Minutes of the September 16, 2004 Meeting
ARFAC held its second meeting on Thursday, September 16 at 11:30 a.m in Buntrock 222. Members present were:
Paul Jackson, chair (Natural Sciences and Math)
Steve Reece (Humanities)
Maria Kelly (Social Sciences)
Wendell Arneson (Fine Arts)
Beth Christensen (IGS)
Rachel Erickson (Student Representative)
Robin Karkowski-Schelar (Student Representative)
Katherine Ruby (Director of Financial Aid) ex-officio
Jennifer Olsen Krengel (Interim Directoro f Admissions) ex-officio
Bill Green (Director of MACO) ex-officio
Also present was invited guest: Christian Hakala (Associate Director of Admissions).
The meeting was called to order at 11:35.
Olsen Krengel presented a survey of the admissions and fanancial aid calendar for the upcoming year:
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Fall Open House is October 21-22, with 500 visitors expected each day.
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TRIO Day is November 12
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Early decision deadline is November 15
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Early action deadline is December 15
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Regular admissions deadline is February 1
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Juniors Day will occur twice in February
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Scholars Day is March 5
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Spring Open House is April 16
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The final decision deadline for students is May 1.
Asked to give a general picture of financial aid for next year, Ruby noted that Federal and State aid will remain stagnant for 2005-06, while tuition continues to go up, placing added strain on the first year class. Ruby announced that Saint Olaf would be a site for a public hearing on higher education aid this Fall. Details to follow.
Ruby, Hakala, and Olsen Krengel were asked to evaluate the effect of the new "need sensitive" admission policy, whereby the ability to pay has become a factor (i.e., one of many factors) in evaluating prospective students. 288 of the 3118 applicant were examined under the "need sensitive" category. Of these 214 were accepted, and of those 47% were admitted. The admissions counselors concurred that no "well qualified' student was denied admission based on his/her ability to pay, and that the overall effect on multicultural students was negligible.
Green initiated a discussion about the profile of this year's incoming class and noted that while the percentage of multicultural students has gone up each year for the past five years, the percentage of first generation college students has gone down slightly, and the number of African-American students this year has gone down considerably. Reece asked if the high number of students declining to offer information on ethnic background was clouding the picture. Ruby responded that this was a national phenomenon, perhaps spawned by the Patriot Act. On a related issue, Hakala noted that he knew of at least two Muslim students who did not reveal their religious affiliation this year.
Jackson and Kelly reported on the previous day's deliberations by the search committee for a new Director of Admissions. All the dossiers of candidates recommended by Wickenden Associates were thoroughly evaluated. Five finalists were identified. They will be invited to campus on September 27-29 and October 5-6. ARFAC will have an opportunity to meet with each of these five candidates.
The meeting was concluded at 12:30 p.m.
The next scheduled meeting is October 21.
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Reece, secretary ex tempore
