Present: Michael Field, Kitty Linde, Roger Murphy, Kelly Hatas, Jared Shoemaker, Dave Todt, Joe Van Deusen, Chuck Warner, Ann Wiard

Announcements: Committee Chair Michael Fiske was unable to attend due to a competition in the Math Department. In his absence, Dave Todt led the meeting.

AQIP Action Project Review: The committee members discussed two different Action Project #3 drafts related to improving student life at SSU. After about 15 minutes of discussion, it was agreed to use the second draft with some modifications to incorporate Jared's concerns and assure that this project will move to a second Action Project when the first phase is completed.

Quick Fix update: The coffee unit has been ordered and renovations are planned to have the coffee shop open by early January. Dave mentioned the desire to share with campus the status of the Quick Fix ideas. He will work with Jeff Perez to accomplish this.

Terms of Committee membership: Option II (the 2-3-4 year rotation) was selected as the cycle for membership on the Strategic Planning Committee.

Chip Poirot has decided to resign from the Committee.

New Business
A. Communications discussion.
B. What data is necessary to establish benchmarks and comparisons of progress on planning and quality improvement initiatives?
C. How can we communicate the work of the Committee to the entire campus?
D. How do we provide the link among planning, quality improvement, and accreditation so these processes are complimentary and coordinated?

Communications Discussion: Jeffrey Perez, new Director of Communications, was introduced as a guest. Jeff was called away from the meeting, so we did not get a chance to address to any extent. We assured Jeff that we would invite him back to our first meeting in the winter.

There was a lengthy discussion about the agenda items listed under New Business: measurement of our progress, establishing benchmarks, communicating the work of the Committee to the campus, and linking the processes together.

Points of discussion: These items will be specific to the Action Teams. Each team will report back to the Committee, which will provide only oversight. The minutes have been posted online, with easily accessible links. In the future, the Board packets may be posted before the meetings also. Jared can then send an announcement with the link. Communication will be part of the charge to each Action Team.

Coordinating all of these processes is AQIP. There should be enough attention to planning to avoid any duplication of efforts. That's where communication is so important.

Present: Pat Carson, Michael Field, Michael Fiske, Ed Kehres, Barb Kunkle, Kitty Linde, Cathy Mullins, Roger Murphy, Kelly Hatas, Chip Poirot, Jared Shoemaker, Dave Todt, Chuck Warner, Ann Wiard

Minutes from the September 30, 2005 meeting were accepted.

Announcements: The next meeting will be held on November 18.

Old Business: Michael Fiske distributed an example of a decision making tree as discussed at the last meeting. He also passed out information from Bill Turner about AED training.

AQIP
Dave Todt reported on the AQIP Strategy Action Forum, with input from other committee members who attended the Chicago event. He and Michael Fiske passed out sheets summarizing revised versions of possible Action Projects. The items are still "works in progress" and need even further revision before the final versions are submitted in mid December.

Dave also passed out the revised version of Action Project #1, Student Advising, for discussion by the Committee. The final version that is submitted in December should be what we're ready to move forward with. We should probably submit only 3 or 4 projects.

Points of discussion on revised project #1: It's most important that students receive solid advising early. It's good that the document doesn't commit us to the University College or to specifics about its organization. That's best left up to the Action Team itself. There are concerns that some students will resent a more active approach to advising if they already know the courses they want to take. Also, advisors must be more knowledgeable about course offerings. The team itself should choose the direction it will take. There was also a discussion about data collection and whether what is available to us accurately portrays SSU's situation in regard to graduation rates, etc.

Points of discussion about Action Teams: How the teams are put together is critical to their success. Our committee should be involved for oversight and coordination only, although it was suggested that there should be one committee member on each team. The teams are work teams, not necessarily representative of the entire campus. They should be comprised of key people with ideas, each a small task force (6-8) that brings ideas to the table. It's crucial to get faculty input beforehand. Dave agreed to write a charge to the Action Teams, and made a list of possible team members as suggested by the committee.

Quick Fix Updates
Roger reported that the plans for the coffee shop are concluded. It will be a modular, self-contained unit that will be installed on the first floor of the library, with suggested hours M-F, 12 hours/day. Most of the physical work will be done during SSU's break and completed in about 10 weeks. At the beginning it will be subsidized, with the hope that it will break even in the future.

The tennis courts can't be done until the bridge is completed.

New Business:
A. Examples of rotation cycles for committee membership led to a short discussion. It was noted that four-year terms are long enough to give stability without causing burnout. Committee members will vote on the cycle at the next meeting.

B. Dave has been involved in interviews for Master Plan architects. Since the plan goes beyond facilities and infrastructure to academics and all campus areas, this committee should be involved. Within 6 months, we should have a new plan, map and documents together. Infrastructure for technology will be a major concern.

C. Please consider Agenda Item III-C for discussion at the next meeting, with regard to validating 1st generation college students, whether residential students include the entire area, and revisiting the graduation rate and how it's categorized. (III-C: "What data are necessary to establish benchmarks and comparisons of progress on planning and quality improvement initiatives?")

• The next 2 meetings will be held on October 21 and November 18.
   
• Three-ring binders were distributed to the members to hold minutes and handouts. The notebooks will be passed on from outgoing members to their replacements.
   
• Kelly Hatas will be sitting in on the meetings in place of Will Newby, who has been called to active duty with the National Guard.
   
• The shortage of seating capacity around the table will be addressed with new tables for the conference room.

Old Business: AQIP Dave Todt set up the draft model of the AQIP display the team will take to Chicago, and asked for suggestions. The display will be part of the introductory session, providing the first impression of Shawnee State to the other participants. He also passed out sample Action Projects from the other universities that will participate in the Chicago forum. As part of the AQIP process, all individual institutions are reviewing the draft projects, about 40 in all, from the other institutions. They will be critiqued and revised in Chicago as part of the continuous quality improvement process.

The Strategic Planning Committee will then get the revised version of SSU's Action Projects that will stem from the AQIP Forum. There will be a team for each final Action Project that will then report its progress. We're all still learning how to use the AQIP process.

Points of Discussion: How can the committee effectively communicate this process to the rest of campus? Some would like for UFS and other governance units to be more involved up front. It helps for the information to be as transparent as possible. There were several suggestions for improving the visibility of the SPC and AQIP on the website, as well as posting minutes from all governance groups. Suggestions included developing a consistent format for all minutes, having a page devoted to the SPC before MySSU comes up, moving it onto its own page, and providing the appropriate links.

Michael Fiske will work with Leigh Gerlach to make Committee information more accessible to the campus community, and Jared will do updates to the site.

Quick Fixes: Dave handed out the list of Quick Fix ideas that came out of Conversation Day.

Points of Discussion: Some have been done, and some have turned out to be not so quick fixes after all. It's important to keep the list in front of us, keep working on them, and check them off as they're completed. The current list is a rough, unedited version, which hasn't been updated since June. On the web page, we should identify those ideas that are actually 'doable' as well as listing which ones are done and updating them with completion data.

Quick Fix progress reports: Smoking Areas – There will probably be one designated smoking area outside of each building, rather than at all the entryways.
Coffee Shop - We've already developed plans and estimates for establishing the coffee shop. We hope it will be available either this quarter or next.

There was a discussion about examples of lapses in communication, where staff members are either not consulted or notified after the fact. Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) have been installed around campus, but there's no general awareness of where they are or how to use them. This issue should be addressed with better signage and better training. Signage will be discussed with the architects and addressed in the Master Plan. Michael Field will discuss the AEDs with Steve Donohue.

New Business: Communicating Committee work The Committee needs to use the web more effectively to make communication easier. Information should flow both ways. Communicating information to students is a continuing problem, especially since faculty and staff have a longer term commitment to campus issues. Barb Kunkle offered the Teaching & Learning Communities to assist. A university-wide committee could help with Action Project # 4.

It was noted that there is often planning without outside input, leading to decisions made without using our full resources at SSU. Possibly, new plans could be run past a checklist of groups in order to take advantage of the educated staff. A decision-making tree was also suggested. However, although some decisions haven't been made wisely, studious deliberation is at odds with the idea of Quick Fix projects.

The new Director of Communication should be able to work with the Committee to resolve some of our communication issues, although he will have a huge portfolio to deal with. He will be invited to the November 18th meeting.

We will address terms of membership at the October 21st meeting.

Present: Pat Carson, Michael Field, Michael Fiske, Ed Kehres, Barb Kunkle, Kitty Linde, Cathy Mullins, Roger Murphy, Jared Shoemaker, Dave Todt, Chuck Warner

Minutes from the June 9, 2005 meeting were accepted.

Announcements: This quarter's meetings are scheduled for September 30, October 21, and November 18, as the committee intends to meet in a 3-week cycle.

New Business: Michael Fiske distributed a copy of last year's Presidential Charge to the Committee and their actions taken for 2004-05. The 5 points of this year's (2005-06) Charge to the Committee were listed on the meeting's agenda and prompted a discussion.

• We should expect more to come to us this year than in the past.
   
• The primary task will be in the planning processes, particularly in coordinating AQIP activities.
   
• The committee will continue in an advisory capacity to the budget committee.

Dr. Morris also requested that the committee formalize terms for membership, such as 3-year rotating terms to retain continuity. It was suggested that an outgoing member remain until a replacement is found in order to keep the SPC fully staffed. The final terms will be outlined in future meetings. We will order 2-inch binders for each committee member to pass on to the next member.

Old Business: AQIP Before discussing the draft version of SSU's Strategy for Action Workbook, Dave Todt distributed the "AQIP Cycles of Improvement" sheet and explained the continuing AQIP processes involved. The first cycles will begin next month as SSU's AQIP team members introduce SSU's chosen Action Projects at the upcoming AQIP forum in Chicago. They will be reviewed by peer institutions and refined at that time. SSU should have 3 or 4 projects going on at once. Even at the 7 year review, AQIP institutions don't lose their accreditation as long as they show improvement.

Dave also began the discussion of the draft version he presented, in order to narrow the 5 ideas culled from Conversation Day down to 3 or 4 projects. With the deadline for submission looming, Dave quickly incorporated the feedback from the committee members and the meeting notes into the document before the minutes were finished.

Project notes:
#1 – Discussions centered on the details and structure of the University College concept, overall advising issues, and how to measure success (graduation rates).

#2 – Discussions were about the complexity of scheduling and the need for clarity. Making it an Action Project raises the level of awareness. It's important that the scheduling project be done well. Robert Mendris already has scheduling software.

#3 - Renovations at the U.C. are on track. The title should not be tied to one facility, although we hope to integrate the U.C. more into student life. Current recreational facilities and intramural budgets are inadequate. Gender issues should be a priority – don't set up athletics as men's sports and then try to get women involved in them later. The master plan is being updated for both land and buildings. A new coffee shop was on the quick fix list. Number 3 could be one of our ongoing projects.

#4 – The goal is to broaden the Teaching and Learning concept to both faculty and staff. The current faculty learning communities are growing every year, even with no central facility, a small budget, and a low profile. There is a need for a central location to house books, etc., but the project can begin without a building. This project will promote collegiality. This fall's staff orientation was exceptionally well done.

#5 – Of the 5 potential projects, the committee decided that the concern about lack of communication was so universal that it should be integrated into all 4 of the other projects. It may also be too broad a concept to be accepted as a project by AQIP. Communication should be the dominant theme running throughout the Strategy for Action. It was also suggested that Conversation Day was one of the best campus events and should be held annually. Our charge is also to extend communication to the community.