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List of all Retention Council Minutes
February 12, 2003 Minutes
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Minutes of the Retention Council
February 12, 2003 Meeting
In Attendance: Maureen Breed, Ronald Cavanagh, Andrew Clark, James Duah-Agyeman, Bea Gonzalez, Rosanna Grassi, Sandra Hurd, Helen Murray, Lena Rose Orlando, Michael Olivette, Felicia Proud, Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz, Hanna Richardson, Anne Shelly, Horace Smith, Keith Stevenson, Martha Sutter, Seth Tucker, Tim Wasserman, Anastasia Urtz, Barry Wells, Barbara Yonai
I. Announcements
Smith - Acknowledged the division of student Affairs, and Dean Wells for hosting Professor Richard Light.
Minutes from January 15, 2003 were passed without revisions.
Duah-Agyeman - Encouraged staff and students to contact OMA regarding collaborating on producing monthly celebrations of the history and culture of ethnic groups.
Smith - Announced an effort to develop a coordinated response to the higher education cutbacks in the governor's budget. JoAnn May is coordinating this effort.
Gonzalez - UC has been actively involved in lobbying to change budget.
Stevenson - Traveled to Albany with students and met with Assemblyman Brown and with Senator Hoffmann and was told to expect a tough fight.
Duah-Agyeman - Advised caution about lobbying CSTEP and HEOP together. Legislators tend to confuse the two programs.
Yonai - Has there been an effort to have CSTEP students lobby their own legislators?
Duah-Agyeman/Smith - Yes
Cavanagh - Announced that a new proposal for revisions to the course schedule is due shortly. Revisions will reflect retention initiatives including:
Friday classes
Open time to schedule University-wide events/meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Improved access to classes
Concentrated blocks of time to support faculty research.
Cavanagh - Encourages review and comments aimed at specific concerns and providing detailed alternatives.
Yonai - reminds school/college representatives to please review 1998 4-yr. cohort for late certifications or other issues that might impact graduation rate.
II. University Events Timeline
Shelly - Presented plan for the development of a University events Timeline. See attached document.
Yonai - Concerned about the positing of sensitive events on a web site.
Wells - Responded that likely will not be an issue since submission is voluntary and offices will not submit information that they do not want distributed.
Breed - Inquired about events form the past that are no longer active.
Wells - Should include a "Decade Report" that provides an executive summary.
Yonai - Documents should include contextual information like the Pan Am disaster that influenced events.
Grassi - Suggested adding retention-related context like extended housing (overcrowding in res. halls).
Council - Agreed to an inception date on 1987 with the Retention and Attrition Committee Report.
Grassi - Advocated the critical inclusion of admissions.
III. Missing/Unspecified Ethnicity Category Report
Yonai/Breed - Students report ethnicity at three (3) points:
Admissions application
Intent to register form
Intent to return
All data are self-reported at different periods in time, which has led to ethnicity, and gender changes.
Hurd - How reliable are data?
Yonai - Category switching is not likely to have a big impact. The bigger issue is the definition of categories used by coders during data input.
Grassi - Are non-matriculated students included?
Shelly/Yonai - No. Only full-time, matriculated students.
Gonzalez - We are seeing a change in how our young people see themselves ethnically. They are looking for broader definitions reflecting multi-cultural backgrounds.
Yonai/Breed - Those choosing "Unspecified" as their ethnicity has risen dramatically in the last three (3) years.
Wells - We need to investigate further who makes up the "Unspecified" category. This category could be those seeking a broader definition. It could also be Caucasian students who are not reporting their ethnicity.
Shelly - Concerned about attrition potential of "Unspecified" ethnicity category that also seems to be populated heavily by high achievers.
Yonai - The institution might consider offering broader ethnic categories for reporting beyond federal categories.
Breed - PeopleSoft has the ability to record broader categories and even the ability to assign percentage (%) of ethnic affiliation.
Wells - We really need to discuss with students before we recommend an alternative.
IV. Retention Consultant
Smith - Announced the search for a consultant/expert to review retention plan/goals and offer advice on strategies to achieve objectives. The consultant will also be available to individual schools and colleges to consult on s/c specific issues. The council is asked to offer input on the focus of the consultant's background (assessment, policy, and/or operations) and how they should be utilized.
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