Loyola University Chicago

Present:
Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. (Chair), Anthony Barbato, Jeff Doering, John Frendreis, Jon Heintzelman, Bill Laird, Wayne Magdziarz, Carol Roup, Kelly Shannon, Lorraine Snyder, and Mary Theis

Absent:
William Cannon, Daniel Flynn, and Ushma Lakhani

Guests:
Dean Isiaah Crawford (College of Arts and Sciences) and Dean David Prasse (School of Education)

1. Father Garanzini opened the meeting at 8:00 a.m.

2. The Committee members approved the minutes from the October 24, 2005 meeting.

3. Isiaah then presented his strategic plan for the College of Arts and Sciences. He noted that CAS was focused on further establishing Loyola’s preeminence in undergraduate education, graduate and doctoral study, and research. The goals to achieve this include implementation and delivery of a new core curriculum; enhancement of strength in science and math education; enhancement of strong departments including the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences; growing the CAS faculty; enhancing the honors program; enhancing interdisciplinary programs and internationalizing curriculum; nurturing the School of Communication, Technology and Public Service; enhancing visual and performing arts in the College; enhancing graduate and doctoral education including moving two doctoral programs into top 50 ranking nationally; and enhancing faculty and student research.

4. In response to a question about the Child and Family Law Center, Isiaah noted that the development of that particular center of excellence was moving ahead steadily; he anticipates having a proposal to share either by the end of this semester or early in the spring semester. Nancy Tuchman, Diane Geraghty and James Garbarino are working on this effort. Isiaah then noted that the Center on Science and Math, which was launched about four years ago, has strong foundation and state funding support. The hope is that Loyola University will become the preferred vendor for Chicago Public Schools in helping teachers with science and math education.

5. Father Garanzini then asked about opportunities to increase student diversity at the Medical Center. Tony said that Loyola has had a preferential track program but that we could be even more effective in communicating these opportunities to our undergraduate population. It’s a national challenge to increase African-American student enrollment in particular, as medical centers are competing for a small population of students. John Frendreis said that he will follow up with Paul Roberts to explore avenues for increased marketing to target groups. Isiaah added that it is critical to build relationships with historically black colleges and offer summer internships etc to prospective students in our programs. Tony agreed, and said that programs like the Lou Sullivan Scholars Program could be further enhanced to do just that.

6. In response to a question about the Mulcahy Scholars program that the College runs, Isiaah noted that the program is fully endowed and is supporting 40 scholars this year. Jon Heintzelman suggested that perhaps we should consider developing a brochure, either specifically for these scholars or for student financial assistance more broadly, to share with donors. Father Garanzini agreed that this would be an effective tool, and encouraged Isiaah to determine specific goals for the Mulcahy Scholars program in the future, including what financial resources would be needed to support an expanded program.

7. Father Garanzini noted that with all the work being done at Loyola in the health sciences, we likely have the makings of a public health institute. He suggested that we explore ways to keep our students who are studying biology or chemistry here for graduate school, and encouraged closer collaboration between the College and the Medical Center to explore opportunities in allied health. With Nursing out at the Medical Center, there might be some natural internal synergies in health education that could enhance our national prominence in this area.

8. David then presented his strategic plan for the School of Education. He noted that the current enrollment structure with 200 undergraduate students and 1,400 graduate students needs to be flipped in order to become more competitive, and that this need is driving much of the School’s strategic thinking. A variety of new state-approved programs have recently come online, which will hopefully help broaden the School’s undergraduate base. The School has had good success in bringing in external funding for its programs, and it is currently conducting an academic program review.

9. In response to a question about the School’s enrollment, David noted that the undergraduate population of 200 students is double what it was when he arrived at Loyola in 1999. He said that hiring the right faculty to match the School’s programs is a critical effort in the near term. In response to a question Carol had about the CCLT program which educated people about teaching in the community college/smaller university system, David said that the program has been discontinued for now although there are conversations underway about re-starting it.

10. Kelly asked about the School’s placement rate, and David noted that it is consistently in the high nineties. Mary asked about online teacher certification courses, and David said that although the School offers some such courses, research shows that the retention rate of teachers who learn online plummets after they’ve spent a few weeks or months in a classroom.

11. The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m. The next meeting will be held in February 2006.