Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning Committee
Minutes/Notes - Wednesday, January 16, 2002
Teague Library

Present: Margaret Hampton, Wes Miller, Sara Penhale, Newell Pledger-Shinn, Rick Foreman, Tamara Clark, Monteze Snyder, Paul Ogren, Tamara Clark, Doug Bennett, Bob Southard, Nancy Sinex

Agenda

1. Approval of 1/10 minutes
2. Discussion of draft white papers a. Admissions/Enrollment b. Financial Aid c. Retention d. Budget
3. Large strategic options (brainstorming)

Minutes from the January 10 meeting of SPC were approved.

Discussion

- Doug provided a second draft of the memorandum to update the Earlham community about our work. It was suggested that we include a comment that the final report, although not endorsed by staff and students, would be reviewed by these two groups.

- We decided to postpone our discussion about "Big Ideas" until next week's meeting. Each SPC member should provide one idea in written form (3-4 lines) to share with other SPC members. (Please make enough copies for each member.)

- White Papers (Doug provided written comments for each of the four papers we were to discuss at this meeting. Please refer to those comments as you redraft your particular white paper.) We found ourselves with only enough time to discuss one of the four we planned to address. Here are comments on the Admissions and Enrollment white paper:

- Doug shared some comparative application volume data - indicating our increase this year. This data indicated that are application numbers are consistent and that our enrolling group is much more variable.

- Self-sustaining selectivity at Earlham - Note the rise in the number of applications at other GLCA schools. The number of applications affects selectivity that affects rankings, which affects applications.

- What are the 3-4 big ideas that we want people to glean from reading this paper?

• Size of application pool (too small) Selectivity - we admit too many students (but quality of students is good and steady - increased SAT scores, gpa, etc.)
• Without increase applications, efforts on yield are necessary also (e.g., campus contacts). We seem to be much better at encouraging admitted students to enroll. How can we or do we use this strategy for increasing the applicant pool.
• What are we doing now and how is it working (e.g., how do we attract students to the college - what activities yield us the most students). We work harder and harder but we haven't learned how to work differently.
• Doug mentioned Nelson's report for the February Board of Trustees meeting that is also addressing some of the above (what is working and what isn't among the initiative strategies, including hard data). We may not want to wait for to include this data in this draft but will want to refer to it. However, we should include a list of the Enrollment Enhancement Initiatives in this paper.
• Other ideas - Include information on how effective the other campus constituency contacts are. Address staffing in admissions (hasn't changed - similar to institutional advancement); turnover among staff is relatively low.

Other Discussion

• Getting the EC name out there - discussion on use of the national media.
• Perceptions of both first-years and seniors regarding lack of academic challenge. Bob will write a short paper with ideas how to address this. Might want to bring together faculty and students divisionally to offer opportunities for perspectives from both groups.
• Completing/distribution white papers - Sara suggested placing these on the web behind a "protect" feature so that only Earlham community members can access them. It was also suggested that we give white paper drafts to 2-3 people with expertise or strong interests in these areas in order to get feedback from them before distributing them more widely

Regular meeting time - now from 3-6:00 on Wednesdays (at least for the first part of the semester)

Reminder of other meetings this week - who will plan to attend:

• ESR (Thursday, January 17 - noon - ESR Dining Room) - Doug, Bob, Wes, Nancy
• Athletics (Friday, January 18 - noon - Wellness Center 2225) - Bob, Wes, Nancy