May 22, 2018

 Attendees:  James Marquart, Paul Bernazzani, Katrina Brent, Derina Holtzhausen, Brenda Nichols, Joe Nordgren, Srinivas Palanki, Bob Spina, and Henry Venta.

Approval of Dean’s Council Minutes dated May 8, 2018

The minutes of the Academic Dean meeting, dated May 8, 2018, were approved as written.

GUEST: Cynthia McCartney, Director of Pathways Program

• Overview of Pathways Program

Dr. McCartney distributed handouts and gave a general overview of what the Pathways Program is,   and what it offers students relating to English language proficiency.  Online courses are being developed and are listed for fall 2018 registration.  These online classes will allow students to take them in their home country.  Marketing is helping with the website development.  Currently the Pathway link is not working but Dr. McCartney will follow up on that issue.  There are still things being worked out with the program, but the email, monitored by Dr. McCartney, is pathway@lamar.edu .

GUEST:  Gary Rash, Director of EHS and Risk Management

• Disaster Preparedness

As a follow up to a Disaster Preparedness meeting held yesterday with various executives, Mr. Rash spoke to the Dean’s Council about plans and preparations.  An email was sent out yesterday asking for photo documentation from all building coordinators.  (Some deans received the email because they are building coordinators).  Pictures of offices, classrooms, labs, etc. should be taken from various angles.  If anyone has issues with getting this accomplished, contact Mr. Rash and he will send someone to take the photos. More guidelines on which rooms, what types of angles, etc. was requested, and Mr. Rash agreed to send out that information. Dr. Nichols offered to contact the Registrar’s office and see if having these classroom photos added to Ad Astra was a possibility.  June 15^th is the deadline for the photos, but May 31^st is the preferred deadline. Workshops will be held in July and a commitment to staff/faculty attendance was requested.  On the departmental emergency contact lists, Dr. Evans would like to know who is second in command.  It is suggested to make the “next in command” three to five people deep.  The contact lists are due in the Provost Office by June 1^st.

Dr. Nichols will follow up with Sarah Tusa, Interim Director of the Library, and Kevin Dodson, Dean of the Honor’s College on the requested disaster preparedness information and due dates.  

GUEST:  Deidra Mayer, Executive Director of Admissions/Recruitment

 – Admissions/Recruitment

• Irene Shim, Director of International Recruitment has reached out to the deans regarding TOEFL scores. Look for email from Irene and give her feedback.
• The domestic recruiting strategy has been worked on last couple years, including student admission letters. The next phase for domestic recruitment strategy is campus visits.  It must be determined who in each college should facilitate these visits.  The consensus was the Marketing Coordinators for each college would be the appropriate person, with the exception of the College of Arts & Sciences.  Deidra will work with them because they do not currently have a Marketing Coordinator. Tracie Craig is the new Director of the Welcome Center.  She will be working with the Marketing Coordinators on these campus visits.  There was additional discussion on utilizing student Ambassadors.   
• For transfer students with greater than 60 hours, Deidra will send out specific lists to the Department Chairs and copy the Deans. The list will be students who have already had his/her transcripts evaluated. Deans are encouraged to reach out to these students.

 Other:

Advising Center – Katrina Brent announced that Dr. Craig Escamilla will be the new Executive Director of Retention and Student Success, effective July 1, 2018.  Kayla Holloway will now handle the Undergrad Advising Center and SSC, with the focus moving towards retention efforts for now. Advising is being restructured, working towards the University College model.  Peer mentors to be used in the UAC.  A request was made for an organizational chart for Enrollment Management.  Dr. Brent will provide.  

 Graduation Rates:  Dr. Marquart stated he just received the 2018 almanac which showed the LU 4-year graduation rate went from 9% to 16% this past year!

Summer/Fall Section Enrollments (Brenda Nichols)

Class enrollments were discussed due to so many being capped lower than what the room holds.  Handout given and discussed.  Please let Dr. Nichols know if any of the room capacities are incorrect.  Where possible, the maximum of the section/course should match the maximum of the room. It may be necessary to move some classes to other buildings and/or rooms.  This is important for the financial picture of the university.

Academic Calendar (Joe Nordgren)

Plans are to modify the academic calendar using a template with drop down boxes.  This will significantly reduce the number of steps students must go through to find necessary dates and information.  It has already been used for the 5 week programs. Sample copies reviewed.  

Data Analytics

Dr. Marquart reviewed the latest admission/enrollment data.  He indicated the data should soon be turned in to a dashboard and sent out on a regular basis.

Competitive Waivers (Katrina Brent)

Graduate Studies scholarships (competitive and compliance waivers) were discussed after some issues were raised in recent budget meetings. There is a limit of 5% competitive waivers.  Details discussed and the importance of not “double dipping”.  

Disaster Preparedness for Academic Affairs (Brenda Nichols)

The contact lists for Academic Affairs are due by June 8, 2018.

Other:

Brenda Nichols - Concourse syllabi is coming along.  Deans with accredited programs will need to meet with Dr. Nichols sometime in the next 2-3 weeks, and names were provided of who else should be invited.  Dr. Nichols will send out a link to the deans showing a little of what Concourse can do, and will work on scheduling the meetings.   

Adjourn

Meeting adjourned by Dr. Marquart at 3:30pm