The News-Gazette.com: UI reviewing admissions process, suspends 'Category I'

UI reviewing admissions process, suspends 'Category I'

By The News-Gazette

Monday, June 1, 2009 5:23 PM CDT

URBANA – The University of Illinois today announced it has suspended use of the so-called "Category I" list following recent reports that trustees, legislators and others tried to influence the admission of some students to the university.

The university will also create a task force to review the UI's admissions process, according to a university statement released Monday afternoon.

The "Category I" list consisted of the names of about 160 Urbana campus applicants on behalf of whom admissions inquiries were made by public officials, alumni and others. It will be suspended until the review is completed and the university considers recommendations on new practices.

The news comes following a Monday meeting between UI President B. Joseph White and his "policy council," a group of top administrators that includes chancellors from all three campuses and other senior officials, said UI spokesman Tom Hardy.

The statement said Urbana's chancellor, Richard Herman, and the chancellors at the Chicago and Springfield campuses agreed to the review.

The task force will review the processes in which constituents inquire about and advocate for applicants to the university – specifically, how contacts from legislators, trustees, alumni and others have been managed in the past, what the best practices are at comparable universities, and what changes should be made to ensure "the integrity of the admissions process."

The committee may include a mix of about six people from inside and outside the university, according to Hardy. It will include at least one faculty member, as well as people from outside the university who can bring "expertise and perspective" to the review, a UI statement said.

Officials would like to include someone with a legal background as well as someone who has a background in admissions, either from another institution or organization that deals with university admissions issues, Hardy said.

No politicians will be on the committee.

White will work in consultation with the chancellors to choose the members of this committee, Hardy said.

The panel's work will be reviewed by the UI Board of Trustees as it unfolds. Its exact membership will be announced shortly, the statement said.

The UI recently completed admissions for the incoming fall classes; the next major admissions cycle begins in September. There were 26,000 applicants for 7,000 seats in the 2009 class, according to the university.

"This comes at a good time in terms of the university being able to sit back, take a deep breath, analyze the situation and decide how to proceed," Hardy said.

In the meantime, if someone places an inquiry or request related to the admission of a "Category I" student, those inquiries would be sent to the office of undergraduate admissions or the admissions office of the appropriate professional school, Hardy said.

The committee is expected to wrap up its work by September.