Assembly sanctions dual admissions policy

By Noah Grand
Daily Bruin Reporter

By a nearly unanimous vote, the systemwide Assembly of the
Academic Senate approved a dual admissions proposal Wednesday that
will be sent to the UC Board of Regents for a vote.

Dual admissions will grant certain high school students UC
admission, provided they complete two years at a community college
first.

“We are sending a clear signal that by doing well in high
school you can have a straightforward path to UC by first
completing a transfer program,” said UC Spokesman Brad
Hayward.

The proposal, which was first introduced by UC President Richard
Atkinson in September 2000, was passed after seven months of
consideration by the Board of Admissions and Relations with
Schools.

The proposal will allow students who graduate in the top 12.5
percent of their high school class, who are not otherwise eligible
for UC admission, to simultaneously apply to both UC campuses and
community colleges. Students would be guaranteed UC admission to
the accepting campus after completing their two years at a
community college.

All UC campuses will participate in the program, though Hayward
said it has yet to be determined if as many students will be
admitted to the more selective UC campuses, such as UCLA and UC
Berkeley, through the program.

Mike Cowen, chair of the systemwide Assembly of the Academic
Senate, said that this proposal will help the UC deal with the
state’s demand to increase undergraduate enrollment by 60,000
students over the next 10 years.

The proposal states that “places shall be maintained for
dual admissions students in planned transfer enrollment growth at
each campus.”

Preliminary estimates in the proposal expect between 1,200 and
3,000 new students to enter the university through dual
admissions.

“We are trying very hard to try and increase the number of
transfer students from 10,000 to 15,000 over the next five
years,” Cowen said. “Dual admissions may count for a
third to a half of that.”

The proposal follows the Eligibility in the Local Context
program, first enacted this year, which made students in the top 4
percent of their high school class eligible for direct admissions
to UC.

Cowen said the Eligibility in the Local Context program showed
that the dual admissions proposal could increase enrollment.

“This proposal is one of many standards that (show)
we’re eager to reach out and encourage more qualified
students to apply,” Cowen said.

Cowen said he hopes more students will try to do well in high
school and make themselves eligible for UC admission under this
proposal.

Even if approved by the regents in their July meeting, it will
be difficult to find immediate effects. Hayward said the first year
that dual admissions could be used is in 2003, so those students
would not arrive at UC campuses until 2005 after two years of
community college.

Despite this wait, Cowen said he expects benefits to be noticed
before then. He said part of the proposal involves UC increasing
the academic counseling available in community colleges to help
advise students who could go on to four-year colleges.