July 28, 2015 Cabinet Meeting Notes

Tuesday, July 28, 2015
9:00 a.m.
President's Office Conference Room

Cabinet was called to order by Provost Arant at 9:00 a.m. Dr. Arant welcomed the group and reminded them that he has been called for Jury Duty beginning August 7th for approximately two weeks. He will update the group as he is notified of required dates to be in attendance.

Members present were: Dr. Mark Arant, Mr. David Koehn, Mr. Hardcastle, Dr. Jerrid Freeman, and Dr. Aaron Christopher

Members absent were: Dr. Steve Turner

Dr. Christopher asked about the status of enrollment numbers. Dr. Arant explained the difference between Freshman Orientation and current enrollment numbers. The group discussed the Condrey plan to assist Dr. Christopher with the history and projected outcome. All members relayed that Enrollment numbers will impact the entire plan.

Financial Aid Disbursement Proposal-Fall 2015 (cont'd discussions)

Dr. Freeman detailed conversations that have happened to get the proposal to the cabinet group. Discussions continued from the previous Cabinet meeting to finalize the date for processing of disbursements and refunds. Mr. Hardcastle asked if there was a communication plan to inform students. Dr. Freeman replied that they do not have a communication plan but agreed that there would need to be something sent out to students timely. Dr. Freeman will communicate with Sue Catron and Dr. Terri Cochran for wording to go out. The group also continued discussions regarding the Hold that would be placed on a student's enrollment if dropping and adding course hours after the disbursement/refund date. The Hold would force the student to visit with their Financial Aid counselor to ensure the student understood the impact of dropping and adding after the disbursement activities. The group emphasized the importance of removing the Hold on student's accounts prior to the next registration date for the following semester. At the conclusion of the discussions, members in attendance approved the proposal as written to move forward to include the hold process for the fall 2015 semester.

Updated Quad State Proposal

Dr. Freeman began the discussion with a brief history to bring the group up-to-date with current practices. The new proposal was restricted to take Athletic needs into consideration due to the number of out-of-state students being recruited. Dr. Freeman handed out a revised proposal with more details than previously. Dr. Arant asked how many students we have that pay out-of-state tuition. Mr. Koehn reported that 59% was waived last year. The group gave a brief history of the program to bring Dr. Christopher up-to-date. Dr. Freeman stated that our program is still Quad State plus we have other waiver programs that support out-of-state students that are out of the Quad area. Dr. Christopher asked about the impact of those that would not attend NSU if they did not qualify for the out-of-state waiver. Dr. Freeman reported that we do not know what those numbers would be. Dr. Christopher asked if some of the wording could be updated for ease of reading and determining qualifications. Dr. Arant commented that an on line calculator would be beneficial. Dr. Freeman reminded the group that this proposal is designed to help with budgeting and to add new programming. It will allow us to be more strategic and creative with our funding. Mr. Koehn explained some history of other schools and how they conduct business. At the conclusion of discussions, All approved to move forward with the proposal.

Creating a Cabinet Calendar to Assist Members with Tracking Events & Deadlines

Mr. Hardcastle began discussions regarding a Cabinet Calendar in Google. This would be a shared calendar between Cabinet members. Mr. Hardcastle proposed that he and Robin Hutchins would manage and add items to the calendar based on material discussed in Cabinet. The thought would be to place important date related items on the calendar in an effort to remind Cabinet members of due dates and program dates. This discussion was tabled until the next meeting. President Turner's input was necessary to move further.

Announcements

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Hutchins