1. Opening Remarks
President Dudley-Eshbach introduced Mr. Nelson Townsend, Director SSU/UMES Collaborative Programs, as the newest member of the President's Advisory Team.

As faculty and staff have not always been made aware of the outcomes of the PAT meetings, a member of the President's Office staff will now record the minutes and e-mail them to the campus community. President Dudley-Eshbach also encourages supervisors to hold staff meetings on a regular basis to keep their constituents informed.

2. Planning Day - January
After much discussion on the merits of having a Planning Day in January, it was suggested that for most faculty, January is not a good month, although for non-teaching staff, this is one of the few opportunities to meet with other staff. Members of PAT agreed to take the question back to their individual departments to get a sense of whether or not employees would find a planning session in January to be helpful.

3. Logos and Mottos
Gains Hawkins shared with the group some suggested logos for Salisbury University. In conjunction with the proposed name change that will be presented to the Maryland Legislature during the 2001 session, the Publications and Admissions departments are concentrating on associated marketing efforts. Gains Hawkins and Jane Dané are working with their people to come up with a tag line (such as used by UMBC - "The Honors University") to better indicate who we are and where we are going.

Once decided upon, the tag line will need to be something we can live with for a long while. The tag line needs to make a bold statement and have a relationship to our identity. PAT members agreed that the campus community should be involved in a brainstorming session. Another suggestion was to involve students from the Perdue School marketing classes. President Dudley-Eshbach expressed concern that this process should not take too long.

Page Two
PAT minutes
November 28, 2000

The following statistics were shared by Bryan Price. SSU has the lowest number of Pell grants with a rate of $430 per full-time undergraduate. Comparably, Towson's rate is $527, FSU is $686, and other USM institutions are even higher.

SSU's loan rate is $3754 per full-time undergraduate; Towson's is $3240 and FSU's is $2993. Only UMES has a higher loan rate (excluding UMB and UB) at $3826.

In terms of scholarships offered, SSU has the lowest average at $811 per full-time undergraduate. In comparasion, Towson's is $1288, FSU's is $921, and UMCP's is $1502.

Currently, our students come from homes with above average incomes which disqualifies them for financial aid other than loans. Because the majority of our students can finance their education with the help of loans, SSU may not qualify for such programs as the Trio Program, which would help in attracting more minority students.

Financial aid is just one part of the picture in achieving diversity at SSU. There is also a need to hire more minority faculty and to change the climate at SSU to a more welcoming one for a diverse population.

Jane Dané also submitted a proposed budget needed to implement initiatives relating to the recruitment of minority students. Some of these initiatives would be handled solely by the Admissions Office, others require University-wide participation.

President Dudley-Eshbach stated she would like to see a spread sheet showing the cost for Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, and Year 4. Also, she will check with our legal counsel to clarify legalities of offering need-based/minority scholarships.

SSU also needs to foster closer ties to the Salisbury African-American community. It was suggested that many African-American students do not choose SSU because they do not feel welcome here.

Recorder: Jean Herrmann

Members of the President's Advisory Team
Linda Abresch, President, Staff Senate
Beth Barnett, Dean, Seidel School of Education
Rich Bebee, Dean, Perdue School of Business
Leon Burks, Special Assistant to the President/EEO Officer
Mike Burton, Chair, University Forum
Don Cathcart, Interim Provost
Elizabeth Curtin, President, Faculty Senate
Jane Dané, Dean, Enrollment Management
Ron Dotterer, Dean, Fulton School of Liberal Studies
Janet Dudley-Eshbach, President
Judith Fischer, Acting Dean, Library
Gains Hawkins, Assistant Vice President, Advancement/and Director of Public Relations
Tom Jones, Dean, Henson School of Science
Christine Pelletier, President, SGA
Bryan Price, Director, Assessment and Institutional Research
Richard Pusey, Vice President, Business Administration and Finance
Nelson Townsend, Director Collaborative Programs UMES/SSU
Jerry Waldron, Chief Information Officer
Marty Williams, Vice President, Institutional Advancement
Carol Williamson, Vice President, Student Affairs
Ellen Zinner , Assistant to the President

I. Initiative to attract a more diverse student population to SSU:

The Initiative:

• Immediately implement the "Partnership for Success" Program which involves collaboration with high school and community college programs that identify prospective students with diverse experiences or who may need additional guidance and support during the college search, admission and enrollment processes;
• Reactivate and consider expanding partnership programs with Prince George's County High schools;
• Enhance the University's visibility in high schools and urban areas with high minority population through visitations by SSU Admissions staff and SSU faculty;
• Enhance visitation programs that bring prospective students with diverse backgrounds to the SSU campus;
• Send SSU representatives to college fairs, etc., that target diverse student populations;
• Create nomination form that faculty, staff can use to nominate students with special talents and abilities, including ability to contribute to cultural diversity;
• Involve SSU faculty and students in making contact with student prospects.
• Enhance mail out-reach efforts and increase mail audience by purchasing names of High School senior minority prospects who take SAT prior to senior year.

  Mechanism for implementation:

  • Reactivate the faculty "liaison" program unanimously approved 3 years ago by the University Forum [Faculty liaisons from every academic department serve as conduits for and coordinators of departmental collaboration with the Office of Admissions; liaisons recruit faculty volunteers to contact prospective minority students, make high school visits, teaching "mock classes," and serve as mentors in partnership programs.]
  • Enhance collaboration between the Office of Multiethnic Student Services and Admissions Office to facilitate involving SSU minority students and SSU minority alumni in recruitment efforts, and to develop newsletter that targets prospective minority students.
  
  

  II. Initiative to increase financial aid available to minority students.

  The Initiative:

  • Make SSU competitive with other institutions in recruiting a more diverse student population by increasing the scholarship funds available for this purpose.

  Mechanism for implementation:

  • Commit $45,000 in scholarship funding for the "Partnership for Success" program for next year, and add $40,000 each of the next three years [$165,000 total];
  • Direct the Office of Development and the Grants Office to make increase in scholarship aid to enhance diversity one of their highest priorities.
   

  III. Initiative to enhance retention of minority students.

  The Initiative:

  • Enhance current "transition" programs to help minority students become acclimated to college life at a predominately white institution;
  • Enhance retention programs designed to help minority students succeed and flourish.

  Mechanism for implementation:

  • Enhance collaboration among the Office of Multiethnic Student Services, the Academic Advising Coordinators, the Academic Success Program, and Departmental Liaisons. [Ask Vaughn White, Director of Multiethnic Student Services and MaryLane McGlinchey to spearhead this effort.]
  • Create Book Rack stipend for SSU minority students serving as mentor to freshmen.
   

  IV. Insure sustained and coordinated effort to achieve diversity in admissions and to address all diversity-related issues.

  The Initiative:

  • Coordinate, monitor and assess initiatives described above;
  • Explore other possible initiatives for enhancing diversity in admissions;
  • Enhance University-wide efforts to create a campus community that welcomes and celebrates diversity;
  • Heighten awareness of diversity issues within the University community;
  • Improve communication among those working to address diversity issues.
  
  

  Mechanism for Implementation:

  • Create a "Steering Committee" or "Task Force" on Diversity and charge it to undertake these tasks. ["Steering Committee for Diversity" should be composed of the principle collaborators, i.e., the Provost, the Dean of Enrollment Management, Vice-President for Development, the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Director of Multiethnic Services, and representatives from the Committee on Admissions, the Committee for Multi-Ethnic Concerns, and the Academic Advising Coordinators].
  • Create the full-time position of "Coordinator of Diversity Initiatives" to facilitate sustained, systemic and collaborative action on diversity initiatives.