Yes, there will be additional presenters for this sessionCommittee: Group V: Access and Equity
First Learning Outcome: Understand why utilizing non-academic criteria, such as Sedlacek's NCVs can be a useful tool when working with non-traditional applicants.
Second Learning Outcome: Identify what non-traditional criteria implemented in response to the pandemic can be used in the normal application process, when working with vulnerable or displaced populations.
Third Learning Outcome: Identify what non-traditional criteria implemented in response to the pandemic can be used in the normal application process, when working with vulnerable or displaced populations.
Core Competency: Holistic and Systemic Thinking
Proficiency: Records & Academic Services Proficiencies
Intended Audience: Some Experience in the Profession
Displaced and vulnerable student populations face numerous barriers to access higher education. These barriers affect academic admissions criteria like incomplete records or access to testing. Utilizing a framework that allows flexibility in the traditional admissions process and incorporates tools like Sedlacek’s eight noncognitive variables allows higher education institutions to consider admission of individuals who do not meet traditional admissions criteria, expanding the diversity of the student body.
At the start of the pandemic, institutions faced numerous challenges to their procedures as student record networks were disrupted and teaching methods shifted to remote learning. Internationally, countries that rely on external examinations such as the U.K. or India delayed or canceled national examinations, making it impossible for students to meet basic application requirements. Domestically, traditional grading rubrics were not applied, and university applications looked different than ever before.
Institutions that practice holistic admissions adapted to incorporate flexibility to consider applications complete. At the reviewing stage, new standards were established to predict academic success and admissibility.
One need not look further than international admissions to see this type of flexibility in action when dealing with displaced and vulnerable student populations. At the time of this writing, international educators are busy preparing for a new wave of refugees with limited access to academic credentials.
This session will highlight how an equitable and flexible admissions approach and successful strategies learned during the pandemic can be applied to support access to higher education for displaced and vulnerable students in emergency and unprecedented times. We will share various perspectives on what worked well, what didn’t, and what we can continue implementing to promote access and inclusion for all applicants, domestic and international.
Presenter(s):
Staci Bernhard Florida International University
Annetta Stroud AACRAO - American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
Aleks Morawksi Scholaro, Inc.
2020 Lessons: How Equitable & Flexible Holistic Admissions Practices Impact Accessibility for Domestic & International Students
Category
Breakout Sessions
Description
If 2020 has taught us anything in the university enrollment profession, it’s flexibility and the need for equitable admissions. While record-keeping practices were suddenly disrupted worldwide, this was not a new phenomenon for international education professionals who routinely process applications from displaced and vulnerable populations. This session will highlight how an equitable admissions process that incorporates a framework for flexibility can be used to improve access for applicants.
Submission ID: 18930
Room D139-140L: 4/4/2022, 05:15 PM - 06:00 PM