MELA Meeting Minutes 2003 - 2017

i. Tish Stewart expressed a concern about students being added to classes after the add/drop period. DLCs are reminded that the MSVCC add/drop period is two days only. Any other schedule changes after those two days should be discussed with all DLCs involved PRIOR to changes being made. Ms. Wamsley reminded members to abide by the dates set on the published MSVCC calendar. Ms. Wamsley also reminded members to continue to communicate specific problems or concerns with individual DLCs as they arise. b. Method for Determining No Shows i. Andrea Scott inquired about the methods that other colleges use to determine no shows. A general discussion about different methods. Itawamba Community College has an orientation module in every course along with a quiz that is used in part to c. Centralized Withdrawal Form i. Ms. Wamsley asked members what their thoughts are about using a centralized form for requesting withdrawals. EMCC and MDCC both require students to pay a fee before obtaining a withdrawal fee., so a centralized method would probably not work. Jennifer Leimer asked which schools require payment for withdrawing. Three schools require payment ranging from $5 to $25 per withdrawal. A general discussion about the withdrawal procedures at NEMCC and Hinds ensued. Jennifer Leimer asked how LDAs should be reported for students from those schools. Jenniffer Wamsley stated that true LDAs should be reported. Dr. McCrimon reminded members to contact DLCs to obtain LDAs, not instructors. All communications between colleges should go through from DLC to DLC. Dr. Day discussed the new policies at Hinds and NEMCC regarding withdrawals. Dr. Day stated that SBCJC looks at two items during the audit: that students are admitted properly to the institution and that attendance has been properly recorded. Dr. Day reminded members that the e-audit cut-off date is one third of the way into the semester and that SBCJC provides the exact date used each semester. If a college has a policy that prevents students from withdrawing until some date after the e-audit cut-off date, that is acceptable. However, the true LDA must be listed for students if they stop attending before the e-audit cut-off date. Dr. Day recommended very strongly that very good documentation be kept regarding withdrawals and LDAs. d. MSVCC Late Book Postings i. Late book postings are causing problems for students. It would be better to have NO book listed rather than one that is incorrect. Please encourage instructors to correctly list books in a timely manner. e. Overview of SACS Visit and Helpful Tips for Preparing for Your SACS Review i. Tish Stewart provided a handout that described the process that Holmes went through during their SACS visit. The primary focuses of the team that visited Holmes were retention rates and student learning resources. While Holmes had a very detailed examination by SACS for distance learning, other colleges reported that they did not. It was recommended that members who are facing an upcoming accreditation visit provide very good documentation about policies and procedures. Ms. Kimble will revisit the SACS discussion at the DLC meeting. determine attendance. Members agreed that this would be a good method for determining no-shows, but every college and every instructor may use a different method.

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