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October 30, 2003
MEMBERS, ELIGIBILITY AND ADMISSIONS STUDY GROUP
Dear Colleagues:
Thank you for agreeing to serve on
the Study Group to examine undergraduate eligibility
and admissions implementation issues and processes that
the University of California will face during the remainder
of this decade. As you know, the suggestion for the
Study Group was made by Regent Joanne Kozberg, and I
have asked Regent Kozberg and Senior Vice President
Bruce B. Darling to serve as the Group’s co-chairs.
I very much appreciate your taking the time to serve,
and I enclose a membership list for your information.
From its inception, the mission of the University of
California has been to enroll a student body that both
encompasses the most academically qualified of California's
high school graduates and that reflects the broad diversity
of the state's population. Throughout its history, UC
has taken bold steps to achieve this goal by reaching
out to students from all regions of the state, working
closely with the state's most impoverished schools,
ensuring that eligibility and admissions policies consider
merit in multifaceted ways, and creating multiple paths
for eligible students to enter the University of California.
Never before in the University’s
long history has this mission been more challenging
or important to fulfill. Challenging, because the University
must find new ways to accommodate this decade's surge
in California high school graduates seeking a higher
education. Important, because of the contributions the
University makes to the vitality of California’s
economy and to quality of life for its present and future
generations. All will be affected by how well California
and its institutions of higher education provide opportunities
for its young people. At the same time, there are a
number of other eligibility and admissions issues that
will have an impact on the University’s ability
to achieve its mission.
Therefore, I am charging this study group with the task
of examining and providing input to the Academic Senate
and the Board of Regents on the following matters, keeping
in mind the historic tradition of shared governance
in which admissions is the prerogative of the faculty:
- Eligibility policies and criteria
and related issues that may be raised as part of the
forthcoming California Postsecondary Education Commission
student eligibility study.
- Implementation of existing Regental
eligibility and admission policies.
- Methods and procedures to achieve
greater efficiencies in the University’s admissions
process. This will include ways to more clearly articulate
and communicate to the citizens of California the
University’s eligibility criteria and admissions
policies, as well as the implementation of those policies
that serve as the basis for selecting candidates for
admission to UC’s campuses from among the many
qualified applicants.
In undertaking these tasks, members
of the Study Group will familiarize them- selves with
existing policies and implementation procedures. Statistical
data will need to be assembled to understand the current
facts and to assess procedures and effectiveness.
Furthermore, the study should be guided
by the following principles:
First, the University is a public
institution with a unique and historic mis-sion, perhaps
best expressed by Regents’ resolution RE-28,
which states that, “The University shall
seek out and enroll, on each of its campuses, a student
body that demonstrates high academic achievement or
exceptional personal talent, and that encompasses
the broad diversity of backgrounds characteristic
of California.”
Second, the quality of the University,
the foundation of which is set forth in the California
Master Plan for Higher Education, must be maintained.
Third, the University must continue
to recognize that competition for admission to the
nation’s finest universities has never been
more intense and this causes considerable anxiety
for parents and students. While we cannot alter these
circumstances, the University of California has an
obligation to its applicants and their parents to
consider how to increase the transparency of the admission
process for each campus and to measure the academic
impact of all facets of Comprehensive Review. To that
end, the University should explore how better to share
this information with the academic community and the
public.
Fourth, Comprehensive
Review will remain the policy of the University, requiring
every applicant to be evaluated in a broad range of
academically relevant areas and in light of the educational
opportunities available to them. This is the same
kind of rigorous, individualized review that other
highly selective institutions across the country have
relied on for many years.
My goal is for
the Eligibility and Admissions Study Group to complete
its work by March 2004. I believe its efforts will do
much to foster a common understanding about these matters
and will better inform the discussions of the Academic
Senate, The Regents and others involved in the process
of making choices about eligibility and admissions during
the coming year.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Dynes
Enclosure
cc: Regent Kozberg
Senior Vice President Darling
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