August 14, 2018

Attendees:  James Marquart,  Arne Almquist, Katrina Brent, Dan French, Derina Holtzhausen, Lynn Maurer, Brenda Nichols, Joe Nordgren, and Bob Spina.

Approval of Dean’s Council Minutes dated July 17, 2018

The minutes of the Academic Dean meeting, dated July 17, 2018, were approved as written.

GUEST: David Short

            RE:  Class Scheduling

Mr. Short started by saying his office is available and to let him know if there is any data or reports that his office can provide.  He then shared what the Registrar’s Office has been working on.  They are already building spring 2019 to get ahead so students can start planning further out.  A Scheduling and Schedule Building policy was distributed for review and discussion.  The importance of classes being held in the right size classroom was stressed.  

The Platinum Scheduler piece of Ad Astra has been acquired.  This will enable us to know how many students need certain classes and how many should be in each room. Mr. Short reviewed what else the Platinum piece offers as well as plans for implementation.  A Scheduling Team will be needed and he will be reaching out to the deans for support and representation for that committee.

Other:

Brenda Nichols - LU Online will start spring 2019.  Kudos given to David Short and Taylor Stephenson for their help.   

Jim Marquart – Dr. Marquart discussed the basics of room size and the impact they have on space utilization scores.  If unable to use the room to capacity, there needs to be a good pedagogical reason.    

Katrina Brent – David is also working with the Advising Center on 4 year degree plans which will allow students to see what’s ahead.  

GUESTS:  Deidra Mayer and Tracie Craig

           RE:  Recruiting and Admissions for 2018-19

Deidra and Tracie Craig came to give an overview of some new initiatives for recruitment and admissions.

Welcome Center

Tracie Craig was introduced as the new Director of the Welcome Center. Tracie talked about the different programs and services offered by the Welcome Center (WC) and how these services can be utilized by the colleges.  The students working for the WC are known as the LU Crew.  There was discussion on how critical it is that each student who comes to visit Lamar has a great and positive college visit.  Tracie commented how they would like to harness the knowledge from the colleges to better understand what the student needs before they even arrive on campus. One of the goals is for the WC to be the hub of activity on campus and the WC staff plans to keep up to date on what is going on around campus.

Deans are encouraged to rely on the WC if going to high schools or other places for outreach.  If any LU swag, banners, etc. needed, let them know.   Upon return, it is requested they turn in information cards on the students that were visited.  

Inside News

This new initiative will allow a more elaborate visit within a college and give the specific college the opportunity to write the recipe for the visit. Invitations are sent out to the higher achieving students. 

Centralized Admission Process

Another new initiative is to centralize and streamline the admit process.  They plan to build triggers in to the admission process for readmits.  Currently all departments seem to have different criteria.  Deidra said they hope to accomplish this within the next couple of months.

Academic Recruitment Plans

The Office of Recruitment plans to establish academic recruitment plans and Deidra stressed the importance of dean involvement. 

External Accreditation Reports

Deans were asked to submit to Academic Affairs a list of any accreditations that fall within his/her College.  The list should show the name of the accreditation, who oversees it, the department it falls under, when is it due, etc.  Please submit to Dr. Nichols by September 15^th.   

Develop Innovative Degree Programs

During the recent TSUS academic affairs call, the different universities and colleges shared various new innovative degree programs they have developed and/or are developing.  Dr. Marquart discussed his goals for Lamar academics.  The Deans were asked to come up with two innovative degree or certificate programs from each college.  He would like these by Thanksgiving in time for the February 2019 Board of Regent’s meeting.  

Other - Updates

Dr. Marquart: 

• Changes being made in QEP personnel to be announced soon.
• Space allocation announcement for the new Science and Technology building will be sent out on Friday.  Plans are to have classes scheduled in there for spring 2019.
• College convocations and department meetings – call the office and get dates and times on the calendar if you’d like Dr. Marquart to attend.
• Saturday is graduation, followed by next week’s Convocation, New Faculty Orientation, and Provost Kick-off.
• Budgets will be rolled out soon.
• Welcome expressed to the new “team” with all new deans in place. 

Bob Spina

Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) is looking for schools to partner with them for three of their schools that are underperforming.  (Two elementary and one middle school).  Dr. Marquart and Dean Spina met with BISD Superintendent Frossard to discuss in detail.  Dr. Frossard is asking for help, and is looking for quality schools to make proposals for a 3 year commitment.  BISD will take care of the buses and lunches, but the staffing and curriculum is on the partner school.  The Dean’s Council discussed the pros and cons of this partnership. 

Arne Almquist

Getting acquainted with the Library his first few weeks, and starting to manage the budget.  

Dan French

Busy making external visits with donors and potential donors to lay groundwork and begin relationship building.

Lynn Maurer

Dean Maurer’s updates included learning the budget, working with Marketing and Communications, finishing the campus walk-thru, working with Paul Bernazzani on the new building, talked with Deidra Mayer regarding recruitment and the Career Center, and speaking with Juan Zabala in University Advancement. 

Joe Nordgren

SACS has been in contact with regional partners. There is a lot going on with schedule reviewing and preparing for the fall semester.

Katrina Brent

In relation to the “purge” that happens 3 days prior to class, the Division of Enrollment Management is now contacting students in advance about paying their accounts up front so they won’t be dropped from class for non-payment.  If anyone receives a call back about this, please refer them to Craig Escamilla’s office. 

Brenda Nichols

• First Day Books - working with Barnes and Noble and Finance office for the possibility of being able to offer students books at 1/3 of the cost for core courses and selected majors.  Students would have the costs billed directly to the student’s university account. Hoping to do a pilot in summer 2019.
• Smart Thinking – 24/7 online tutoring service.  This will be changing so it is available to on campus students also.  The goal is to make sure everyone knows this is available and to push those students who are not taking advantage of on-campus tutoring or at a high risk of failure. 

 Adjourn: 3:30pm