Enrollment Management Progress Report June 14^th 2006

The College in February 2004 convened The Enrollment Management Committee. The members were charged with the task of reviewing the College’s current recruitment, admissions, and student support services to identify actions the College could take to:

· Improve application rates, applicant quality, yields for both first year and transfer students and

· Improve rates of retention and time to graduation for undergraduates.

Below are the actions that have been accomplished as well as actions that still are in progress.

Undergraduate

Actions Accomplishments

· More colleges and their credit equivalencies have been added to the Transfer Evaluation System (TES). This has increased the amount of credit evaluations completed in a timely manner for incoming transfer students from domestic institutions. This action facilitates the students’ preparation for advisement and registration.

· The College through the enhancement of the credit evaluation process and the work of the Advising Center has decreased the times that a transfer student needs to visit the campus. Advising workshops are voluntary, but strongly encouraged. Transfer evaluation days continue to be offered as a service for students with international transcripts and also for schools that are not in the TES system.

· The lack of major advisement in departments during summer months when many transfer students attempt to register has been addressed, and departmental faculty are available at specific times during transfer workshops to give advice on the major and to register students.

· Backlogs in registrations for courses such as English 110 have been virtually eliminated with an increase in offerings. Difficulties in areas such as Humanities I, Tier I and the Physical Education requirement are being addressed in current proposals related to General Education.

· With increases in course offerings and faculty lines, admission to popular majors (e.g., LCD, Graphic Design) is more available for transfer students.

· Advising after the first year offers students services, including but not limited to “walk-in” advising in the Advising Center, and availability of major advisors in departments at the times students most need assistance in registering. This is validated through the Sophomore Year Initiative which includes early advising (second semester of first year) to identify course needs and paths to graduation.

· With the implementation of Degree Works for the Fall 2006, the lack of a central advising record, which made it difficult for all advisors to monitor student plans over time, has been handled and will add better service to all students.

· Administrative and student support offices are now offering beyond regular office hours (9am to 5 pm, M-F). There are extended evening hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The coordination of these extended hours has enhanced the services that are being offered to all students.

· Through the initiatives of the Director of Weekend College, hours for the Library and OCT computer laboratories have been extended to meet the needs of the weekend students. Through the Advising Center, advising is available for weekend students.

· The Retention Task Force was concerned by the limited faculty availability to students outside class, especially for part time or evening students who may be on campus for limited periods of time. The problem is exacerbated by adjunct faculty who are also on campus for limited periods. We continue to work with the academic chairs and the graduate advisors to request faculty to post their office hours for all students.

· Community spaces for students have been significantly improved with cybercafés in the Library and Science buildings, the creation of the Honors Center, the new student lounges and study spaces in Powdermaker Hall, and the expansion of outdoor seating all of which are enhanced by the all wireless campus environment.

· More resources have been allocated to advertising including print, radio and web, thus allowing the college to brand and market itself to all students. Coordinated by Admissions, more initiatives have been taken to use personnel from the campus community to contact potential students in area high schools and colleges with a strong emphasis in Nassau and Suffolk counties. This population has included but has not been limited to students (Ambassadors), key faculty from specific departments, and other College personnel. We have enlisted our current CUNY Honors students as ambassadors to their home high schools to recruit students; this has increased our applicant pool.

· The Freshman Honors Program has been restructured and is now linked to our Queens College scholarships and other College honors programs. Efforts have been made to offer CUNY Honors applicants, not admitted to CHC, the opportunity to be enrolled in a Queens College Honors Program by receiving either a full tuition or a half tuition scholarship.

· Through the Queens College Senate, we have extended acceptance of an AA/AS degree from Nassau Community College (NCC) as the equivalent of general education requirements here at Queens. NCC, our second largest feeder school, has a general education program that closely resembles that of Queens. Currently we are looking to extend this offer to Suffolk County Community College, a part of SUNY.

· Through the University Registrar’s Council, we now have access to all CUNY College transcripts and immunization records. This has helped in working with the finalization of new transfer student records and made it easier to satisfy the health service requirements. It also assists in the direct process of transfer students during the summer months.

· The Advising Center, with the implementation of the 75 credit review, can now monitor the progress of incoming transfer students and follow-up with students to encourage progress towards completion of the degree.

· We have implemented pre-major advising through departmental advisors as well as the Academic Advising Center, ensuring that students are aware of entrance and co-major requirements (e.g., LASAR Plus for EECE) and their progress in meeting them.

· We have implemented the Freshman/Parent Orientation and Registration Program providing an overall orientation to Queens College that clarifies the mission of the College, the elements of a liberal arts degree, and the advantages of an academic plan for graduation. This Freshman/Parent Orientation and Registration has been expanded through the collaboration of the Advising Center and Student Services.

· There has been an increase in the number of Freshman Year Initiative communities to accommodate the particular pre-major interests of first year students resulting in a strong connection between FYI and Academic Advising.

Actions still pending

· There still exists a mistaken belief on the part of many transfer and freshman students that the statement of interest on their application constitutes a “declaration of major,” leading to a delay in establishing an official link with their major department. Through the Sophomore Year Initiative, the Advising Center encourages students to select a major.

· There is an absence of “push technology,” as the College does not require an e-mail address of all entering students (or provide one for those few who do not have one), making it difficult to use e-mail to communicate inexpensively and quickly. Request and, if necessary, create e-mail accounts for students on acceptance so that they can be contacted electronically. Progress is being made in this area, as new students are encouraged at the New Student/Parent orientations to sign up for a College email account.

· The concept of “one stop” access to essential offices (Registrar, Bursar, and Financial Aid) is still missing; therefore, we continue to require students to make visits to multiple offices.

· The Weekend College student requires at times, the services of the registrar, financial aid, and bursar. These services are currently available only Monday-Friday 9am to 5pm with extended hours two evenings a week. We have to work to improve this situation.

· The credit evaluation situation for students who are international, for example, F1 or J1, as well as those students who are domestic with international documents remains unresolved. To remedy this situation we must address the local issue of the timing of these evaluations as well as the University International admissions process.

· The requirement to take the CPE upon entry, if the student has completed 45 credits and has not yet passed the examination continues to be problematic. The response to invitations continues to be an issue for this examination. Currently, we are working on initiatives to get the faculty directly involved in the process.

· There still exists limited parking for our students. This becomes an issue in recruitment and retention, especially for those coming from Long Island or parts of the city not well served by mass transit. Alternatives need to be addressed if we want to continue to encourage students from other boroughs or counties to attend Queens College.

· We need to continue to work with departments to improve their practices to encourage students to declare majors as well as to facilitate contact with faculty members. There still seems to be varied responses to these practices.

· Scholarship funds are very important incentives for recruitment of targeted student groups. There needs to be an increase in the scholarship pool to attract such students, particularly CHC students not admitted to Honors College and under-represented populations.

· There are unresolved ESL/EPL issues, either for students who have exited ESL but need additional support, or for students who may live in a non-English speaking environment and need additional support with English comprehension or composition. We are working to address these issues. Through the College’s CUE Council, particularly in a collaboration between WAC and the Academic Support Center we will create faculty development initiatives and academic interventions to address these issues.

· As the University moves forward in allowing colleges to develop housing for students, Queens College needs to examine how it provides this service. During parent orientation sessions, the College receives requests for such services, especially for students commuting from Long Island.

· Within the first semester of attendance, there is a need to properly advise first time attending students (freshman and transfers) who are late registrants.

· There needs to be special outreach to first time attending students who, at the end of the first semester, have been identified as at risk students (grades of W, NC, WU, ABS, INC).

· We need to extend the availability of ‘walk-in’ advising in the Advising Center to accommodate the large numbers of second year students who require this service.

Graduate

Graduate Studies at Queens College was not part of the initial charge of the Enrollment Management Committee. With this document, we are putting forth suggested actions that need to be given consideration in the areas of admissions, recruitment and retention.

Admissions and Recruitment:

1. Send welcoming letters to admitted students from the President and from the Dean of

Graduate Studies.

2. Using the EECE certificates as a model, create additional 15 credit programs for in-

service teachers.

3. Send major-specific advertisements to appropriate departments in regional colleges

and universities.

4. Allow the Graduate Admissions Office to admit non-matrics, based on strict criteria

provided by the departments.

5. Revise transfer credit policy to eliminate sources of confusion.

6. Expand advertising for the Graduate Open Houses.

Retention:

1. Urge formation of clubs for evening education majors, and other majors. Urge

Divisions to establish dedicated graduate lounges or study areas, to help build a

sense of community.

2. The Graduate Studies Dean should meet annually, by Division, with the Graduate

Advisors.

3. The University should consider reducing the maintenance of matriculation fee.

The ill feelings created by this fee will in the long run lead to a net loss in

revenue.

4. Consider renting rooms from local schools to create more sections at the popular

4:30 time.

5. The Career Office should advertise services for the graduate population.