Present:  David Bozak, Rhonda Mandel, Paloma Jalife, Joyce Smith, Andy Westfall, Alison Finsterwalder, Rameen Mohammadi, Sandy Kyle, Harry Shock, Linda Hefti, Bradley Perl, Rich Hughes, R.Deborah Davis, Pamela Brand, Nola Heidlebaugh

Meeting Began: 2:03pm 

Ø     Introductions

The group went around the room to introduce themselves and what department they were representing. Chris mentioned that there are other members on the group that are unable to make the normal meeting time but that hopefully they would get involved in the sub-committees that will be formed.

Ø     Comments from Last Year

Chris asked for comments from the members on last years committee to give him and the rest of the committee some historical perspective as to where the committee has been and in what direction it needs to move. Discussion took place regarding the initiatives that were worked on last year and in years past. Rhonda stated that this is a real working committee and that the sub-committee structure that has been implemented in the past is very effective.

Issues that have been dealt with in the past have been advisement, scholarships and financial aid, orientation and articulations.

Ø     Goals and Issues for the Year

Chris handed out a breakdown of what he sees as some important issues for the committee to tackle. (List attached in email). Discussion began about what goals and issues should be dealt with throughout the year.

Specific discussion centered around advisement issues and the survey that was done by Student Advisement last spring in regards to advisement issues. Another concern brought up about advisement was the lack of incentives that faculty members have to advise, but especially to advise a diverse group of students such as transfers. A suggestion was made to form a group of advisors that could discuss their advisement methods to put together a “Best Practices of Advisement” for other advisors. It was also suggested that the council could use the conceptual framework of the first-year advisement program but it was important to remember that advisement is not a one size fits all issue.

There was discussion about a mentor pilot program between Cayuga CC and Oswego that Chris has begun work on. Feedback was positive on working on such a program and that the collaboration with the community college was an important part to any successful program. It was asked if we had any data to support such a program and discussion then began about the types of data we do have and what we should continue to try to get.

Another issue that was brought up was the possibility of creating a 1 credit course for transfer students identified as “at-risk” to help improve their success at Oswego. It was asked if there were some peer models out there that we could use as a guideline for development. There are models out there that are effective and are typically collaborative with the community college.

TRANSFERmation was also discussed and it was agreed upon that there are still things that can be done to improve the turnout of students coming to TRANSFERmation and to improve the overnight numbers and cut down on the numbers coming to the later sessions.

Ø     Sub-Committees

Discussion then took place as to what sub-committees should be formed for the group to work on. The following sub-committees were formed:

          Data Collection

          Advisement

          TRANSFERmation

          “At-Risk” Class

          Mentor Program

Sub-Committees would be sent out over the listserv and members are asked to pick one or two committees to be on.

          Meeting Adjourned at 3:06pm.

Next Meeting:  Wednesday, October 25^th @ 2pm – location TBD.