"Countdown to Implementation"
UC Affirmative Action Policies
Come to a Close
by Kris Kohler
UCSA Chair
Sacramento, California
The University has drafted its Guidelines for Implementation p of Universitv Policv on Under- graduate Admissions which will develop the "roadmap" for exactly how the University is going to try to admit and enroll a diverse student body despite the UC Regents' July 20th decision to eliminate race and gender as considerations in admissions criteria.
Bottom line... there is no substitute.
There are no supplemental criteria that could adequately address institutionalized and overt gender and racial discrimination, except ... gender and race. Nonetheless, certain changes can be made to improve the admissions criteria until the Regents' July 20th decision in rescinded. Here's what UCSA has proposed.
- Mandate that all UC campuses take into consideration "the quality of academic performance relative to the educational opportunities available in the candidate's school of origin."
- Make the extremely suspect "standardized tests" (i.e. ACT, SAT) optional for campus admissions offices. Studies have proven that the SAT and other standardized tests reflect a cultural and gender bias.
- Include high school rank as a criterion in order to reflect how well a student does in comparison to those in a similar environment.
- Include "disadvantaged" school environment as a supplemental criterion. This would include schools with low average SAT scores, below average UC participation rates, low percentage of graduates completing a-f requirements, low average parental income and/or high proportion of students on AFDC.
- Include "participation in cross-cultural programs ... or community organizations, outstanding individual effort to experience other cultures, or proficiency in other languages" as a supplemental criterion to admission
Many of these criteria were suggested by the undergraduate admissions task force (which had student representation), but summarily rejected for unexplained or illegitimate reasons by those who drafted the guidelines (without student representation).
UCSA is fighting to include these provisions in order to diffuse the irreparable damage that has been done to our education by the Regents' decision, while at the same time we fight to reverse that decision by any and all means. Ideally, we will be successful at improving the admissions guidelines AND re-instituting affirmative action, which would result in a more inclusive university than we had even before July 20th.
Help us fight for student representation and student voice. Get involved. For more information call (916) 447-8272.
The above article was originally printed in the UCSA Update and is published here with permission of the University of California Student Association.
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