UC faculty leaders are debating a proposal to change freshman admission rules in ways that would broaden the pool of potential applicants but also limit the guarantees of entrance for some high-achieving students.
Under the controversial proposal, the University of California would still take students from the top academic 12.5% of high school seniors but alter how it defines that group. For example, it would drop the requirement that applicants take two standardized subject tests in addition to the more generalized SAT test or ACT exam.
Its backers say the proposal would encourage more applicants, particularly those from lower-income families and high schools that don't offer a full array of advanced classes, to gain at least consideration at UC's nine undergraduate campuses.
But another element of the complicated proposal has triggered much concern. Under current policy, a large group of students with strong enough grades and test scores can achieve what is called UC eligibility. They may not get into their first- or even fourth-choice school but are guaranteed a spot at a campus with room, usually UC Riverside or UC Merced. The proposed change would, in part, end that guarantee.
Critics applaud the goal of attracting bright students who, under the current rules, might miss eligibility because of a technicality or poor counseling at an overcrowded high school. But they say it is wrong to chip away at the guarantee policies, suggesting that such a change might provoke an uproar among parents and lawmakers.
UC's systemwide Academic Council of faculty leaders is scheduled to discuss the proposal Wednesday at a closed-door meeting in Oakland. Several prominent professors say they anticipate the proposal will face major revisions if it is to move forward to the UC Board of Regents for final approval; some suggest parts of it may already be dead on arrival.
The proposal comes from a faculty panel known as the Board of Admissions and Relations With Schools. Its chairman, Mark Rashid, a civil and environmental engineering professor at UC Davis, said the proposal would not eliminate students currently eligible for UC admission from receiving a review of their application.
He estimated that the proposed rule changes would result in about 15% more applications to UC every year.
