Members Present: MaryLou Argueta, Joe Cowan, Andy DeGrove, Nancy Dillard, Tori Ellison, Bill Haggard, Jane Hall, Mary Jean Herzog, Fred Hinson, Casey Hurley, Jeanine Knowles, Dianne Lynch, Bob Orr, Carolyn Parris, Will Peebles, John Ritchie, JJ Rowe, Linda Sutton, Roger Turk, Dave Whitaker, and Kathy Wright
Also Present: John Bardo
Members Absent: Robert Blankenship, Lisa Bloom, and Christy Brown
The meeting was called to order at 3:30 PM by Bill Haggard. After roll call, the Council agreed to have portions of the meeting videotaped by Jane Hall. For the benefit of those new members, the Council then participated in a brief introduction exercise. Bill Haggard noted the work of the Council Secretary, Dave Whitaker, and stated that all materials handed out at this meeting are also available on our Home Page.
A personnel report stating the actions of the Executive Council during their last meeting was reviewed for the membership. The document is available via a link on the posted agenda on our Home Page, or by clicking here, for those interested. In addition, an updated roster was distributed to the Council.
The singular piece of unfinished business was addressed. Bill formed a small ad-hoc task force to formulate a mission and vision statement for the Council. The members of that group are Casey Hurley, Bob Orr, Nancy Dillard, and Mary Jean Herzog.
Council conversation focused on the issue of retention for a majority of the meeting. As an overview, Bill laid a foundation for the topic, citing the Chancellor's Opening Remarks to the faculty and retention statistics to better define the scope of the discussion. WCU is competing for last place in the system with UNCP with a freshman to sophomore retention rate of 69.5% compared to a system average of 72.7 percent. Chancellor Bardo gave a summary of the issue as well. The makeup of the freshman class is much different than 5 years ago. The average SAT and GPA have risen steadily. The Chancellor stated various options to improve our retention rate as well as asking the question, "Are we doing all we ought to do?"
Council members offered suggestions ranging from forming small focus groups over a meal for input to students holding focus groups to facilitate information gathering. It was suggested that a summary of the work other Task Forces had done be presented to the Council so that we are better informed of previously addressed concerns and issues as well as actions taken to this point. Also, it was mentioned that student retention could be improved by having a senior buddy system, involving the entire freshman class in the Learning Community Concept and increasing publicity of campus events to increase student involvement. The Staff Forum will be having a Town Meeting as well as Community Conversations later in the semester to inform the Staff citizens of the community about the retention problem. The Executive Committee was given approval by the Council to filter down all the ideas from this meeting into a summary for additional discussion and possible action at the October Meeting. (The Chancellor's remarks to the faculty can be accessed online from the WCU Home Page at http://www.wcu.edu/bardo00.html.)
Just before adjournment, Bill reminded the Council that if there were general concerns that should be discussed for consideration by the group, members of the Council should email those concerns to one of the officers, who would pass them along to the Executive Committee. Chancellor Bardo mentioned that sometime later in the semester, candidates for Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance would be on campus. The Chancellor urged members of the Council to engage the candidates in discussion of important issues.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:58 PM. The next meeting of the Council will be on October 5, 2000 at 3:30 PM in the Grand Room of the University Center.
Respectfully submitted,
David A. Whitaker
Council Secretary |
