Henry Brown, Committee Chair, called meeting to order at 1:05 P.M. on Sunday, October 12, 2003.

Welcome and Introductions

Attendance: Gregory Ardrey, Lindsay Bagnall,Henry Brown, Harvest Collier,Mark Crawford, Arlan DeKock, Connie Eggert, Kandy Elder, Lawrence George, Jay Goff, Floyd Harris, Maria Holmes, Wayne Huebner, Christian Lee, Paula Lutz, Gregory McClain, Alexandria Merritt, Robert Mitchell, Dee Hammerlie Montgomery, Robert Morrison, james Murphy, Omoghene Obahor, Y.T. Shah, Randy Shed,Gregory Skannal, Gary Thomas, and Randy Tucker.

There was a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on February 15, 2003. There was a second and the motion passed.

Subcommittee Reports

NSBE/PCI - This report was given by Christian Lee.

• Lee spoke about the results of the successful Pre College Initiative (PCI) weekend event and thanked the committee for their help and financial support.
• Lee reported that 5 of the 48 PCI students are now freshman at UMR.
• Lee stated that funds were still needed for upcoming PCI events.
• Greg McClain stated that John Deere would provide financial support for PCI in 2004.
• Lawrence George expressed concerns about students driving to Kansas City to pick up PCI students and the need for more interaction with committee member Margaret Stockdale of KC.
• Alex Merritt reported that St. Louis will be hosting the Fall Regional Conference for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and encouraged committee members to attend.

Committee Reappointments

Lawrence George noted that several terms would end this year and requested feedback from the committee regarding potential candidates. A list of nominees that are predominantly engineering alumni was provided. George indicated nominees from the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Business Management and Information Systems are desired.

Status of the Campus

Chancellor Gary Thomas discussed the impact of Missouri's budget shortfall on UMR. State Appropriations and tuition will be the major sources of income. We need to focus on Enrollment and Need Based Aid. Enrollment has increased by 4.2% over Fall 2002. As far as retention, we would like our graduation target to be about 70%; it is currently at about 65%. Private giving is helping UMR reach it's goals. We are in the process of establishing a Missouri Transportation Institute. This will be the focal point of all research conducted by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Our student design teams are a great recruiting resource. There was a discussion about promoting all of our teams online.

The Civil Engineering building has undergone major renovations. The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering building will undergo major renovations. The Havener Student Center and the Residential College should be finished by August 2004. There will be a main entrance constructed that will go to the campus from I-44.

Greg McClain thanked Chancellor Thomas for his ongoing efforts and support of the committee.

Recruitment Strategy and Enrollment Goals-This report was presented by Jay Goff.

Goff handed out a packet containing UMR "goodies". He explained how the new Loud and Proud campaign could go hand and hand with old traditions. Joe Miner's character is now a help figure for the Windows tool bar. UMR has an official screen saver that can be downloaded. A CD was passed out to all members that contained current and past African American UMR students explaining why they chose to come to UMR. This could be used as a recruiting resource.

• There were 897 freshmen in this fall class
• 80% were interested in Engineering or a Science major
• 91% wanted to join a student organization
• Total Enrollment equaled about 5500 students
• We need to be positive and honest at all times
• We are trying to get students from all states to attend UMR
• We are the third most expensive school for out of state students
• We need to make sure all students are identifying their ethnic heritage
• On average the minority students have a high graduation rate
• The percentage of women on campus has fallen back
• A new strategic plan has been put into place for November 2003 for a new diversity initiative

-Create two centralized units that will focus on two priorities

1. Minority Enrollment: Develop the Mathematics Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) program; Develop plans for Arts and Sciences and Business Management and Information Systems programs.

2. Women Leadership Institute: Improve women's living environment and learning opportunities and enhance the Women In Science and Engineering program.

• Create a positive overlap between minority and women programs
• There is a New Counselor Support Website for high school counselors to get information about UMR
• There will be no change in scholarship programs.
• UMR is pushing research
• UMR has top placement rates: 96% of the graduates have secured a position in their field or have enrolled in graduate school within 3 months of graduation
• UMR will strive to have a diversified campus and will not change its Affirmative Action policies.
• UM systems decided not to require students to take the writing portion on the ACT
• 26% of our students have a need for financial assistance
• 600,000 will be set aside for needs based loans

-Floyd Harris handed out information regarding UMR's national rankings on minority student graduates.

-Harris asked committee for support if MESA is put into placed.

-The committee stated they would support anything that is in the best interest of the students after it has passed through the correct channels.

Henry Brown, Committee Chair encouraged the committee to take advantage of Blackboard. Mr. George stated that all the materials presented in today's meeting along with the minutes, would remain on blackboard for at least month.

Henry Brown asked committee members take note of their committee assignments.

Mr. Brown requested that the focus of the next meeting be devoted to discussing the "Duel Degree Program".

Dr. DeKock stated that the school of Business Management and Information Systems has 19% of minorities enrolled in its program.

Upcoming Meetings

February 28, 2004

October 17,2004 (Homecoming)

Meeting Adjourned at 3:10 p.m.

Supplemental information is available on the Blackboard, which can be assessed from the CAC AARRC web site.