Name of Committee: Admissions Committee
Current Committee Members (please indicate chair and any other officers):
Nona Bolin
Fred Burton
Tom Lee
Remy Miller
Annette Moore
1) The 2011-2012 MCA Handbook includes the following description of the Committee:
Admissions Reviews applicants to the undergraduate program. Membership: Three F-T faculty,
Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services and admissions counselors.
2a) In the opinion of the committee, does the handbook description accurately describe the function, purpose, and membership of the committee? Please explain.
No. we only look at applicants who are borderline either with gpa, act, or portfolio, or last minute admissions. We never meet as a group (not since I was first on the committee in the early and mid 90’s. we basically accept or reject questionable applicants (for a variety of reasons listed and not listed) independently.
2b) Please suggest changes/edits/rewrites for the Handbook description of your committee. If the Handbook does not currently include a description for your committee, please write one. (Answers to this section of the self-study are suggestions only. They are intended to help the faculty move toward Handbook revisions, but they should be regarded as draft versions at this stage. Please don’t spend an inordinately long time trying to craft the perfect description—they can be changed and edited as we go through the process.)
Admissions Reviews (selected) applicants to the undergraduate program (under the direction of admissions). Membership: Three F-T faculty,
Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services and admissions counselors.
Part 2: Committee Charge, Duties, and Goals
1) Does the committee operate under a clearly stated committee “charge” (that is, a statement of purpose explaining what the committee is charged with doing on behalf of the faculty or college—this may be different from the catalog description of the committee)? Is this charge written down and made available to the members of the committee and the college community at large? Please explain. (If you feel that the current catalog description or any revision to the description that you made above functions adequately as a charge, please say so).
Never seen a charge or description other than a brief oral description years ago when we met as a committee and discussed applicants, sometimes at length.
2) Does the committee maintain a set of specific duties? Are these written down? If a set of such duties exists (written down or in the minds of the chair or other members of the committee), please list them here. (In other words, what is the committee specifically responsible for? What does the committee do?)
No idea really. Notified when we have an applicant to review, look at the packet (mostly without all documentation) and note acceptance or rejection.
3) Does the committee have a set of goals (short and/or long-term)? If so, please list them and briefly explain the process the committee used to arrive at these goals.
This will sound smart assed but I don’t mean it that way. Short and long term goals are to accept “quality” students so admissions won’t be mad at us.
4) Other than verbal reports at faculty meetings, does the committee make reports in verbal or written form to the faculty or administration? How often are these reports made? Where are written reports housed and are they available to other members of the college community?
No
5) Please add any additional comments about the charge, duties, and goals of the committee.
I rejoined the admissions committee because I thought it would be helpful. When the committee met to look at applicants, portfolios, read letters, documentation together and discussed their impressions, it felt like legitimate committee work. Now it feels like doing something because admissions can’t or won’t make the decision they want to to begin with. Probably the easiest committee work to do even though it should be the most thoughtful.
Part 3: Committee Membership
1a) To the best of the committee’s knowledge, how are faculty members of the currently committee chosen?
To my memory, they have always been asked. The committee has also not changed in over a decade.
1b) If it is not explicitly stated in the description/rules/by-laws of the committee, how do you think the members of the committee should be chosen?
Either elected or on an assigned rotation so everyone (eventually) knows what the admissions process is like.
2a) Do the faculty members on the committee have limited terms of service?
no
2b) If it is not explicitly stated in the description/rules/by-laws of the committee, should there be terms of service? Please explain.
Yes. All committees should have terms of service for the same reason given in 1b (above).
3) Does the current committee membership structure make sense? Is the committee too big, too small, the right size? Please explain.
No. seems like a waste of time, effort, thought, etc. meeting singularly, there is no discussion, agreement, disagreement, etc. just a chore to be done.
4a) Does the committee as it currently exists have faculty members from each of the Divisions of the College? If so, do you feel (or is it a requirement of the committee) that it always have representation from each of the Divisions?
No.
Yes. But only if they meet as a committee so discussion can take place.
4b) If the Committee does not include members from each Division, should it? Please explain.
Yes. (above)
5a) If there are administrators on the committee (according to Dean Strickland’s committee grid), explain their role(s).
Does that include Annette? She may notify us of an applicant or give us details we ask about (concerning lack of documentation for instance) but we sit by ourselves to review the packets. Sometimes the counselors do that as well.
When we met as a committee, occasionally Susan (Miller) would sit in on the discussions (when she was in Annette’s position).
5b) If administrators are members of the committee, do you feel that their roles are necessary? In other words, does the committee feel that administrators should be members of the committee? Please explain.
Not if the faculty are going to have an active voice in student admission decisions.
If, however, the role of the faculty (on the admissions committee along with faculty reviewing portfolios at functions) is only to recommend admission (based on portfolio quality) and suggest scholarship (based on portfolio quality) and not to actually admit students then someone will have to do the other related paperwork. Parenthetically, I’m always confused about accepting a portfolio at a review (in lieu of sending it in to admissions) and how that plays into the admissions process at all).
6a) If there are staff members on the committee, explain their role(s).
see 5a
6b) If staff are members of the committee, do you feel that their roles are necessary to the successful functioning of the committee? Please explain.
7) To what extent are the decisions of your committee autonomous? In other words, do you make decisions that do not go to the full faculty for approval? Or do you make recommendations that then must be approved by the faculty or others? Please explain.
I have no idea. Let’s say 3 people vote to reject and 2 to accept (an example since there are only 4 committee members) it’s not clear to me whether the vote is actually followed or not. i.e. I’m not sure about the autonomy of the faculty (part of the committee) in regards to admissions decisions.
8) Please add any additional comments related to membership, committee structure, the appointment or election of members, participation of non-faculty members, etc.
This seems to be tied directly to the admissions events we are required to attend---which seem mostly to be opportunities to have people submit applications. It sounds a lot to me like a tent revival (come on down brother!) as opposed to whatever (good will making) opportunity for young would be art students to get professional feedback on their work and “careers”. I am some kind of naïve bumpkin.
Part 4: Committee Meetings and Time Commitment
1a) On average, how many times per semester does your committee meet? Please indicate if the number of meetings varies by semester and explain why.
#’s vary according to closeness to deadlines and other unknown variables. Usually less than 4….again, that’s meeting individually when we have time.
1b) Is there a set meeting schedule (e.g., once monthly, bi-weekly, etc)? If not, how does the committee determine if a meeting is necessary and who calls the meeting?
Nope. Get the email from (usually) Annette, although sometimes from Katie.
1c) If there is no set meeting schedule, do you think that there should be a set meeting schedule or a minimum number of meetings for your committee per semester? Please explain.
Again…in the days of yore when dragons roamed the land, we met regularly (once a week) or more depending on how close to deadline and how late the little buggers would wait to apply.
1d) How long is the average meeting?
Aaaaannnnnnnddddddd again, individually……shortest time, about 2 minutes. The longest over the last year was about 20 minutes.
2) In general, how many hours of commitment per semester does this committee require of members?
Half hour tops.
3a) Does the committee take minutes, keep notes, or otherwise track and archive the activities of the committee?
I take private minutes by mumbling into my spymaster watch and will soon archive them in the “cloud” thingie. That’s a no.
3b) If you do keep minutes, where are they housed? Can other faculty (or administrators) not on your committee look at these minutes easily?
Nope, nope.
4) Please add any additional comments on committee meetings and the time commitment required of faculty on this committee.
More? Not a clear picture yet?
We don’t have meetings.
It’s hardly worth mentioning the time commitment.
I have other comments that I’d rather not write down.
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