Faculty Council Minutes 5-8-01

Announcements:

1.      Additional faculty volunteers to read the two books on ethics and study habits are especially welcome from the Science and Math Departments.  There will be a meeting on May 29^th to discuss the material.

2.      Watch your email for details concerning the upcoming faculty/staff softball game.

3.      Thanks to all of you for supporting the Research Symposium.

4.      Committee assignments are in the process of being made by Leslie Brinson; email her if you have questions or concerns.

Discussion:

Admissions update: Steve reviewed the results of this year’s Discovery Day.  Feedback from participants was very positive.  Using a variety of overheads, Steve informed the faculty about interesting statistics concerning applicant numbers and their racial and congressional district (CD) breakdown.  Observations include the following:

§         The total number of applicants has ebbed and flowed through the years; the highest number of applicants was in 1996.

§         Minority applicants are up significantly this year (due in part to the effort of Latita and others in Admissions).  Last year, 7.6% of finalists were minorities; this year 17%.

§         After NCSSM has fulfilled its CD requirements, top students are taken off of the wait-list regardless of CD.

§         Dr. Boarman reviewed 61 appeals this year, culling out 8 additional finalists and 4 that were added to the wait list.

§         The Jr. Experience Committee asked if the correlation between grades from a student’s home school was considered in their acceptance as low home school grades indicated a future struggle at NCSSM.

§         The Admissions Committee did not include faculty members this year; those who were solicited declined to serve.  The administration is examining ways to secure faculty participation.

§         Next year’s interview process for semi-finalists will be similar to this year’s.  Measurement Incorporated is looking for correlation between student performance on interviews and student performance at NCSSM.  The number of next year’s applicants may dictate which format is used (individual or group).  Some faculty observed that some students may choose an individual interview because they are ESL students and are too intimidated by groups to participate.

§         Dr. Barber shared that 4 African American males who were under advisement to withdraw made significant improvement second semester.

Grade Task Force:

The Grade Task Force has met several times; they shared three possible options with faculty concerning leveling courses and assigning quality points. This effort has been conducted with an eye towards creating an easier-to-read-transcript and student profile, both of which would facilitate NCSSM student acceptance rate at colleges/universities. In order to affect useful change in NCSSM’s system, 92 other high schools’ profiles and transcripts were studied.  Those samples are available through Gail Hudson, if you are interested.  A general sentiment exists that our students are not getting in where they should, and, therefore, the NCSSM community needs to make adjustments.   Upcoming changes in our transcript and profile should also aid in the recruitment process of students to NCSSM.  Additional changes being discussed to help students include mandatory study hours next year.