fenlason, Norm Halsa, Tom Hergert, Doug Knowlton, Kevin Lindstrom, Jessica Medearis, Greg
Mellas, Lynda Milne, Deidra Peaslee, Betty Strehlow.
Committee Members Attending via WebEx: Kirsten Fabozzi, Nancy Jannik, Adam Klepetar, Jeff Kolnick,
Devinder Malhotra, Shirley Murray
Committee Members Absent: Damon Kapke, Jenna Long, Barbara McDonald, Louise DiCesare.
Others Attending: Todd Digby, Todd Harmening, Karen Hynick, Jaime Simonsen, Leon Rodrigeus,
Margie Takash.
The meeting was called to order at 9:00 am by Co-Chair Donna Brauer.
( Denotes action item)
Welcome, Introductions and Review of Agenda
Regular Business
1. Review and approve minutes from Jan. 23, 2014
Kirsten Fabozzi noted her name was not spelled correctly. A correction has been made in the
meeting minutes posted on the SharePoint site.
Doug Knowlton moved and Tom Hergert seconded that the minutes be accepted. Motion
carried.
Discussion Topics
1. Education legislation; Development education learning outcomes meetings – Karen Hynick
In the fall, an initiative was launched involving Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF), the
Inter-Faculty Organization (IFO) and the system office to create shared learner outcomes for
developmental education, Karen Hynick said. Four content-based groups have been meeting on
a regular basis and a report on their activities will be submitted to Senior Vice Chancellor John
O’Brien by mid-April.
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A training session for developmental education faculty, conducted at the end of February, was
attended by 180 people. Topics covered included federal and state legislation and best
practices.
Proposed legislation in the Minnesota House and Senate would give developmental education
students in a designated pathway of an early college model the opportunity to earn up to a
degree using PSEO. The bill has strong support, Hynick said.
Jeff Kolnick suggested that it might be a good idea for early college and middle college to be
defined in policy. Definitions in policy will be useful if the concepts are going to expand, he said.
2. Charting the Future implementation – Jaime Simonsen
Jaime Simonsen discussed the implementation of Charting the Future . There will be eight
implementation teams that are expected to work for a year, or perhaps longer. They are:
• Student Success Team
• Diversity Team
• Academic Planning and Collaboration Team
• Competency Certification and Credit for Prior Learning Team
• Education Technology Team
• Comprehensive Workplace Solutions Team
• Design Team on System Incentives and Rewards
• Information Technology Systems Design Team
In addition, a separate team will be formed to develop the organizational capability needed to
support the work of the implementation teams and the Steering Committee.
Teams will have up to 18 members, with about three quarters of the members from college and
university campuses and one quarter from the system office. Teams will include student
representatives from MSUSA and MSCSA; faculty representatives from the IFO, MSCF and
MSUAASF; representatives from MMA, MAPE and AFSCME; two presidents; and additional
campus staff (up to four per team).
The first four teams to be launched will be Student Success, Diversity Team, Design on System
Incentives and Rewards and Comprehensive Workplace Solutions. In the fall the other four
teams will be launched.
Tom Hergert said the system should reconsider the staggered launch times. Faculty would have
a better opportunity to participate during the summer, he said.
Kolnick said there should be more faculty input in the implementation plans since faculty will
play a crucial role in the Charting the Future work.
3. Metro Baccalaureate options paper – Jeff Kolnick
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Kolnick said he and Barbara McDonald developed this options paper which pertains to
expanding baccalaureate available to a growing metropolitan population.
In the paper, they propose that the system seek ways to incentivize metro area students to
experience a residential campus by enrolling at outstate campuses. He said the system should
first look to maximize efficiency and capacity on existing campuses when considering how to
serve the increasing number of students.
Todd Harmening said the system will need to define the target market for metropolitan
baccalaureate expansion. A large pool of adult learners who are place-bound, for example,
would require a different strategy than one that would be workable if a majority of the metro
students are of traditional college age.
Discussions on the metropolitan baccalaureate will begin during a retreat at the end of April,
Harmening said.
 Co-Chair Brauer said the topic can be put on the May meeting agenda for further discussion.
This will give members an opportunity to read the options paper. Reactions or suggestions
can be emailed to her at bruaer@ifo.org or posted on the SharePoint site.
4. Innovative Instruction Technology President to Board 3/19/14 – Lynda Milne
Associate Vice Chancellor Lynda Milne gave a brief recap of the innovative Instruction
Technology presentation given to the Board of Trustees during their March 19, 2014 meeting.
This topic aligns with one of the recommendations in the Charting the Future report: Expanding
the innovative use of technology to deliver high-quality online courses, to strengthen classroom
instruction and student services and to provide more individualized learning and advising.
Expanded use of innovative technology offers opportunities as well as threats.
Opportunities include:
 Collaboration in curriculum development and academic planning
 Competency certification
 Online and classroom based teaching
 Online and blended could be key in metro baccalaureate strategy
 High-quality, high-need programs could be easily delivered statewide.
Possible threats:
 Need for new investments in technology, infrastructure and training
 Need for a clear purpose and strategy
 Lost market share reputation if the system falls behind in this area.
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4. Transfer Presentation to Board 3/19/14 and Transfer Report to Legislature 2014 – Lynda Milne
Board presentation
Milne recapped the presentation on Successful Transfer of Credit also given to the Board of
Trustees on March 19.
From 1999 to 2013, there was a 78 percent increase in number of transfer students. In 2013,
nearly 20,000 students transferred within MnSCU and 13,271 students transferred into MnSCU.
A recent survey of students rating their experience with transfer showed:
 In 2013, 76 percent of students surveyed rated their overall satisfaction with the
transfer experience as either good or excellent, a 10-point increase since 2010.
 81 percent rated the ease of transferring general education/Minnesota Transfer
Curriculum Transfer Curriculum credits as having met or exceeded their expectations, a
7-point increase since 2010.
 80 percent indicated that the transfer process either met their expectations or was
easier than expected, a 6-point increase since 2010.
 74 percent reported that their experience in transferring non-general education courses
met or exceeded their expectations, a 3-point increase since 2010.
Next steps in the continuous improvement of transfer include:
 Guarantee consistency via policy and procedure, including a system-level transfer
review committee for appeals and integrating smart transfer plan provisions and policy
and procedure.
 Provide more accessible transfer information and assistance, including creating a
systemwide student web portal for transfer/advising, executing more statewide
agreements modeled on health science, engineering or nursing, and using DARS and
Transferology to simplify processes.
Transfer Report to Legislature 2014
This year’s Report to the Legislature on Successful Transfer of Credit summarizes the continuing
progress of MnSCU in improving credit transfer throughout the system. It describes the next
steps colleges and universities are taking to serve the increasing number of transfer students
and to continuously improve student transfer.
The Smart Transfer Plan, designed in 2011 to address legislative concerns, has been fully
implemented Credit transfer continues to increase and student concerns regarding transfer
have notably decreased.
The report states that the implementation of the recommendations in Charting the Future will
further advance system transfer goals:
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Certifying student competencies and capabilities will refocus institutions and faculty
away from debate about syllabus content and redefine program quality around the
evidence of competency-based learning outcomes and credit.
Working together under new collaborative and coordinated academic planning models
will increasingly encourage faculty to align the content and sequencing of courses and
curricula in two and four-year programs. Faculty collaboration can ensure smoother
program transfer, especially in high-demand, high enrolment programs.
Redesigning financial models to reward collaboration will reduce completion for
enrollment an unnecessary duplication in course and program offerings.
Jessica Medearis said communication concerning transfer has improved and the college student
association appreciates the work of the system office to make transfer work better.
Proposed legislation
The Minnesota State College Student Association is supporting legislation that would create an
implementation plan for degree pathways for students transferring to bachelor’s degree
programs after successful completion of certain Associate in Arts (AA) or Associate of Sciences
(AS) degrees. The bill would require the plan provide for guaranteed transfer to a number of
state university programs.
 Chair Brauer said transfer can be put on the agenda for the next meeting. The Transfer
Oversight Committee can do some work prior to the meeting to prepare for the discussion,
she added.
5. Diversity – Dashboard data, challenges and plans – Leon Rodrigues
New Chief Diversity Officer Leon Rodrigues gave an overview of his presentation to the Board of
Trustees on closing the achievement gap. The achievement gap refers to the disparity between
the educational performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender,
race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. It is often observed in a variety of measures, including
standardized test scores, grade point average, participation, completion and persistence rates.
Factors that affect the achievement gap include:
 Academic preparedness of students at time of admission
 Student’s financial resources
 Institutional resources to support high-impact practices
 Diversity and cultural competency of employees
 Level of collaboration with communities of color to support the strategies.
All students need to be prepared to engage in a diverse world, Rodrigues said. Campuses will
need to examine how they work together to create a culture of diversity acceptance.
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Rodrigues said he recently urged presidents to go to their campuses and gather chief diversity
officers, chief academic officers and provosts and academic deans to discuss their campus
achievement gap and how to bolster diverse students’ preparedness, persistence and
completion rates. The projected increase of diverse students enrolling in system colleges and
universities in the future makes it imperative that campuses are ready to handle these
challenges, he said.
Devinder Malhotra said diversity in Minnesota tends to have a global context, primarily fueled
by recent immigrants. That means there is an overarching need to talk about language and
cultural diversity on campuses.
Rodrigues agreed. He said he would welcome comments and suggestions on what actions and
resources are needed to help campuses become more culturally and racially inclusive.
6. Multi-State Collaborative – FAQs – Lynda Milne
Council members interested in finding out more information about the Multi-State Collaborative
to Advance Learning Outcomes Assessment can go to the SHEEO website or the Association of
American Colleges and Universities website.
Eight colleges and two universities are participating in the Minnesota pilot. They colleges are:
Century College, Hibbing Community College, Inver Hills Community College, Itasca Community
College, Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Minnesota West Community and
Technical College, North Hennepin Community College and Vermilion Community College.
Universities participating are St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
7. Biennial Budget Process – ideas about FY14-15 approach – Lynda Milne
Chief Financial Officer Laura King is seeking input on the preferred processes surrounding the
pending development biennial budget for 2014-2017. Members should direct their suggestions
to her at the system office.
Subcommittee reports
1. Faculty Development Committee – Tom Hergert
The subcommittee is gathering information on the scope of and support for faculty
development activities on system college and university campuses.
Jeff Kolnick made a motion to create a subcommittee to focus on the academic components of
diversity strategies, not wanting to see this relegated to a topic of faculty development. Elsbeth
Howe seconded the motion to allow for discussion.
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Diversity strategies that will impact the largest number of students are those focused on
curriculum, Greg Mellas said. There is a role for the council to play in putting diversity strategies
into practice through curriculum and faculty development, he said.
Doug Knowlton expressed a concern about establishing another subcommittee. The current
consultation structure was designed as a way to reduce the overall number of committees, he
said.
Co-Chair Brauer said the intent of the consultation structure was to reduce the number of
parallel, free-standing committees. Smaller subcommittees can be an effective way to allow for
a thorough examination of issues. Subcommittees then would bring vetted information and
recommendations forward to the full council.
Diversity is a topic that has broad implications, including ones associated with student affairs,
Elsbeth Howe said.
 Chair Brauer said she would bring up the idea of a diversity subcommittee and how it could
work with both the Academic Affairs Council and Student Affairs Council.
Tom Hergert made a motion to table the motion to form a diversity subcommittee pending the
discussion by the Commission. Howe seconded and motion carried.
 Lynda Milne said if the council decides to proceed with the formation of a diversity
subcommittee, Chief Diversity Officer Rodrigues should be consulted, since he mentioned
that he is forming an advisory group or task force.
2. Report on electronic framework – Todd Digby
Todd Digby gave an overview on the plan to increase use of open educational resources (OERs)
in fiscal years 2015 and 2016.
Actions that will help to promote awareness, engagement and adopt of OERs include:
 Conduct informational workshops for faculty
 Distribute OER planning toolkits
 Launch a pilot of faculty members who teach high enrollment/high cost textbook courses to
identify OER for use in their courses. This pilot may include faculty from the U of MN
 Promote attendance at the annual eLearning Summit for faculty to learn about OER
 Increase resources available within Desire2Learn (D2L)
 Create a website resource that links to OER and open textbooks by discipline.
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To measure the OER impact and usage, a survey of pilot faculty should be conducted. D2L data
can also be examined to determine trends in use of OERs.
There are also alternative ways to ease the high cost of textbooks:
 Increase the use of book buy-back and used book purchasing
 Expand book rental opportunities
 Encourage faculty who use the same textbook to explore the use of OER
 Encourage faculty to place supplemental materials on reserve in the library
 Provide information to faculty on less expensive editions of textbooks.
Doug Knowlton said this is an important topic since the high cost of textbooks is a major burden
for students.
3. Transfer Oversight Committee - Donna Brauer
Co-Chair Brauer said during the last meeting of the Transfer Oversight Committee there was
discussion on how to best inform students about transfer policies. Some members thought
policy information should be separate from MnTC information, particularly regarding the
transfer of “D” grades. The oversight committee is seeking input on what would be the best
way to disseminate this information.
 Jessica Medearis said this issue can be put on the Transfer Oversight Committee agenda
again to see if members can come to a consensus on a recommendation before the next
council meeting.
 Co-Chair Brauer said this item also can be added to the council’s next meeting agenda.
Summary Business
1. Preferences on dates/times for 2014-2015 AAC meetings
Members voiced support for Academic Affairs Council meetings to be held Tuesday afternoons
in the 2014-2015 academic year.
The meeting adjourned at 11:35 am.
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