January 21, 2021

Research and Growth Opportunities Subcommittee Minutes

Committee Members Present:

  • Annette Bigham
  • Bradley Christian
  • Bronwen Forbay
  • Celina Brown
  • Gary Myles
  • Glynnis Gaines
  • Jeffrey Martin-Moreno, Co-chair
  • Joe Arrington
  • Lizette LaStrape
  • Matt Porter
  • Sally Frazier
  • Steven Wenzel
  • Sharon Kenan, Co-chair 

Committee Members Absent:

  • Bryant Windham
  • David Davenport 

Guests Attending:

  • Stephen Benson, Co-chair, SEM Steering Committee
  • Kim Patterson, Co-chair, SEM Steering Committee 

The second meeting of the Research and Growth Opportunities Subcommittee was called to order in Zoom by Co-chair Jeff Martin-Moreno at 1:04 p.m. on January 21, 2021. 

Agenda Topics:

News from the SEM Steering Committee and Subcommittee Chairs Meetings 

  • Benson thanked everyone for serving on the Research and Growth Opportunities Subcommittee, and he described the SEM document/report that will include all enrollment management activities and will have sections for each of the subcommittees’ recommendations. The document will be titled the SEM Enrollment Plan, and it will be a living document that is updated quarterly (March, June, September, and December) with actionable items.  
  • Kim Patterson provided information about a message that was mentioned at President’s Council. She explained that the message “enrollment is everybody’s job” is the prevailing understanding of what we are all doing at MCC—we cannot assume that it is in someone else’s area.  She stated that a couple of recent grants should fit well with enrollment management, and she thanked Research and Growth Opportunities Subcommittee members for the work they are doing.   
  • Benson announced that MCC recently learned the college will be receiving a Covid relief package in the amount of $10.9 million ($2.4 will be awarded directly to students and $8.4 million will be awarded to the institution). MCC will be able to use the funds for anything that defrays the expense of coronavirus, which means some funds could be used for enrollment management. 
  • During the meeting, the SEM Committee website was displayed on a shared screen to ensure everyone was aware of posted minutes for SEM Steering Committee and subcommittee meetings. The following link goes to the homepage: https://www.mclennan.edu/sem/index.html    
  • A co-chair asked about the adequacy of holding monthly meetings or perhaps meeting more frequently once work on growth opportunities commences. The consensus was to continue meeting monthly and to hear progress reports from groups working on growth opportunities at that time. 
Assigned Activities 
  • Two activities have been assigned to the Research and Growth Opportunities Subcommittee. One of the activities will be completion of a community survey in Spring 2021.  Questions will be collected from the “gaps in knowledge” sections of the working list, listening session summaries, RNL consultant’s report, President’s Council, other subcommittees, the Board of Trustees (via Lindsey/Dr. McKown), etc.  The questions will be rewritten for consistency and will be categorized before the survey is created in conjunction with Institutional Research.     
  • The subcommittee has also been asked to recommend ways to incentivize enrollment. Bradley Christian will lead the group that works on that growth opportunity.  Gary Myles has volunteered to assist him.  One other volunteer will be needed after a sign-up form is created.  Cost considerations will be handled by the Finance Subcommittee, which is co-chaired by James Kubacak and Grayson Meeks.  The projected completion date is June 2021.

 Working List Growth Opportunities 

  • Committee members reviewed a list that summarized eleven growth opportunities. The summaries derived from top opportunities recorded by members in a working list on the subcommittee’s Google site.
  • A discussion about the list included committee members advocating for various growth opportunities. The following topics were mentioned verbally or in chat:  colleges that offer the first class free; businesses that reimburse students for tuition; not-for-profits that do the same; the ability of advisory committees to help with tuition reimbursement questions; recruitment via career fairs; current activities by the college’s recruiters; the importance of building relationships between MCC faculty/staff and high school teachers in all areas (public, private, home school); the need to continue building workforce partnerships; businesses partnering with continuing education (that could possibly “flow into credit classes”); the need to reskill and upskill students by offering non-degree options; the need to get MCC “out in the public,” especially by highlighting its success in various programs and its offerings at the University Center; work in Title V that will address Hispanic outreach; etc.     
  • Committee members suggested combining growth opportunities #2 and #7 and, also, #5 and #9, since they appear to be related. 
  • During the meeting, members voted on the eleven growth opportunities that were identified in the working list. (After results are available, items will be combined as suggested.) Using an online Google poll, subcommittee members and Steering Committee co-chairs individually prioritized the eleven opportunities for growth in their order of importance. Voting results will be sent to subcommittee members after they are tabulated.  
  • Members were asked if they preferred to work in smaller groups or larger groups, and the consensus was that they preferred to work in larger groups. Therefore each group will likely consist of at least three members. 

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Glynnis Gaines, and Bronwen Forbay seconded the motion.  Co-chair Jeff Martin-Moreno adjourned the meeting at 1:50 p.m. 

Action Items and Timelines 

  1. Work with Institutional Research to complete a community survey. Timeline: complete during the Spring 2021 Semester
  2. Research and make recommendations regarding ways to incentivize enrollment. Timeline:  complete in June 2021
  3. Start working on the top growth opportunities identified by subcommittee members. Specific tasks to include:
    • Tabulate votes and send to subcommittee members.
    • Post a sign-up list at the subcommittee’s Google site.
    • Complete sign-ups and select a leader/spokesperson in each group.
    • Start working on growth opportunities and establishing timelines

Timeline:  progress reports from each group will be presented at the next monthly subcommittee meeting, February 18, 2021 

Submitted by Sharon Kenan

January 25, 2021