OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
BARUCH COLLEGE
PRESIDENT’S CABINET
MINUTES
October 14, 2014
Agenda
1. Approval of Minutes
2. President’s Remarks
3. Provost Matters
4. NSSE 2014 Report
5. Pre-Tenure Review
6. Follow Up: Key Tasks for College Senior Staff (M. Gorman and D. Birdsell)
7. Strategic Plan Updates
8. Enrollment Management Update (B. Corpus)
9. Budget Update (K. Cobb)
10. Old Business
11. New Business
Attendance:
Mitchel B. Wallerstein, President
David Birdsell, Dean, School of Public Affairs & Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Effectiveness
John Choonoo, Director of the Office of Institutional Research
David Christy, Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Katharine Cobb, Vice President for Administration and Finance
Ben Corpus, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Strategic Academic Initiatives
Mary Gorman, Chief of Staff
Christopher Hessel, Chair, Faculty Senate
Art King, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Christina Latouf, Vice President for Communications, External Relations & Economic Development
Kieran Morrow, Chief Diversity Officer
Carol Schechter, Interim Executive Legal Counsel
David Shanton, Acting Vice President for College Advancement
Absent:
Arthur Downing, Vice President for Information Services and Dean of the Library
Fenwick Huss, Dean, Zicklin School of Business
Jeffrey Peck, Dean, Weissman School of Arts and Sciences & Vice Provost for Global Strategies
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the September 15, 2014 meeting; the minutes were approved.
President’s Remarks
President Wallerstein briefed Cabinet on a publication’s inquiry regarding a proposed article on diversity at
CUNY.
President Wallerstein briefed Cabinet on a recent meeting he had with the Undergraduate Student
Government executive committee.
Provost Matters
Provost Christy briefed Cabinet on the Schwarzman Scholars event he recently attended. The Schwarzman
Scholars program is a new scholarship program that provides international opportunities.
The Provost reported he met with the Vice Presidents and deans regarding enrollment targets for graduate
programs. He noted that targets can deliberately be set, but the College must determine what to do to reach
those targets. A discussion followed. Dr. Hessel noted the CUNY schedule model does not allow for the
July classes offered by Executive Programs.
Provost Christy reported he is working with the deans on strategic planning efforts on the department level.
President Wallerstein stressed the need to set targets soon. Dean Birdsell reported on various recruitment
efforts for graduate enrollment. Dean Birdsell asked members of Cabinet to consider what it would take to
reach at least a 3% increase in enrollment in all programs.
Vice President Corpus reported that while the current enrollment is 18,089, the projected rate of return for the
Spring 2015 semester is 17,772. Provost Christy stressed the need to determine why the return rate drops
after one year. A brief discussion followed.
John Choonoo suggested that a consultant be commissioned to do analysis and detailed report on the supply
and demand of students in the area regarding programmatic needs.
Dr. Hessel suggested an exit survey for students to get of sense of their needs.
Dean Peck noted that the graduate program directors from all of the schools need to understand urgency of
increasing the graduate enrollment targets.
It was noted that the College should strongly consider market facing graduate programs.
NSSE 2014 Report
John Choonoo led a discussion on the recent National Survey of Student Engagement 2014 survey results for
Baruch College. It was noted that Baruch was compared to 6 “peer” institutions including: Hunter College,
Queens College, Ramapo College, SUNY New Paltz, The College at Brockport and SUNY Geneseo. A
discussion followed.
Dr. Choonoo reported CUNY has mandated participation in the upcoming Noel Levitz survey. He noted the
support of the Deans is necessary as the survey must be administered during classtime.
Pre-Tenure Review
President Wallerstein led a discussion regarding a memorandum from Vice Chancellor Schaeffer on pretenure review.
Follow Up: Key Tasks for College Senior Staff
Dean Birdsell and Ms. Gorman led a discussion on the prior circulated draft of key tasks for College Senior
Staff. A discussion followed. Members of Cabinet agreed that the following items are what the CSS should
focus on during the current academic year: Item # 3 Improve Retention and Reduce Time to Graduation,
Item#1b Increasing FTE and possibly Item #2 Improve Transfer Experience.
Strategic Plan Updates
None
Enrollment Management Update
Vice President Corpus reported the current projected enrollment for Spring 2015 will be 17,772.
It was noted that the College must ensure that transfer students get the courses they need to graduate in a
timely manner.
A brief discussion was held regarding the need to brand and increase course offerings for the January and
Summer sessions.
Budget Update
Vice President Cobb reported the spring budget is built around 97% of the Fall; Compact budgets have been
released; and CUNY Central is in current negotiations with PSC CUNY, and the state will not fund the salary
increases.
Old Business
None
New Business
None