President’s Leadership Team Report January 27, 2021

Feb 05
KANE

PLT reviewed the following information items:

Enrollment Management

Again this week, PLT focused attention on the critical issue of growing Spring enrollment. Each PLT member shared activities from their areas. Providing equitable opportunity to excellence in learning is a high priority for the College.

Here is the current status of enrollment for Spring 2021:

  • With 18 days before the start of the Spring term the College currently exceeds 80% of target
  • Academic deans and department chairs are consolidating low-enrolled sections and adding sections in high demand areas
  • One hopeful indication is the small gap (approximately 7%) in the fill rate of sections between Spring 2020 and Spring 2021 at the same point in time.

Here are the marketing efforts occuring this week:

  • The College PAO and others in Business Service are grateful to academic deans, department chairs, counselors, and other faculty who have provided detailed information about classes to promote and other gaps to fill.
  • Marketing efforts for Spring recruitment include:
     - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter Advertisements
     - Direct Mail to 30,000 prospective students
     - Radio Advertisements on local stations: 96.7, 99.1, 99.9, 103.9, 104.7, and Pandora
     - Full-page Advertisements in the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce newspaper
     - Digital Displays (billboards) throughout Riverside
     - Enrollment Services - Calling Tigers
     - Multiple micro-targeted text and email campainsn through Admissions and Records
  • Faculty who would like support in recruiting for low-enrolled classes are encouraged to email Vice President Chip West.

Spring Professional Development Day FLEX

Spring FLEX will be hosted on Friday, February 5th. PLT reviewed and was excited by the agenda. The Professional Development Day kicks off with an inspiring guest speaker, Dr Victor Rios, professor of Sociology at UCSB. His talk, “Equity in Practice, One Student at a Time: Emotional Support in the Lives of Marginalized Students” will frame afternoon sessions centered on equity and student support and also catapult us into a series of faculty development opportunities throughout the term.

PLT considered the following policy items:

Budget: CARES Act and HEERF

PLT reviewed recent budget information from the State Chancellor’s office and current balances of CARES Act II/III funds. PLT also discussed potential strategic initiatives related to the recent Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) to RCC which totals more than $24M ($5.4 million for direct student aid). Additional conversations will take place with all constituency groups to make sure that the college is capturing all COVID related expenses going forward. More information on these institution-wide efforts will be shared as details are finalized over the coming weeks.

Grants

  • STEM - Chemistry Scholarships grant was awarded in the amount of almost $1M. Congratulations STEM!
  • Moving forward with: NSF/HSI - focused on Institutional Change - due 2/10 - Ginger White is lead
  • California Arts Council for Justice Involved Youth within the Arts - due 2/11 - leads Brian King and Chance Dean
  • Talent Search - due 2/26 - Jose Diaz lead
  • District-wide NSF Computer Science grant - due 2/11 - District lead
  • Educational Opportunity Centers - TRiO - focus on Financial Literacy, Applications, etc. due first part of March - lead Cecilia Lusk

Updates:

  • DOD on Planetarium equipment pending
  • Grants Office is putting together a plan to streamline reporting and to increase efficiency. This plan will be submitted through normal protocols for approval with an annual assessment schedule to be included.

PLT took action on the following items:

Distribution Request: DRC

PLT approved the proposal presented by the DRC team to host a drive-through distribution on campus Wednesday, February 17th, noon to 2pm or Thursday, February 18th, noon to 2pm to distribute needed equipment and technology to students.

Strategic Planning Report Card

The Strategic Planning Report Card is typically developed in February and taken through existing participatory governance protocols. The Chancellor has asked for each college to report on their Strategic Plan assessment, and include what worked well and what didn’t work well in relation to the COVID environment. Institutional Effectiveness prepared this report card at the request of the Chancellor. This report card will be reviewed and expanded upon at the Strategic Planning retreat scheduled for February 8th.

Campus Access Request: Theatre

PLT reviewed and approved a proposal from Professor Jodi Julian on behalf of Musical Theatre International to host an outdoor production of the Broadway Musical SHREK. Performances will be held on June 3-4 in Parking Lot C. Early planning is underway and has the full support of PLT.

Meeting of the Managers

The next Meeting of the Managers is scheduled for February 3. PLT reviewed and approved the agenda which contains topics such as: Welcome of new managers, Enrollment Management search committee construction and composition, Etrieve training, RCC social media, CARES funding, basic needs support (Homeless and Housing Insecure Pilot (HHIP), Program and Feeding Hungry Tigers, and ongoing safereturn to campus.