1. The Committee met with the Faculty Board on Admission and discussed the Board’s impressions of both their regular reading process and their special assignment; read 15 application for admission files of students who were admitted after staff review (as opposed to Board review). This let to a longer conversation about the role of the Board and the best use of their time. Each year the Board spends at least 40 hours reading, discussing and decisioning applications of either marginal or otherwise perplexing applicants, and both the Committee and the Board may be interested in reconsidering this format,
2. Sumner sought feedback from the Committee on candidates for the position of associate dean of admission and coordinator of international admission since the Committee and the Board had been invited to interview the candidates. All 3 on-campus interviewees were deemed excellent and, in the end, those present recommended hiring Jon Edwards, giving him the edge due to his extensive and directly relevant experience,
3. Sumner brought the Committee up to date on the new student enrollment picture, focusing especially on the continued success in building the applicant pool, the number of new students of color, academic quality, etc., as well as the success in holding down merit aid expenditures as required,
4. Sumner filled the Committee in other new staff hirings as described in item 2 at the top of this page,
5. The Committee discussed potential agenda items for the 2007-08 academic year, mentioned in item 3 below and in item 4 at the top of this page.
6. The meeting adjourned at approximately 1:10 PM

Jim Sumner
Dean of Admission & Financial Aid
Grinnell College