Approval of Previous Minutes —

Minutes from November 13, 2024: Megan motions to approve. Chris seconds. Minutes approved. 

Guest Speaker Presentation —

Lynne Vanahill is guest speaker. Lynne is the Director of International Support Services at KU. 

• Historically, International Student Services (ISS) has operated in the negative because expenses are always greater than the revenue – and the office primarily operates on revenue. There is a relatively small amount of central funding.
• Most of the staff in ISS (outside of the director’s position and small portion of the assistant director) are not centrally funded – so salaries need to be paid from revenue.
• ISS staff positions have merged to reduce costs but this leads to high turnover and even greater workloads on the staff.
• Advising can be very complex. FY 24 served 3500 individual students.
• There is significant increase in one-on-one consulting as each student is unique and has a unique situation.
• Many of the application reviews take significant time and there are stringent reporting requirements each semester.
• The ideal ratio is 1 advisor to 200/250 students -- but currently the ratio is 1 advisor to 562 students/scholars.
• Peer schools average 5 centrally funded advisors. Currently KU has 0 centrally funded advisors. 

The goal is to come up with a gradual increase in revenue to balance the budget: probably 10 -15% over next 3-5 years. 

• Student Fees account for approximately 96% of revenue. The ISS Student Fee is proposed to increase Fall/Spring and Summer from FY25 to FY26.
• International students pay non-resident tuition, similar to students that live in other states:
  • There isn’t an additional international tuition rate on top of that. This question has been asked.
  • The information is included in the “Comprehensive Fee Schedule” published by Registrar’s Office. 

Unfinished Business —

A suggestion for this committee could be to reach out to peer schools to get further insights into their central funding models. Every university has its own unique central funding model. 

A goal of the committee can be advocacy and/or recommendation for stronger central funding for ISS staff salaries and advising capacity. Currently the team feels stretched quite thin. SAGE is another area the committee can look at since study abroad is also fee funded. Greater central funding for study abroad would be especially helpful. 

Another component to consider: As international student enrollment grows; the fees may be able to be reduced. International enrollment is now under Enrollment Management. 

Wyatt thinks a representative from SAGE (Study Abroad & Global Engagement) would be helpful to come to talk to the committee. He will plan to reach out to the Director of SAGE, Angela Perryman. 

New Business —

Look at comparable institutions to put together data? There may be  items that can be brought up (to University Senate leadership) for their meetings with Provost. 

The committee discusses their focus for the remainder of the semester that could be most beneficial and set a good foundation for the next semester. 

Meeting adjourned.