ICCCSSO Summer Conference Minutes

June 21-22, 2006

Stoney Creek Inn - Galena, IL

 

Meeting opened at 5:10 p.m. on June 21, 2006.

 

Attendees:

Black Hawk College                             Kim Armstrong

College of DuPage                                Kay Nielsen

Harper College                         Joan Kindle

Highland Community College    Vicki Jensen

ICCB                                                   Karen Hunter-Anderson

ICCB                                                   Andi Berryman

ICCB                                                   Elaine Johnson

ICCB                                                   Barb Risse

Illinois Central College              John Avendano

Illinois Valley Community College         Bob Marshall

Joliet Junior College                              Al Harderson

Kankakee Community College  Judy Marwick

Kishwaukee College                             Larry Apperson

Rock Valley College                             Amy Diaz

Sauk Valley College                             Pam Clodfelter

Spoon River College                             Sharon Wrenn

 

Secretary-Treasurer’s Report:

The minutes from the Winter 2006 Conference were presented.  Bob Marshall made a motion to approve the minutes.  Pam Clodfelter seconded.  Kay Nielsen made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report ($4254.51).  John Avendano seconded.  All motions carried.

 

Bob Marshall suggested we consider spending down some of our significant balance.  Discussion followed.  John proposed we host a leadership conference/workshop for the SSOs and their staff.  More discussion is needed.

 

Reports:

Statewide Standards for Dual Credit (Pete Basola) - No report.

 

ICCB Enrollment Surveys (Elaine Johnson) – ICCB is looking at changing the formula for the P-16 grant distribution.  There will be an additional $500,000 from the state budget for distribution for this year.  The General Assembly will be asking ICCB to be accountable for dual credit/enrollment in the future.

 

Student Success Grant (Karen Hunter-Anderson) – Karen reminded us of the qualifications for this grant: developmental, disability, low income, first generation students.  She also explained how the Student Success Grant would be distributed (Pell eligible – 12.5%, minority 25%, remedial – 50%, disability – 12.5%)

Baccalaureate Access (Elaine Johnson) – This is not a dead issue.  Dialogue will be on-going between 2- and 4-year institutions.  No action at this time.

 

HECA Guidelines (Karen Hunter-Anderson) – New for FY 07; looking for 2- and 4-year partnerships.  The new name is “Innovation Grant”.  Elaine Johnson encouraged all of us to apply for the new grant and reminded us that 3-4% of each grant must now be used for evaluation/assessment.  Discussion followed.  Kay Nielsen expressed concern for funding mandated services for students with disabilities. Karen mentioned colleges can use Student Success grant monies to fund disability services if desired. 

 

Legislation Update:  ORS/Rehab Issues – No report.

 

IAI (Barb Risse) – Tabled until day 2 of retreat.

 

Financial Aid (John Avendano) – A task force for IVG is necessary to review implications from IVG on each institution.  The state commits to the program and mandates that the community college enforce and pay for it.  Amy Diaz, Kay Nielsen and Karen Hunter-Anderson volunteered to work on this issue with John.

 

International Students (Larry Apperson) – No report.

 

ICCCSSO Email Surveys (Summary)

John Avendano will email his report out to everyone.

Pam Clodfelter passed out her summary on online services provided.

 

Open discussion

John informed SSOs there were four items on the CAO meeting agenda that could have been discussed jointly:

1)      Implications for differential fees for high cost programs

2)      Membership on statewide committees

a.       ICCB will work on compiling such a list.

3)      IVG Task Force

4)      Proposed changes in AS Degree

a.       To allow students to transfer with a degree without a large number of additional credit hours completed.

                                                                           i.      Decrease credit hours in Humanities/Fine Arts by 3 (6 total)

                                                                         ii.      Decrease credit hours in Social/Behavioral Sciences by 3 (6 total)

                                                                        iii.      Increase credit hours in Life/Physical Sciences to 12

Larry volunteered to place a question on the listserv regarding this topic (model AA and model AS degrees).

 

June 21, 2006 – Meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m.

 

 

 

June 22, 2006 – Meeting re-opened at 8:00 a.m.

 

Pam Clodfelter was asked by ICAROO to write a letter of support (for what??).  Bob Marshall made a motion in favor of their request.  Kay Nielsen seconded.  Motion passed.

 

Special Presentations:

ICCB Report (Karen Hunter-Anderson & Elaine Johnson) 

1)      Underrepresented Groups Report – Scott Parke is requesting volunteers meet in Springfield on Monday, September 11th from 9 – 12:00 noon to discuss ways to improve the report.  Larry Apperson and Kim Armstrong volunteered.  There are several issues with the report – it is confusing, there is little perceived value by SSOs, the definition of “underrepresented” is not accurate, etc.  Judy expressed concern with the number of reports required by ICCB.  Al stated a meeting is a good idea, however, the date needs to be set well in advance and a start time of 10:00 a.m. is more desirable for travelers.

 

2)      Undocumented Students – The Illinois State Law is in direct conflict with the Federal Law on this issue.  The State considers US high school graduates eligible to receive in-district tuition regardless of citizenship status.  Barrack Obama is one senator who is supporting our current practice.

 

3)      Essential Skills – The task force is reviewing how Illinois community colleges provide services to students with developmental disabilities.  Questions being considered: Is it the community college mission to serve this population? Is it appropriate to support degree completion?  The task force will continue to review models and best practices across the country.  A draft will be brought forward to all interested groups.  Kay Nielsen will report at our next meeting on CoDs model.  Joliet partners with local high school district to provide opportunities.  Al will attend the next Essential Skills meeting to present on what they are doing at Joliet.

 

4)      Legislative Updates –

A. UIUC is serving as a facilitator for the SR 701 initiative.  It is a shared database between ICCB and IBHE that can track students through the entire higher education system even if the student transfers multiple times.

B. Karen Hunter-Anderson will send out a questionnaire on textbook rental.  She asks that we all respond in a timely manner so that Elaine can gather responses and report to the General Assembly soon. 

C. HR 122: ICCB will create a task force to review the present and future of Illinois community colleges (funding, mission, etc.).

 

5)      IAI Updates – (Barb Risse)

A. Major panels will no longer review courses.  This was never part of their charge.  CAS is being implemented across the state.  This system will provide transfer information on all courses (GECC and majors).  The major panels will have a name change to reflect the transfer advisory nature of their work (i.e., Illinois History Advisory Committee).  The committees will work on strengthening the course descriptions for better information sharing and marketing of the courses to everyone.

B. General Education panels will continue to review courses.  All institutions are asked to set up their own assessment/review committees to make a recommendation and ensure courses received by gen. ed. panels are appropriate requests.  A consistent submission form has been created by ICCB/IBHE staff.

C. Changes to www.itransfer.org website are in progress.  It will be expanded to be a portal for CAS and career decision making in addition to hosting links to four-year institutions with specifics majors.  Barb stated community colleges may need to be reminded to remove IAI major codes from catalogs (general education codes may remain).

D. Students with more than 30 credit hours can transfer to a four-year institution and will be able to chose between completing the IAI core OR completing the 4-year institution’s general education core.  IBHE has stated if the four-year institutions wish to participate in IAI, they must offer options to students.

E. There will be upcoming meetings at CoD (July 12th) and Lincoln Land (June 29th).  You may register online.

F.  AAT Update – There have been approximately eighteen AAT degrees in Secondary Mathematics approved to date while only three AATs in Secondary Science, two in Special Education and one in Early Childhood have been approved.  Barb would like us to respond to her in writing with our concerns in the AAT in Secondary Science.

G.  AAS in Paraprofessional (Teaching Assistant) – There was some discussion regarding the effectiveness of this degree.  Consensus in room is that it is not very useful to students.

 

Pandemic Flu Preparation (Kay Nielsen) – Kay handed out a packet of information on preparing for and responding to an emergency like Pandemic Flu.  Discussion followed.  Eighteen to Forty year old is age group most at risk.  This topic may be presented at the Homeland Security Conference in February 2007 and/or at ICCCA in November 2006.

 

Online Student Services (Al Hardersen) – Al provided handouts on Certified Online Counseling requirements.  Discussion followed.  Al suggested we advocate for our trained advisors to serve on our IT advisory committees regarding online advising issues.

 

General Discussion/Sharing:

Fall Meeting Dates – ICCCA is November 15 – 17, 2006 in DeCatur.

 

Lincoln’s Challenge (Andi) – Handout was provided.  ICCB participates with program by providing scholarships for students once they meet certain requirements. 

 

DCFS Program (Andi) – The college tuition payment program will be terminated.  Information on a transition program to follow.

 

Academic Competitiveness Grant (Amy Diaz) – This is a new financial aid program. There is not much information on this yet.  Grant is geared for high school students who completed “rigorous” high school curricula.

 

MySpace/FaceBook (Amy) – RVC and IVCC have blocked both sites from student access.  John Avendano inquired about setting official college policy.  Most colleges practice, “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

 

Developmental Education Updates (Amy) – ICCB continues to reduce the reimbursement rate for these courses, however, student success grant was re-implemented.  Discussion followed.

 

Coops/Chargebacks (Amy) – Finance Advisory Committee continues to work on this issue.  There are at least three different agreements in the state that exist.  We need to plan for next steps.  John will propose three agreements become one statewide agreement.  He will send an email to begin the next phase of this process.

 

Retirement Presentation (Pam) – A gift and well wishes were presented to Sharon Wrenn on behalf of ICCSSO.  This past year Sharon served as president of our organization. 

 

Meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m.