The Ithaca College Student Governance Council met Oct. 30 with Melanie Stein, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, to discuss the summer academic onboarding process. 

Sophomore Paris Agiomavritis, who is the new assistant for sophomore Caleb Cackowski, vice president of communications, was confirmed to the Board of Appropriations.

Summer onboarding is the process by which the college facilitates students arriving on campus. Academically, it is the process of registering new students for classes. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the college had new students come to campus in the summer to meet with advisers and get help putting together their schedules. However, the college stopped that program as it was not accessible. 

In summer 2022, the Center for Student Success and Retention created a pilot program in which 170 incoming exploratory students had their schedules built for them. Stein said they received feedback and many students and families outside of the pilot program had negative and stressful experiences registering for classes. 

Stein said the college’s goal for summer 2023 was to eliminate the stress and complaints experienced in 2022 and set students up for academic success. During summer 2023, an academic interest survey was sent out to all incoming students to help the college understand students’ interests in classes outside of their major, specifically determining students’ Ithaca College Seminar. 

“The point of it was the staff that were going to be helping register students or put together their initial schedule wanted more information than just what’s your major,” Stein said. “We wanted guidance from the students themselves as to what they wanted to take.”

Stein said the college also focused on a consistent plan for messaging students by having different offices work together more. She said the college wanted to decrease confusion among students about the different offices sending them information by having a consistent messaging strategy. Stein said there was also a push to increase collaboration among the different schools. 

“We made a commitment to coordinating all of the five schools together, understanding that it’s not something that any one school does alone because even if a student is majoring in a particular school, they’re going to be taking classes outside of that school,” Stein said. “We took the approach that the students are all our students and we’re going to work collaboratively to make sure they’re all … served as best as we can.”

Stein said the college was very pleased with the number of responses to the Academic Interest Survey. By the June 15 deadline, Stein said 85% of first-years had submitted the survey; that number increased to 97% by Aug. 1. Additionally, Stein said a large number of students took the math placement exam. 

Though there is no official way to measure the stress and anxiety of students and families when it comes to registration over the summer, Stein said that based on less calls over the summer from students and families, there seemed to be a reduction of stress and anxiety. Stein also highlighted that 91% of students stayed in the Ithaca College Seminar they were first registered in. 

Stein said there are still adjustments that need to be made for next summer. She said the college will go in and adjust questions in the Academic Interest Survey based on previous student responses, as well as adding questions if needed. Stein also said the college needs to do a better job of communicating with faculty about onboarding changes and information. 

Sophomore Rishabh Sen, vice president of campus affairs, as well as multiple senators and e-board members, said they think the college should make it clear to students that the schedule they receive over the summer is not final. Stein agreed that the college needs to do a better job messaging that statement to students. 

“The way to think about it is, ‘These are our suggestions for you, this is the schedule that we’ve given you and you’re in the classes,’” Stein said, “So if you’re happy with this, you just keep it, and if you want to change something, here’s how you change it.”

Molly Hankinson, Class of 2024 senator, recommended that there be an introduction to Homer Connect for students and parents as well as a way for students to see possible class options and 4-year plans. 

“There’s a little bulletin board in [the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance] that has a checklist for if you’re going into speech-language pathology,” Hankinson said. “It recommends you take these classes and then you can choose your writing intensive and recommends when you should be taking your electives. I’m wondering if those are available for other majors or other schools?”

Stein said that when it comes to giving students a way to see four-year plans, each department has a different way of advising and getting students that information. Stein said her office and the Center for Faculty Excellence are working together to provide better advising tools for faculty.

Sophomore Nikki Sutera, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance senator, asked about the college’s goals for the future regarding academic success.

Stein said that moving CSSR to 106 Muller Faculty Center has been a big project. She said the college purposefully moved the center to a high student-traffic area so students could get more support. 

Stein said one of the things they want to improve is the retention rate, which for students entering their third semester is at 83%. Stein said the college thinks it should be closer to 90%.

She also said the graduation rate is around 75%, which is much lower than the college would like. 

Following the presentation from Stein, sophomore Senate Chair Eleanor Paterson went over decorum reminders. Paterson said SGC members are not allowed to exceed five total absences per semester and three unexcused absences per semester. Paterson said if members begin to reach that margin, the senator would have a meeting with Paterson and Carli McConnell, president of the student body, about their behavior. Paterson said members are subject to immediate dismissal if they reach three unexcused abscesses. Paterson said if members need to miss a meeting, they should contact her 24 hours in advance and it will be marked as excused.  

Paterson also reminded the SGC that they must refrain from using personal devices during the meetings and must give their complete undivided attention to guest speakers and SGC members. 

“We really just want to make these guest speakers feel that they are appreciated for being here because these are outside their working hours,” Paterson said. “They don’t need to be here and they didn’t need to say yes, but it adds so much more meaning when they do come. And so we want to make sure that we’re very respectful.”

The SGC is the sole representative body for the Ithaca College student community. The SGC can be contacted at [email protected].