UCLA admissions director steps down after 22 years

By My Yen La
Daily Bruin Contributor

After having her signature stamped on almost 250,000 acceptance
letters for admitted students, Director of Undergraduate Admissions
and Relations with Schools Rae Lee Siporin will retire this
summer.

Siporin, who managed UCLA undergraduate admissions through
soaring applicant rates and Proposition 209, will leave the
university she has worked at for 27 years ““ where she served
as director of undergraduate admissions for 22 years.

“From the perspective of an educator, I see that this is
the most challenging, and in some ways, the most satisfying work
I’ve done,” Siporin said.

According to Siporin, she leaves feeling proud of a
comprehensive admissions review process the admissions office
created and the work done in early outreach to make
underrepresented students UC-eligible.

“I think UCLA has been a real leader doing that kind of
review and meeting the guidelines before us,” Siporin said.
“For the amount of restrictions and guidelines that lock you
in and doesn’t give you flexibility, we did an incredible
job.”

According to Siporin, success of the undergraduate admissions
office in identifying and developing potential students is
reflected in UCLA’s graduation rates, the number of students
who became UC-eligible from early outreach programs and academic
records, which are among the highest in the country. Prior to 1997
and ’98 ““ before the end of affirmative action in
admissions ““ there was also growth among underrepresented
students.

“We did an enormously good job of getting the students the
faculty wanted, and the state needed,” she said.

But one of the more trying aspects Siporin has had to deal with
over the years is having to reject more students as the strength of
applicants increase and competition becomes more fierce.

When Siporin first became a director at UCLA in 1979, the
university admitted every applicant who met eligibility criteria.
This year, UCLA only accepted about 26 percent of students who
applied.

Siporin said the most difficult part of her job is dealing with
families of students who are denied and rejecting those who are
capable but that UCLA cannot accommodate.

Additionally, she said she is upset by the effects Proposition
209 ““ the 1996 ballot initiative voters approved that banned
affirmative action statewide ““ has had on the review process
and student selection.

“One of the most devastating things for me was when 209
passed; we saw the decline of under-represented students,”
Siporin said.

Siporin said though underrepresented students were UC-eligible,
the strength of the application pool weeded out many minorities
after Proposition 209.

“Since 209, clearly we see an underrepresentation of
minority students which has thrown an imbalance in the
system,” Siporin said, adding that the regents’
rescinding SP-1 to show it was a bad decision was a statement that
came “too late.”

She said the admissions office worked hard to create a balance
of students from various economic and ethnic backgrounds, and
Proposition 209 undid some of that accomplishment.

“I hope that there’s more that can be done to bring
in underrepresented students and the good things that were done in
the past decade don’t get undone,” Siporin said.

In addition to her role as director of undergraduate admissions
and relations with schools, Siporin co-founded the Lesbian Gay
Bisexual Transgender Faculty/Staff Network about 10 years after
working in admissions at UCLA.

“It seemed as though it was the right time to come
together,” Siporin said. “It was important for students
dealing with gender issues to know that there are successful
professionals who are gay.”

The network successfully pushed for an LGBT student resource
center, a minor and the chancellor’s advisory committee.

Siporin currently resides in New Mexico and plans to stay there
as she begins retirement. She plans to volunteer at the local
library and work for the University of California in New Mexico,
relating to Native American tribes and the Latino community.

The interim Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Relations
with Schools is Thomas Lifka, assistant vice chancellor of Student
Academic Services.