Response to Charges on the Role of Faculty in the Undergraduate Admissions Process

Background

The following 4 interrelated charges were issued to the Admissions and Recruitment Subcommittee of the Undergraduate Education Committee of the New Brunswick Faculty Council in response to two reports forwarded to the NBFC, as well as concerns that were discussed in the NBFC at meetings during the past several years.

Charges:

1. Obtain information regarding the traditional involvement of College-level admissions committees in consultation with the various admissions committees and the appropriate University offices (see "Motion on the Powers and Authority of the Livingston Admissions Committee" June 8, 2000). Has the contribution of College-level admissions committees been modified? If so, how?
2. Review and comment on the March 26, 2000 reported by University Senators Fechter, Sands, Golhar and Kuehen, "Improvement of Rutgers University Undergraduate Education." Identify areas that require added information or clarification. Consider the implications of increasing admissions/enrollment on the serves provided by Rutgers University with respect to class size, number of majors in departments, undergraduate advising, physical plant, and transportation and parking.
3. Review the first-year experience of students enrolled in the various colleges. How are these programs evaluated? Do the colleges have statistical information on the benefits of the first year experience? What type and how many faculty/staff participate in programs for first-year students?---This charge has not been pursued, other than obtaining capsule information from college Deans regarding their own specific courses. We propose re-opening this issue in 2001-2002.
4. Examine in greater depth admissions procedures for transfer students. Investigate the performance of transfer students admitted to Rutgers in comparison with students admitted in their first-year of college study. Consider ways in which the transfer experiences can be improved.

The Livingston Fellows forwarded a motion to the New Brunswick Faculty Council stating:

The Livingston College Fellows deplore the gradual erosion of the authority

of our Admissions Committee in establishing both the college admissions

policies and the appropriate procedures for implementing these policies. We

ask that the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs insure the

enforcement of University Regulations concerning the authority of the

college legislative bodies regarding Admissions. In particular, we insist

that the committee continue to review the folders of students in the "five

percent" group and that, more generally, the Committee be provided with the

information required for it to carry out the "final responsibility for

admissions [that] rests with the College Admissions Committee.

In addition, University Senators Fechter, Sands, Golhar and Kuehen submitted a report to the University Senate entitled "Improvement of Rutgers University Undergraduate Education" that questioned Rutgers University's enrollment policy and the "apparent placement of its research mission above its education mission." We were concerned primarily with the enrollment policy issues. The Fechter, Sands, Golhar and Kuehen report proposed that enrollment be frozen (setting maximum ratios for student: "service").

Subcommittee Activities

The Admissions and Recruitment Subcommittee decided to focus efforts on the charge regarding faculty participation in admissions and the charge regarding overenrollment, as the remaining two charges were closely connected to these. We first obtained information by letter and/or interview from deans of the undergraduate colleges (including some professional schools) about admissions (the role of admissions committees, enrollment goals, determination of index cut-offs) and well as transfer students, mission courses, Honors programs, and EOF students. In general, the information supplied indicated that Admissions procedures have undergone changes over the past several years, with less participation of faculty admissions committees at the college level. Exceptions to this include Mason-Gross, where portfolios and auditions require faculty involvement. In several cases, the Deans indicated that they themselves participated in setting enrollment goals and cutoffs for admission.

More specifically, the Deans who responded expressed concerns similar to those of the faculty at Livingston, indicating that the college-level faculty committees on admissions have, for the past several years, "played very little role in the initial admissions process," "the admissions committee's most important role in the past years has been to serve in screening and interviewing transfer students," and "we are very dissatisfied with the current 'service' we are receiving from admissions." Some of the Deans also responded to questions regarding transfer students, retention, and first-year courses. There are as many approaches as there are colleges to the latter.

The Admissions and Recruitment Subcommittee also reviewed a report (1998-99) issued by a prior Admissions/Recruitment Subcommittee. That report endorsed a resolution from the Subcommittee of Access to Academic Majors passed at a New Brunswick Faculty Council meeting:

That campus and college admissions goals be formulated and reviewed

regularly in consultation with appropriate representative faculty bodies.

Enrollment pressures threaten to degrade strong programs. It is unwise to

sacrifice excellence in order to meet enrollment shortfalls. The integrity

of transfer criteria must be monitored and maintained.

That Subcommittee also recommended:

(a) that the Undergraduate Admissions Office annually report to college

Admissions and Scholastic Standing Committees;

(b) that Departments create web pages informing students about the majors

available;

(c) that faculty should participate in on-campus events for prospective

students both before they apply and after they are accepted; and

(d) that summaries of actions of Scholastic Standing Committees be sent to

all students by e-mail as official notices.

The Chair of the Subcommittee and a Co-Chair of the comparable University Senate Committee also met with the Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management, Corinne Webb, to review the Admissions process and obtain information regarding enrollment trends.

Since the Fall of 1996, applications have increased (from 22,047 to 28,929; NJ residents 17,720 to 22,708). Admits have also increased, from 14,462 to 18,116. Enrollments have also increased, from 47,812 to 49,272 students. New Brunswick enrollment increased for undergraduates by 7% (35,059 to 37,528). The Academic Profile of students has improved: average SATs for all students 1139 to 1156, for regular students 1174 to 1189; at New Brunswick, 1186 to 1205. The percent of applicants who were admitted in 2000 varied across colleges (from 20.4% at Mason Gross to 65.2% at Douglass), as did the percent that enrolled (14.4% at Cook, 38.5% at Mason Gross). (Attached are Tables that summarize enrollment trends.)

With respect to "overenrollment," there has been a significant increase in the number of undergraduates enrolled at Rutgers over the past decade. This increase has led to concomitant strains on the ability of Rutgers to meet students' academic needs (access to courses, for example) and offer sufficient services, such as parking, transportation, and housing. The perception of overcrowding has grown as well, partly because of the number of students at Rutgers and partly because of the growth and development in the areas surrounding Rutgers coupled with changes in technology and the deterioration of facilities. Given that the population of high school graduates in New Jersey will be growing more rapidly in the next decade, there will be increasing pressure on Rutgers to admit even more students. Some estimates suggest that by 2008, there will be 21,000 more New Jersey high school graduating seniors than in 1998 (80,357 estimated to increase to 101,376). The University must take steps to ameliorate the current problems and perceptions stemming from the numbers of students on its campuses, as well as to work constructively at all levels in all units to improve its prospects for increased state funding.

At the last University Senate meeting on April 27, 2001, the Senate passed a resolution calling for the creation of a committee to development an Enrollment and Student Services Assessment and Master Plan to outline how the University plans to address current difficulties and future possibilities regarding undergraduate enrollment. In part, this was because the issue of increasing enrollment was deemed too large and complicated for a small Senate committee to handle. The Committee structure, as passed by the Senate, shall be composed of three equal groups of seven (7) representatives, plus one alumni representative: the student representative to the Board of Governors, the undergraduate and graduate representative to the Board of Trustees, four additional student representatives elected by the student caucus of the University Senate (of these seven, at least one representative shall come from the campuses at Newark, Camden, and New Brunswick); seven faculty members (at least one from each of the campuses) elected by the faculty caucus of the University Senate; the University Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vice President for University Budgeting, Vice President for Student Affairs, Executive Vice President for Auxiliary Services, three additional administrators appointed by the President of the University; one alumnus elected by the Alumni Association. Additional student, faculty, and administrators may be asked to serve on select subcommittees.

Summary

The number of students seeking admissions to and being enrolled at Rutgers University has increased dramatically over the past decade, and is expected to increase rapidly over the next decade. Planning for this eventuality and improving services for students already at Rutgers is paramount to the continued success of Rutgers as the premier State University of New Jersey. Steps must be taken to insure that students at Rutgers receive the education to which they are entitled and to improve access to student services, housing, parking, transportation and all of the other requirements of a student body. The admissions process itself also needs consideration and will be discussed below. The academic progress (as measured by GPA) of transfer students is available from the Office of Enrollment Management, but additional information (retention rates, time to degree) may be useful planning information for the undergraduate colleges.

The admissions process at Rutgers University includes four major activities: setting enrollment goals, setting admissions standards, selecting admits, and hosting recruitment events. Recruitment itself may occur both before and after admissions. The first two activities are critical for maintaining high academic standards and an atmosphere conducive to student achievement. Selection of admitted students has become more centralized, as the number of applications has increased and because students may indicate more than one of the colleges or campuses in their application materials. With 29,000 applications may come more than 70,000 admit decisions, because students may apply to several of the colleges. The admissions criteria are primarily SAT I scores and class rank. Recruitment efforts are expansive and may include open houses, telephone contacts, letters to applicants, high school presentations, and other forms of contact.

Recommendations

After discussion, the Recruitment/Admissions Subcommittee has written a set of recommendations, primarily concerned with the participation of faculty in setting of enrollment goals and standards for admission and recruitment efforts by faculty. We also decided, however, that in order to make recommendations that ensure effective and efficient faculty involvement, we need more models on which to base specific recommendations. For that reason, although we have written several "blanket" recommendations, we have decided to ask the New Brunswick Faculty Council to allow us to prepare a separate set of more detailed recommendations that could be implemented by the administration so as to insure that faculty participate constructively in the admissions process. We will be contacting several AAU and large state universities over the summer to obtain information about how faculty are involved in admissions at these universities, given their particular set of constraints and concerns.

Recommendation 1: We endorse and applaud the Senate's recent action in forming a Committee to develop an Enrollment and Student Services Assessment and Master Plan. We instruct the Chair of the New Brunswick Faculty Council (as a member of the University Senate and faculty caucus) to nominate to the faculty caucus the Chair of the New Brunswick Faculty Council Admissions and Recruitment Subcommittee to stand for election to the University Senate Committee that will develop the assessment and master plan.

Recommendation 2: We recommend that the faculty have increased input in the goal-setting and procedures component of the admissions/recruitment process for all three campuses. The Deans of the undergraduate colleges should consult with their respective faculty admissions committees and include the advice of those bodies in their recommendations. The Budget and Planning Committee of the New Brunswick Faculty Council should also make recommendations to the University Vice President of Academic Affairs regarding the enrollment goals for the New Brunswick Campus.

Recommendation 3: We endorse a resolution written by the Subcommittee of Access to Academic Majors and already passed by the NBFC in 1998-99, "That campus and college admissions goals be formulated and reviewed regularly in consultation with appropriate representative faculty bodies." We adjure the University Senate to re-visit the standards for admission at a minimum of every 3 years, given that the duties and powers of the Senate relegate this function to that body; i.e.,

2.2.2. Duties and Powers of the Senate

A. The Senate shall concern itself with all academic matters pertaining to

the University. Taking into account the diverse functions of the separate

units of the University, it shall establish minimum standards respecting

admission, scholarship and honors.

Recommendation 4: We endorse a resolution written by the 1998-99 Subcommittee on Admissions and Recruitment that was passed during that academic year: Faculty should participate in on-campus events for prospective students, both before they apply (events for high-profile high school juniors and for prospective Scholars = honors program students ) and after they are accepted ("admitted student open houses"). These activities should include, but not be limited to, preparation of websites at the department level, e-mail contacts for interested students, participation in on-campus events for prospective students, public lectures and other events.