EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE

ACADEMIC, APPELLATE, AND SENATE COMMITTEE

 ANNUAL REPORT

 

2007-2008 Academic Year

COMMITTEE:   Admission and Retention Policies

 

1.  Membership (include ex-officio members).

Wendy Sharer, John Kerbs, Xiaoming Zeng, David Siegel, Lena Carawan, Natalie Stewart, Dana Espinosa, Michele Myers, Todd Johnson, Lee Grubb, Christine Zoller, Preston Stanford.

2.      Meeting Dates (include members present*).
August 27, 2007

·            PERSON RESIDING: Wendy Sharer

·            REGULAR MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Dana Espinosa, John Kerbs, Natalie Stewart, Xiaoming Zeng

·            EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Christine Zoller

 

October 1, 2007

·        PERSON RESIDING: Wendy Sharer

·        REGULAR MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: John Kerbs, David Siegel, Natalie Stewart, Xiaoming Zeng

·        EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Lee Grubb, Todd Johnson, Michele Myers

 

November 5, 2007

·        PERSON RESIDING: Wendy Sharer

·        REGULAR MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Dana Espinosa, John Kerbs, David Siegel, Natalie Stewart, Xiaoming Zeng

·        EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Todd Johnson, Lee Grubb

 

December 3, 2007

·        PERSON RESIDING: Wendy Sharer

·        REGULAR MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Dana Espinosa, John Kerbs, David Siegel

·        EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Todd Johnson, Michele Myers, Mark Taggart

 

February 4, 2008

·        PERSON RESIDING: John Kerbs

·        REGULAR MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Dana Espinosa, John Kerbs, David Siegel, Natalie Stewart, Xiaoming Zeng

·        EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Todd Johnson, Lee Grubb, Preston Stanford

 

March 3, 2008

·        PERSON RESIDING: Wendy Sharer

·        REGULAR MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: John Kerbs, David Siegel, Natalie Stewart, Xiaoming Zeng

·        EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Lee Grubb, Preston Stanford

 

April 7, 2008

·        PERSON RESIDING: Wendy Sharer

·        REGULAR MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: John Kerbs, David Siegel, Natalie Stewart, Xiaoming Zeng

·        EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Lee Grubb

 

3.      Subcommittees established during the year (include progress and/or completion of work).

Not Applicable 

 

4.      Accomplishments during the year, especially as addressed through committee goals.  Please include recommendations made to any University agency other than the Faculty Senate that will be noted under #5.

·Researched implementation of plus/minus grading systems at other large, state universities as part of the Chancellor’s final approval process on the ECU plus/minus grading system.

·Researched First-Day Attendance Policies after receiving request from School of Communication. Advised School of Communication faculty that, while a university-wide first-day attendance policy did not seem feasible at this time, there is nothing preventing individual departments and programs from establishing such policies, provided that those policies allow for University Excused Absences and that those policies are provided in writing for students in advance of the class start date.

·Reviewed and responded to Section 4.2 of the UNC Tomorrow Commission Report (“Our Citizens and Their Future: Access to Higher Education”).  The Committee’s responses were conveyed to ECU’s response task force via the Chair, Wendy Sharer, who also serves on the ECU response task force.

·Researched student retention rates and causes of student attrition through reports from Michael Poteat (IPRE), who talked with the committee about the findings of the Survey of Non-returning Students, and from Shelly Myers (Center for Academic Enrichment and Allied Health), who presented a report on class attendance and participation regulations, along with data concerning past retention and graduation rates as well as ECU’s stated goals for improving retention and graduation rates over the next five years.

 

5.       Reports to the Faculty Senate (include dates and resolution numbers).

·        April 22, 2008—Resolution #08-22 (resolution on Undergraduate Retention) 

6.       Business carried over to next year (list in priority order).

·Furthering best practices in student retention as articulated in Resolution #08-22. 

·Examining forgiveness policies and GPAs for readmission following suspension

·Considering how to publicize and educate the university community about the move to a plus/minus grading system in 2012

·Resuming the discussion about Grade Appeal Process (a proposal for a Grade Appeal Process was brought to the committee in 2006-2007 from the SGA but withdrawn for revision)

 

7.       Evaluation of the committee (include anything that hindered or assisted the

          committee's work during the year).

A.    Charge:

B.    Personnel: The committee was helped this year by the input of both Shelly Myers and Michael

        Poteat. It would be beneficial to have permanent representation, or at least regular participation,

        from these two areas, as well as from the First-Year Center, on the committee.

C.    Attendance: As has been the case in the past, SGA/student attendance was inconsistent. In

        addition, one of our regular members was unable to attend meetings.

D.    Responsibilities:

E.    Activities:

 

8.       Suggestion(s) to the Chair of the Faculty and/or Faculty Senate for improving the effectiveness of the committee.

Work with the SGA leadership to determine a more effective method for ensuring student participation in the committee’s work.

 

9.       Does the Committee’s organizational meeting next year need to be earlier than the date set this year?  No

         

 

                                                  Signed:  Chairperson, Wendy Sharer

 

                                                                      Secretary, Xiaoming Zeng