January 8, 2021 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
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:

Daelynn Copeland – Asst. Professor/Facility Director, Child Studies & Education

Kim Patterson gave a welcome and started the meeting at 2:00. Dr. McKown thanked everyone for serving on this committee. She added that enrollment allows us to do what we can for the community.

Discussions:

Enrollment is down 14% from Spring 2020.
Kathy McLendon stated the work this committee is doing could qualify MCC for another Title V Grant – possibly for 2021. Now is the time to start thinking about this.
The Steering Committee and sub-committees minutes are on our website. Please take a moment to review them.

Follow-up from first meeting

Subcommittees
Admissions & Marketing (Lisa & Karen) - Next meeting is on Jan. 22^nd, 2021. Their agenda is to go through their Admissions & Marketing Plan, focus on problem areas, target audiences, student persistence, and institutional retention. Also evaluate things we’re already doing and areas available for growth opportunities.
Finance (James Kubacak & Grayson Meek) – No meeting yet – focusing on students’ needs first. Will get it scheduled soon.
Research & Growth Opportunities – Sharon Kenan – Next meeting Jan. 21^st, 2021. Their team created a Google site for members to share information. They have a working list and members are adding their ideas for growing enrollment. They will meet again to look and prioritize to see which are best to pursue and divide into groups to work on those.
Retention – Paul Hoffman – Meeting Jan. 20^th,2021, (1^st actual meeting). We will be narrowing down and filtering out feedback received by members. Relationships & inclusion are the key focus. We have some ideas that play well into retention.

Discussion of Priorities

(Dr. Benson) Do we need to look at items from focus groups or notes for anything that stood out as a priority that we should push out to sub committees? Thoughts?
Laura Wichman mentioned the sub-committees haven’t had a chance to get started. She suggested to give them a chance to get started and see what they come up with.
Focus groups are discussing ways of improving our website. Mario Leal is interested and is getting on a subcommittee to ramp up the website to make it a more useful marketing tool.
Kim asked members if those who work closely with students are hearing anything from students as to why they are not returning to school.
Paul Hoffman– A number of students are choosing to stay here in Waco. This could be a last minute choice to stay in Waco so we need to stay with it so that all student needs are addressed.
Aranzazu Torres – Students are wanting to come back to school or add skills to their careers. She has been working with Karen Clark on a community initiative to help students complete the FASFA. She and Karen made a script and a video to show students how to fill it out.
Aranzazu Torres – Possible reasons:
- Students are nervous about online classes. We have to reassure it’s their choice.
- Need for Technology (no access)
- Lack of transportation – possibly launch another ad announcing we offer free bus passes. Lisa Elliott stated the ad is still in place. They will just need to run it again.
- Policy on borrowing laptops from college? We could Partner with Proper Waco for laptops. They are partnering with Baylor, TSTC, and local Waco school districts. They are assisting entities who have the best interest in getting students enrolled in college.
Meredith Brown mentioned all sections are full in her department. They have had some students change their minds in waiting to see what happens with Covid -19.
Sharon Kenan: Not too many students in Library – Chronicle today published a story titled “Displaced Workers Haven’t Turned to College for a Fresh Start”. We should use this as an advertising tool and reach out to adults who want to enhance their skills.
Dual Credit program down cause so many students failed last semester. Faculty is being asked to connect with students.
Londa Carriveau stated it was more of engagement issues why students failed. Students weren’t actively participating. Londa stated her department kept trying to reach out to them to keep them active. They found that so many students were caring for younger siblings while they were at home which created a bigger impact. Local schools are facing the same challenge.
When are students blocked from participating in the Dual Credit Program? Students are blocked from the program and will be ineligible if their average is 2.0 or below. Students sit out for a semester and then regroup. If given permission to reenter the program, they have to take a common class; generally, one they failed to see if they pass.
Hills would like to move them through Learning Frameworks. He is looking into it for students that didn’t pass this year.

Focus Group Item of Discussion (Dr. Benson):

“What is one of our major challenges”

“Our processes” is one of the challenges. There are so many steps a student must follow to get enrolled. We must figure out a better way than to send them to five different areas to complete the enrollment process. We lose students because of our processes.
Rhodes is working on the process.
Hills: Create a surge team - Cross train contact areas that can help out (recruiters, advising, Dual Credit, etc.) in assisting student needs during enrollment spikes.
Frank Graves – Personalize Reskilling Grant – How can we get the word out to students to focus generating inquiries? Where would it fit on website? Monies and grants – how do we use that for inquires and to use the awards to generate the calls to get them to the right advisors.

Enrollment Statistics: https://www.mclennan.edu/data/index.html

We are seeing a decrease in credit hours. The decrease will mean additional tuition and fee revenue reductions compared to last year. Budget was based on a 10% decline in tuition and revenue and is currently at 8%. There was a 10% decrease in the Fall 2020 enrollment with an 8% decrease in revenue. If we get down to a 12% decrease in Enrollment, our budget will still hold pretty well. Dr. Benson is sharing this information with this committee to give a general idea of how student enrollment can affect our Budget.
If you would like to be added to receive the Enrollment Reports by email, please contact Jerry Knutson. You may also find them on our website at https://www.mclennan.edu/data/index.html .