Statement of a Trial for Provisional Admissions/Qualified Admissions
The Provost's Office has recently expressed concern over the low number of admissions through the University Admissions and Exceptions Committee (UAEC). In response to these concerns the University Admissions and Exceptions Committee will conduct a trial of Provisional Admissions, the criteria for which is outlined here:
Provisional Admissions
All students admitted as Provisional or Qualified Admissions in this trial, will
only be admitted for complete semesters, will be limited to no more than 14 credit
hours, one class of which must be WSU 101 OR LASI 101, meet with an advisor to address
coursework deficiencies and to determine whether a full or modified Success Plan is
appropriate to promote student success, and they must maintain a 2.0 GPA. Based on
past precedent from applications approved in 2015, and the provisional admissions
criteria accepted in fall of 2014, we propose the following criteria:
1. Applicant is a high school senior who meets ACT College Readiness Benchmarks and
is missing no more than two units of required coursework (regardless of ACT composite
score, GPA or class standing).
OR
2. Applicant is a high school senior with an ACT composite score of 24 or above,
or SAT equivalent, and is missing no more than two units of required coursework (regardless
of ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, GPA or class standing).
OR
3. Applicant is a high school senior with an ACT of 18 or above, or SAT equivalent
and a GPA over 3.0 in pre-college curricula, and missing no more than one unit of
required coursework (regardless of class standing).
OR
4. Applicant is a high school senior with an ACT composite score of 21 or above,
or SAT equivalent, missing no coursework and with a transfer credit over 1.5 (regardless
of class standing).
OR
5. Applicant is a high school senior in the 65th percentile of his or her class and
is missing no more than two units of required coursework (regardless of test scores
or GPA).
OR
6. Applicant is a high school senior National Merit Finalist, a National Achievement
Scholar Semi-Finalist, or has an ACT or SAT score in the top 5% nationally (regardless
of GPA, class standing, or coursework).
These criteria will not be considered for further expansion until such time as there be established a student retention program specifically focused on under-prepared and at-risk students, employing faculty specializing in such instruction and covering basic study skills, reading comprehension, English composition, and skills in mathematics.
Trial Review
This trial of provisional admissions will be reviewed and assessed by the University
Admissions and Exceptions Committee, by reports complied after the completion of the
2nd semester, that is beginning in January of 2017 and continuing for each semester
thereafter. The Committee will review these reports and make recommendations to the
Faculty Senate. Success is determined by continued enrollment and GPA. If the student
success of those students admitted on a provisional basis, that is through the criteria
previously outlined, is found to be unsatisfactory, the trial will cease and ALL pending
and future exceptions applications for admission and qualified admission will revert
to being reviewed by the University Admissions and Exceptions Committee.
Suggestions for immediate petition application for an admission by exception
Though it is beyond the purview of this Committee, we do recommend that the application
for admission be combined with an application for admission by exception. That is,
make them both available at the same time. More specifically, the standard application
is provided, followed by a declaration of the admissions standards. Then a statement
along the lines of: “If you feel that you do not fulfill these requirements, please…”
follow these instructions, (with fields to type in, copy, or attach documents electronically).
By including the opportunity to submit information for both processes all at the same
time, we believe that this will avoid the discomfort of denial and speed up the process
of consideration for admission by exception. And when an exception justification letter
and applicable information is received by the Office of Admissions, they would rightly
forward this on to the appropriate college, thus avoiding a secondary set of processing.
____________________________________________________________________________________
11/2/15, Rachel Crane
Amended 11/18/15, RC