Campus Resources and Planning Committee

April 29, 2009

 

 

Present:           Dave Swenson, Pete Wyckoff, Lowell Rasmussen, Maddy Maxeiner, Ray Schultz,

                        Bryan Herrmann, LeAnn Dean, Sara Haugen, Jennifer Rothchild, Jacquie Johnson,

                        Sarah Mattson, Kathy Julik-Heine, Shannon Juhnke, Heather Peters, Zak Forde

 

Guests:                        James Morales, Judy Kuechle

 

 

Update on Admissions

James Morales distributed Fall 2009 enrollment projections as of April 28, 2009. The degree and non-degree seeking numbers are tracking quite well. With the May 1 deadline approaching soon, we will have another, more confident, update in about a month. NAS (transfer students) will continue to deposit through in the summer months. Bryan added that the May 1 is a national admissions date and we use this deadline to push prospective students to make a decision. This is not a hard and fast deadline. Pete wondered about the fraction of non-registered students that are due to financial holds. Bryan responded that it’s hard to say exactly without getting actual information on how much they owe. Pete said he follows the weekly reports closely and noted that the deposits have started slacking off and wondered if there was an explanation. In the past few years, he’s been asking to make calls, e-mail or send cards to prospective students but this year he has hasn’t been asked. Bryan said with the focus on our new publications, the card project has gone away. Due to a financial aid packaging problem, the timeline for calling was disrupted. Pete added that as we go forward he would strongly push for some sort of retreat or training session to bring discipline and program leaders together with our Admission counselors and tour guides. Heather added that due to our budget problems, there’s a sense that people are more willing to help out, now more than every before, in any way they can. She believes the campus sees this as a community problem and we want to help. James added that the Community of Scholars event was a real success because of the faculty and staff support.

 

Summer Task Forces

 

Pete said he is frustrated by the different definitions of employee groups. He would like to get everyone on the same page with a common definition of employment groups and how these definitions have changed over time along with comparisons of peer institutions. He would like involvement from committee members this summer with the hope of reporting back to the full committee early next fall. He will ask Jacquie to propose the structure of the task force.

 

Lowell reported that he will be looking for advice and counsel from this committee throughout the summer on space issues. Shannon will try to find a student representative.

 

If committee members are interested in serving on either task force, they should contact Pete.

 

Capital Campaign

 

Maddy distributed a draft of a development case statement that she and Jacquie would like to share with major gift donors and prospects. She would like CRPC to be comfortable with the statement before they proceed. Jacquie reported that potential donors have already heard some of the phrases in the document at one time or another. The challenge is knowing that you can’t go out with a long laundry list of ideas to donors, you want something inspiring, new and exciting. She recently attended a dinner with other deans and chancellors where she had a chance to look at all of the other vision statements and case for support. She felt really proud of our statement and the good work we’ve done here. Maddy said she would welcome feedback from this committee. Pete said he was worried about the use of “economic development” in the vision statement. That seems more like a technical education. Jacquie added that because we have to find ways to generate more revenue, we should find language that clarifies the mission—economic development is different from workforce training. Heather added that if we are thinking regional, we could just add it. Pete is also concerned about the phrase, “graduate more students as change agents,” perhaps we could use something less politically loaded. Dave suggestion using “visionary leaders.” Pete was concerned about using the term “laboratory” in one of the initiatives. To claim that we are a renewable energy research center may ring hollow to some of his colleagues. Dave suggested using the word “community” instead. Maddy would like to know if there are any fundamental objections to the statement before she begins sharing with donors/prospects. Pete will post the statement on Moodle for further feedback.