A&A Deans Meeting Minutes

1

Minutes A&A Deans January 8, 2008

A&A Deans Meeting Minutes

January 8, 2008

Attendance: J. Arhar, D. Badejo, D. Barber, V. Bocchicchio, J. Brown, R. Capasso, J. Crawford, L. Hanson, N. Mitchell, T. Moore, D. Munson, D. Neitzel, G. Nelson, I. Nettey, R. Schroath, L. Sinclair,S. Smith, Y. Smith, J. Stalvey, R. Wiscott

Consultants: H. Adams, G. Davis, M. Minichillo, A. Motayar, M. Pike, K. Reed, A. Reid

Guests: S. Cole, C. Snyder

The meeting was called to order at 9:31 a.m.

Minutes from the December 11, 2007 meeting were approved as distributed.

Two new members of A&A Deans were introduced. Diane Munson welcomed Dr. Doug Neitzel as the new Assistant Dean for First Year Experiences in Undergraduate Studies. John Stalvey introduced Dr. Jim Brown as the new Assistant Dean for Academic Services in the College of Arts and Sciences.

OLD BUSINESS

Clinical F’s

Previously, a discussion was held on the implementation of a new grade “Clinical F” to reflect students who fail the clinical component of courses in nursing. Sheryl Smith reported a long history and continued confusion regarding this grade. It appears that KentState had a similar grade in the late 1960’s that continued until the 1976-77 catalog. Nancy Mitchell contacted Therese Tillett in the Provost’s office for clarification, but there was no information on why the grade was dropped.

All are in favor of accommodating the College of Nursing’s request to reinstitute this grade. However, it was decided we must first fully understand why the original clinical F grade was eliminated. Tim Moore agreed to contact former Dean Rudy Butler for possible relevant history and clarification. Sheryl Smith also reported that the Ombudsman’s Office may have had something to do with the elimination of this grade option. She will continue to research this issue and report back at a future meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Graduation Planning System

Debbie Barberand Susan Cole presented information on the new Graduation Planning System (GPS) that will be implemented throughout the Kent system over the next year. Two handouts were distributed for review:

• “Graduation Planning System at KentStateUniversity” – an overview of the project with examples of catalog language, degree requirements, and semester plans from other institutions; and
• “Critical Tracking System to Ensure Student Success” – material from ArizonaStateUniversity summarizing the adoption of a graduation planning system at that school.

GPS is a comprehensive advising, scheduling, and early warning intervention tool designed to provide students with a clear path to graduation. Based on a system currently in use at the University of Florida known as Universal Tracking, GPS will provide semester by semester plans for each major so that students know exactly what to take and when to take it. The system will also be programmed with critical indicators (e.g., GPA requirements, sequence of courses, etc.) to alert students and advisors when they become “off-track”. Additional benefits of the system include easy to use interfaces, comprehensive career planning to assist in choosing of majors, and tools to help the faculty and administration plan for course scheduling. The overall goal of GPS is to intervene with and guide students at the earliest stage possible in our effort to improve retention and ensure student success.

Susan Cole gave a detailed explanation and demonstration of our current degree audit system, KAPS. Because KentState has already put extensive resources and effort into KAPS, the move towards GPS will be easier. KAPS already contains an incredible amount of data. The GPS team will need to reorganize this information semester by semester instead of the catalog organization currently used. Debbie assured the group that this would not be difficult, but it will be time consuming. Departments and Colleges will also need to define critical tracking indicators for each major. Susan emphasized that we as a group and the University as a whole will have extensive input into how GPS will be developed and implemented.

Debbie asked for feedback on the current usage of KAPS. Isaac Nettey stated that advisors probably use this tool more than students, a comment echoed by other members of the group. Geraldine Nelson recommended that we include an overview of GPS in orientation and FYE courses so that students become familiar with it as soon as possible.

Debbie then demonstrated the Universal Tracking System used by the University of Florida. A key feature of this system is the “Degree Shopping” tool that helps students to decide on a major. It allows searches by interest category, subject, college, and major. For those students who are thinking of changing majors, the system performs a degree audit and allows them to see how courses already completed will count towards the new major (similar to what our KAPS does now). The “Tracking Audit” was also demonstrated. This part of the system gives a semester by semester breakdown of whether or not students are meeting the critical indicators of success defined for that major.The University of Florida’s system has been in place since 1996 and was funded in large part by the Florida State Legislature.

An overview of the efforts at ArizonaStateUniversity was also given, where a process to implement a universal tracking system is currently under way (see handout). Arizona is currently working with Miami University of Ohio to create a system that can be used by schools on the PeopleSoft computer system. One exciting future development is they are exploring working with a Banner institution and that KentState may be a good candidate for partnership.

Debbie reported that the Provost has appointed an implementation team for GPS (chaired by her) and has charged this committee with creating a pilot by summer 2008. As a first step, eight pilot majors (one from each college) will be chosen. A semester by semester plan and critical indicators for each of the majors in the pilot will need to be completed by February 29, 2008. All remaining majors will need to have this information completed by the end of the current semester.

Ann Motayar discussed the career planning component of the system. Her group is currently in the process of linking skills needed for particular professions. This exciting part of GPS will help us to redefine how we present career options to students and enable us to provide better service when helping them chose a major. The goal is to have this intensive career counseling module in place by July 1, 2008.

The following points summarize the member’s discussion of GPS:

• There is overall support for a system of this type;
• The system must be user-friendly;
• Training needs to comprehensive across the system and include input from KASADA, faculty, and students;
• This system does not replace in-person interactions with students, but instead encourages them at key points in the educational process;
• There was excitement expressed over using GPS as a course planning and scheduling tool;
• The possibility of expanding the scope of GPS to include graduate students, associate degree students, and part time studentsshould be explored;
• This system, especially intensive career counseling, has the potential to be very helpful to undecided students;
• We need to considerthe remediation implications of those students who become “off-track” and plan accordingly; and
• The recommendation to negotiate with each college on the final choice of major for the pilot project.

Debbie thanked everyone for their feedback. She acknowledged that this is a very big project and the implementation team will need the help and support of everyone in the University community. Because of the work we have already done and our commitment to better serving students, we are in a great position to become a model school for graduation planning in the State of Ohio.

Clarification of Recalculation Policy

LuEtt Hanson provided a handout entitled “Recalculation Policy Scenarios - Addendum” summarizing unusual situations that may arise under the new recalculation policy. Answers on how these situations would be handled were included. She will take this information to KASADA for distribution to the University’s advising community. LuEtt thanked Susan Cole, BJ Brooks, and Lynette Johnson in the Registrar’s Office for their help in putting this guide together. Please contact LuEtt with any questions or comments.

Proposed Request for Data

When the new recalculation policy was implemented, a commitment was made to analyze the effects of this change. LuEtt Hanson provided the group with a list of proposed data elements needed to gauge the impact of recalculation. After cursory review, the group asked for the following changes: have the data analyzed by semester (versus annually), assess student GPA before and after term of recalculation, and that breakouts be available by college and honors status (in addition to campus). LuEtt asked the group to review this handout again and provide any addition feedback on the A&A Deans Listserve. She will provide RPIE with a finalized list by the end of the month.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Nancy Mitchell expressed concern over feedback on the PASS Program for Spring 2008. Indications point to the fact that numbers are down and it is unclear whether this is the result of fewer students or some problem related to the new admissions procedures under Banner. After discussion, it was decided that this issue is being addressed by the Provost’s office and Undergraduate studies and follow-up to arrive at an answer will be done.

• Joann Arhar brought up the subject of student dismissals and specifically asked whether students dismissed by the Kent campus can be referred to regional campuses. Discussion on this matter revealed no consensus. Debbie Barber recommended that a task force be created to clarify this issue and report back to the group. Nancy Mitchell was asked to chair; other members will include Diane Munson, Tim Moore, Liz Sinclair, Joann Arhar, and a regional campus representative.

• Debbie Barber announced that she will present the recently approved recalculation policy for associate degree students at the January 28, 2008 EPC meeting. All are invited to add support for this measure.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 a.m.

Special thanks to Rick Schroath for providing the hospitality at this meeting. LuEtt Hanson will be providing hospitality at our February meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Richard Wiscott

Remaining AY2007-2008 Meetings:

March 11, 2008

April 8, 2008

May 13, 2008

June 10, 2008