June 29, 2020 Special Edition
Academic Affairs Updates
Submitted by Dr. Trevor M. Bates, DHSc, AT, ATC
As a Catholic institution of higher education, we have a responsibility to pray for the courage to create healing in our country that specifically includes a collective awareness and acceptance of the truth of our history that helps to develop a collaborative spirit leading to actions that enhance inclusivity and equity for all without exceptions. It is improbable to chart a path forward together without a share understanding of how we each got here and what we are each going through. Mike Michalowicz (2012), author of The Pumpkin Plan discussed progress in a way that extends to all forms of growth and learning with the simple statement, “what got you here, won’t get you there”.
Faculty Facts - Did you Know?
- Faculty teaching materials include lecturers, assignments, images, interactive activities/discussions, and other tools to teach our healthcare and science students about diversity, inclusion, and equity. Our goal is to continue to work with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to continually prepare students to “..lead and to serve in the global society.”
- Teaching Faculty continue to:
- Discuss and build new creative teaching and learning resources during the summer in preparation for the Fall.
- volunteer to virtually participate in searches throughout the summer, providing strong engagement with candidates.
- Academic Search Committees
- Ongoing searches are occurring for positions in Academic Administration, Nursing, English, Mathematics, and Physician Assistant Studies.
- Thank you and please continue to participate as requested in virtual search processes.
- Ongoing searches are occurring for positions in Academic Administration, Nursing, English, Mathematics, and Physician Assistant Studies.
- Process / Document / Contract Review
- Office of Student Records will soon be releasing a new process introducing online transcript requests for students and alumni.
- Collaborated with Student Affairs and Enrollment to vet a product, ALEKS that will assist under-skilled students to prepare for College Math.
- Currently, the Catalog review process is moving forward and will move forward to Executive Staff in early July.
- New Catalog software called Watermark® will be used to manage updating undergraduate and graduate catalogs moving forward.
- Monitoring progress on adding a proctoring service, ProctorU®, that will allow faculty a secure method to assign/complete remote testing in their courses. The goal is to have this in place for Fall 2020.
- Working with Compliance to develop a Leave Policy for students.
- Program Handbooks and Faculty and Staff Handbook will undergo an administrative review only for 2019-2020.
- Assessment & Accreditation
- The College received final approval from the Higher Learning Commission to offer an RN to MSN program with tracks in Nursing Leadership and Nursing Education.
- A required annual report for the Master of Health Administration program will be submitted by June 30, 2020.
- A virtual site visit for the developing Master of Physician Studies Program with ARC-PA occurred on June 8-9, 2020,
- The next step is for the MPAS team to respond to observations noted during the site visit in July.
- A proposal was sent in May to the Higher Learning Commission and Ohio Department of Higher Education for the College to transition from a 16-week to a 15-week academic calendar in 2021-2022.
- Faculty Assembly
- Faculty Assembly will be holding its first-ever summer meeting in July 2020 to discuss details related to preparing for Fall courses including courses, laboratory, skills labs, clinicals, professional development, and teaching resources.
- The Graduate Studies Committee approved
- Two procedures for undergraduate students to take graduate courses called the MHA and MSN Fast Tracks.
- Academic Administration:
- Working with IT to enhance access to technologies that will help to improve processes for students, faculty, and staff.
- Working to develop a very detailed plan for Fall courses that will be presented to senior leadership on July 6, 2020.
- Process is led by Program Directors and Deans with significant input from faculty.
- Working with BSMH Human Resources to develop collaborative hiring and onboarding processes.
- The College Library Director has:
- enhanced the Library website and services for faculty, staff, and student use, take a look - https://mercycollege.libguides.com/home.
- worked with Mercy Health Grant writers to submit a grant for potential CARES Act funding specifically for College Libraries.
- A New Academic Program Proposal Process is being vetted / developed over summer months to be implemented in a future term.
- The Academic Program Review process is in year three and is currently underway being led by Program Directors and Deans.
- Steps will continue to be taken to evaluate mechanisms to strengthen academic program offerings.
- Engaging in discussion regarding enhancing our General Education Philosophy through future curricular changes for all future students.
- Contributing to the development of a Strategic Enrollment Plan for the College as co-chair (VPAA) and member (HCA Program Director) of the Strategic Enrollment Committee
- Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation – is a collaborative effort with Faculty Development, Distance Education, and Library Services within academic affairs.
- A Needs Assessment will be developed and distributed to Faculty in Fall 2020.
Please direct any questions or comments about this sampling of Academic Affairs updates to Dr. Bates at trevor.bates@mercycollege.edu.
Blessings,
Dr. Trevor M. Bates, DHSc, AT, ATC
Vice President of Academic Affairs/Dean of Faculty
Be Well Within Health Screenings
Submitted by Leslie Erwin
Be Well Within screenings will be held on campus in the McAuley Room on the following dates:
- 8/11
- 8/14
- 9/11
Please watch additional announcements for times and sign up information!
Mercy Health Updates
Submitted by Angie Nowak
Early Career Opportunities for Students
Mercy Health is hiring students with a medical background as temperature screener(s) and safety monitor(s). This position provides COV19 screening to everyone that enters the healthcare facility each day. Associates in this position will ask screening questions, record responses, take temperatures, and provide additional instructions to the patient and/or associate per current COV19 safety and procedure guidelines. This position gives students the opportunity to kick-start their healthcare career in the industry while gaining hands-on experience with patients and networking with nurses, doctors and other staff. Interested students can apply online at careers.mercy.com, keyword search R040425.
Nursing Career Timeline/Progression for Students
Mercy Health Talent Acquisition & Nursing Leadership have partnered together to provide nursing students with career opportunities at any level of their education. Whether you are first semester freshman or ready to graduate, there is a job for you at Mercy Health. Start a career where you can make a difference!
What's Going on in Student Affairs
Submitted by Marc S. Adkins, M.Ed.
-The effort to address social and racial injustice is on-going. This can be a challenging and difficult time for many, so for students, faculty and staff who are in need of support, resources are available. Please see below.
Counseling and Wellness - contact Suzanne Hall at (419) 251-1454 or suzanne.hall1@mercycollege.edu. In Youngstown, contact Ann Bair at (330) 480-2874 or ann.bair@mercycollege.edu. Also, please access the Counseling & Wellness webpage (https://mercycollege.edu/student-affairs/student-success/counseling-wellness) or the Student Success folder on Canvas.
Campus Ministry and Pastoral Care - contact Annie Devine at (419) 251-1866, annie.devine@mercycollege.edu, or https://mercycollege.edu/student-affairs/campus-ministry.
Life Matters – (Faculty & Staff) - Employees can call 877-692-7780 or text “Hello” to 61295. Additional information for Life Matters can be found on the Mercy Health Hub.
-Safety & Security
As President Wajert stated in a recent e-mail message, staff will be returning to campus starting Monday, August 3rd. The return to campus will be a slow, controlled, phased approach and will involve separate rotation staffing plans from Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. With all labs being delivered on campus for the fall semester, faculty will be finalizing their plans on Friday, July 3rd.
Many of the safety measures being utilized at the college this summer will remain and be extended to other parts of campus. All safety measures implemented at the college has, and will, follow the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (AICUO) and State of Ohio Governor’s office guidelines for higher education.
-Student Life
Congratulations to the Hoffman Ambassadors, Leaders Scholars & SGA representatives for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Hoffman Ambassadors Leaders Scholars Student Government Association
Iesha Bass – ASN Jennifer Garcia – BSN Kelsey Sullivan – President
Jennifer Chesser – BSN Steffany Grine – RAD Matt Norris – Vice President
Audra Figueroa – ASN (Youngstown) Erica Joseph – ASN (PM & Weekend) Dania Alvarado – Director of Communications
Larissa Huffman – Healthcare Adm.
Bernadette McRae-Elliott – ASN (Youngstown)
Planning for the Student Leader Retreat and Week of Welcome continue, with this year’s events delivered in a virtual format.
If you, or students you are aware, have food insecurity issues, please contact Annie Devine at foodpantry@mercycollege.edu or https://mercycollege.edu/student-affairs/mercy-college-food-pantry. Food pantry inquires can also be found in the Campus Life folder on Canvas.
Due to the COVID-19 situation and the revised fall schedule, it has been decided that the Day of Service will be postponed until 2021.
-Diversity & Inclusion
The search process for a candidate continues, as the two candidates will be completing on-campus interviews with the Student Affairs staff the week of June 29th. It is anticipated an offer will be made by Monday, July 6th, with an anticipated start date for August.
-Student Success Center
A reminder that with summer classes please do not hesitate to direct your students to available resources. Academic support resources, such as tutoring in Nursing or other related disciplines (Sciences, Math & Writing) are available by contacting the Student Success Center at (419) 251-1734, studentsuccesscenter@mercycollege.edu, or accessing the webpage (https://mercycollege.edu/student-affairs/student-success).
In Youngstown, you can contact Somia Abou-Osman at (330) 480-3145 or somia.abou-osman@mercycollege.edu.
Students have access to Smarthinking, the FREE, 24/7 online tutoring software that is available through Canvas. Also, on Canvas you will find the Student Success folder that houses resources as well as other helpful materials.
Enrollment Update
Submitted by Lori Edgeworth
As of Sunday, June 28 enrollment for the fall semester is 1027 students enrolled for a total of 9199.5 credit hours. The credit hour goal for the fall semester is 12,811. The target number of new students for the fall is 559. The new student goal for summer and fall was 620 students and 61 new students enrolled for the summer. The number of new students enrolled to date is 179. At this time, we have approximately 214 current students that are eligible to register for the Fall semester. Kristen Porter and the advisors are working to get these students enrolled. When comparing both current and new student enrollment to last year at this time, we are flat. It is the goal that this fall enrollment will remain flat or increase, definitely not decrease. 😊
The Admission team is busy contacting prospective and applied students to move their applications through the enrollment funnel. They are contacting students through telephone calls, Zoom calls, emails, and text messages. Last Wednesday, June 24 Online Information sessions were held with approximately 25 students attending and Healthcare Worker Wednesday (a Virtual Open House using Zoom) had approximately 17 students attend. Healthcare Worker Wednesday events will continue through July and into August. Prospective students continue to apply for admission and those applications are being processed as quickly as possible. Enrollment is working all angles to meet our enrollment goals for the Fall.
Financial Aid is busy processing financial aid packages and notifying students of their aid for the Fall semester.
Marketing has completed the filming of the Virtual Tour for the College and that will be on the website very soon. With COVID-19 still very much in our world, meetings with prospective students will continue in the virtual world. Thus the tour will allow students to get a feel for the College and see what labs, classrooms, and services we have to offer as they complete their degree.
The Strategic Enrollment Committee meets every two weeks. The draft Strategic Enrollment Plan for 2020 – 2024 is almost complete and ready for review. The plan is that the Strategic Enrollment Plan will be shared with the College in August.
The Strategic Planning and Budgeting Council met in June and will be meeting again in July. Their focus is on the review of the objectives for each of the four College goals. At the August Faculty Staff Development Day on August 19, by Zoom, the updated Strategic Plan will be vetted with the College to receive your input. It will then be presented to the Board of Trustees for approval at the September Board meeting.
As always, if you have any questions regarding this information or any work that the Enrollment Division is doing, please do not hesitate to reach out to the team. WE are happy to keep you updated.
Have a great week and 4th of July holiday!
Lori
CEO-Gram
Send a message to Dr. Wajert using this link.
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