Simon Fraser University (SFU) is located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It is a mid-sized (ie. student population of 30,000), public university offering both undergraduate and graduate level programming. SFU receives upwards of 25,000 undergraduate admission applications annually.

For the Fall 2019 admission cycle, Student Recruitment & Admissions implemented a significant change to SFU’s undergraduate, high school admission requirements. The admission model had not been changed in 12 years and it was time to assess how admitted students actually perform in their first-year.

The former model, implemented in Fall 2007, simply calculated an average on four approved high school courses. This approach provided an inflexible and incomplete view of a student’s academic high school achievements. Taking a SEM approach, the new model identifies students who demonstrate the capacity to be successful in their program of choice at SFU. It takes into account all grade 11 and 12 academic high school courses, with a focus on courses that are strong indicators of first-year success

Admission processes and policies changed, the university community learned new requirements, and over 11,000 prospects still needed to apply to SFU. This presentation will delve into the highs and lows of implementing such a large-scale admission change and the impacts to both our internal and external stakeholders.

Submission ID:

6547

Presenter(s):

Kathryn Verkerk Simon Fraser University

Mike Peragine Simon Fraser University

Jackson Voong Simon Fraser University