First-YearStudy Group

Meeting Minutes

August22, 2014

In attendance: Stacey Bradley, Sara Corwin, Dan Friedman, Stuart Hunter, Nichole Knutson, Aaron Marterer, Kim McMahon, Bethany Naser, Dennis Pruitt, Scott Verzyl, Mary Wagner

  1. Dennis Pruitt
  2. Dennis Pruitt opened the meeting thanking Dan Friedman for his leadership in chairing the committee, as well as thanking committee members for their participation.
  3. Dennis Pruitt asked committee members to share insights they gained from reviewing the Recommendations document.Topics discussed included:
  4. Academic Advising
  5. Academic advising was mentioned as a continual topic of conversation. It was shared that:
  6. A gap exists between student expectations for advising and the reality of an advising appointment.
  7. There is a lack of standardization across colleges and schools for advising, leading to the common answer of “it depends” when students have questions.
  8. It is difficult find appropriate webpages online for questions related to advising.
  9. Dennis Pruitt stated that many benefits exist for a more standardized first-year advising process. He discussed the potential for a singular advising web portal to better direct students, as well as stressing the need for an “advising on your time” approach.
  10. Welcome Week
  11. Committee members described several challenges, in particular:
  12. The length of Welcome Week,
  13. The growing number of incoming students exceeding availabilities of space,
  14. Improving “flow”between events in order to reduce overlap, and
  15. Adjusting the message of Welcome Week based on changes to orientation.
  16. Dennis Pruitt stated that we need to focus not only on having successful events, but also on improving them so that students have an incremental onboarding process to the University when they arrive.
  17. A committee member shared a concern about a lack of engagement among female students who moved-in early but who did not participate in sorority recruitment. This grew into a larger concern focusing on students who may feel as if they are alone or have nothing to attend at the beginning of the semester.
  18. Dennis Pruitt responded that we need to find those staff members who have more “touch points” with these students in order to better reach them.
  1. Degree Audit
  2. Finalizing the Degree Audit was listed as important in continuing to move towards “on your time” degree completion and to help students maintain scholarship eligibility. This would be particularly useful for first-year students, as more students are entering the University with larger amounts of credits.
  3. Registration Assistance Center
  4. The committee agreed that the Registration Assistance Center worked very well this year by streamlining information for students, and that it could be expanded for next year.
  1. Dennis Pruitt reemphasized the importance of the First-Year Study Group.
  2. The committee provides an additional feedback loop which ensures the University administration is made aware of issues.
  3. As the demographics of our students change, discussion on the effectiveness of our programs is essential.
  4. Dennis Pruitt thanked committee members once again for their time and thought regarding these issues.
  1. Plan of Action – Next Steps
  2. Dennis Pruitt will review the list of recommendations and provide guidance with regards to prioritization of discussion topics. Topics such as the calendar and Welcome Week were mentioned as likely areas for initial focus, but additional guidance will be provided to the committee.
  3. Preparing for Next Meeting
  4. Committee members will continue to review the First-Year Study Group 2014 Annual Report, Recommendations document, Plan of Action document, and Employability/Career Development Sub-Committee Report for further discussion at the next meeting.