Agenda and Meeting Notes
Deans Council Meeting Notes – Nov. 19, 2024
- Graduate Recruitment Model – Nick Stevens & Amanda Ostreko
- Process for New Online Programs – Neal Kingston
- Academic Affairs: Program Approval Process and HLC Accreditation – Jen Roberts
Meeting Notes
Graduate Enrollment Management (GEM)
Nick Stevens, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management & Amanda Ostreko, Assistant Vice Provost & Director of Graduate Enrollment Management, discussed the need to improve graduate student recruitment through rapid responses, personalized communication, and coordinated handoffs between recruitment and departments during graduate student recruitment lifecycle phases. Academic units have very different staffing levels in the graduate support functions, so a one-size-fits-all model may not work across campus; however, there is room to build a more consistent model that aligns with the Crimson and Blue Student Service Models.
Ostreko shared stakeholder feedback gathered in spring 2024, which revealed challenges with recruitment and managing enrollment, including staffing disparities across units, siloed operations, a lack of formalized enrollment targets aligned with program goals resources, and differences in student priorities and recruitment strategies across degree types. The deans and provost also discussed the broad applicability of “graduate programs” and the fact that there are unique differences between professional master’s and research master’s, as well as online master’s, doctorates, etc.
The Provost requested a few deans volunteer for a working group that will develop a pilot program before scaling up a campus-wide recruitment and enrollment management plan.
Online Degree Programs
Neal Kingston, Vice Provost for Jayhawk Global and Competency Based Education, updated the deans on preliminary plans for a new process to bring programs online. The process is still under development and focuses on creating transparent, streamlined steps for new programs from inception to approval to implementation to delivery. Kingston reported that the first round of feedback included a couple of associate deans, but a second round of feedback would follow and representatives from academic units were requested to ensure their respective units are involved in this development phase so their concerns can be addressed. Comments about draft #1 of the new process should be sent to Emily Zentner or Jessica Patzke by December 11, if possible.
Academic Affairs Updates
Academic Program Approval
Jen Roberts, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies, reminded deans of the importance of meeting the February 3 University Catalog deadline to avoid a delay in launching new programs. Programs cannot be marketed for Fall 2025 if they are not in the catalog. Around 50 program proposals are in process, twice the typical amount, with some programs unlikely to get through before the deadline. These programs include minors, degrees, concentrations and certificates.
Roberts discussed the need for programs to have learning outcomes detailed before sending the proposal to the Academic Program Coordinating Committee (APCC) to help ensure a timely approval process. Inconsistent processes across units make it difficult to understand what program proposals are coming and where they are in the process. Units are encouraged to streamline internal workflows and to articulate learning outcomes early to avoid delays.
Federal Compliance Report for HLC Accreditation
Roberts reminded deans that feedback, specifically errors of fact, for KU’s Assurance Argument is needed by December 1. Roberts also noted that through an audit of a sample of syllabi, it was found that roughly half of all syllabi were not in compliance. She noted compliance can easily be achieved by creating syllabi in Simple Syllabus and including a link to KU’s student resources (https://academicsuccess.ku.edu/student-resources).
Deans are encouraged to communicate with faculty about uploading all syllabi to the repository before February 3, 2025.Meeting Notes