March 11, 2014
Institutional Priorities Committee
Minutes of March 11, 2014
3:00pm - 5:00pm
DeRosa Center Room 211
Present: Cavanaugh, Day, Fox, Gale, Gutierrez, Hein, Kleinert, Luu, Lyon, Meyer (Chair), Murta, Pallavicini, Perrot, Rogers, Shaw, Staniec
Absent: Atterbury, Arnold, Eibeck, Lackey, Leland, Martin
Guests: Arlene Cash, Kathy Kurz
Call to Order: 3:00pm
Minutes:
Minutes for the February 25, 2014 meeting were approved.
Finalize recommendations to President
Meyer asked the committee for their thoughts on the open campus forum. Based on the feedback given at the public forum, the committee agreed that no changes needed to be made to the IPC's FY 15 report and recommendations to President Eibeck. Meyer will send the finalized report to the President.
Institutional financial aid/tuition strategy discussion (Scannell & Kurz presentation)
Kathy Kurz shared the findings of Scannell & Kurz (S&K) which included information on the current enrollment environment, recent new student enrollment trends at Pacific, financial aid and admission policies at Pacific, price sensitivity analysis, and tradeoff analysis. California is one of the few states that is gaining students, but regional recruiters are trying to draw students into other states. The average family is now spending less on college when compared to averages in 2009-10. Families are increasingly price sensitive; 67% of families said they eliminated schools based on cost (or sticker price). Students with lower SAT scores tend to bring in higher net tuition revenue. S&K built predictive models and tested several different variables (quality of the student profile, how much grants students received, how much need students had, where the students were from, etc.). Elasticity was measured based on how students are responding to discounts. When lowering grant would increase net revenue, the pool is price inelastic. When increasing grant would increase net revenue, the pool is price elastic. Pacific's model found 94% of the fall 2013 freshmen admit pool and 82% of the transfer pool to be price elastic.
Recommendations included considering more aggressive packaging policies to optimize net tuition revenue and keeping tuition increases below 4% (ideally closer to 3%). Future policy ideas or strategies based on the S&K report are being considered. For example, funds could be set aside for internships and companies could be asked to match the amount. Or funds could be committed to a student who can choose to wait to use their funds until their sophomore or junior year. New policies will continue to be discussed.
March 25 Meeting
An update on the current thinking around the Strategic Investment Fund process and how IPC will be involved is currently scheduled for March 25. The President will be asked to provide this update. Pallavicini also recommended moving the OIT budget discussion to March 25 and she agreed to ask CIO Jones if he is available to present at this earlier date.
Future Agenda Items
- Strategic Investment Fund
- Preview planning and budget letter summarizing President's budget recommendations to the Board
- OIT budget
Adjourned: 4:35pm