December 4, 2020 Minutes

Steering Committee Minutes

Committee Members Present:

  • Stephen Benson – Vice President, Finance & Administration (Co-Chair)
  • Meredith Brown – Program Director/Assoc. Professor, Radiologic Technology
  • Londa Carriveau – Director, High School Pathways
  • Karen Clark – Director, Admissions & Recruitment
  • Daelynn Copeland – Asst. Professor/Facility Director, Child Studies & Education
  • Lisa Elliott – Director, Marketing & Communication
  • Frank Graves – Dean, Workforce & Public Service
  • Fred Hills – Vice President, Instruction & Student Engagement
  • Paul Hoffman – Director, Student Development
  • Sharon Kenan – Librarian/ Professor, Library Services
  • James Kubacak – Director, Financial Aid
  • Johnette McKown – President of McLennan Community College
  • Kim Patterson – Executive Director, Foundation/Institutional Advancement (Co-Chair)
  • Phil Rhodes – Vice President, Research, Effectiveness & Information Technology
  • Aranzazu Torres - Recruiter
  • Lise Uhl – Division Chair, Visual & Performing Arts
  • Laura Wichman – Director, Institutional Research

Committee Members Absent:

  • None

Kim Patterson called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. Dr. McKown & Dr. Benson both thanked everyone for serving on the committee.

Agenda Topics:

  • Getting Started:
  • Committee Structure & Charges
  • Purpose of committee: All here to serve students, getting them here (recruitment) and helping them be successful (retention). (Kim Patterson)
  • There isn’t anything more important than what we’re doing with Strategic Enrollment Mgmt. (Dr. McKown)
  • Five sub-committees have been created.
  • Each sub-committee will meet monthly to discuss possible solutions.
  • Website & Minutes:
    • You may visit our website at mclennan.edu/sem/index.html to view the minutes from each sub-committee. All minutes can be sent to either Dr. Benson or Lisa Elliott to post on the website. 
  • Meeting & Expectations:
    • This committee will meet on a monthly basis. Our next meeting will be on January 8, 2021. Dr. Benson will send a meeting request.
    • Each sub-committee will be asked to give updates on their meetings. 
  • Focus Group Notes:
    • Nine focus groups were held
    • Some common themes:
      • Discussion on Marketing for College
      • Continue to mention the great things done at MCC
      • Improve website and use as marketing tool
      • Process of Enrolling in College – Ease and speed in getting students to register, advised, obstacles in place, etc.
      • Partnerships we already have and need to develop (i.e. Chambers, University Center)
      • Technology challenges
      • Name change for the college
      • Expanding athletic programs 
  • Committee Discussion:
  • Possible mentorship programs with H.S. School teachers. They are important to us.
  • Building better partnerships from our Faculty and H.S. teachers
  • Need to meet students where they are at. Students don’t need to feel the loss of a College vs. Community College.
  • How to get staff and faculty to become recruiters outside of classrooms?
    • How do we get a shared vision that everyone has to be part of this work?
    • All people have an impact on enrollment – figure out a way to get everyone involved.
    • See Alumni participate in assisting with recruiting.
    • Students and student groups to help other students access different support services. Target certain groups?
    • Look at current employees who are alumni and ask employees to reach out to five new people to let them know what MCC has to offer.
    • Make goals relevant on campus to all employees – What does 10 extra students translate to? Helping people realize every little bit counts.
    • Universal text code for topics (Science) and it will put person in direct contact with someone who is can help with information about “Science”.
    • Get buy-in from all people that work here. All have a shared vision and need to get everyone on board. 
  • RNL – Enrollment Opportunity Analysis
    • Asked for recommendations.
    • Karen gave an update on Slate:
      • Implemented basics to track students.
      • Launch applications (Colleague back to Slate), this allows tracking of students so we know where they are in the process. 
  • Subcommittees:
    • SEM Admissions & Marketing – Lisa Elliott & Karen Clark
  • It’s not just about recruiting but retaining.
    • Implementation – what will work for our students? What will we focus on?
    • Look at it as a big broad picture. (Clarity & Focus) 
  • SEM Finance – James Kubacak & Grayson Meek
    • Overview of the Business Office & Financial Aid
    • Create a flow chart to show the process flow from Financial Aid to the Business Office.
    • How we can reduce the amount of debt.
    • Students receive notices to pay their bill online – Payment letter needs to be simplified.
    • Update on Re-Start Program – Eight have signed and four have registered for Spring 2021.
    • Title 4: It is a law that when a student withdraws from a class, and they have attended more than 60% of the semester, a portion of the fees needs to be paid back to the Government. If the student doesn’t attend any classes, the institution must return all of the fees to the Gov’t. In return, the fees are charged back to the student and a hold is put on their account until it is paid in full. 
  • Research & Growth Opportunities – Sharon Kenan & Jeff Martin-Moreno
    • Created Google site for working documents.
    • Looking for patterns, listed focused groups, asked for thoughts, etc.
    • Asked each committee member to provide at least three priorities.
    • Looking at community surveys 
  • Retention – Paul Hoffman & Jessica Shelton
    • “Retention is FUN” RIF –
    • Asked them to help get a greater reach and how to improve retention.
  • Reach out to those who don’t have the opportunity to submit what they think.
    • Most comments seemed to point at offering a sense of belonging, delivering of services, and faculty underestimating the power they have in helping retain students.
    • Everyone is part of the solution 
  • Priorities for Subcommittees
    • Prioritizing funding for resources.
  • Need to figure out short and long term priorities.
  • Some have already been implemented which are long term strategies. 
  • Action Items and Timelines:
    • Creating Student Success Plan – fall into retention sub-committee, accountability, and tracking.
    • Can we do a better job promoting through Financial Aid and scholarships. Are we using them as a recruiting tool? 
  • Everyone take time to go to webpage and read what the sub committees have shared. Write down some priorities we can talk about.
    • Enrollment Summary – Spring 2021
    • Spring 2021 enrollment is down: 4,020
    • Spring 2020 – 4,813
    • Spring 2019 – 5,097
    • We are asking employees to call students to get them to register. 
  • Follow social media accounts and share the messaging.
    • Research shows that only a few employees are engaging in our social media. We should follow and share them on our personal pages. 

Dr. McKown closing:

A big Thank You for serving on this committee. We have a great team and this gives us a great look in what we can do. I appreciate your excitement and what we’re going to do. 

  • Meeting Adjourned at 3:04 p.m.