By Ziba Kon
In Motion Staff Writer
The Daytona State College Board of Trustees opened its recent monthly meeting with discussions about a 4 percent reduction in enrollment due to students dropping classes. Despite the drop in enrollment, the board decided to reinforce its campaign to encourage students to attend the Fall B semester.
Other items on the monthly agenda, included the performance measures of students at Daytona State for the last three years. Success rates at Daytona State have increased from 2014 to 2017 more than much of the state, although there were reports that completion of online classes, and successfully finishing those classes with a passing grade, were lower than face-to-face, lecture based classes.
To offset that trend, there are plans for online classes to increase interactions from the instructor with students, such as creating in-house instructional videos to engage failing students. For instructors, there will soon be a system implemented to give them a better perspective of students’ engagement and success in online classes. Several board members emphasized their interest in seeing online classes versus lecture classes improving current success rates
In other business, the board approved the formal re-naming of the Goddard Center for Music and Dance, after its recent renovation. The official re-naming ceremony and grand re-opening will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 20 during Homecoming events and will be hosted by the Mike Curb College of Music, Entertainment and Art.
The board also is prepping for the state requirement for a facilities update inspection by trying to catch things before they have a negative impact. Financially, the college is doing well as of the quarter ending in September with only 22.8 percent of the total annual budget being used, according to reports from board members. That should make room for the future capital projects the school has planned.
Announcements from the Student Government Association were brief because the College’s closing due to Hurricane Irma prevented them meeting. Currently there are only seven members in the SGA and it is looking for new officer to join.
Meanwhile, two events were discussed — Daytona State’s Oct. 18-21 Homecoming and the corresponding 5k Run/Walk. For the 5k run there are currently five corporate sponsors which may help the event turn a profit for the College. The meeting concluded with each board member commending the efforts of everyone working for recovery after Hurricane Irma.