AFA Committee Minutes for September 21, 2006

Present: L. McClusky, J. Schnurr, S. Sloan, C. Speaker, V. Spears, A. Staples


1. Meeting was called to order by J. Schnurr at 10:00 am.

2. EMT minutes from the summer were distributed, and we had a discussion about the First-Year Survey - what it is used for, and how to get more of a response from the student body in the absence of Wells 102.

3. Also from the EMT minutes, we discussed the on-line registration that occurred this summer. We wondered how successful it was, and if gave us enough data to help plan for classes this fall. Does the lack of advising when registering for classes put freshmen in courses they don't belong in? We also discussed some pros and cons of the past Wells Warm-Up model of freshmen orientation.

4. We had a long discussion about the lack of concrete retention numbers. AFA has had trouble in the past getting these numbers, which we need to discuss why students leave Wells. We will ask Cathy to put this issue on the EMT/AFA meeting agenda for next week, and will submit a formal request to have these numbers announced at the next faculty meeting.

5. The open faculty meeting to discuss issues of selectivity will be announced at the Oct. 17 faculty meeting. Susan will try to get us some baseline data of students who had poor midterm grades in the past year and some of their Admissions data so that we will have a baseline for discussion.

6. For the Board of Trustees report, we will report on our current focuses, including the open meeting with the faculty about selectivity, our excitement about the larger student body but the need for a Academic Resource Center to aid in retention, and our concerns about the scheduling difficulties for the incoming class at the beginning of the semester.


7. The meeting adjourned at 11:00.


Respectfully submitted,

Jaclyn Schnurr
Secretary Pro-Temp