Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

ACADEMIC & STUDENT AFFAIRS NEWSLETTER

An Electronic Communication

JANUARY 2004 *** HAPPY NEW YEAR

http://www.academicaffairs.mnscu.edu

Welcome Sonja Schmieder who has assumed a temporary Teacher Education Project Director position in the Office of the Chancellor through June 30, 2004. Sonja was most recently employed with Augsburg College as the PT3 (Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology) Project Director. Sonja will be assisting with teacher education functions while a search is conducted for a replacement for Pam Wanga. Sonja will be the primary staff person to provide assistance for the Teacher Center work. Sonja brings great passion and excitement about teacher preparation to this position and can be reached at 651/296-8928 or via email at sonja.schmieder@so.mnscu.edu.

Welcome Jay Lee as Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rochester Community and Technical College. Jay replaces Judy Harris who retired January 5, 2004. He can be reached at 507-285-7256 or via email at jay.lee@roch.edu.

Welcome Diane Solinger as Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Minnesota State University, Mankato effective January 5, 2004. Diane replaces Denise Schlake who left the Vice President for Student Affairs position in January.

JANUARY LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

Minnesota Online continues to thrive as it grows from a project-based initiative to a maturing enterprise. The Presidents' Leadership Committee at its January meeting, approved the Minnesota Online FY 05 funding model, forwarded from the Minnesota Online Fiscal Committee, with minor changes. The funding streams will include a $5 per credit tuition assessment (paid by student) and an off-the-top from the institution's allocation. Other revenues projected are a grant from Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) via the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP) grant program, an internal partnership from MnSCU's customized training division, and a request from the Chancellor's Initiative Fund. For additional information, go to http://www.mnonline.mnscu.edu/ Discussions will continue to occur with student and faculty leadership before Board action.

BUSINESS PRACTICE VARIATION COMMITTEE

The Business Practice Variance Committee has begun its monthly meetings. The Committees charge is: To review and make recommendations for the elimination of business practice variances within the MnSCU system in areas that (1) impede student access to the system, (2) result in unnecessary logistical and maintenance burdens on the system, (3) impair data integrity and/or (4) result in unnecessary inefficiencies in the system. The committee will report directly to the Chancellor and review the existing variances in order to make recommendations on either eliminating or maintaining those variances.

This is an ad hoc committee composed of representatives appointed from Leadership Council Technology, Academic, Human Relations and Finance Subcommittees. This Committee is advisory to the Chancellor; however, it will seek input from the Leadership Council Subcommittees appointing its members. The Chancellor, at his discretion, will determine whether recommendations from the Committee should be implemented as made or elevated to the full Leadership Council and/or the Board of Trustees for additional discussion.

Members of the Committee are: Chair Robert Musgrove, Presidents Donovan Schwichtenberg, Richard Davenport, Keith Stover, Sr. Vice Chancellor Linda Baer, Vice Chancellor’s Laura King, Ken Niemi, and Bill Tschida. .Associate Vice Chancellor's Gary Langer from Academic and Student Affairs and Joanne Chabot from Information Technology will provide staff support to the committee.

EFOLIO

eFolio Minnesota passes the 12,000 mark for the number of registered users! As of January 4th, 2004 there were 12,076 registered eFolio Minnesota users with over 2 million hits for the month of December. Since its launch in August of 2002, eFolio Minnesota has experienced double digit monthly growth in the number of registered users. "Our efforts have received state and national attention" said Gary Langer Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs. Recent efforts include working with the Minnesota Board of Teaching and the Department of Education's special education division along with a number of training sessions targeted at Perkins' supported areas. "It's great to see how eFolio Minnesota has been accepted by the education and workforce community with some schools and workforce centers now providing formal training opportunities." More information about eFolio Minnesota can be found at www.efoliominnesota.com.

SENIOR VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ACADEMIC AND STUDENT AFFAIRS REPORT

DECEMBER 16, 2003 EDUCATIONAL POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Awards: Sr. Vice Chancellor Baer reported that Mark Langseth, Executive Director for the Minnesota Campus Compact, announced the finalists for the Carter Partnership Awards and three MnSCU institutions are among the six finalists. The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration honors and recognizes exemplary collaborations, undertaken by a college or university in partnership with a community group, which address critical areas of public need. The award recipients receive $10,000 in support of their program. The award provides recognition for outstanding campus-community partnerships in Minnesota, increases the number and the effectiveness of campus-community partnerships and promote college/university citizenship, encourages cooperation among education, community, government, and business leaders on critical social and economic issues and increases public awareness of and support for campus-community partnerships. Congratulations to The Careership Program (Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Metropolitan State University), The Health Careers Institute (The Phillips Partnership and Minneapolis Community and Technical College),and the Family Investment Center and Hibbing Community College. The other three finalists are: University of Minnesota, Crookston Service-Learning Center/Habitat for Humanity/Retired Senior Volunteer Program/ VolunTEAM, The Cedar Riverside Community School/Augsburg College Partnership, Grant Community School Collaborative and College of St. Scholastica.

Minnesota Online Higher Learning Commission Accreditation: Sr. Vice Chancellor Baer thanked again Lynette Olson who headed up the Accreditation Project; to Shelly Heller, for excellent logistical support during the visit; all the campus faculty, students and administrators and Office of the Chancellor staff who have participated in the development of Minnesota Online. And she thanked Gary Langer, who has the job of working to align and build consensus with our very diverse institutions and their education communities for the entire online learning effort. She stated that Minnesota Online is a collaborative model for the nation.

The Employer Services Partnership (ESP) Board Received a Wells Fargo Foundation Grant of $25,000 and McKnight Grant of $80,000: Sr. Vice Chancellor Baer reported on the Employer Services Partnership (ESP), a Twin Cities regional planning group composed of organizations providing training and education or workforce development services to employers and the incumbent workforce. The ESP Board received a Wells Fargo Foundation Grant of $25,000 and also a McKnight Grant of $80,000. The ESP includes the workforce centers, local workforce investment councils, the University of Minnesota, chambers of commerce, private colleges, state agencies and the Minnesota State College and University System. The ESP Board is representative of partner organizations; our system has six board members, including Presidents Phil Davis and Anne Weyandt and System Director Richard Tvedten. The purpose of ESP is to build organization alignment and improve organization services to employers.

Lake Superior College Featured in Chronicle of Higher Education: Sr. Vice Chancellor Baer reported on the December 19, 2003 Lake Superior College article featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The article focused on the six year journey taken at the college to develop and enhance its online learning opportunities which is one of the key directions for the system’s strategic plan and the system’s work plan. A number of faculty are quoted in the article including and the college has Increase in faculty and adjunct faculty teaching online from 21 to 52. The institution had 2,204 students enrolled in online courses during the 2002-3 academic year - the highest online enrollment of any of the 33 colleges in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System.

Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Teacher of the Year Award: Sr. Vice Chancellor Baer reported on ACTE’s teacher of the year. The Association for Career and Technical Education is the largest national education association dedicated to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. Recipients of this award must have made significant contributions toward innovative, unique and novel programs that are serving to improve and promote career and technical education. Congratulations to Cliff Vrieze, Farm Business Management, Minnesota West, Jackson Campus.

SIX COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES RECEIVE FUNDING

FOR UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENT RETENTION

This past fall, the Academic and Student Affairs division in the Office of the Chancellor announced a grant funding opportunity for colleges and universities for projects to improve the retention of underrepresented students. Twenty-five colleges and universities submitted proposals. A team of reviewers from the campuses and the Office of the Chancellor reviewed the submissions and was very favorably impressed with the uniformly high quality of the proposals. In the end, six proposals were selected for funding. Brief descriptions of these successful proposals follow.

Inver Hills Community College- Integrating Developmental Education and Acculturation Skills—Positive Learning for Underrepresented Students (IDEAS+). This project will create a campus-wide faculty development model through the infusion of “college success” strategies into developmental courses. Faculty, in consultation with a college counselor, will use student profiles and summary reports of the College Student Inventory to redesign their courses. The counselor will also provide direct services to students, using an intrusive advising model, to ensure that those students who need support services fully utilize them.

Metropolitan State University- Model of Retention for Underserved Students. The proposed model emphasizes supplementing course instruction through study skills, supplemental instruction and other learning techniques. It promotes a high degree of peer interaction and support through peer leadership development. It ensures a campus climate conducive to learning and persistence. Finally, it contains an evaluation component that provides the campus community with useful feedback concerning the issues underserved students face.

Minnesota State University, Mankato- Language Learning for Academic Success. The university will develop a program for students who are permanent residents (i.e., holding either refugee or immigrant status) or U.S. citizens who are non-native English speakers. The Language Learning for Academic Success (LLAS) program will be based on a Learning Community model, including language and general education courses, as well as tutoring and intrusive advising.

Northwest Technical College, Bemidi- Underrepresented Student Retention Initiative. NTC, Bemidji will pilot a system of intrusive advising and early warning/early intervention for students of color and first generation college students, increase access to tutors for the same students, develop and implement an electronic advising management system, and implement an efficient system for collecting, documenting, and analyzing retention data.

Pine Technical College- Developmental Learning Community. This project will create a learning community among a cohort of first-generation, economically disadvantaged students needing developmental education. With a focus on math and a range of academic, social and career support services, student success will be achieved by improving academic success, enhancing receptivity to learning, and by showing the connection and relevancy of liberal arts courses in technical programs of study

Ridgewater College- CORE Student Retention Initiative. This project will focus on the approximately 48 percent of Ridgewater College students who indicate a need for 2 or more developmental courses in transfer and technical AAS degree programs. The project will provide Supplemental Instruction and other support services for developmental math in the summer session, and Learning Communities during the fall semester for development English, Sociology, Speech and Study Skills.