9/5/06 Administrative Council
Meeting Minutes
In attendance: Dr. Sheila
Adams, Dr. Suzanne Bean, Dr. Gary Bouse, Stephanie
Brady, Nicole Dilg, Dr. Pat Donat, Dr. James Fitzgerald,
Melanie Freeman, Gail Gunter, Andrea Holcombe, Larry
Jones, Dr. Dorothy Kerzel, Dr. Claudia Limbert, Cay
Lollar, Frank McClinton, Nora Miller, Tonya Moak, Dr.
Barbara Moore, Anika Perkins, Dr. Bridget Pieschel, Dr.
Tom Richardson, Mary Margaret Roberts, Perry Sansing,
Wahnee Sherman, Amy Swingle, Stephen Taylor, Dr. Bucky
Wesley, and Sam Wise.
Absent: Angie Atkins, Dr.
Anne Balazs, Dr. Eric Daffron, Dave Haffly, Chris
Holland, Dr. Hal Jenkins, Calvin Sellers, and Dr. Tom
Velek.
Dr. Claudia Limbert called the
meeting to order. She thanked the group for all they did
to make the start of the 2006-2007 academic year a
success. Dr. Tom Meredith’s visit to campus was a
success. The people who gave him tours of various
buildings and programs did an excellent job. He was very
impressed.
1.
The minutes from the August 2006 meeting were
approved.
2.
Faculty/Staff Picnic - Dr. Limbert reported that
attendance was down for the Faculty/Staff Picnic this
year despite moving the event to campus from Plymouth
Bluff as requested. The group discussed many options. It
was agreed that the best time for the event is the
second Friday of the fall semester. The issue will be
discussed again at the next meeting.
3.
Residency issues - Perry Sansing said that
students born in Mississippi but who move out of state
as a minor qualify for in-state tuition as long as they
are still minors when they enroll. This is a matter of
state statute. Other universities are implementing this
for this fall. MUW will begin to do this too. Dr. Bucky
Wesley asked that this be coded in Banner, and Dr. Pat
Donat said that it can.
4.
Enrollment Management Task Force - Dr. Wesley
notified the group that the university will be forming
an Enrollment Management Task Force. He wants to bring
together people from all over campus to discuss issues
that have an impact on enrollment. This group will make
recommendations to the President’s Cabinet. Dr. Limbert
said that the enrollment increase this fall was great,
and we can do even better. She hopes this group can help
solve some of the problems that are tied to enrollment.
5.
Scholarship award guidelines - Dr. Wesley passed out
a draft of the guidelines for scholarship awards. It
includes information about students’ awards not exceeding a
total budget as determined by the Office of Financial Aid,
requirements for living on campus for a few scholarships and
maintaining a certain GPA for all scholarships, and
institutional funds being reduced if an additional award
causes the student’s total package to exceed a certain
amount. This information applies to undergraduate students,
and Dr. Wesley would like to include information about
graduate students too. He also would like to see if Banner
could help with the process of checking students’ accounts
each semester. Changes in the wording is needed regarding
required GPA due to the wording on some Foundation
scholarships. He plans to meet with several campus people on
these issues, update the wording, and bring it back to the
next meeting. Once the guidelines are complete, they will be
published in the student handbook and included in students’
award letters.
6.
Dr. Sheila Adams noted that representatives from the
Nursing Department will be attending a recruitment event and
are in need of giveaways to give to prospective students.
All of the other universities have giveaways. Stephanie
Brady said that the Admissions budget had been cut and they
no longer were able to purchase large quantities of
giveaways for other departments. She suggested the Nursing
Department could order giveaways from the same company
Admissions uses and therefore not have to pay set up costs.
Dr. Adams said they do not have the money in their budget
either. Dr. Wesley said this is an issue that will be
discussed at the next President’s Cabinet meeting and he
would see how this could be resolved.
7.
Timing of Personnel Action Forms - Melanie Freeman
announced that MUW was audited by PERS for the first time
since she has been at MUW. She said it is very important
that Personnel Action Forms, particularly for people who are
retirees, be completed and forwarded to Human Resources as
soon as possible. If a retiree’s reemployment is not
reported within five days, the university can be fined and
it can be detrimental to the retiree.
8.
Mr. Sansing reported that the IHL statewide
legislative meeting dates for Columbus and Tupelo have been
changed. The event in Tupelo will be November 28, and the
one in Columbus will be December 4. The turnout for the one
in Starkville, hosted by Mississippi State University, was
very good. There were many legislators present. The first
event, which was held in Cleveland, was not well attended by
legislators. The plan is to have a business person drive the
legislator to the Columbus and Tupelo events. The event in
Columbus will be held at Plymouth Bluff, and we are working
with Aubrey Patterson on the location for the Tupelo event.
9.
Dr. Limbert mentioned that she attended Dr. Clinton
Bristow’s funeral. It was well attended, and his daughter
gave a very moving speech.
10.
Dr. Limbert said that Dr. Meredith spoke to her after
his visit to MUW last week. He was very complimentary and
said MUW comes across as a private ivy and that we treat our
students that way too. |
