Ripon College Parents' Advisory Committee Meeting

Meeting Highlights and Minutes

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Attending:

Parent Advisory Committee: Daniel and Patricia Carpenter P'09 (President), Todd and Dawn

Henrickson P'11, Frank and Lori Kratky P'11, Susan Larson P'08, Ann Lindberg P'10, Beth Patterson P'11, Cheryl Poole P'10, William and Debra Scholfield P'10, Deborah Sundmacher P'11

College Administration/Staff: David and Lynne Joyce (President), Carol Seeliger (Alumni/Parent Relations), Lyn Corder (Vice President of Advancement), Michele Wittler '76 (Associate Dean of Faculty and Registrar), Amy Gerretsen '04 (Assistant Director of Alumni Relations), Larry Malchow '77 (Director of Development), Chris Ogle '80 (Vice President and Dean of Students), Nancy Hintz '82 (Associate Director of Annual Fund), Memuna Khan (Assistant Professor Biology), Stacy Klegon (Admission Program Coordinator), Christine Anhalt '09 (student)

I.  Campus Updates

A. Introductions

B. Presidential Update with David Joyce

• Attended alumni events in Boston and Baltimore where alumni reported they are proud of Ripon College and how the College has influenced their lives.
• Construction is under way at the Commons.
• Construction of seven new classrooms finished.
• Several faculty searches are ongoing.
• The Ripon College student body growing toward a maximum of 1,100 students.

C. Student Life (Michele Wittler & Chris Ogle)

• Official enrollment report for '07-'08 distributed and discussed.
• Discussed meal service and reasons why some students withdraw from school.

D. Advancement (Lyn Corder)

• Parents invited to Milwaukee alumni event on 2/27/08.
• The new free bike initiative, Velorution, for class of 2012 was discussed.
• Advancement is beginning the process of increasing the endowment by increasing staff and putting staff on the road to meet with alumni, parents and friends.
• Endowment has increased in the last 4 ½ years to help give scholarships to more students.

E. Annual Fund (Nancy Hintz)

• Parent Fund is part of the Annual Fund at Ripon.
• Phonathon supports Annual Fund.
• Parent giving is up from last year.
• Suggestions and criticism about the Annual Fund welcome from the Parent Board.
• Encourage your students to become a part of FORCE (Future of Ripon College Excellence).
• 11% of the operating budget is accounted for by Annual Fund.

F. Admission (Stacy Klegon)

• There are 992 new applications and Admission is on track for its goal of deposited students.  The 2008-2009 transfer numbers are also looking good.
• Scholarships Days was held on campus today (2/23).  Accepted Students Days will be held at the end of March when there will be measurements for bikes.
• New Program: Visits/tours with t-shirt distribution.
• Arts and All that Jazz Fundraiser (8/8/08) will help raise more money for fine arts scholarships.
• David Joyce noted that the street closing in front of the Commons (cost $1.5 million) will work well with the Velorution bike program.

II. Business Meeting

A.  Administration

• Called to order by President Dan Carpenter.
• Fall meeting minutes were approved as written.

B.  Program Review

• Family Weekend was well organized.  Larry asked if parents would be interested in attending long term care session during Family Weekend.
• Broke out into group activity to discuss program ideas.
• Suggestions from group activity included:
  • Summer Orientation -
    • More information is needed about the various food plans.
    • List of phone numbers of offices and medical facilities in Ripon area.  Phone books would be great. 
    • Chamber of Commerce representatives at Orientation would also be a good resource for parents.
  • Family Weekend -
    • Scavenger hunt on campus
    • Dorm olympics
    • Family picnic
    • Focused sessions on students of all ages.
  • Parent Newsletter -
    • Student calendar is helpful.
    • Include tips for parents to help students of all ages.

C.  Officer Elections

• President: Bill and Debra Scholfield
• VP Admission: Todd and Dawn Henrickson
• VP Advancement: Ann Lindberg

D.  Member Retirements/Other Business

• A gift was presented and a grateful thank you extended to the Larson's for their participation on the board.
• Thank you to Daniel and Patricia Carpenter our outgoing president couple.
• A thank you for the love and support that Ripon College gives our students was shared.

III. Lunch and Learn

• After lunch through the line, the meeting was continued with a presentation by Dr. Memuna Khan, Assistant Professor Biology and Christine Anhalt '09 on their blue bird research project.
• Questions followed the presentation.

IV. Adjournment

Respectfully submitted,  

Amy Gabriel Gerretsen '04

Assistant Director of Alumni Relations