ARFAC Meeting Minutes 9 November 2005

Present: Amundson, Green, Hellen (student), Kelly, Kyle, Porterfield, Reece, Ruby, Strichartz

1.  The minutes from the meeting held on 9-21-05 were approved.

2. Update on the TRIO and GEAR UP programs: 

Maria Kelly and Kathy Ruby gave an update on the impact of the deficit reduction plan on the TRIO and GEAR UP programs.  Billions of dollars have been taken out of TRIO and other, similar programs and applied to hurricane relief.  Furthermore, the proposed cuts to higher education funding will hurt lenders who offer significant savings to students.  Committee members decided that it would be more effective to respond as individuals rather than collectively.

3. Update on the October 12 screening for a new Director of Admissions: 

A decision has been made regarding the search and an offer will be extended.

4. Admissions update:

  • The number of early decision applications has risen. 
  • Admissions staff is doing more focused recruitment than in the past.

5. Fall Open House:

There were 529 student visitors, 30% of whom were high school juniors.

Based on solicited feedback, sessions were well received.  Of those who filled out the survey evaluation form, 90% said their interest in St. Olaf had increased as a result of Open House activities.

Questions to consider:

  • How can we get more faculty members involved? (Faculty from science and math were particularly under-represented.)
  • What language are we using to describe Fall Open House?  Does the name “open house” imply that people can show up and leave when they want, rather than conveying the more structured nature of the event?
  • How can we get prospective students to classes?  Could we hold sample classes so that students and parents get a feel for a college class?
  • Given the difficulty of accommodating such a large number of students in regular classes during Open House, is there a way that we could reach out to currently enrolled students and ask them to encourage friends who are prospective students to visit campus, stay the night and attend classes?
  • Would it be more effective to host prospective students through particular departments?
  • Is it more important to individualize the prospective student visit for students not from Minnesota?
  • Overall, we need to increase the level of personalization and professionalization in campus visits.

6. Syllabi collection:

Gathering of syllabi from faculty for courses that prospective students can visit was successful for Semester I, but there will need to be another call for syllabi for Interim and Semester II, preferably for courses that are reflective of the first-year experience (possibility: plenary lectures given for Great Con).

7. Next meeting:

Topic of discussion for the next meeting (Wednesday, December 7) will be the enrollment model for the class of 2010 (we’ll review the early decision, early action, and regular application goals). 

Respectfully submitted,
A. Strichartz