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UNL ACADEMIC
SENATE MEETING MINUTES
East Campus
Presidents Tice Miller, John Wunder, and Miles Bryant, Presiding
1.0 Call to
Order
President Miller called the meeting
to order at
2.0 Announcements
2.1 Appreciation
of Division of Continuing Studies
President
Miller recognized the Division of Continuing Studies for its service to
3.0 Chancellor
Perlman
Chancellor
Perlman echoed President Miller’s comments regarding the Division of Continuing
Studies. He noted that the Division has
served
Budget Cuts:
Chancellor Perlman reported that the announcement of the budget cuts will not be made on November 11th because the Academic Planning Committee asked for an additional week so that they could review the hearings and work on their recommendations. He stated that he wants to consult with the APC before making a public announcement of the cuts. He stated that the cuts should be finalized and made public the week of November 18th. He noted that the final approval of the cuts will need to be made by the Board of Regents.
Chancellor Perlman reported that the biennial budget request will be more difficult to make as the state deficit continues to increase. He noted that most public universities across the country are experiencing the same difficulties. He stated that it is important for people to contact the Governor and State Senators to let them know the consequences that further budget cuts will have on the university.
Chancellor
Perlman stated that the
Chancellor Perlman reported that he has been asked numerous times if the survey will be used to evaluate chairs of departments. He noted that administrators are, in part, responsible for what happens in their units. He stated that chairs are responsible for programs and the climate within their units. He pointed out that it is fair to hold chairs accountable for the climate in their departments should no improvements be made; however, he noted that no one will be fired strictly on the basis of the climate survey. He stated that he does expect the Deans to ask chairs what was done in departments in response to the survey. Chancellor Perlman stated that he believes that the scores from the survey will improve over time.
Recruiting and Retention Report:
Chancellor Perlman noted that Associate VC Kean and Dean Cerveny will be reporting on the results of the evaluation study conducted by Noel-Levitz. He stated that he is pleased with the results and stressed that faculty involvement was a critical element in recruiting students. He noted that faculty can sell the academic side of the university better than anyone else on campus. He noted that the change in the admission standards has resulted in enrollment of high caliber students. He pointed out that all of the students admitted can succeed and that the faculty should have a strong economic interest, as well as an academic interest, in keeping students in school.
Questions:
Professor
Negahban, Engineering Mechanics, stated that his department has met several
times on the climate survey. He reported
that the department is concerned that there were no questions on the survey addressing
the different levels of administration.
He asked if these questions will be addressed at a later time. Chancellor Perlman stated that this is a
challenging issue. He noted that some
questions may not apply to some departments.
He pointed out that the
4.0 Approval of
Professor Diffendal, Conservation & Survey Division, moved and Professor Logan-Peters, Libraries, seconded approval of the minutes. Motion approved.
5.0 Associate Vice Chancellor Kean and Dean
Cerveny – Recruiting and Admissions Report
Dean Cerveny stated that the Noel-Levitz
report was conducted to assess recruiting and retention at UNL. He reported that they recommended that UNL
should acquire new technologies to assist in recruiting since the system that
was being used was 15 years old. He
reported that a new prospective tracking system and a new admissions system
were installed which allowed for greater resources and flexibility in
recruiting. He stated that the
admissions web site was expanded and updated.
Dean Cerveny reported that Noel-Levitz
recommended improving the campus visits of prospective students. He noted that the campus visit is one of the
most important aspects of recruiting. He
stated that in response to the recommendation, the admissions office staff has
been restructured to attend to visitors’ services and for receiving phone
calls. He noted that there is now more
of a focus on the academic life at UNL and the staff is working with the Deans
on how college programs should be presented.
Dean Cerveny reported that the new visitors center should be opening in
the spring semester. He stated that
there is now an undergraduate student recruiting board with student members
representing each college. He stated that
they are making sure that the latest information on each college is available
for prospective students.
Dean Cerveny reported that other
recommendations include maximizing the value of scholarships, reviewing
recruiting strategies, and increasing direct mail contacts. He noted that changes have occurred in
regards to each of these areas, such as scholarships being awarded earlier,
restructuring the admissions staff approach to recruiting, and increasing mail
contacts.
Associate VC Kean reported that the percentage
of full-time returning students in 1996 was 74.3% and in 2000 it was 80%. She stated that the Noel-Levitz consultants
indicated that certain assets for retaining students, such as the Honors
Program, UCARE, and learning communities were already in place, but there is a
decentralized advising system which needs to be replaced. She noted that the consultants indicated the
need for UNL to focus on out-of-state and transfer students. She reported that several groups have been
targeted for increased attention. These
are: sophomores, out-of-state students,
general studies students, transfer students, and students of color. She noted that the 5 year graduation rate is
48% but that UNL hopes to increase this to 55%.
Associate VC Kean stated that the Noel-Levitz
consultants recommended that the campus develop action plans that support the
retention goals of the campus. As a
result, nine cross-cutting initiatives are being developed and
implemented. These include career
exploration, support for students “at risk”, creating a central referral
system, enhancing the campus climate for students of color, improving financial
aid and scholarships, and renovating housing for upper students. She noted that it is planned to have advisors
go to where students gather rather than just expecting the students to go to the
advising offices.
Associate VC Kean stated that there will be
periodic assessments of the progress of the retention plan and that she hopes
to have academic units develop their own action plan for retaining
students.
Professor Grew, Geosciences, asked how it is
decided which courses would be considered at risk. Associate VC Kean stated that the at-risk
courses are generally 100 -200 level courses and the decision is based on the
grade distribution. Professor Carlo,
Psychology, asked what the plans are for enhancing the climate for students of
color. He suggested that there be
outreach programs with the sororities and fraternities, or other student
organizations. Associate VC Kean stated
that more faculty involvement is needed and that it is important to determine
what the specific needs are for students of color.
Professor Hoffman, Industrial &
Management Systems Engineering, asked if the Talisma computer program is
available for graduate students and whether it can be used at the department
level. Dean Cerveny stated that the
program is available for graduate students but is not usable by the departments
at this time. He noted that the plan is
to make it available for the entire campus.
Professor Ford, English, stated that UNL has
only half the number of foreign students compared to other universities. He asked if there is a plan to increase the
number of foreign students on campus.
Dean Cerveny noted that it is a challenging time for international
recruiting due to the government’s new reporting system. He stated that the university is committed to
recruiting international students and that the admissions office is looking at
new markets. He pointed out that it is
important to maintain a relationship with mid-eastern countries during this
time. He noted that there is interest in
creating an Asian Development plan with
Professor Diffendal, Conservation &
Survey Division, asked if there is going to be adequate parking for the
visitors center. Dean Cerveny stated
that the parking lot next to the
Professor Wolf, English, asked if the
Noel-Levitz report addresses non-traditional students. Dean Cerveny stated that the report focused
on traditional students. He noted that previously
the administration relied on the Division of Continuing Studies to address
non-traditional students, but since it has been eliminated there will need to
be discussions regarding these students.
Professor Patton, English, pointed out that
class visitations can be a useful tool in recruiting students. She asked if the admissions office is
involved in arranging class visitations.
Dean Cerveny stated that the admissions office has a large number of
requests from prospective students to sit in on a class. He stated that his office would like to
develop a network of faculty that would be interested in participating in class
visitations. President-Elect Wunder
suggested that the admissions office should solicit faculty to see who would be
interested in letting a prospective student visit their class(es). He noted that at other universities,
department chairs routinely met with prospective students. He suggested that one of the goals of the
admissions office should be to insure that each prospective student gets an
academic visit with a faculty member or chair.
Dean Cerveny stated that the campus visit is more influential when more
faculty members are featured.
Professor Hoffman noted that there was not
much difference in the eight groups represented in the retention portion of the
study. He asked what the underlying
differences were between the groups.
Associate VC Kean stated that the differences were actually small and
that the groups had more in common than not.
A question was asked whether recruiting is
being conducted with students from the community colleges. Dean Cerveny noted that students from the
community colleges are heavily recruited by other schools. He noted that UNL
hopes to be more involved in recruiting these students. He stated that he and Associate VC Kean are
working on reestablishing the Phi Theta Kappa organization which recognizes the
top 10% of students transferring in from the community colleges. Dean Cerveny noted that there are a number of
issues the need to be addressed regarding recruiting transfer students. He stated that he is currently working on a
report to address this issue.
Professor Martikainen,
6.0 Committee Reports
6.1 Academic Standards Committee (Professor
Gregory)
Professor Gregory noted that although the membership on the committee is large, only 3 faculty members meet at a particular time to review academic appeals. He stated that the appeals are turned around in less than one day. Professor Peterson, Agricultural Economics, asked if the 49 students indicated in the report were readmitted. Professor Gregory stated that they were.
7.0 Unfinished Business
No unfinished business was discussed.
8.0 New Business
No new business was discussed.
The
meeting was adjourned at