Meeting Minutes: Regents Advisory Committee on Records and Admissions (RACRA)
March 14, 2002
Unicoi Lodge
Helen, GA
Welcome and Introductions
John McElveen called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m. and welcomed RACRA members.
He recognized the impending retirement of Edith King (Dalton State). New
members and guests were also introduced: Jennifer Branner, Assistant Director
of Admissions in charge of operations (Middle Georgia); Christa Smith, Admissions
coordinator, and Tracy Youghn, Registrar's office, (South Georgia); Beth
Saxon, Interim Registrar (ABAC); Jody Kemp, new in admissions (Georgia Southern);
Susan Dukes, Assistant Director of Admissions (Waycross College); and Craig
Womack, new Assistant Registrar in charge of transfer articulation and CAPP
(Georgia Tech).
Representatives visiting from the University System Office (USO) and OIIT staff included Tonya Lam, Cathie Mayes Hudson, Pam Summers, Lori Jarrard, Marie Steed, and Mark Pevey.
Minutes from the October 24th, 2001 RACRA meeting were distributed to the members. Chairman McElveen asked the membership for corrections or additions. There being none, it was moved by Ben Allen (Savannah State), seconded by Rita Garner (MCG), and voted on by the membership that the minutes be approved as written.
SIRS Committee Update
Bonnie Stevens (SUWG) gave an update from the SIRS Committee. Bonnie reported
the following:
Admit type for readmits will remain as RE. Readmits must have a student type of C.
When a joint enrolled student subsequently re-enrolls at an institution as a regular admit, a new matriculation term must be entered into Banner. The same procedure will apply to a transient student who subsequently enrolls as a regularly admitted student. A new matriculation term must be entered.
JE will continue to be used as the admit type for both Joint Enrolled students and students admitted as Early Admission. Separate codes are not needed because diploma type distinguishes between the two categories.
New data elements that become effective for summer 2002 will be identified in a handout given by Mark Pevey (BOR) at this meeting. They are effective with the summer SIRS reporting and are not retroactive.
Dummy social security numbers may be used in SPAIDEN, but only true social security numbers may be used in SPAPERS.
All codes must be translated in the translation table SOAXREF. Mark Pevey will send an email to give the cross-reference ID codes for all data elements so that they can be converted during summer SIRS report.
The plan to collect tuition remission for summer SIRS 2002 has been put on hold for the time being until decisions can be made about how to do it. Reminder to everyone to continue to enter codes for all out of state fee waivers (military, border, teacher waivers) in the residency field.
The correct grade modes to use for Regents Test remediation in reading and writing are W and R.
There was a problem with multiple edit warnings on GED (missing score edits). OIIT will try to fix the problem by checking matriculation date so that warnings will not be issued for those who matriculated before the requirement to enter scores was implemented.
Institutions involved in the PACT process for admitting students will hear directly from the USO regarding admit types to use for these students.
Chairman McElveen called on System Office staff who gave the following updates:
Home School CPC Portfolio Best Practices Committee Update: Jacqueline Gray, Vice President for Student Affairs (Atlanta Metro) and Associate in Student Affairs (USO, Barry Fullerton's Office) gave an update on portfolio assessment. She reported that a survey was conducted and a planning committee has been formed to determine what is being done on various campuses in this area. A series of workshops is being planned to share this information among system institutions. Anyone who would like to suggest topics for the workshops should contact Dr. Gray.
Residency: Tonya Lam reported that the System's Residency Manual is under revision. In conjunction with this revision, the Office of Fiscal Affairs is re-writing the policy on waivers/fees to make it consistent in all areas of the policy manual.
Chancellor's Signature: Registrars may contact Tonya to get a hard copy of Chancellor's signature for diplomas. Jostens and ScriptSafe should have already provided it to institutions that use their services.
SAT changes: Beginning this year, College Board will no longer be identifying scores with an "R" code to indicate that they are re-centered. Colleges will need to look at the date that the candidate tested and adjust scores accordingly. That is, any scores from tests taken prior to April 1, 1995, must to be adjusted to the current score scale with the re-centering tables. Additionally, scores that are more than five years old will be accompanied by a message that the score may no longer reflect the candidate's ability.
PSO policy: Vice Chancellor Frank Butler reminds all campuses that they may not waive the requirement that PSO students must have a verbal SAT score of 530 and a math score of 530 to take English or math courses. Students who have been permitted by certain institutions to take English and math without this score pre-requisite will encounter difficulty later in transferring these classes to other institutions. Joe Head (Kennesaw State) mentioned that the policy statement is a little ambiguous and would benefit from some wording changes. Lynn Bacon (Floyd College) pointed out that if a student had already satisfied their high school English requirements and, therefore, would not be trying to get credit for both high school and college English, could take the course with a score less than 530.
House Bill 529, a college savings plan, passed last year and will be implemented this year in March. The University System Office (USO) will be looking to partner with a marketing group to create a poster to target parents of middle school children to promote the college prep curriculum in conjunction with the savings plan. The Georgia Easy website will reflect this information as well. Regents Test: A committee is working on revising the Math portion of the Regents Test. Plans are to implement the new test with new students entering in summer of 2003. A handout was available for the membership.
Admissions Standards for Military: Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, John Wolfe, is chairing a committee to consider new admission standards for military personnel on active duty. Tonya reported that standards would be along the lines of those for non-traditional students (no SAT requirement). Once guidelines are in place, implementation would be done quickly, possibly for this fall.
Budget Cuts: Cathie Mayes Hudson (USO) responded to a question about budgets. Dr. Hudson reported that budget cuts would continue during 2003. While the figures were not firm, Dr. Hudson mentioned that there would probably be about a 5% cut for 2003. MRR cut for 2003 may reach 50%.
BANNER Related Issues:
Tonya indicated that SCT patches to correct defects in transfer articulation
module would be released on Monday (March 18).
CAPP update: 15 institutions identified in first round training. ABAC is finished. Georgia Southern, Darton, North Georgia ongoing. More schools will come on board July. The same grant model will be used in second round. Students put this service at the top of their list of desired services.
A Georgia Best Model Development PowerPoint from the Macon meeting is available from Tonya. There is recognition that one size does not fit all; but some standardization is needed. There is a commitment to use technology to support delivery of student services at some minimal level across all campuses.
Math COMPASS scores. A handout was distributed describing new entry level and exit standards on the Math COMPASS. The new score is 37 and is to be implemented summer of 2002 for new students. Carl Wallman explained that members could run the Banner process twice, changing the score from 34 to 37 in order to handle the different score requirements for new students during the changeover.
DTAE-USG Mini-Core update. Cathie Hudson distributed a memo from Dan Papp, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs regarding the approval of a policy (effective immediately for students entering January 2002) for accepting five courses in the Mini-Core and ASSET test scores. COMPASS scores will not be accepted from non-COC-accredited DTAE institutions. There was considerable discussion and some confusion about policy interpretation among the membership. Discussion centered on issues regarding implementation date, tracking learning support from DTAE transfers, and accepting placement test scores. Dr. Hudson will seek clarification on all these issues and report back to the membership.
SEVIS update: Tonya referred to email from Sue Sugarman (Office of International Education, UGA) on tracking International Students. UGA and Georgia Perimeter are beta testing software to use in tracking and reporting. All institutions must identify the person responsible for issuing I-20s, as he/she will also be responsible for reporting tracking data. Bill Hamrick suggested that a system similar to the National Clearinghouse be considered.
Tonya said that members could call Sylvia Shore (SUWG) as a resource about new International Student tracking issues. Tonya also reported that House Bill 1231 seeking to track the absences of International Students was moved to subcommittee with no action taken.
GED Index Formula: Cathie Hudson reported that GED is changing its scoring; therefore USO will change the formula used in the pilot program to admit students with GED scores. Members are encouraged to give their input on changes to Dr. Hudson.
SIRS update: Mark Pevey distributed a handout on Summer SIRS for 2002. He reported that data from Spring SIRS was still being examined. He emphasized the importance of scrutinizing data since it will be used in the OEA report card. He also encouraged paying attention early to the changes that would be incorporated into summer SIRS report. He emphasized the importance of sharing information with others on campus and anticipating where problems might occur as a result of the changes in the Data Element Dictionary (DED). He told members that the DED would be posted on the web beginning Monday, March 18. All new edits apply to Summer 2002 and later. The Banner extract process will format readable reports for you. These web-based turnaround reports will be available to all institutions. Mark asked that institutions check the data in the reports for accuracy and also give feedback on how these reports can be improved. He suggested checking all turnaround reports and sharing them with appropriate others on campus (e.g. learning support staff). S308 (tuition remission) has been postponed and will not be collected this summer.
OIIT FICE/High School Translation System - SIRS: Lori Jarrard did a PowerPoint presentation on a web application to illustrate how to translate institution-specific FICE code to standard code. Four scripts were written to show all invalid codes and help identify mismatches. Handouts of the presentation were distributed. Questions arose regarding the lack of FICE codes for some international universities. Mark Pevey will be sending out instructions next week on how to handle such cases. Members who have questions on how to use this web-based application should contact the OIIT HELP desk.
OLD BUSINESS
John McElveen announced that changes in the leadership of RACRA would take
effect at the summer meeting following GACRAO. He stated that he would present
the members with the slate via listserv. Susan Daniell (Gainesville College)
asked if the vote could be taken during the current meeting. Asking if there
were objections and hearing none, the Chair brought forth the slate of officers
and announced that Diane Burns (Clayton State) would not be brought forth
as Vice Chair for next year since, as a result of reorganization at her institution,
she would be Director of Recruitment, and would not be serving in the role
of Director of Admissions. The slate presented was Donald Avery (East Georgia
College) as Chair, Walter Peacock (Valdosta State) as Vice Chair, and John
Brown (Atlanta Metro) as Secretary. John asked the members for any additional
nominations. Since there were none, John asked that members vote for the
slate by acclimation. A vote of the membership confirmed the slate of officers
as presented.
NEW BUSINESS
John announced that GACRAO would be held at the Jekyll Inn and Conference Center
on July 14th-16th. Jerry Wright indicated that all activities including on-site
registration would be held at the Jekyll Inn on Sunday, but would move to
the Conference Center on Monday.
John then introduced a question raised by Walter Peacock about why graduate students taking undergraduate courses had to pay graduate level tuition. Tonya Lam (USO) said that this was a long-term system policy and all tuition charges are based on student classification/level and not course. John asked the membership whether this was perceived as a big issue by the RACRA membership. Several members indicated that the policy did present a P-R problem from time to time, however the group declined to take action or bring forth a recommendation on this issue at this particular time.
The question was raised about whether institutions are accepting credits from technical colleges outside of the Mini-Core. Several members indicated that their institutions did evaluate transfer credit on a course by course basis if the technical college were accredited. Lynn Bacon suggested that each campus has a transfer ombudsperson, and that this person might handle questions arising from this issue. Cathie Hudson indicated that there would be no system definition on transfer courses outside the Mini-Core. In the discussion that followed, members noted that a lack of consistency on how transfer credit is awarded results in student complaints as students move from institution to institution.
Wayne Smith (Georgia Southern) asked whether institutions were accepting electronic signatures on forms submitted over the web. Tonya responded that the state auditors found electronic signatures acceptable and paper forms were not necessary as long as the web environment is secure.
On behalf of Deborah Smith (Georgia Tech) who was absent, Debbie Williamson (Georgia Tech) said that the Georgia Easy Banner download process is not working well at Tech. She explained that Tech experienced problems with duplicate pidms and had to enter 996 applications manually. Larry Peevy (Georgia College) responded that the process was working well at Georgia College. Joe Head indicated that Kennesaw State was also experiencing problems with this process. After discussion among the members, Larry Peevy pointed out that there are two issues: (1) the Georgia EASY website is working well and there are no problems with submission of electronic applications; (2) the download process set up by CollegeNet has had varied results among institutions that have used it. Tonya Lam indicated that they are working to stabilize the download process and institutions may choose whether or not to use the process while other options are being explored.
Gary Fallis (Georgia Southwestern) reported that the counselors in the Savannah area have requested that the USG institutions post their individual admission requirements on their websites.
Katherine Sweeney took the opportunity to thank the Chair, John McElveen, and Vice Chair, Donald Avery, for their service and hard work this past year. The membership responded with a round of applause.
There being no further business, the Chair entertained a motion to adjourn. Larry Peevy moved and Tim Buchanan (Gainesville College) seconded the motion to adjourn. The meeting ended at 4:45 p.m.
March 15, 2002
Joint meeting of RACRA and RACSFA
At 8:40 a.m. Deborah Barbone (North Georgia), Chair of RACSFA, called the 2nd annual meeting to order and welcomed the joint groups (RACSFA and RACRA).
To begin, Deborah called on Tonya Lam from the System Office to review her remarks from the previous day on Transfer Articulation (patches for Banner), SEVIS, and Georgia Best Model of Best Practices. She emphasized the need to recognize the impact that transfer articulation module has on business practices in financial aid so that adjustments can be made. Tonya reiterated that the federal government had not finalized all regulations yet and was still testing SEVIS to remove bugs discovered in testing the software program for tracking international students. The program will be re-released in July 2002.
Mandatory tracking will be required by October 2003. There is an important need to coordinate among affected offices on campus.
Tonya reported on the GA BEST meeting held in Macon on 3/13. Ten campuses have been surveyed and additional campuses will be added to determine functional processes and best practices. A CAPP team implemented this process at Georgia College & State University, ABAC, Georgia Southern, Darton College, and North Georgia. Tonya said that students are very excited that they can access their degree completion information on-line through CAPP.
Deborah Barbone asked to see a show of hands from institutions that have tested transfer articulation and HOPE. She encouraged those who had not yet tested the process to look around and see who might help them as they moved forwarded to test these processes on their campuses. Tonya indicated that there are listservs for both transfer articulation and CAPP.
Joe Head (Kennesaw) reported that Pat Neri left Georgia Perimeter to join SCT as of March 1. Pat will be working with CAPP. Nancy Gratin, International Advisor at Georgia Perimeter, also joined SCT. Tonya indicated that Pat and Nancy would be working with Georgia campuses behind the scenes. Consultants will be working with institutions to help get CAPP working.
John McElveen called on Cathie Hudson to give a report on the Office of Educational Accountability (OEA) report card and the Board of Regents Strategic Plan. Two handouts, "Recommendations for Definitions of Indicators for Office of Educational Accountability Report Card and Technical Notes for USG Institutions (posted previously on the web) were distributed to attendees.
Cathie explained that the System in the middle of a new planning process at the Board Level. Before Chancellor Porch left the system, the Board had a retreat developing the vision for the system and new priorities and planning goals. Some of the goals discussed were: (1) 4:4:2 programs; four year degree programs offered by four-year campuses on two-year campuses; (2) renewed emphasis on non-traditional access and for African American males with possible funding available for initiatives in this area; (3) expansion of waivers for the 120 hour limit on Baccalaureate degree programs; and (4) offering sabbaticals for faculty.
Cathie then discussed the document that was passed out and was recently sent to OEA as a draft. Four indicators were recommended by committee to be a measure for the USG report card. These were: (1) retention rate, (2) graduation rate, (3) pass rated on licensure exams, and (4) Regents Test pass rated. Those will be disaggregated by gender, race, and socio-economic status. Cathie indicated that although we desired to have reporting at the system level, OEA required that it be at the institution level. In December, OEA will issue a report card for each institution and for the University System as a whole. OEA will allow the system to give definition to the four indicators. Cathie said institutions may and should provide input to the USO as to definitions of the indicators. What we cannot do is say data are wrong once the report card comes out. It is important to decide now if the definitions accurately reflect what we are reporting.
Cathie proceeded to discuss the handout in terms of the definitions for each of the indicators pointing out which ones might cause some problems because of ways data were previously reported for SIRS. She explained that some data would be collected from other agencies. Teacher education pass rates would come from Professional Services Commission (PSC), and Nursing from Georgia Board of Nursing. Regents test pass rate will be reported for students who have 45 hours. There are some questions regarding the disaggregate variables particularly related to older reporting methods for race. Socio-economic status (SES) presents challenges too since there is no one variable that can really be used to reflect it. Pell grants status may be used as an indicator to separate SES groups. Mollie DeHart asked whether the Appendix would include the degrees from DTAE schools and Cathie responded that they would be added.
ISSUES OF MUTUAL INTEREST:
HOPE Residency Issues: Auditors are cracking down and making institutions pay
back money when the rules are not applied properly. Several problematic groups
exist: military dependents, transfers, transients, and readmits. Institutions
need to review the questions asked on admission applications to ensure proper
coding of residency status. Admissions offices will need to play a front-line
role in initiating concern for proper coding and raising red flags for financial
aid offices. Another problem group is transfer students. There is inconsistent
treatment among institutions in applying the rules to transfer students.
Discussion indicated that it is difficult to determine the history of transfer
students. Students who transfer from private institutions also present problems.
Dee Minter suggested that the University System approach the Georgia Student
Finance Commission (GSFC) to ask for a certain acceptable margin of error
since institutions are having to deal with two separate residence policies
(HOPE and BOR). Rich Loftus (USO) indicated that he would begin development
of a process that the USO could then take to GSFC for approval. John McElveen
suggested that RACRA members join the RACSFA subcommittee that is studying
the issue and appointed Kathryn Sweeney (Augusta State), Dee Minter (Macon
College), Carol Nobles (MCG), Wayne Smith (Ga. Southern), Bob LaVerriere
(North Ga.), and Tonya Lam (USO).
Consortia Admissions and Financial Aid Agreements between USG Institutions: Deborah Barbone reported that a pilot program is underway to determine the best way to form consortia agreements. The pilot study will document the pros and cons of such agreements and will report suggestions and best practices to the USO. Those institutions participating are Middle Georgia College, ABAC, Valdosta State, and Macon College. Tonya mentioned that Dr. Butler wants these agreements to include all financial aid programs, not just HOPE because these agreements benefits students. The institutions will be providing a report and feedback to the System Office and the RACRA and RACSFA memberships. Transient Students: John McElveen introduced discussion on whether institutions charge transcript fees to transient students. Indications were that some do and some do not. Deborah Barbone asked that those institutions that do charge a fee emphasize to transients that they must pay the fee before the transcript is released since their financial aid (HOPE) at the home institution cannot be released until the transcript is received and coursework is articulated. Sending postcards through mail regarding financial aid status: John noted that financial aid offices want to send postcards to notify financial aid applicants about documents needed in order to be more cost effective. The question is whether this is contrary to FERPA regulations. Debbie Williamson (GA Tech) stated that if the postcard is worded carefully to be generic and not specific, it is ok. Do not directly identify them as a financial aid applicant or recipient. Newly admitted students who have not yet matriculated are not covered by FERPA.
Study Abroad Issue: Deborah Barbone asked if students who are going a study abroad trip could register at the home institution rather than as a transient so that HOPE and financial aid issues would be eliminated. Tonya Lam indicated that this issue is under study and the contact person is Sue Sugarman in the Office of International Education. John McElveen reminded the membership that international students, who change status and become resident aliens, must be recoded to be eligible for financial aid.
Future Meetings: Deborah Barbone led a discussion about future joint meetings. She said she hoped that the two groups would continue to hold an annual joint meeting but that several issues needed to be addressed:
Need to establish a treasurer and identify money to make reservations if meetings are going to be held off campus
Need to decide where and when to hold the meetings so reservations can be made ahead of time
Members voted to return to Unicoi next year. Dates will be determined via the listserv for each group. No shows who reserved rooms this year must still pay for their rooms. Tonya said she would check to see if an agency account could be established at the USO so the two groups could roll money over to that account.
John McElveen opened the floor for any other issues for discussion. Deborah Barbone introduced discussion of how transfer articulation impacts financial aid. If you set up the ZAHOPE screen transfer work manually, that student cannot be transfer articulated for HOPE purposes. The student must continue to have transfer and transient work put into the transfer section of the ZAHOPE manually. Financial Aid must run grades twice: once for students who have manual work and once for those who have had work transfer articulated or else the transfer hours are doubled. Marsha Welch (Floyd) asked how to identify whether a student is transfer articulated or manually entered on the screen. Deborah responded that answers to questions and step-by-step instructions will be posted on the web. Tonya announced that there would be a workshop in mid-April for financial aid and admissions staff on how to do grades under transfer articulation. North Georgia will do the workshop.
There being no further discussion or business, John thanked Deborah for setting up the meeting and thanked all University System Office representatives for attending. The meeting was adjourned at 10:45a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Diane Burns, Secretary