No/Low Cost/Low Return

REQUIRE COURSES FOR PROVISIONAL ADMITS.  
Students who are admitted provisionally, due to the fact that they do not meet the minimum MSU requirements, should enroll in General Studies and be required to take a freshman seminar in their first semester. This would cost approximately $6,000 for additional seminar sections.

ASSIGNED TO: Mary Noll (Chair), Bonnie Ashley, Pamela Hill

UPDATE: Data has shown that mainstreaming these students into regular sections of GENS 101V has not proven successful. Consequently, a special section for Provisional Admits has been funded for Fall 2002. Students enrolled in this section will also enroll concurrently in a one-credit applied learning skills course offered through Advance By Choice (ABC). Because there will be more students than one section can accommodate, this section will be offered on a first-come basis. A statement will be included in the 2002-2004 Undergraduate Bulletin that all Provisional Admits are required to enroll in General Studies. A letter will be sent to all Provisional Admits notifying them of the requirement to enroll in General Studies, of the special GENS101V section, and of the Advance By Choice requirement. "Labeling" these students is still an ongoing issue.

SIMPLIFY NON-DEGREE ADMISSIONS.
MSU should develop a quick admit process for non-degree seeking students who simply want to take a course or two at MSU. This could be effective in attracting high school students, local professionals, and visiting summer session students. The estimated cost would be $3,000 for form development, printing, distribution (on-line and hard copies), etc.

ASSIGNED TO: Pamela Hill, Ronda Russell (Chair), Bonnie Ashley, Abigail Dachs

UPDATE: Research of "Quick-Admit" processes at other institutions has been conducted. Many institutions have unique admission/enrollment procedures for students who do not intend to pursue a degree. Some of the procedures include eliminating admissions fees, electronic application/registration, no transcript requirement, no selection criteria, no formal admission to the university, and last minute registration for courses on a space available basis. A recommendation will be made to the Registrar's Office for a more streamlined process. This process would be particularly useful when recruiting visiting summer session students (see section "Identify New Summer Session Audiences"). 

CHANGE NSS NAME FOR EASIER RECOGNITION.  
The name of "New Student Services" should be changed to "Admissions and New Student Services." This has already been done on-line because the public does not know what "New Student Services" is. This would involve no cost. All administrative functions, etc., would remain unchanged.

ASSIGNED TO: Ronda Russell (Chair)

UPDATE: NSS has been changed to Admissions and New Student Services (ANSS); Admissions has been changed to Enrollment Services. 

RELAX DROP/ADD SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS.   
To alleviate delays in a student's ability to drop/add courses during the first five days of a semester, the requirement of instructor's signatures should be discontinued during this time. This would involve no cost.

ASSIGNED TO: Bonnie Ashley (Chair), Assistant Deans' Council

UPDATE: Effective Fall semester 2002, students will be allowed to drop courses through the 10th day of instruction using the IVR/phone and Web/on-line registration processes. Beginning with the 11th instructional day of the term, the procedure for dropping courses will require the instructor and advisor signatures on the appropriate Drop/Add form. The procedure for adding courses has not changed, and still requires the instructor and advisor signatures on the Drop/Add form beginning with the first day of instruction of the term. Students having the ability to use the Web or phone to drop courses will allow a more accurate forecasting of course and section needs assessment, while providing a service to students and faculty. Notification for students, faculty and advisors began April 2002 during early registration for Fall semester, and appeared in the printed Schedule of Classes as well as the Advising Update distributed to all academic departments by General Studies. Specific notation will appear on the Web registration page, reminding students that they must be officially registered for a minimum of 12 credits to be considered full time for financial aid.   The Registrar's Office is currently working with ITC staff on the feasibility of a program to block students ability to drop to 'Zero' credits if they have already paid fees or confirmed attendance for financial aid. If the "block" is not feasible, the Registrar's Office will run a regularly scheduled (weekly or daily) program to identify those students, and work with them individually.

NOTIFY DEPARTMENTS RE. NO-SHOWS.  
Residence life should pursue a more efficient means of communication within departments regarding those students who are housing 'no-shows' for the Fall semester. This would involve no cost. 

ASSIGNED TO: Duane Morris (Chair), Bonnie Ashley

UPDATE:
No Shows
In the Fall of 2001 Residence Life saw the number of no-shows decline by nearly 50% from the previous year (Fall 2000/150 -Fall 2001/85). No shows are defined as students who have paid their $200 application fee, have been assigned a bed space and without prior notice, fail to occupy the room/bed. What may have impacted this was that the Residence Life Department created a reminder notice which was in the scheduled July mailing asking students to contact the office if they had decided not to attend MSU.

Cancellations
As we have entered into the housing assignments for the 2002-2003 academic year, the protocol has been established that whenever a student contacts the Residence Life Office to cancel their housing contract, the Residence Life personnel conducts a quick telephone interview to determine whether they are simply canceling their housing reservation, or if they planning to cancel their enrollment as an MSU student. If the student is canceling their registration/enrollment, the RLUFS Program Coordinator is responsible to communicate this cancellation via e-mail to the Registrars Office and the Financial Aid Office. This commitment to "cross campus communication" to identify no-shows prior to September 1st has been very apparent as compared to the past.

CONSOLIDATE FIRE ALARM TESTING IN RESIDENCE HALLS.  
Fire alarm testing/training in residence halls should be consolidated to avoid aggravation, while maintaining integrity. This would involve no cost.

ASSIGNED TO: Duane Morris (Chair), Bonnie Ashley

UPDATE: Residence Life and the Custodial Department of Auxiliary Services has met with facility services and stressed the negative impact that repetitive fire alarm testing has on residents. Scheduling of such tests, for the most part, is now being done during the summer and over breaks.  

Low Cost/Mid Return

INCREASE MATH PLACEMENT AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY.  
The math placement exam should be offered on a frequent, regular schedule on campus (at an advising center). The feasibility of offering this exam in Montana high schools should be pursued. This effort would cost approximately $5,000.

ASSIGNED TO: Russ Walker (Chair), Ken Bowers

UPDATE: The math placement test was publicized more effectively for Fall 2001. Feasibility of offering the placement test in Montana high schools was explored by a subcommittee in the Mathematics Department. Although technically feasible, the subcommittee concluded that that a combination of the security and technical challenges would make this extremely costly in terms of human/fiscal resources and that the resources (if available) would be much more effectively used supporting the on-campus effort. Starting this summer, test availability has been further increased to include several days before each term plus the first week of each term. In addition, it is available at each orientation:
1) June 25 9:15-1:15
2) July 16 9:15-1:15
3) July 30 9:15-1:15
4) August 29 9:15-1:00
5) August 28 2:30-4:00 (transfer)

INCLUDE RESIDENCE HALL APPLICATIONS IN VIEW BOOK.  
Make residence hall/meal plan applications available in the view book (all other student applications/forms are already there) and on-line. The cost may be roughly $5,000, but a similar amount may be saved in mailing/printing costs. 

ASSIGNED TO: Duane Morris (Chair)

UPDATE: Residence hall applications are now available for downloading on-line.

REVIEW GATES. 
MSU should review all academic gates and their purpose/need. We may be losing students due to unnecessary gates. This would involve no cost. (Refer to the Provost's office for Gates report prepared several years ago.)

ASSIGNED TO: Pamela Hill (Chair), John Sherwood, Mary Noll, Russ Walker, Abigail Dachs

UPDATE: The Provost's Office 1998 report on gates has been updated in accordance with the 2002-2004 Catalog. Gates exist throughout various degree programs in many forms including criteria for formal admission, standards of satisfactory progress, criteria for admission to upper division courses, and accreditation standards. In some cases these gates require a minimum test score, a portfolio review, meeting a minimum GPA, performance at a certain level in prerequisite courses, or academic ranking. Meetings will be scheduled with department heads in disciplines where academic gates have been necessary, and may be affecting student retention. In instances where gates are used to control enrollment size, expanding summer session offerings is being considered as a means for easing and/or eliminating gates. 

REVIEW UNIVERSITY STUDIES DEGREE.  
The establishment of a University Studies Degree should be revisited. This would involve no cost. (Refer to the Provost's Office for University Studies Degree report prepared several years ago.)

UPDATE: A Liberal Studies Degree Task Force, with representation from the College of Letters and Science, Arts and Architecture, General Studies, and the Provost's Office, was formed in December 2001 to explore the possibility of a Liberal Studies degree program. Over the past term the group has reviewed Liberal Studies programs at other institutions, solicited feedback from the campus, and designed a model curriculum. The task force will be sharing their ideas and soliciting more feedback with an open forum in the fall before sending their recommendations to the Provost. The degree recommendations will describe a quality program using the existing courses on campus for students interested in understanding concepts of knowledge and multidisciplinary approaches to thematically related material. It will not be designed as an unstructured "catch-all" degree, however it will consider student retention, transfer, and gate issues (as previously described in section "Review Gates").

ENHANCE NEW SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING.  
New undergraduates who enroll in the summer should be required to meet with an advisor (at an advising center) prior to registering for Fall semester. This would involve no cost. 

ASSIGNED TO: Mary Noll (Chair), Dana McGowen

UPDATE: The "Registration" section of the letter to new summer freshman and transfer students from the Orientations Program has been revised to state: "Once you have registered for summer classes, you are considered a continuing student. As a continuing student you are required to meet with an academic advisor in your department in order to register for Fall Semester courses. Please Note: Academic advisors are available by appointment only. Please take the enclosed Fall Semester 2001 Advising Verification to your advising appointment, obtain your advisor's signature, and take the signed form to the Registrar's Office, 101 Montana Hall, where you will be assigned the necessary codes in order to register for Fall Semester courses." An advising verification form is included with this letter to new students.

Subcommittee members recommend that this new process be communicated to the campus at large by sending a copy of the Orientation letter and verification form to each department as well as including the same in the April edition of the Academic Advising Update.

REVIEW PARKING FOR EVENTS.  
Charging for parking at special events should be considered. Income could be generated from this proposal. 

ASSIGNED TO: Roger Rippy (Chair)

UPDATE: The discussion of parking and how theses issues might help the quality of life on campus covered a number of proposals and ideas. For example, the residence hall sub-committee proposed having students who reside off campus pay the same permit fee as those who live on-campus. This proposal was immediately implemented and is reflected in the current parking regulations. Another measure to increase the quality of life with respect to parking was the adoption of a new towing protocol for persons who have not made any attempt to pay their parking tickets. In the past, if a person accumulated three parking tickets, which they did not attempt to pay or appeal, their vehicle was subject to being impounded by towing. The towing fee is $55.00. Starting this academic year, the University Police and Parking Services have been placing a tow notice (or warning) on the driver's side window to give drivers the opportunity to satisfy their existing tickets before their vehicle is impounded. This has significantly reduced the number of towed vehicles, which has saved the offenders both money and the stress of finding their vehicle towed to the impound lot.

Also noted was that the University Police Department conducted an open forum on parking and parking related issues during September 2001. It was interesting to note that this forum and the invitation to submit issues by e-mail did not generate significant response. This has been interpreted as positive in terms of user satisfaction. It was also reported to the Committee that compliance with parking regulations has significantly improved this academic year-to-date and there are fewer parking tickets year-to-date. All of these factors reinforce an enhanced quality of life on campus. The issue of charging for parking at special events is still considered a viable option for increasing the parking revenue and holding down future costs to the parking patron, should this be desired in the future. 

REVIEW LIVING/LEARNING COMMUNITIES.  
Evaluate the validity of establishing "living-learning" pilot groups in the residence halls. There would be no cost for the study.

ASSIGNED TO: Duane Morris (Chair), Courtney Stryker

UPDATE: Residence Life has introduced two new living options that fall under the living and learning model. This fall North Hedges will house four Freshmen Interest Groups (FIG's). The program will focus on peer-to-peer academic support through services including in-hall tutoring in math and English writing. The FIGs will open this fall at full capacity. 

In Roskie Hall, an Outdoor Pursuits living option will be offered this fall, with one female floor and one male floor. The floors are designed to allow residents to pursue their passion for outdoor activities while not sacrificing their academic success. The male floor currently has a waiting list of nearly 20 while the female floor is at 80% occupancy.  

Low Cost/High Return

PROVIDE DEPARTMENTAL GROWTH INCENTIVES/REWARD SYSTEMS.  
Departmental funding should be tied to student numbers as a means of encouraging the recruiting and retention of students. This would involve no cost, but rather a reallocation of existing resources.

ASSIGNED TO: John Sherwood (Chair), Joe Fedock

UPDATE: For FY03 the UPBAC process resulted in $181,000 of additional funds allocated in support of extra sections for high demand courses. In addition, significant funds were allocated in support of GTA lines and faculty positions in areas of high student enrollment growth.

It is also anticipated that "growth funds" will be made available in FY03 in support of departments/programs impacted by uncompensated growth. With the arrival of the Executive Director of University Planning and Analysis, it is anticipated that Key Performance Indicators as measures of growth will become more systematized in support of strategic decision-making relative to growth. 

FORMALIZE MSU BRAND NAME PUBLICATION POLICY.  
To alleviate continual confusion (especially in out-of-state markets), MSU-Bozeman should adopt a publication policy by which the campus is referred to simply as "Montana State University". There would be no/low cost as long as all existing supplies of material are first depleted through normal use.

ASSIGNED TO: Ronda Russell (Chair), Cathy Conover, Moss Hartt

UPDATE: This is a politically sensitive policy change given the MSU system issues. At this point in time, Admissions uses the name "Montana State University" whenever it is in the best interests of our institution in terms of marketing. Ronda Russell will continue to discuss the possibilities of adopting a more formal policy in the future. 

REVISE GRADUATE SIX-CREDIT RULE FOR RESIDENCY.  
The current 'six-credit' Board of Regent's Residency policy should be revised for graduate students so that they can take more than six credits and still work on obtaining residency. This would involve no cost.

ASSIGNED TO: Becky Ward (Chair), John Sherwood, Bruce McLeod, Joe Fedock, Russ Walker

UPDATE: Although the six-credit policy item made it to a working committee's agenda during the November BOR meeting, an undergraduate issue required all of the committee's time and the issue had to be tabled. Regent Roehm brought the residency issue back to the Board of Regents in January 2002. The proposed change will regard GTAs and GRAs as resident students when considering tuition. 

John Sherwood, Faculty Council Chair, is promoting discussion of this issue. The College of Graduate Studies is providing documentation and statistics. UM's President Dennison is vehemently opposed to changing the six-credit policy.   

CONSIDER EXTENDED STUDIES COURSES/FINANCIAL AID POLICY.  
The feasibility of making changes to allow Extended Studies courses to be considered as part of a student's financial aid may be allowed under Federal laws, and needs to be considered. Implementation could generate additional State formula funds.

ASSIGNED TO: Becky Roeder (Chair), Pamela Hill, Tom Stump

UPDATE: Clarification from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) in Washington, D.C., has been anticipated, regarding possible changes to federal regulations governing the treatment of continuing education courses and eligibility for financial aid. " . . . if a student has been admitted into an eligible degree or certificate program and then enrolls in courses in the continuing education department that apply to his [sic] degree or certificate program, he [sic] would be a regular student and eligible for SFA funds." (The U.S. Department of Education Student Financial Aid 2001-2002 Handbook). 

PROVIDE CONSISTENT CORE CREDIT FOR MATH 105.  
Allow Math 105 that is taught at MSU to receive the same CORE designation as the transfer evaluation of equivalent Math courses taken at other State institutions. This would involve no cost and could generate additional credit hours and State formula funds.

ASSIGNED TO: Russ Walker (Chair), Mary Noll, Chris Lamb, Joe Fedock

UPDATE: "College algebra" is nationally accepted terminology for course material that is more difficult than "algebra for college students" (also nationally  accepted terminology).   Students who complete a college algebra course at another institution receive mathematics core credit upon transfer to MSU.   Students who only complete Math 105, Algebra for College Students, do not receive mathematics core credit.  To designate Math 105 as an M-core course would be to lower our mathematics core expectation.  

DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE RETENTION PLAN/DATA COLLECTION/ ARTICULATION.  
MSU should develop a comprehensive and coordinated institution-wide retention plan. Retention related data collection should be formalized. A clear articulation with residence life should be developed to establish more cross-functional programming and interaction in terms of retention. Plan development would involve no cost. See also "Implement long range advising plan."

ASSIGNED TO: Courtney Stryker (Chair), Pamela Hill, Ronda Russell, Duane Morris, Mary Noll

UPDATE: A meeting was held November 29, 2001 to begin the planning process. The newly-formed Retention Development Plan Task Force subsequently asked President Gamble for a formal charge to make certain the work of this group is taken seriously, and to make certain the plan, once developed, will be instituted. Courtney Stryker drafted a formal charge for President Gamble and Provost Dooley. The draft charge was submitted in April 2002 to President Gamble for review. 

INCREASE RESIDENCE RETENTION PAST FIRST YEAR.  
Seek to further identify innovative retention programs designed to change the perception of living in the halls from a one-year experience to a two-or-more year experience. This would involve no cost.

ASSIGNED TO: Duane Morris (Chair)

UPDATE: For the past two years, Residence Life has made retention a top priority. With this goal in mind, programs specific to convincing students to remain in the residence halls have been successfully marketed and implemented. In the fall of 2000, an additional seventy-four students returned to the halls for their second, third, or fourth years as compared to the fall of 1999 (a 15% increase). In the fall of 2001, there was a 19 (5%) student increase over the fall of 2000. The results are clear - a retention increase of 20% over a two-year period.

REDESIGN SUMMER SCHEDULING.  
Course scheduling for summer sessions should be redesigned to accommodate the demands of students, not for the convenience of faculty. This would involve no cost.

ASSIGNED TO: Pamela Hill (Chair), Anne Angermeyr, Mary Noll, Russ Walker, Joe Fedock, Abigail Dachs, Summer Session Advisory Committee

UPDATE: Course Offering Guidelines were established by the Provost's Office for Summer Session 2002. In relationship to the scheduling of courses, the Guidelines encouraged departments/colleges to distribute course offerings over both sessions and to offer courses in defined time slots. Departments that offer their courses in time slots enable students to choose from more courses, to take a full credit load, and to meet financial aid requirements.

The primary focus for SS02 was on reviewing the scheduling of Core courses. Core courses that did not conform to the identified time slots were requested to reschedule in order to maximize students' ability to satisfy as many requirements as desired. Beyond scheduling changes, the Provost's Office funded ten additional lower level courses that had a history of high enrollment during the academic year.

Furthermore, in an effort to meet the needs of the students a preliminary summer schedule was posted on the Web in December 2001, three months earlier than usual. This allowed students who enrolled in summer courses to plan their summers earlier. Research on the academic and scheduling needs of students is being conducted to identify other ways to improve summer session.

 ESTABLISH DISTANCE POLICIES/FEES/SERVICES.  
MSU should have the discussion to determine what role to play in distance learning, to establish policies, and to establish fees in regard to distance delivery. Issues concerning support/student services for distance students must be addressed. This would involve no cost. 

ASSIGNED TO: Pamela Hill (Chair), Kim Obbink, Joe Fedock, Tom Gibson, Leslie Schmidt

UPDATE: The Distance Fee Task Force proposed a revised tuition model to the OCHE in April 2002. After discussions with the Commissioner's Office, it was decided that there would not be a MUS system-wide distance fee model proposal submitted to the BOR for their consideration in the near future.

The Commissioner has provided an analysis of this topic to the Regents in an April 17, 2002, memo. His memo reads in part: "The question has to do with what tuition rate should be charged non-residents who take courses over the Internet and do not come to one of our campuses. We are caught in a dilemma: (1) we have said that we will charge non-residents the full cost of their education; and (2) evidence that we have seen suggests that our non-resident tuition level may not be competitive when compared to what other institutions are charging for Internet courses. In some of these cases, there may not be sufficient resident student enrollment to make these courses economically feasible. Hence, using the "business plan" argument referenced above it may be possible to argue that offering these courses to non-residents at a tuition rate below normal may provide the number of enrollments necessary to keep the Internet course/program economically viable and thus available to Montana residents...We also hope to have a clear and specific process as to how we would determine the full cost of an Internet course that should be charged to a non-resident. We are also exploring whether there is some rationale for excluding consideration of residency from the assessment of tuition for all students who take courses over the Internet."

CLARIFY EXTENDED STUDIES VS. IN-LOAD/MISSION.  
The mission of Extended Studies on this campus should be clarified in order to guide future program development. The competition between Extended Studies courses and courses offered for credit (in-load) through the Registrar's Office should be resolved. This would involve no cost.

ASSIGNED TO: Pamela Hill (Chair), Kim Obbink, Extended Studies Advisory Committee

UPDATE: An Extended Studies Advisory Committee was appointed Spring 2001. A report was presented to the Provost August 2001. The Advisory Council concluded that 1) the small number of for-credit courses offered through Extended Studies (that are not fully sponsored) were by comparison not competitive; 2) Extended Studies should remain a venue for courses that cannot be offered through the usual in-load process; and 3) entrepreneurial activities should continue to be encouraged.

This work is closely tied to establishing distance fee policies/fees (see above) because many ES courses are part of master's degree distance programs. To remain competitive in the out-of-state market, the courses in these graduate degree programs must be offered through ES to allow a competitive tuition rate to be established.

The recommendations found in the report are currently being reviewed for implementation, and the report is available on the Web at the Provost's Office Web site. 

IMPLEMENT LONG RANGE ADVISING PLAN.  
A long-range plan for academic advising should be developed and communicated to the campus at large. Recognition of, and incentives for, quality faculty advising should be implemented. No cost would be involved in developing the plan. It is imperative that faculty incentives be established that recognize academic advising responsibilities. Faculty must receive due consideration for academic advising as part of their normal expectations of instruction, research, and service rather than an addition to workload responsibilities, as recommended in the recently developed faculty workload policy. 

ASSIGNED TO: Courtney Stryker (Chair), Mary Noll, Bonnie Ashley, John Sherwood

 UPDATE: The Student Entrance and Transition Initiative (SETI) Committee recently conducted a comprehensive review of the advising-related recommendations developed by the RRTF. The statements below represent the updated recommendations from the SETI Committee as they relate to this recommendation.

Establish an Academic Advising Council (AAC), which would be charged by the Provost to take direct responsibility for academic advising on the MSU campus in much the same way that the Undergraduate Studies Committee takes responsibility for the undergraduate curriculum. The AAC would have academic affairs, student affairs, faculty, and student representation and would be advisory to the Provost. Further, the AAC would be responsible for continual advising program assessment building on the results from the 1998 Advising Task Force, the MSU Senior Exit Survey, the 1997 Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory, and the Office of Retention Annual December Survey of New Freshmen. 

Conduct an assessment of student experiences and satisfaction with academic advising for students near the end of their sophomore year under the auspices of the AAC. Prior assessments have focused on freshman whose experience is limited and seniors (who have persisted until graduation). The committee recognizes a data-gap that should be filled with a mix of questionnaire, personal interview, and focus-group data. Cost is estimated at $500 for participation incentives plus human resource costs.

Mid-Cost/Mid-Return 

RENOVATE ADMISSIONS AND NEW STUDENT SERVICES.  
New Student Services/Admissions/Hamilton Hall space needs to be 'spruced' up. Estimated cost is $50,000+ for paint, carpet, window coverings, signage, pest control, etc.

ASSIGNED TO: Ronda Russell (Chair)

UPDATE: The problems associated with Hamilton Hall in terms of it being the home to the 'first impression' offices of Admissions, New Student Services and Enrollment Services are numerous. The building itself is in ill repair and in need of everything from ceiling tiles to carpet to paint to pest control to adequate bathroom ventilation. Costs associated with this could be astronomical. Some of the offices/functions located on the first floor of the building are not appropriate in terms of the services offered/bulletin board materials displayed, etc. for a prospective student/family 'first look' at MSU. Efforts have been made to 'route' visitors to the north entrance of the building. These issues have all been addressed with Dr. Allen Yarnell and the PEC.   

INCREASE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RECRUITING.   
MSU should articulate a clear understanding of where it wants to go in terms of international recruiting. An institution like MSU should be able to attract an international student enrollment of 8-10% of the total enrollment with institutional commitment and adequate funding. 

ASSIGNED TO: Debra DeBode (Chair), Becky Ward

UPDATE:   For FY '03, a new international recruitment staff position has been approved, along with an operating budget of $35,000. The Office of International Programs will be responsible for leading the international recruitment effort, and will continue to devote available non-state funds to recruitment activities. Admissions and New Student Services and the College of Graduate Studies are also actively working to increase the international student population at MSU.

An International Recruitment Task Force representing a broad range of campus offices and departments has been formed, and a sub-group of this committee will work to coordinate all international recruitment activities. Both a long-term and annual plan for international recruitment will be developed. The basic components of an international recruitment program are in place, but require strengthening and improvement in order to allow MSU to better compete internationally.

 Priority activities to build MSU's international recruitment program include: 

Building institutional support for the effort, including extensive work with senior administration, department heads, faculty, admissions staff, the ACE Language Institute, etc. An assessment of the needs and capacities of the various academic departments, especially with regard to international graduate students, is needed in order to develop a focused recruitment plan that will benefit the campus. 

Recruitment team members and staff must travel extensively to increase MSU's profile in the international student market. Participation in overseas recruitment fairs and work to build relationships with key individuals in advising centers, high schools and colleges, sponsoring agencies, etc. will be important to the success of this effort. Faculty should be encouraged to assist in recruiting when they travel overseas for professional reasons.

Additional articulation agreements with two-year institutions, diploma programs, etc. in key target markets need to be developed along with stronger relationships with partner institutions abroad and world universities. Exchange programs should be developed in target countries such as Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, India and Mexico to enhance MSU's reputation and recognition.

A comprehensive system needs to be developed to monitor and process applications and follow-up with international students at the graduate level. The system that is currently in place with undergraduate students should be assessed and new methods of follow-up should be incorporated.

Orientation, academic advising, and support services should be evaluated to ensure the highest possible student satisfaction and retention of enrolled international students.

International alumni groups should be established in key target countries to increase MSU name recognition, to organize alumni for recruitment activities, as well as to gain support for MSU's future development.

 International Graduate recruitment:

UPDATE: The CGS is represented on the new MSU International Student Recruitment Task Force by Bruce McLeod, Dean of the CGS. It is apparent from input of Dr. Stephen Dunnett (Vice Provost for International Education at SUNY Buffalo, and MSU consultant) that international graduate students represent a major opportunity for enrollment growth at MSU. In one of his on-campus meetings, Dr. Dunnett emphasized the success obtained at SUNY in recruiting international graduate students that paid the full cost of their education. Many times it was the student's government that supported the student, but SUNY did not have to extend stipend offers to many of these students because they had a strong desire to enroll at SUNY. MSU has programs, research and faculty that make it as desirable as any university in the country which means we should be able to produce the same results as those of SUNY. It is expected the CGS staff person heading the graduate recruitment effort will become involved with the international student effort since graduate students need classroom space as well as advisors, mentors, faculty to serve on committees as well as expert faculty and research projects in specific disciplines. 

IDENTIFY NEW SUMMER SESSION AUDIENCES.  
Identify new and profitable audiences for summer session. This would involve a $25,000 marketing investment.

ASSIGNED TO: Pamela Hill (Chair), Anne Angermeyr, Janine Hansen, Abigail Dachs, Summer Session Advisory Committee

UPDATE: A restructured Summer Session Advisory Committee was formed in Fall 2001 and was charged with reviewing summer funding. An "interim" Summer Session funding model for SS02 (FY03) was made available late fall semester/early spring semester to Deans' Council and subsequently to department heads and faculty. Because of limited resources for Summer Session marketing, the focus this year was on offering continuing MSU students more convenient summer schedules and more course offerings, particularly in the Core area (see section "Offer More Core Courses/Additional Sections in Summer"). In future years, as the interim model expands and the positive revenue generated continues to provide financial incentives for departments, a greater investment in marketing and recruitment for summer session will be possible.

Attracting students, beyond enrolled MSU students, will increase revenue for departments. Possible audiences include Bozeman residents, high school students, and visiting students from other universities. A simplified admission process for non-degree seeking (visiting) students would likely have a positive effect on recruitment of new summer session audiences (see section on "Simplifying Non-degree Admissions).

The Provost's Office is supporting a larger portion of Anne Angermeyr's salary (Extended Studies) so more emphasis can be placed on marketing and overall coordination of Summer Session (Summer Session Web and Bulletin). 

EXPAND EXTENDED STUDIES NOT-FOR-CREDIT OFFERINGS.  
Non-credit courses offered through Extended Studies need to be expanded (i.e., Elderhostel, ArtsLink).  A $25,000 marketing/staff investment could result in profit through auxiliaries, conference fees, etc.

 ASSIGNED TO: Pamela Hill (Chair), Anne Angermeyr, Janine Hansen

UPDATE: The ArtsLink program in the College of Arts and Architecture has expanded its course offerings for Summer 2002, and its format is being encouraged in other colleges. Proposals were solicited from the academic colleges for similar pre-college development programs, and the Provost Office funded the College of Nursing proposal for development in FY03 and implementation in Summer 2003. The Provost Office and the Office of Extended Studies are collaborating to identify additional non-credit course/program opportunities. 

COORDINATE MORE CLOSELY BETWEEN REGISTRAR'S OFFICE/ EXTENDED STUDIES.  
The two offices need better coordination across a spectrum of issues. This would involve $10,000 for staff and IT support.

ASSIGNED TO: Bonnie Ashley, Marilyn Jarvis, Kim Obbink

UPDATE: Two senior level Registrar's Office staff members (Marilyn Morgan and Billy Dubois) are assigned as primary liaisons with Extended Studies to deal with course offerings, applications, and grading. Even though the funding request was not approved, these staff members have met routinely with Extended Studies staff to improve communication, modify the Extended Studies registration form, and develop methods to list Extended Studies course offerings on the Web Schedule of Classes either directly or through a Web link. Work continues between these offices, the Financial Aid Office and the Controller's Office to allow Extended Studies courses to count toward financial aid eligibility.

 Mid-Cost/High-Return 

INCORPORATE WEB TECHNOLOGY IN BILLING PROCEDURES.  
Credit card payments and refunds, as well as zero validation (registration confirmation), using Web technology, needs to be accommodated. This would involve a $50,000 investment to purchase/install and program for campus and student use.

ASSIGNED TO: Thomas H.Gibson (Chair)

UPDATE: A charge was given in September 2000, to form a representative MSU committee to investigate Web-based credit card payment transaction opportunities, make a recommendation to the VP-Administration & Finance, and implement. All activities were to also involve the UM campuses to assure an integrated, consistent approach. The committee was formed, information was provided, and the members listened to and observed a Web-based presentation of the TouchNet product at the UM campus in December 2000. The presentation raised more questions for the members than it did answers. 

The MSU Committee initiated action to engage the Oracle group in a Web-based presentation of their product, iPayment, in January 2001. The presentation again raised more questions than answers. A summary report was prepared for the VP-Administration & Finance and the Banner Steering Committee in early March 2001, advising that product selection and implementation would not be likely for 7/1/01. 

We were advised in late March that UM had opted to end participation due to financial difficulties, but the Committee was urged to proceed on behalf of the MSU campuses. Lengthy lists of detailed questions were developed and submitted by Committee members, and responses were finally obtained to the critical ones. Key issues for which we have not been able to identify clear responses include: 

o       Transaction fees based upon volume of use (flat fee of $.20 plus $.20/transaction). This is not a high cost or critical figure, but it will vary with use! Bozeman processes about 6000 transactions per year, or about 43% of our total student tuition and fee payments, and the cost would be about $1,200 for this volume. Bank service fees are governed under the State banking contract. The existing State banking contract provided for escalation in costs for on-line credit card use from 1.90% for manual entries to about 2.6% for electronic entries, and this contract expired in June 2001. There is no way to predict what the new contract may allow or what bank the state may contract with, but with rising demand, this cost is likely to expand. The Bozeman banking costs, just for tuition and fee credit payments, were about $230K in FY01. 

 o       We do know that the costs of purchasing new application software for use on all campuses will be significantly reduced from UM's for the units, due to the presence of a centralized Banner system. We know that the purchase price for the basic application, installation, server, and maintenance will be anywhere between about $30K for the low-end tuition and fees only, to about $90K for a WEB storefront.

 o       The campuses have identified their greatest concerns to be security, maintenance, and banking service fees.

We need to develop a single student screen for Banner that reflects all of the tuition and fee costs, shows the application of any financial aid awarded, and shows the pending financial aid not yet received, so that students only need access one page of the Web to determine their total tuition and fees due, net of other resources. The Student Entrance and Transition Initiative (SETI) Committee identified this issue, as well as other subsidiary issues related to billing procedures. Rocky Brown has obtained a billing Web page from another Banner school and has put in into the TEST environment.  Dawn Rucker (Financial Aid) and personnel from the Registrar's office have reviewed and commented on it.  Significant testing is still needed by the Business Office; Rocky will follow up with Diane Allen et al. to check on progress.  

We are approaching the Web-enabled process as 1) tuition and fee payments first, followed by 2) a cyber storefront to enable transcripts, tickets, Extended Studies courses, Auxiliary, and all other ancillary operations to have a presence and be able to sell their goods and services using Web-enabled credit card payment technology.

 The proposal to VP-Administration & Finance and to the PEC is that MSU fund the cost of the purchase, installation, and first year maintenance. However, each unit will bear their pro-rata share of the subsequent maintenance, and will fully bear their respective annual banking costs. In exchange for the purchase, it has been further proposed that MSU-Billings take the lead in completing an RFP (using the recent job scheduler RFP as a template) for the purchase of the application software. Interested providers include TouchNet, Oracle/iPayment, IPOS, Sallie Mae Net.Pay, and CyberSource.

The University has engaged an outside consulting group to assist with the evaluation of the new State banking contract, as well as with identifying ways in which the bank transaction fees can be reduced by the University. In addition, the University is exploring the use of ACH payment opportunities over the web, as a way to reduce the bank service fees from a percentage of each transaction to a flat fee of about $.12 per transaction. Recent conversations have occurred with vendors, as well as with other universities who have implemented and revised their web payment policies to mitigate the bank service fees. It is the intent of the Task Force to provide a proposal on addressing web payment needs, by no later than December 2002, with the desire to purchase, install, test, and make available the web payment opportunity prior to July 1, 2003. 

PROVIDE CORE TRANSFER EVALUATIONS PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT TO FACILITATE TRANSFER ADVISING.  
Preliminary CORE transfer evaluations should be made available prior to enrollment in the Fall and used as a recruiting tool. Transfers should have evaluations completed in order to facilitate faculty advising. This would involve $40,000 for a staff person and marketing.

ASSIGNED TO: Bonnie Ashley (chair), Kathy Decker

UPDATE: Preliminary transfer credit evaluation, including CORE (general education) course evaluation has been greatly enhanced by a Web site which allows the individual student to review courses evaluated from specific colleges and universities already contained in the historical data base. While this site does not provide information on all transfer courses, the relevant information provided and positive responses from prospective, new admits and current students has been noteworthy. The historical data base continually grows as new institutions and courses are evaluated by staff and entered into the data base. The Web site is accessible from a variety of locations via the MSU home page, most notably on the Prospective Student page and on My Info, the page used by students accessing a wide variety of student, catalog, course and financial aid information.

While no funding is available to hire additional staff to provide formal evaluations, the Registrar and Enrollment Services Office has been dramatically reorganized to address work load and differing peak admission calendars found between freshman and transfer students. Formerly divided as either freshman or transfer evaluators, the Enrollment Services staff have been merged into one group processing and evaluating both types of applications. The staff have made the transition in record time, and the work load appears to be more evenly distributed, with less drastic differences in volume at specific times of the year. It also provides more cross training among the staff, so that questions about specific student files can be answered by more than one person.

The staff reorganization and transfer course evaluations already in the data base available by Web access have greatly enhanced the ability to provide timely information to prospective, new and current students as well as faculty advisors. Without additional staff, however, formal evaluations cannot be provided prior to registration for transfer students. 

The antiquated wiring in Hamilton Hall is being replaced with "Cat 5 Wiring", and the project is nearing completion.   The system speed had been slowed to a crawl following last fall's implementation of Banner 5, causing significant processing delays for Enrollment Services staff. Once completed, the improved wiring will considerably enhance staff efficiency and increase the ability to process applications and transfer evaluations in a more timely manner. 

INCREASE ALCOHOL/DRUG USE EDUCATION AND SUPPORT.  
Information should be provided to students/parents regarding what MSU is doing to curb and control the use of alcohol/drugs. Costs would include one additional FTE for the police force, plus an outreach budget ($40,000).

ASSIGNED TO: Roger Rippy (Chair), Jim Mitchell

UPDATE: UPBAC has recommended an additional police officer position that would be funded out of the parking fund and this has been approved. The University is recruiting for this position for a fill later this summer.

The Campus Safety Handbook has been placed on the University Web Site and the Handbook is being distributed to incoming students during the various undergraduate and graduate orientation events during the summer. The Handbook is also being provided to the parents of incoming students whenever those parents attend a summer orientation event. 

OFFER MORE CORE COURSES/ADDITIONAL SECTIONS IN SUMMER.  
To accommodate the demands of continuing students, more Core and high-demand courses should be offered in the summer. This would require approximately $30,000.

ASSIGNED TO: Pamela Hill (Chair), Anne Angermeyr, Mary Noll, Joe Fedock, Abigail Dachs

UPDATE: The Provost's Office has provided approximately $26,000 for additional Core offerings for SS02. These funds have come from the Core "pot," the Summer Session's operations budget, and the Provost's Office reserve. The Core courses have been 'hand picked' to provide optimal Core opportunities for students.

In addition to the courses funded by the Provost's Office, the "interim" Summer Session funding model allows departments to offer additional courses beyond those funded from the usual summer base budget. According to the interim model, these additional courses must generate sufficient revenue to cover their own costs (referred to as "make"). "Make" is determined by a formula that takes into account costs (instructor, TA, benefits, and operations). The model also includes a revenue sharing component as an incentive for departments. 

Twenty-four additional courses were offered for SS02 using this interim model. Fifteen of those courses succeeded in "making" their enrollment number. It is anticipated that the interim model will be expanded in the future where the positive revenue generated will continue to provide financial incentives for departments. 

High Cost/Mid Return

INCREASE GRADUATE FEE WAIVERS/GRAD STIPENDS.  
Graduate fee waivers should be increased, as should graduate stipends. This would involve $150,000 graduate fee waivers for recruiting, and $500,000 for graduate stipends/fellowships.

ASSIGNED TO: Becky Ward (Chair), Russ Walker, Bruce McLeod, Becky Roeder, Ronda Russell 

UPDATE: The resident fee waiver budget for the College of Graduate Studies (CGS) was increased by eleven (11) FTE in spring semester, 2001 and that increase has become permanent. These extra waivers were used to alleviate the increased demand for GTA help in core courses and added sections in lower division undergraduate courses. The non-resident fee waiver allocation (2% of the previous fall's FTE count) was completely committed at MSU. However, we found that for the MSU family of campuses, there were in excess of eighty (80) FTE waivers that were not being utilized. Eventually we were able to garner forty (40) non-resident fee waivers via this route and the heads of Ph.D. granting departments were asked to motivate their faculty to use these waivers to recruit new Ph.D. level students. It appears MSU may be able to retain these waivers and perhaps a few more on a permanent basis. The current plan is for the CGS to use these non-resident waivers as a recruitment tool as well as a pool of waivers that would be used on a one year basis to help departments that experience a sharp growth in the demand for GTA assistance. 

Three major graduate education milestones were accomplished in May, 2002, when the UPBAC committee submitted its budget to President Gamble. The budget included $226,250 for new Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) positions, $79,679 for increased GTA stipends and $112,854 for GTA support of medical insurance. In total, then, the graduate program at MSU will be budgeted at $415,783 more in FY2003 than the previous year. The increased budget for stipends is not enough to advance MSU very far toward our being truly competitive but the fact the money was put into the budget at all is indicative of more emphasis being placed on growth of the graduate program. 

A new distance delivered Ph.D. level program with the general name of Subsurface Science was finally initiated at MSU in April, 2002. The Subsurface Science Graduate Program (SSGP) is a consortium of eight universities working under the title of Inland Northwest Research Alliance (INRA) and it has been evolving for nearly two years. Starting in fall semester, 2002, there will be twenty one (21) INRA graduate fellows enrolled in a new distance delivered course that will be taught by faculty at seven of the eight INRA institutions. Two of the INRA fellows will be MSU students supported on very competitive fellowships. Assuming the program continues to progress as fast as it has in 2002, there are good reasons to believe the number of INRA fellows will increase in 2003 and again in 2004.    

ENHANCE GRADUATE LIBRARY HOLDINGS.  
Adequate library holdings, particularly in scientific journals, are critical to strong graduate programs, and should be enhanced. This would involve approximately $180,000 to maintain the current level of support.

ASSIGNED TO: Becky Ward (Chair), Bruce McLeod, Mary Bushing, Bruce Morton

UPDATE: There has been no major change in the budget available to enhance graduate holdings in the MSU library. However, a new process is being initiated for proposed new masters and doctoral programs. Each new program will be asked, starting in 2003, to include in the proposal a survey of the library holdings that are pertinent to the proposed new degree. The idea is to determine if the holdings are sufficient in depth and are current enough to support the new degree. This should eliminate the casual statement found in many proposals that "library holdings are sufficient" and replace it with an analysis that supports the conclusion of sufficiency or details of the budget needed (and its source) to achieve sufficient library support for the new degree. 

INCREASE GRADUATE STUDENT RECRUITMENT.  
Financial support is needed at both the departmental and College of Graduate Studies levels to help recruit graduate students. This would cost an estimated $50,000 for prospective student travel and recruiting materials.

ASSIGNED TO: Becky Ward (Chair), Bruce McLeod, Russ Walker

UPDATE: The use of the non-resident fee waivers to recruit new Ph.D. students for the fall semester, 2002, was designed as a pilot program to determine the impact and success of a relatively low cost recruiting effort. These waivers were offered to prospective students in a letter pointing out the non-resident waiver would save them over $5,000 per year in tuition for each of the two years of the offer. It will be the start of the fall semester before it is known how successful these offers were.

The CGS is in the process of doing a search for a staff person whose major responsibility will be graduate student recruiting. It is expected the search will be completed and a person hired by the end of July, 2002. The person that is hired will be designing a comprehensive recruiting plan for the campus as well as working with individual departments to assist them in recruiting graduate students. 

 High Cost/High Return

INCREASE UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS/FEE WAIVERS.  
Funds (scholarship support and additional fee waivers) need to be made available for new non-resident and resident students if we are to compete favorably with our peers. This would involve establishing a very aggressive first-year MSU Foundation fund raising goal for new undergraduate scholarships. 

ASSIGNED TO: Ronda Russell (Chair), Becky Roeder, Tom Stump

UPDATE: $250,000 in fee waivers was allocated for Fall 2001 for new, non-resident recruitment scholarships. The yield on the group, which was offered $2500 scholarships, was 39% compared to a 24% on the remainder of the group, which was not offered $2500. (A sample group was offered partial renewable awards, yielding even higher returns). An additional $100,000 was allocated to impact fall of 2002. Yields on the fall 2002 scholarship recipients will be studied and used as we move forward with scholarship/discount plans for the future. 

CREATE ADVISING CENTER FOR FIRST YEAR INITIATIVE/SEAMLESS TRANSITION/SO/JR PROGRAMMING.  
A new general one-stop Advising Center for student use should be integrated with the current First Year Initiative (FYI) and General Studies programs. Each entity would retain its autonomy and current reporting lines as well as current program components. The goal of the combined efforts would be to establish a formalized University-wide Advising Center and a FYI/Transition Center that would work cross-functionally and co-locationally to create a seamless transition and advising experience for new and continuing students. The FYI/Transition program would focus on retention programming and planning for first-and second-year students while the University-wide Advising Center would address the advising goals and needs of all students with a focus on the first two years. The transition programming would be primarily responsible for academic development and University-wide advising support. Both programs would serve as a resource for students, faculty, and staff. The cost would require $150,000 for a University Advising Center (refer to General Studies for the Advising Task Force report prepared several years ago), $50,000 for the First Year Initiative Program/Transition programming, and $20,000 to create additional programming for junior/senior level students who are not accommodated at the departmental level. It was suggested that a space study be conducted to determine the feasibility of relocating the programs described above, particularly relocating General Studies/Advising to Hamilton Hall first floor.

ASSIGNED TO: Courtney Stryker (Chair), Mary Noll, Bonnie Ashley, John Sherwood 

UPDATE: A proposal was submitted to the Provost's Office as a part of Recruiting and Retention grant funds available Fall 2001. This proposal was a "stepping stone" to a fully functioning advising center. The proposal was not funded. The Student Entrance and Transition Initiative (SETI) Committee recently conducted a comprehensive review of the advising-related recommendations developed by the RRTF. The statements below represent the updated recommendations from the SETI Committee as they relate to this recommendation. 

An advising and transition help line needs to be established and advertised to all incoming students and their parents during orientation. As part of the on-going transition assistance for new students, the FYI program will act as a Summer information and referral center for entering students and their parents who have questions about schedules, course availability, advising and other transition-related concerns. The phone line and email address will be available during regular business hours. Referrals will be made to appropriate academic advisors as needed.   This recommendation will be implemented in time for the June orientation session. 

MSU needs to transition to a dual advising model by establishing a centralized advising center. Based on the developmental advising concept, professional advisors at the center would assist students, particularly freshman and sophomores, with such issues as core curriculum requirements, transfer evaluation review, choice of curriculum, and university academic procedures. It is in these more general areas that department-based advisors are often poorly informed, a problem that is amplified for students switching majors-a typically large population at MSU. The goal would be to have students transition from the advising center to department-based advising by the end of the sophomore year although the support of the advising center would be available throughout a student's entire academic career. The Recruitment and Retention Task Force recommended a new one-stop Advising Center for students be integrated with the current First Year Initiative (FYI) and General Studies programs where each entity would retain its autonomy and current reporting lines as well as current program components. The cost was estimated at $150,000 for a University Advising Center (with reference to the 1998 Advising Task Force Report), $50,000 for the First Year Initiative/New Student Transition Program, and $20,000 to create additional programming for junior-senior level students not accommodated at the departmental level. The SETI committee recommends, as a first action toward a full Advising Center, one full-time advisor ($26,000 plus benefits) be added to the General Studies staff and that an additional $700 be budgeted for advertising advising center services to the university community.   

INVEST IN IT SUPPORT.  
Central investments must be made for qualified IT support so that MSU staff can do the jobs they were hired to do. A $200,000 investment annually for quality IT support and assistance would be required.

ASSIGNED TO: Tom Gibson (Chair), Mark Sheehan, Bonnie Ashley 

UPDATE: An outcome of the UPBAC discussions in Spring 02 was a commitment of University support to ITC for both operating costs for FY02, and for a longer-range equipment replacement plan. Those UPBAC decisions, and the recommendations from the IT Task Force, have 'set the stage' for the newly-formed Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC). ITAC is charged with the mission to develop and oversee "policies, procedures, plans, programs, budgets, fees and service charges that are designed to deliver efficient and effective centralized information technology services to the multiple constituencies of the MSU Information Technology Center".

OFFER ADDITIONAL SECTIONS OF HIGH-DEMAND COURSES.  
Funding for additional sections of high demand lower and upper division courses should be increased to encourage students to continue their full time enrollment at MSU and allow MSU to 'respond to our market'. This would involve approximately $150,000. 

ASSIGNED TO: Joe Fedock (Chair), Courtney Stryker, Jeff Adams 

UPDATE: As indicated in the section on departmental growth incentives, the FY03 UPBAC process resulted in an additional $181,000 allocated in support of additional sections of high-demand courses. These funds have already been committed, in part, to support additional core course offerings for entering freshman in Fall 03. Also, one-time funds have been directed to those programs whose enrollments have seen substantial increases in recent years, such as Art, MTA, and Modern Languages. 

REQUIRE FRESHMAN SEMINAR FOR ALL FRESHMAN.  
MSU should develop and require freshman seminars, which meet the needs of ALL incoming freshman. This would involve approximately $150,000.

ASSIGNED TO: Russ Walker (Chair), Mary Noll, Courtney Stryker 

UPDATE: The Montana Learning Community effort is working in this direction with the support of the Core Curriculum Committee. It is anticipated that a final decision on this effort will not be made for at least a couple of years, pending the compilation of assessment data.   

INCREASE FINANCIAL AID SUPPORT STAFF AND OPERATIONS.  
The Office of Financial Aid services is integral to the recruiting and retention of students. Additional staff and operating dollars are needed if we are to succeed in new recruiting and retention initiatives. This would require approximately $120,000 to fund additional FTE and provide critical operating dollars.

ASSIGNED TO: Becky Roeder (Chair), Tom Stump 

UPDATE: We are checking into streamlining process and identifying what efficiencies are available. When that information has been gathered, a more comprehensive request will be formulated and will be submitted through the UPBAC process.

INCREASE RECRUITING FUNDS PER ENROLLED STUDENT.  
MSU currently spends $163 per enrolled new undergraduate. The national public four-year average is $363. Of the $163, the bulk of the operational costs are from orientation fee money. If additional recruiting initiatives are agreed upon, additional funds will need to follow. The cost depends upon the initiatives undertaken; it could amount to $100,000+; additional funding should not be from more student fees.

ASSIGNED TO: Ronda Russell (Chair) 

UPDATE: A proposal to generate additional non-resident prospects by employing the services of a search firm (Royall and Company) was presented and approved by UPBAC in the Spring of 2001. The program is currently in progress and should yield additional non-resident students in the fall of 2002 and 2003 and beyond. The issue was presented to UPBAC again in the Spring of 2002 and funding was again granted. The program will expand to include a resident search program in the early winter of 2002.  

A proposal for an enrollment management IT analyst was submitted to UPBAC in the Spring of 2002 and it, too, was funded.  A person will be in place by fall 2002.  

PROVIDE COMPUTERIZED DEGREE AUDIT.  
Technical IT support needs to be provided to develop CAPP as an advising tool for faculty, students, and prospective transfer students. This would cost approximately $100,000.

ASSIGNED TO: Bonnie Ashley (Chair), Chuck Nelson, Bob Snyder 

UPDATE: No additional funding was approved for the implementation of the computerized degree audit (CAPP).  However, two Registrar and Enrollment staff in conjunction with an ITC programmer and key staff at the other MSU campuses are meeting this summer to plan an implementation strategy. MSU-Northern is using CAPP in a limited sense, and last year MSU-Billings contracted specific CAPP training from an SCT (Banner) trainer.   Kathy Decker, Enrollment Services Coordinator here, along with the newly hired Student Module Team Lead, Jean Horst (formerly the Assistant Registrar at MSU-Billings) will coordinate this effort.  Even by sharing knowledge and expertise,  the development, testing and implementation will take at least 2 years to produce a usable tool for students and advisors, since all staff involved will be addressing these duties in addition to an overload of regularly assigned duties.   

OFFER RECITATION SECTIONS FOR LARGE CORE CLASSES.  
A lab/recitation component should be added to all large lecture (100+) freshman CORE courses. This would cost approximately $75,000.

ASSIGNED TO: Joe Fedock (Chair), Mary Noll, Pamela Hill 

UPDATE: The Recruiting and Retention Grant Program, Fall 2001, has begun to fund small, experimental lab/recitation sections for large CORE courses. Assessment data will not be available for a couple of years.

Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 7/05/2005