UCLA could be changing the way it reads and scores applications
for admission as soon as December, switching to a system that
places more emphasis on non-academic achievements.
This change in admissions policy is partly in response to
declining numbers of underrepresented minority admits, but also
comes at the 10th anniversary of Proposition 209, said Adrienne
Lavine, outgoing chairwoman of the UCLA Academic Senate.
Proposition 209 was passed in 1996 by California voters and
prohibits any public institution in California from using race as a
factor in admissions or hiring.
Ward Connerly, a former UC regent and an author of the
proposition, said his goal was to make sure race was not used as a
factor in UC admissions because he believes minority students
should earn their place at a university rather than attending based
on relaxed standards. He also said he believes the problems in
education should not be fixed by lowering admissions standards for
higher education but by addressing flaws at lower levels.
But he also said he and other regents thought applicants should
be judged on multiple factors, including academic accomplishments,
school activities, socio-economic background and the education of
their parents.
These categories eventually became the foundation for an
admissions process called “comprehensive review” that
the UC later adopted.
Before Proposition 209 was passed, the entire UC system
practiced affirmative action. After the proposition took effect in
1997, the UC switched to the comprehensive review process, but each
of the campuses interpreted it differently.
UC Berkeley has several people read a whole application and
combines those scores to decide if a student will be admitted. This
is called a “holistic” approach because applicants can
be evaluated on the entire application at once.
UCLA has several people each read a section of one application,
and those scores are combined to admit an applicant.
This system has a more rigid structure and does not allow for an
application reader to fully understand the applicant, said Janina
Montero, vice chancellor of student affairs.
UCLA’s process has been criticized for placing too much
emphasis on academic accomplishments, and Montero said that if UCLA
makes a change in its admissions process it will shift to look more
like UC Berkeley’s.
“This is a philosophical change. We want to look at all of
an applicant’s qualifications,” Montero said.
Thomas Lifka, assistant vice chancellor for student academic
services, said he doesn’t expect to see radical changes in
the kinds of students who are admitted, and generally qualified
applicants who would have been admitted in the old system will be
admitted in the new system. He said the main impact will likely be
on students along the margins.
“We are trying to avoid admitting one person over another
based on (one) quantifiable factor,” he said, adding that a
difference of 10 points on a student’s SAT score should not
be the deciding feature of his or her application.
Lavine said one committee in the Academic Senate has already
approved the framework of the proposal, but two more committees
need to research and approve the change before it can take
effect.
Acting Chancellor Norman Abrams said that when he took office at
the beginning of the summer, he made admissions a priority.
“This is a clear issue and UCLA took action because it saw
the need for improvement and change, especially after seeing the
admissions numbers in June,” Abrams said, referring to the 95
incoming black freshmen out of a class of thousands.
But Connerly said he is unsure about the intentions of UCLA
administrators and faculty leaders.
“I have no problem with UCLA further enacting
comprehensive review, but if they do it in reaction to political
pressure, that is a mistake,” Connerly said. “It will
be very clear that they did this in reaction to pressure to
increase black student enrollment.”
Connerly said he was concerned this new process would override
Proposition 209 and make UCLA less selective.
“In the aftermath of this pressure, there will be a
question if the campus lowered its standards for black students.
You then will not know if black students are there under relaxed
standards or not,” Connerly said. “It is far better in
the long term to have 95 students with good credentials than to
have 130 admitted on relaxed standards.”
But opinions from educators and administrators differ over how
much of a role quantifiable academics should have in the admissions
process.
Abrams said he believes there is more to an applicant than
academic standards and expressed concerns about the culture of the
campus if UCLA continues to lose minority students.
“(Diversity) is an important part of the social learning
experience,” Abrams said. “So we need to ensure that
students are exposed to a diverse environment with differences so
that they can learn to be courteous, understanding and
tolerant.”
But Connerly puts more of an emphasis on the academic quality of
the student body. He said rigorous standards do more to help
educate than a diverse campus.
“Walk around campus and see how much interaction there is
between races. There is self-imposed segregation on campus, and
(increasing minority) numbers will only increase
segregation,” he said. “You’re at UCLA to learn,
not to rub elbows with black students.”
Though some question the merits of a holistic admissions
process, Abrams said the outcome cannot be predicted.
“We are doing this because there needed to be
improvement,” he said. “We don’t know what the
consequences will be as far as the specific numbers go.”
With reports from Saba Riazati, Bruin reporter.