Deans Council Meeting

Deans’ Council Meeting October 15, 2015

Attendees: B. Barnett, E. Daffron, E. Saiff, S. Perry, L. Chakrin, A. Lorenz, S. Rice, E. Siecke, C. Romano. Invited Guests: B. Foster, M. Bitz, R. Mulryan, and M. Bitz.

Spring 2016 Final Exams

B. Foster reviewed the spring 2016 final exam schedule. She noted the following:

Some exams are not on the day the class normally meets, this is for both UG and GR Common finals have specific time slots and must use those times.

1 and 2 credit courses will end 1 week earlier and not meet during finals week. There will be time added to each meeting to make up for the missing week. Courses must meet during their assigned slot and not make a change to the schedule, as rooms are likely in use for finals in other courses.

Schedule entry for fall 16, winter 17, spring 17 and summer 17 will start shortly and must be complete by the end of January. New room allocations have to be determined prior to opening of the system.

Latin America Travel Funding

Review of current applications and those already approved. Provost noted that only two slots are left and that she is putting a hold on review of applications unless they are coming from SSHS. This hold will be in place until the end of November.

Provost noted that 9 sabbaticals will be available this year.

Rosa Mulryan presented a proposal about affiliating with a third party educational provider called Ed 4 Online – to offer online continuing education courses which are non-credit. They help people maintain certifications, licenses etc. Area businesses have also asked for online courses which can be provided by this program.

There is also a grant program through the Department of Defense called: MY CAA – It is a Military Spouse Career Advancement Account, and it is for Military spouses. They are entitled to $4,000 for any type of education and continued education. R. Mulryan is working with our Veterans Office to bring this program to the college. The program also offers support for students and career coaches, career counseling and resume writing.

There is no certificate provided by Ramapo, just the opportunity to use the grant. Ramapo receives a certain percentage for each student enrolled. There will be no use of facilities at Ramapo.

CIPL will be working with Kaplan to have test preps for both the MCAT and LSAT. These preps will be on the CIPL site along with SAT and PSAT. Student Complaint Committee – E. Daffron gave an update and noted that a contact person at Middles States has offered to deliver a free Ramapo-version Webinar based on eight federal regulations, including the one on student complaints. He will e-mail individuals with the time and date. It will last around an hour.

This is a pilot year for Ramapo to begin collecting student complaints, refine policies and log information. The Committee will meet sometime mid-year to review information and in May/June will look at a year’s worth of data.

Discussion of description of student complaints and sharing information with faculty.

Pathways – S. Rice spoke about the program. There is a need for coordination of programming and programs.

Policies

Policy/Procedure 300-TT - Satisfactory Progress for Grad Students – E. Daffron reviewed the policy/procedure – there were no new comments.

Policy/Procedure 300-E – Repeat Course – Review of new language.

Both policies will move forward to Provost’s Council.

Moodle

M. Bitz gave a presentation on Moodle.

Total number of Moodle users is increasing every year.

There is an increase in Hybrid courses.

Starting spring 2016 all courses will be loaded into Moodle. Faculty will be encouraged to post their syllabus and class assignments on the system.

Moodle is a better course management platform than Luminis, which is still up and running.

Accelerated Degrees

President Mercer would like to see more of these programs developed. Opportunities are available with 5 year programs. Discussion of accelerated programs and 5 year programs for undergrads followed.

We are also seeking additional reverse transfer opportunities for high school students.

The focus would be on helping students complete college on a faster timeline

Ramapo must be aware of opportunities to help HS students obtain college credit.

Several schools provide options where college faculty teach a course at the HS. Advisement

Joe Connell presented latest updates on Advisement

Educause – A grant has been received in the area of degree planning. Within the next three years Ramapo is receiving approximately $250,000 to improve student success through purchase and implementation of a new degree audit software..

Feedback on degree evaluations - advisement council reps will be reviewing the degree evaluation system; will pursue a software solution to this program.

All software will allow deans to see the demand for additional courses or course sections during registration and to assess the best times for offering these high demand learning experiences.

Will charge a taskforce with faculty, staff and administrators to review software programs to see what makes the most sense for Ramapo.