Greg Skannal, Chaired the meeting the meeting, he called the meeting to order at 1:09 P.M. on Saturday, February 26, 2005. Chairman Skannal welcomed those attending and started self-introductions.

Welcome and Introductions

Attending:

Members: Greg Ardrey, Lister Florence, Steve Howard, Naomi McCall, Greg McClain, Gregory Skannal

Guest: Floyd Harris

Faculty/Staff: Lindsay Bagnall, Mary Bird, Linda Bramel, Chancellor John F. Carney, Arlan DeKock, J.P. Fransaw, Lawrence George, Marcus Huggans, Bob Laudon, Paula Lutz, Jim Murphy, Y.T. Shah, Henry Wiebe

I. 1. The minutes of the February 26, 2005 meeting were approved as distributed.

2. There were no sub-committee reports.

3. Greg McClain reported that the NSBE PCI funding request for $5,500-5,800 was passed to John Deere Corporation on schedule, and he congratulated the students on meeting that deadline. The decision should be made in December, and McClain will notify the MSM-UMR Alumni Association. Richard Words is to become the new UMR contact at Deere. McClain encouraged communication between NSBE and student committee members so that the committee can be properly informed of NSBE activities, and Lawrence George stated he would encourage that communication.

4. Reappointment possibilities were not discussed.

II. Chancellor Carney reported on the status of the campus (Power Point slides available from Linda Bramel).

- Chancellor Carney to meet with Missouri State University president the following Tuesday

- UMR needs to double research productivity to compete

- UMR needs to be in the top 5 technological research institutions

- Asked the committee’s help in changing the mindset of young people to have more interest in engineering and science, suggested Ralph Flori attend the next committee meeting to talk about Project Lead the Way

Greg Skannal stated his expectations for the committee are that they will focus on African American students, and how UMR is doing on reaching goals with regard to African American recruitment and retention, how does the committee deliver, and how are they advised of how they can help? Chancellor Carney commented that in the fall of 2001, African American enrollment was 197, and it is 237 in fall of 2005.

III. Marcus Huggans reported on the campus Student Diversity Programs. In response to his report, Arlan DeKock commented that all business-interested African American prospective students with an ACT of 20 or greater was only 107 available students – indicating that there’s a need for greater interest on the part of African American students in college in general, not just engineering. Greg McClain asked for GPA data broken out by Greeks/non-Greeks, athletes, African American and other underrepresented minorities, for comparison.

IV. Suggestions of potential candidates for the committee were Consuela Johnson (Math) and Richard Words (MIS). Lawrence George noted that Naomi McCall has shown great dedication to the committee by attending every meeting, and asked that those in attendance urge the other committee members to attend. He also commented that sub-committees have not been active and encouraged them to become so.

V. Legislative Recognition Day, a University of Missouri Alumni Alliance event, is scheduled for March 15, 2006 – all are welcome and encouraged to attend to help tell the UMR story to our legislators.

Proposed topics for future meetings were listed on the agenda, and all were invited to send further suggestions to Lawrence George for consideration. Greater interaction between committee members between meetings was encouraged.

Arlan DeKock discussed the business summer camp to be held at UMR for prospective students and asked committee members to help promote it.

Marcus Huggans requested help with Si Se Puede funding and will put together a formal request to the committee.

Greg Skannal commented that he’d like to see how all programs fit within Student Diversty Programs – to have a graphical picture of pre-college programs. Y.T. Shah volunteered to talk to Jay Goff about this.

VI. The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Lindsay Bagnall

Executive Vice President, MSM-UMR Alumni Association