Christine Kerlin Alicia Moore February , 2008 Preliminary Report Truckee Meadows Community College Business Practice Audit of Admissions and Records Office Consultation Overview Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) engaged AACRAO Consultants Christine Kerlin and Alicia Moore to conduct an audit of the business practices of the Admissions and Records Office, including an assessment of organizational opportunities. During the first consulting visit, held February 28 & 29, 2008, meetings were held with: A&R staff, individually and as a group Selected directors and deans in Student Services The President and Vice Presidents A member of the Student Senate Follow-ups and phone calls were conducted with staff after the visit. 2 Commendations The staff in Admissions and Records, as well as in Student Services, are articulate and capable people who are very connected to their work and TMCC. A&R exemplifies several best practices, such as degree audit processes, imaging records, chat services, extended hours, and online registration. Though there have been significant leadership transitions, there is a clear positive attitude in A&R toward enabling student access and retention, and A&R staff are recognized by many at TMCC for getting the job done. Many staff members in A&R have significant experience and skills, thus offering a high level of expertise to TMCC. 3 Organizational Observations 4 Leadership Observations Over the past several years, transitions in leadership related to A&R have engendered uncertainty in reporting responsibilities and accountabilities. Transitions in leadership have limited the development of trust, communication lines, and relationship-building. A&R staff evince a sense of disempowerment and fragile morale, offset by their own passion for doing their work well for the sake of students and other colleagues. They dont want to let anyone down. While the plan to fill the position of Director of A&R is clear, the responsibilities and role of that person in the organization will benefit from further clarification to minimize frustration and anxiety. 5 Clarity of Organization, Mission, Goals Observations As adjustment of reporting responsibilities at the Dean/Associate Dean level proceed, the position of A&R with its affinity groups is under consideration. Specifically, consideration is being given to the relationship between Starting Point and A&R (as well as Starting Points relationship with other services). Due to transitions in leadership, A&R itself does not demonstrate a cohesive sense of vision, mission and goals, which currently complicates thinking about how Starting Point and A&R could collaborate on services. Like many departments that react to emerging technologies and services over time, desk responsibilities and roles in A&R have become muddied and lack strong connection to accountabilities. 6 Decision-Making and Planning Observations Perceived lack of transparency in decision-making causes confusion and uncertainty among staff. Decisions about new implementations in practice and policy are not fully synchronized with current practices and policies, and sometimes implemented with insufficient planning or infrastructure support. A&R staff feel frustrated that decisions that affect them seem to happen overnight, are not often communicated, are untested, and may be at odds with processes and plans already in place. Staff may be asked for input, but feel the loop is not closed by getting feedback on that input. 7 Communication and Collaboration Observations Meetings within A&R and with other related services do not have the regularity needed to foster communication and collaboration. Communication lines have been affected by unclear leadership roles and the segmentation of typical affinity groups. An emphasis on hierarchical communication lines appears to conflict with the actual ability and willingness of staff to communicate and collaborate directly with each other. 8 Structure and Functions of A&R Observations A&R comprises a wide variety of appropriate functions such as application processing, registration, credential evaluation, and data management. A&R is structured by assigning several leads to different areas, some of which are better staffed than others. Several areas of A&R appear to be at risk through understaffing, increased workload, lack of cross- training, and/or the lack of centralized responsibility. International Veterans Data Phone 9 Structure and functions of A&R Observations (continued) The continuum of services from outreach to entry to enrollment has both strong and weak points. Weaknesses include: Data integration is limited, data services are stretched. Entry processes are splintered. Multiple communication points seem to cause undue duplication of effort. Current A&R staff time spent at Starting Point may not be an efficient use of time due to distance from materials and lower quality of data access. Locations are segmented. Roles and responsibilities assigned to the office and to the leadership of A&R and its reporting line are in flux, providing an opportunity to redefine. Recommendations To expedite communication, planning, and the coordination of enrollment processes, bring current A&R functions, Outreach, and Starting Point into closer alignment. Given TMCCs enrollment picture, and the current staff resources, it may be worthwhile to consider consolidation of these programs into an Enrollment Services area. This would strengthen the leadership potential of the new position, attract stronger candidates, and provide a new vision around which to rally staff from several departments, as well as expedite communication, planning and coordination. Characteristics of the new vision could include redefining the stream of communication with prospective, new and returning students, expanding functions such as degree audit to better recruit transfer students, responding to inquiries differently, and enhancing the position of Starting Point as a renamed HELP NOW DESK for both new and continuing students with regard to their enrollment processes. 11 Recommendations Inclusion of Starting Point in the Enrollment Services purview has implications for location. It is beyond the scope of this consultation to offer comments on the best way to locate all Student Services, but with an eye to the current A&R configuration, it is worthwhile to note that the lack of co-location of A&R and Starting Point is awkward, especially if there is a desire to link the two programs. Linkage of the two programs is recommended. TMCC may consider grouping Enrollment Services, Financial Aid, Testing and Advising under a single Dean/Associate Dean in order to build on the natural affinity of these units in providing initial access and on- going services related to student enrollment. Recommendations Whether or not the recommendations above are implemented in one form or another, the challenges of communication, planning and coordination can be addressed through: Continuation of regular meetings between Dean and Director of A&R. Continuation and strengthening of regular meetings between all Directors in Student Services, including the Deans and VP. Regular weekly meeting for all A&R staff, such as a Friday meeting from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Development of processes that rely on consultative planning prior to implementation. An emphasis on more cross-training. 13 Recommendations The formality of communication as currently perceived may be mitigated through a facilitated workshop including the Vice President, Deans and Directors - where new communication norms could be discussed and adopted. This workshop could focus on appropriate hierarchy, expectations of consultation among colleagues, and analysis of lines of direction and accountability. Further observations and recommendations regarding functionality will be addressed in the next section. 14 Business Practice Audit 15 The A&R staff should be applauded for their adoption of digital scanning. It is possible that usage could be expanded and more (or fewer?) documents could be scanned. While a number of critical documents are scanned, A&R does not appear to have a clear understanding of the necessary disposition/retention of paper records, such as applications, grade changes, transcripts, etc. 16 Records Retention Observations Records Retention Recommendations It is recommended that TMCC review/clarify institutional archiving practices that conform to state regulations and/or AACRAO guidelines to determine what to scan, what to save, and what to purge. Such a review may result in workload efficiencies and increased office space. It is recommended that A&R review options for expanding access to scanned material. General comments indicate that there is a campus- wide need to more clearly identify the FERPA function of A&R which the campus can rely on to have ready answers to FERPA-related questions and to provide FERPA training. 18 FERPA Observations FERPA Recommendations It is recommended that TMCC clearly assign this role to A&R, with particular responsibility given to the Registrar for supporting compliance, clarifying practices, and providing training and information tools for the campus to increase FERPA awareness. Training templates are available through AACRAO. The A&R staff are recognized for their student information system knowledge and for their responsiveness to various requests from all parts of campus for reports and data fixes. There appears to be significant collaboration with institutional research staff and applications staff. However, the demands appear to outpace staff resources in A&R and the delineation of roles is not as clear as it could be. New system implementations (such as Integrate) typically require colleges to maintain current services while preparing for the new system. Further, post-implementation activities usually demand more of staff, not less, since increased functionality, continuous training and updates are usually necessitated. The A&R staff appears to have the knowledge needed to assist TMCC in the implementation, but not the resources. 20 Data Observations Data Observations (continued) A TMCC team leader has been selected for the Integrate project, but utilization of A&R staff pre- and post- implementation does not appear to have been fully clarified. The effect on the workload in A&R has not been addressed. A&R is improving its own internal process of tracking its own activities, but data does not appear to be used to assess, improve or evolve practices. It is recommended that a short-term task force be (re-) charged to inventory TMCC needs for data and system management functions, assess the resources needed to perform that work, clarify the related roles of institutional research, A&R staff and applications staff, and develop a workflow system of prioritizing and assigning tasks that meet those needs. It is recommended that TMCC conduct an evaluation of the effect of Integrate on A&R workload, especially in light of the need to clarify current processes and meet current needs. The task force described above could also provide an analysis of the process TMCC may follow for the Integrate implementation and assess the resources needed in the near and far future. Data Recommendations It is recommended that A&R strengthen its regular tracking and reporting system related to such functions as number of transcript requests processed, degree audits, applications received, special populations served, and other response rates on a consistent basis. Furthermore, the data should be reviewed for the purposes of assessment. Data Recommendations (continued) A&R staff as a whole did not appear consistently informed about TMCCs strategic enrollment management (SEM) planning or about follow-up to Jim Blacks consultation on retention. A&R does not appear to be positioned to be a player, though normally A&R functions are a significant part of SEM strategies. 24 Enrollment Management and Retention Observations Enrollment Management and Retention Recommendations It is recommended that A&R staff be enabled to learn more about TMCCs SEM planning so they can provide stronger support and develop more affinity to the Colleges vision and enrollment goals. On many campuses, the A&R offices are the locus of general information about the college, receiving numerous phone calls and e- mails about not only admission and registration, but asking for general information. While the chat service appears reasonably well-managed, the assignment of responding to phone calls is less clear. It appears that those who more regularly answer the phone do so to the detriment of their ability to perform their other tasks effectively. The existence of assignments to answer voic (which is a good strategy) indicates that initial phone pick-up needs more emphasis. For many new community college students, getting started is a mystery, and sometimes frightening. Often, the first contact for new students is an Admissions and Registration office. In addition to responsiveness through the phone and, A&R must respond well in person. There are several noticeable barriers to this: 1) location, 2) office appearance, 3) staffing, and 4) signage. It is noted that signage upgrades are in progress inside buildings, but there is little signage offering direction to newcomers as one arrives on campus 26 Customer Response Observations Customer Response Recommendations It is recommended that A&R leadership review desk assignments in the office and find those assignments that are compatible with consistent phone response and follow-up. Merger of Starting Point and/or other functions into a larger Enrollment Services area could also address this customer service issue. It is recommended that further analysis on this topic be conducted. Student and visitor feedback could be helpful. It is generally perceived that A&R staff are helpful and able to get the essence of their jobs done... and get it done with a great deal of accuracy and attention to rules. However, there were some inconsistencies within this perception, with some observations that promises to fix something may not have been followed through or that the desired service only happens if you know who to go to. 28 Customer Service Observations Customer Service Recommendations It is recommended that A&R define its customer service expectations with an emphasis on consistency and internal communication to support quality service. This could be facilitated through weekly staff meetings and clarification/development of department mission, vision and goals. Transitions in leadership have affected the clarity of academic policy development, consistency and implementation. While there appears to be a good relationship between Instruction and A&R, interviews revealed that application of academic policies could benefit from stronger coordination and reconciliation of possibly conflicting practices. Related to a need to review the application of policies, there is concern that compliance with accepted policies and procedures may not be uniform, thus causing unnecessary inefficiencies. The procedures associated with communication to prospective and current students appear to be evolving and improving through a communications committee. Some gaps remain, however, particularly in communication with continuing students on topics such as encouraging them to register for upcoming quarters, applying for credential evaluation and graduation, etc. 30 Policies and Procedures Observations It is recommended that Student Services and Instructional leadership create a process that mutually examines college policies related to admission, registration and records, and renew/forge agreements on the application of policy, particularly those administered through A&R, such as: grade schemes, prerequisite checking, high school admissions policy, registration adjustments, academic forgiveness policy, how/when honors are determined, commencement criteria, and satisfactory academic progress policy. It is recommended that the same process that reviews academic policy implementation also assess ways to assure campus-wide understanding of policy compliance on such matters as submission of grades, the add/drop process, and required enrollment steps. 31 Policies and Procedures Recommendations It is recommended that the communications committee devote additional attention to the continuity of their e- mailed and written communication to prospective and continuing students. 32 Policies and Procedures Recommendations (continued) Concern about the back-up and support for the Veterans Educational Specialist is consistently voiced. Compliance with certification requirements should be a matter of high concern to a college, and trends indicate that colleges can expect a rise in workload for veterans certifications. Though the placement of Veterans Services can vary, it is generally understood that quality processing, participation in training opportunities for updates, and staff back-up are vital. 33 Veterans Services Observations Veterans Services Recommendations It is recommended that Veterans Services be located in A&R with one staff fully dedicated to service delivery and at least one other related staff person able to provide back-up. In light of the impending retirement of the currently assigned staff person, steps to fill that role need to be taken now in order to provide an effective transition. Furthermore, TMCC needs to clarify the role that the Veterans Specialist plays in determining student compliance with eligibility regulations. TMCC has attempted several models of providing support for international student admission and support services. The current model uses a decentralized approach. Given the modest size of the international student population, and the fact that TMCC does not actively recruit, nor intend to do so, the decentralized approach may not be very efficient or effective. Though it is critical that all members of the campus understand some of the unique needs of international students, the environment of TMCC indicates that centralization would be more efficient and effective. Proximity to UNR appears to be the chief reason international students enroll at TMCC; consistent communication between UNR and TMCC regarding student enrollment status is critical. 35 International Student Services Observations It is recommended that TMCC focus international student admission and support in 1.5 (or 2) dedicated staff persons in a single location. This location may be within a currently existing office, and should have a strong relationship to A&R, or be within A&R. The functions should include application processing, SEVIS reporting, advising related to international student support (visa status, home stay, insurance, transfer processing, and other enrollment issues) as well as coordination with, and training for, other offices likely to have a connection with international students, such as ESL, student clubs, academic advising, etc. This office would serve as the primary locus of decisions related to international student enrollment. This office could also provide more focus on the interaction between UNR and TMCC in serving international students. 36 International Student Services Recommendations The Admissions & Records DARS staff is recognized for improving their utilization of the degree audit software and reducing their turnaround time. At the same time the DARS staff is responsible for scanning incoming transcripts. As the institution moves forward with Required Enrollment Steps, TMCC should consider an expansion of DARS utilization to include transcript evaluation prior to a student being admitted or advised. Knowing how that credit is applied towards degree requirements is an essential element in the recruiting and advising process. Ideally, advising functions should rely heavily on timely credential evaluation. It does not appear that TMCC has identified its goals for turnaround time. There appear to be some issues related to productivity of degree audits and graduation processing. Compared to other institutions, TMCC is not generating degree audit reports at the expected volume within given time spans. 37 DARS Observations It is recommended that A&R leadership review the steps in degree audit, such as sending course equivalency questions to the departments and enabling students to process their own degree audits. The review should examine benchmark standards for the number of evaluations ideally produced vis-a-vis staffing levels, and in accord with turnaround goals. 38 DARS Recommendations Thank you! Christine Kerlin Alicia Moore consulting.aacrao.org