Meeting Minutes: Committee on Learning Support & Developmental Studies
Academic Advisory Committee on Learning Support
Minutes for November 3, 2000
Clayton College and State University
Call to order and Introductions: Carol Pinson, Chair, called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. Friday morning. Carol welcomed the new directors. The Learning Support directors and/or institutional representatives introduced themselves (33 out of the 34 institutions were represented at the meeting).
Approval of Minutes: The previous minutes were approved from e-mail responses and are on the University System of Georgia web page.
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Carol asked everyone to send their directories to the group as an attachment to e-mail.
Central Office Reports: Kathleen Burk discussed with the committee the following issues:
Last April the LS Advisory Committee recommended that the BOR retain NOVANET for use in the University System institutions. That recommendation was taken and the contract with NOVANET was extended.
Our recommendation that an institution may allow non-traditional students who have within the past five years posted SAT scores of at least 500 in both verbal and mathematics to exempt the CPE/COMPASS placement test was reviewed by the BOR. The number of years was changed to 7 years and then incorporated into the Academic Affairs Handbook.
Our request for data tracking LS students in follow-up core courses is still being collected. Each institution was asked to submit the data by November. As soon as the report is finalized, it will be sent to the directors.
We are still not using the WINDOWS version of COMPASS because of concerns with this version. Since we are not using the WINDOWS version of COMPASS, we still are not using calculators on the CPE.
A handout of 2000-2001 minimum passing CPE/COMPASS scores was distributed. We were asked to make corrections and return to Kathleen. She will make corrections and distribute later. We were reminded that the CPE and COMPASS can't be interchanged for administrative convenience. We can choose to use the CPE for some areas and COMPASS for other areas but students can't choose which one to use.
The teleconference in Macon was not sponsored by the BOR. There was discussion about the usefulness of the teleconference. A tape was made of the teleconference and may be obtained by contacting Macon State College. Carol Pinson will contact Suzanne Adams, a member of the panel, and try to get the packets of info that were supposed to go along with the teleconference.
The pilot programs, such as the East Georgia/ Georgia Southern program, were designed to be in operation during the phase in of the admission standards and to be terminated in 2001. These programs are currently being evaluated and a report is forthcoming.
UGA had asked earlier if the 20-hour rule and the class limitations placed on students in 4th attempt could be waived at the institutional level. Kathleen says the answer is no. These exceptions must be appealed at the BOR level.
Presidents and Vice-Presidents at institutions are being asked what policies and procedures are no longer needed. LS policies and procedures may come up since we have so many new academic officers at our institutions. We should make sure that the administrators at our schools know BOR policies and ask Kathleen for clarification if we have any problems.
We are on record as not supporting LS courses in eCore. GLOBE is looking at material that may help students prepare for the CPE/COMPASS so the students could use this as a review before coming to take the test on campus. If you or someone you know is interested in helping with this project or knows of appropriate materials, please let Kathleen know.
Kathleen distributed a draft of some admissions questions and answers regarding LS requirements:
If students with fewer than 30 earned hours of transferable credit transfer courses in English Composition or College Algebra, may they be exempted from COMPASS/CPE screening?
Students with fewer than 30 hours earned of transferable credit must be evaluated for eligibility for admission according to the freshman admissions policies of the System. A student applying to a university must meet all SAT, CPC, and FI requirements.
A student applying to a two-year college who does not meet the System requirements for SAT or CPC must be screened on COMPASS or CPE and placed in Learning Support if he/she does not meet System minimum scores, regardless of whether the student has earned credit in core curriculum courses such as College Algebra or English Composition.
Students who have exited a Learning Support area at a System institution shall not be required to re-take Learning Support, even if the exit scores fall below the receiving institution's Learning Support institutional minimum requirement. If a student has previously exempted Learning Support at a System institution and taken first core course (College Algebra or English Composition), the receiving institution must accept these courses. If a student has previously exempted Learning Support at a System institution but has not taken first core course, the receiving institution may re-screen on COMPASS or CPE. If a student who has previously attended a non-System institution and taken College Algebra or English Composition does not meet the receiving institution's admission requirements, the student must be screened on COMPASS or CPE.
A student voluntarily leaves an institution with LS coursework still required; the student requests re-admission, after a period of two years. The institution is now limited to offering Learning Support coursework only for Presidential Exceptions and non-traditional students. Can the student be re-admitted?
Yes. Students who voluntarily leave an institution may be readmitted to the same institution; however, the student is required to complete any unfinished Learning Support requirements.
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The same student (above) is out for three years and is eligible to retake the CPE. The student places in the same LS courses as before. Does the student also participate in the LS program that the non-traditional student would?
Yes. Students who voluntarily leave an institution may be re-admitted to the same institution; however, the student is required to complete Learning Support requirements.
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Is a student who is suspended for learning support from a university eligible to return?
No, a student who has been suspended from a university for not completing his/her learning support requirement is not eligible for re-admission to the university. Effective Summer 2001, providing learning support to traditional students will no longer be part of its mission. After three years, the student is eligible for consideration for admission to a two-year college. After five years, the student would be eligible for consideration for admission to any institution as a non-traditional student.
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A student attended an institution 6 years ago and at the time was required to make up any CPC deficiencies. The student dropped out 5 years ago without completing these requirements. The student now wishes to return to the same institution. Is he/she required to complete CPC requirements?
This student can elect to be re-admitted under the original admission category and complete any remaining CPC deficiencies. Or the student may be re-admitted as a non-traditional student and be screened on COMPASS or CPE.
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The interpretation of the policy allowing two extra semesters in learning support for students with learning disabilities was discussed. It was agreed that the policy should be clarified to indicate that the Regents Center determines eligibility for the extra semesters but the institution makes the final decision. If a student has not followed suggestions from the Regents Center, for example, the institution does not have to give the student the extra semesters.
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Brief discussion about Mini-Core Project (more in section XI. A).
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Updates on Reports:
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Executive Committee History: Bill Dodd distributed a handout explaining the history of the Executive Committee. He suggested that a committee be formed to develop some by-laws defining the Committee's responsibilities, outlining terms of office, and providing for a nomination and election process. Rebecca Casey, Rosalyn Jones, Bari Haskins-Jackson, and Elizabeth Ragsdale volunteered to be on the committee. This committee will report back to us at our meeting in April at Jekyll.
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Attempts in LS: Carol Pinson said she will look at the directories and compile as much information as possible about how many attempts each institution allows students before suspending them and the length of the suspension. She will follow up with individuals and report back to us at our meeting in April at Jekyll.
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2000-2001 Directories: As discussed previously, directories will be distributed by e-mail.
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2001 Conference Update: Rick Reynolds reminded us that our 2001 conference will be held at the Clarion on Jekyll Island April 1-3. The theme for the conference is, "Our Silver Anniversary: Celebrating Our Past, Shaping our Future." We were reminded that the Call for Presentations was sent out about a month ago and the deadline for submission of proposals is November 30, 2000. Rick asked for suggestions for main speakers for the conference. Chancellor Portch and Dan Papp were both mentioned as possible speakers.
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2002 Site Selection Committee: Sherry Jones (Chair), Janet O'Brien, and Sandra Sharman are serving as the site selection committee. Sherry Jones reported that the committee has narrowed the choices down to the Jekyll Inn and Callaway Gardens Inn. Both sites have appropriate accommodations and would be good sites for the conference. The main difference in the two is the room rate. The Jekyll Inn has a $69 room rate while the Callaway Gardens Inn has a $103 room rate. The committee has visited Jekyll and is traveling to Callaway Gardens after this meeting. After some discussion, the directors suggested going with the Jekyll Inn for 2002 and possibly 2003. The committee will give an e-mail update after visiting Callaway Gardens.
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NADE/Georgia: Margo Eden-Camann, President of NADE/Georgia, thanked the directors for all they do and for allowing NADE/Georgia to co-sponsor the annual conference. Margo reminded everyone that the organization's mission is to serve the LS community and asked the directors to let her know what NADE/Georgia could do to help. She asked the directors to let her know what kind of data they would like the NADE/Georgia Research Committee to help gather and distribute. She also encouraged the directors, who haven't already done so, to join NADE/Georgia.
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Summer Administration of Regents' Test Remediation: Carol Pinson received a request from the Administrative Committee on Academic Affairs for us to look at the Regents' test remediation in the summer. The Academic Affairs Committee was worried about how short the courses were in the summer and how that may affect the scores. There was lots of discussion about this but no consensus could be reached. Most schools agreed that scores were about the same in the summer as they were other semesters even though some schools had more trouble than others staffing the classes in the summer. It was finally decided that we may need further discussion on this topic. At this time, Carol will recommend to the Academic Affairs Committee that we be allowed to have institutional flexibility with the administration of remediation courses in the summer as long as the 30 hours of instruction is being met regardless of start time of the courses.
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Banking of Writing Sample Scores: Valerie Epps and Sherrie Nist wanted to know if any schools bank exit writing sample scores. Some schools do bank these scores and others do not.
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Other Learning Support Items for Discussion:
Mini-Core Project: After a discussion about this project, the following was recommended and unanimously approved: "The Learning Support Advisory Committee strongly recommends that DTAE institutions must use University System of Georgia placement and minimum exit scores on COMPASS/ CPE or comparable ASSET scores to evaluate their students before they take core courses in order for these courses to be transferable to University System of Georgia institutions." Carol Pinson will send this recommendation to David Morgan.
Regents' Test Remediation: After the earlier discussion on this topic, it was decided that there are some issues here that need to be looked at again. Representatives from UGA, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, and Georgia Perimeter will meet and send us an e-mail recommendation to consider.
There was some discussion about the need to have institutions break into subgroups for meetings in April at Jekyll. It was decided that the directors will break into groups according to institution types and meet from 2:00-3:00 on Saturday at Jekyll before we all come together and meet from 3:00-5:00. The executive board will decide in their meeting in January which board member will meet with each group.
- Adjournment: The Committee meeting adjourned at 2:25 p.m.
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