AFA Committee Minutes for September 14, 2005

Present: A. Azevedo, K. Green, E. Hall, L. McClusky, L. Miller-Bernal, C. Patella, J. Schnurr, S. Sloan

1. As senior faculty member on AFA, L. Miller-Bernal called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. and led a discussion of possible meeting times. Wednesday mornings at 9 was decided upon.

2. Laura McClusky was elected chair by consensus.

3. Current student numbers were noted: 418 “bodies,” 405 FTEs (the goal had been 404, and that was an “aggressive” goal), compared to last year’s 398 FTE at a comparable point in the academic year. By next meeting Karen Green should have retention numbers that she and Karla Leybold-Taylor will work on.

4. Susan Sloan gave an overview of what admissions staff are doing right now and what areas they are concentrating on. Our inquiry pool is about 14,000, up more than 100%, primarily due to our use of PSAT’s student search program. Campus visits have also increased, with 75 more prospective students coming to campus during the summer. We have 23 applications, vs. 7 last year, but these numbers are considered too small to be significant. We also have 7 students who deferred their admission by a year, and all students in the past who have deferred have later enrolled.

5. We discussed college promotional materials. S. Sloan will bring the new multicultural brochure to our next meeting; it was described as “really stellar.” We’re a little behind with the new viewbook. Cognitive, the firm that is developing the viewbook, will be “branding” Wells through discussions with people on campus, i.e., we’ll have a way of saying that Wells is “great” in more specific, concrete, and appealing terms.

6. We engaged in a wide-ranging discussion of other ways we could reach out to possible students, including such issues as the role of faculty in admissions activities, programs that might encourage more members of minority groups to apply, how we might work more with local schools and guidance counselors, and what we’ve done in the past that’s worked or not worked. A few concrete suggestions came out of this discussion:

1. Admissions staff should meet with faculty in different divisions so that they can learn more about Wells’ programs to describe them to high school students
2. Susan Sloan will develop a list for us, when she has the time, of outreach we do, outreach we’ve done in the past, and outreach we’d like to do. AFA can discuss this list and recommend priorities for the outreach we’d like to do.
6. The last part of our meeting involved discussing how much we could “shape” Wells and how other colleges have changed their image. Committee members disagreed on whether Wells has already changed since last year due to the admission of men and due to the fact that 38% of our current students are new to campus, or whether Wells’ rural location, very small size, and traditional liberal arts curriculum mean that we will tend to have the same types of students.

The meeting adjourned at about 9:35 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Leslie Miller-Bernal

Secretary pro temp.