Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1970 [PAGE 708]

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708

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

INTRODUCTION OF W. CLEMENT STONE

[December 17

Mr. Swain introduced Mr. W. Clement Stone, a new member of the Board of Trustees. Mr. Stone was appointed on September 19 by Governor Richard B. Ogilvie to fill the unexpired term of Dr. James A. Weatherly who resigned from the Board because of ill health. BUSINESS PRESENTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY The Board considered the following reports and recommendations from the President of the University.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

President Henry presented a report on selected topics of current interest, copies of which were distributed at the meeting and a copy was filed with the Secretary of the Board.

REPORT ON ADMISSIONS

President Henry reviewed the background of recent events concerning admissions procedures at the Urbana campus, indicating that there was a need to clarify considerable public misunderstanding and misinterpretation concerning the "random selection" aspect of the policy approved by the Board of Trustees on September 17, 1969. He asked Chancellor Peltason to present a report dealing with the question in considerable detail. The Chancellor's statement as presented follows:

"On September 17, 1969, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees approved a new policy for the admission of freshmen to the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago Circle campuses. This approval followed more than a year of study and discussion by the University Committee on Admissions and the Faculty Senates. "The new policy resulted from growing concern about the difficulties posed by the Progressive Admission Plan, adopted in 1960. This Plan provided that, when spaces were insufficient for all qualified freshman applicants, those who held the highest combination of test scores and class ranks would be admitted first, until all spaces were filled. Several distinct problems emerged in the use of this Plan at the Urbana-Champaign campus: many good students were being deferred or denied admission in favor of others who held only slightly higher test scores or high school r a n k s ; as the ability range narrowed, it became increasingly difficult to discriminate among those whose chances for success in the University were excellent; furthermore, in order to select the best students academically within the several admission periods established by the Plan, the standards for admission shifted from one period to another, thus creating confusion for students, their parents, and their school counselors. "A different kind of problem existed at the Chicago Circle campus. With freshman capacity increasing each year, spaces have been adequate for virtually all applicants who met University minimum requirements. However, there was serious concern that these minimum requirements, and the resulting academic quality and retention of freshmen, were too low. "To resolve these problems, the new freshman admission policy has two major provisions: 1. It raises the minimum combined test score and rank in class required for admission. While the old minimum had been exceeded for several years by students entering the Urbana-Champaign campus, because of the shortage of spaces there, the change is designed to improve both the quality and retention of freshmen at Chicago Circle. 1

1 The old minimum provided for admission of students with high school rank and test score combinations that gave them a predicted 1 in 4 chance for a first-term " C " average. The new minimum requires a combination of rank and test score that predicts at least a 1 in 2 chance for a " C " average. The current quality of freshman applicants at Urbana-Champaign