Academic Council Minutes – September 03, 2008
I. Review of Minutes – August 20, 2008
· The minutes were approved as circulated.
II. General
a. Enrollment Management
1. Ms. Norgard announced that Dr. Deneč Thomas to fill the LEAD Manager position previously held by Mr. Danny Ochoa.
2. Ms. Norgard stated that enrollment is up compared to the same time as last year. She further stated that Admissions is still receiving and processing applications for enrollment at UHV. Dr. LaBrecque mentioned that at the August 19th Board of Regents meeting, Dr. Khator stated that enrollment has increased across the board. UH Victoria increased 22% while UH Downtown increased 9%; UH Clear Lake increased 5%, and UH Main Campus increased 3%.
3. Ms. Norgard stated that students are continuing to be admitted. As of September 2, 2008, UHV had 76 new students conditionally admitted. The 76 students were comprised of 31 undergraduate students and 45 graduate students.
4. Ms. Trudy Wortham provided enrollment information as of September 3, 2008. Ms. Wortham included additional information regarding student headcount by instruction mode which indicated that 50.91% were taking strictly internet classes, 14.57% were taking face to face classes while only 2.17% were taking ITV classes. The remaining headcount was accounted for as a combination of Internet, face to face, or ITV instruction modes.
5. Ms. Norgard visited with Texas Woman’s University (TWU) about their quick admit process. TWU starts the quick admit process the week before and first week of the semester. Several admissions staff are reassigned to help students with onsite admissions. TWU’s application fee is $30 for quick admit. Sufficient admissions documents are required. Students must pay 45% of the tuition up front. Most of those students pay using student loans. If a student shows up without the proper paperwork, they are not necessarily admitted, but could be as a non-degree seeking student. Ms Norgard stated that we need to look at how we admit students and when quick admit should begin. She offered a couple of options including beginning quick admit one to two weeks prior to late registration or beginning the week before and the first week of classes.
Ms. Norgard discussed the quick admit process with Ms. Mallory regarding implications for financial aid students. There were concerns regarding payback of financial aid, if students are conditionally admitted, but later did not meet all admissions requirements.
Ms. Norgard stated that TWU and all other UH campuses have an application deadline. Ms. Norgard suggested implementing an application fee of $25 and a quick admit fee. One suggestion for application deadlines was August 1, January 1, and May 1.
Further discussions ensued around options for an application deadline, application fees, quick admit etc. Dr. LaBrecque expressed concern regarding applicants being charged a late fee and quick admit fee simultaneously. Dr. Stansell did not feel that admissions fees should be charged. Dr. Jaeckle asked if most of the admissions problems centered on transcripts. Ms. Norgard stated that the greatest problem is that many students may have some but not all of their transcripts. Since consensus regarding deadlines and fees could not be reached, the discussion was tabled.
b. Information Technology
1. Mr. Joe Ferguson stated that Mr. Chris Burford has been working on the hardware configuration changes for Vista 8. Vista 8 has been open for faculty and WebCT technicians, but not many have been using it to date.
2. Ms. Norgard asked about posting announcements in WebCT. Currently the Deans and Provost must approve announcements in WebCT; however, there are times when receiving approval from Deans and the Provost may delay postings that are time sensitive. It was decided that the Provost may approve postings if deans are unavailable.
c. President’s Office Updates
1. Dr. Margaret Rice stated that President’s Regional Advisory Board will be meeting on September 4th. Dr. Rice also stated that if anyone has a presentation that they feel would be of interest to PRAB, they are welcome to contact her about scheduling the presentation at an upcoming meeting.
d. Assessment Workshops/Faculty Retreat
1. Dr. LaBrecque announced that as a result of the upcoming SACS five-year review and visit in 2014, Dr. Marilee Bresciani, a nationally known expert in assessment, will be visiting UHV. Dr. Bresciani will be reviewing our current assessment strategies and will provide feedback on how to improve. Dr. Bresciani will visit the UHV campus on September 18th to meet with Administrators and key staff. On, September 19th Dr. Bresciani will meet with all Faculty at the El Campo Country Club. The meeting is expected to start at 8:30 and should conclude by 4:00 p.m.
e. Other
Dr. LaBrecque reminded everyone of New Faculty orientation scheduled for Friday, September 12 in Sugar Land.
III. Specific
1. Student Appeals
a. Granted one student appeal. Student is allowed to take English 3430 and one other three-hour class in Fall 2008 and visit with advisor. Student must receive a minimum of 2.0 GPA to continue in spring.
2. Consent Calendar/Faculty Development Grant Requests and Reports
a. –Approved an FY09 conference travel grant for 75.00 to Dr. Jane Fry to present at the American Association for Teaching & Curriculum Conference in Austin, Texas from October 9-11, 2008.
b. --Approved an FY09 conference travel grant for $687.00 to Dr. Jeffry Moe to present at the American Counseling Association in Charlotte, North Carolina from March 14-23.
c. Approved an FY09 conference travel grant for $289 to Dr. Jeffry Moe to present at the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision in Houston, Texas from October 22-25, 2008.
d. –Approved an FY09 conference travel grant for $1300 to Dr. Yong Glasure to present at the 66th International Atlantic Economic Conference in Montreal, Canada from October 9-12, 2008.
e. Approved an FY09 research grant for $1300 to Dr. Richard Gunasekera to research the mutations of the gene for glutathione.
As recorded by,
Karen Boldt