The admissions policy at Ricks College is being refined to ensure that the spirit of its open-door policy remains intact, college officials announced Sept. 13.
College officials said they believe its new equal access selection process will provide a better method to select from equally qualified students who cannot all be admitted because of lack of space.Ricks Pres. Steven D. Bennion said that in recent years college officials have faced the unpleasant task of turning away many qualified applicants because of its enrollment ceiling of about 7,500 full-time students.
The new policy will use random selection from an equal access pool for the final portion of the admissions process. The selections at this phase will be made by a computer.
Pres. Bennion emphasized that much of the admissions policy will remain the same for the two-year college owned by the Church. Top applicants who have strong academic and spiritual preparation will be admitted exactly as in the past, he said. The change will involve the final 800 to 1,000 openings for which there are nearly twice as many qualified applicants as available spaces.
Pres. Bennion explained that the equal access selection method seeks to continue the spirit of the open-door admissions policy that allows any qualified student to attend Ricks.
"However, the spirit of the open-door policy has been challenged as enrollment pressures grow due to an increase in both retention and the number applying for admission," he said.
He cited as example the fact that the number of applicants increased from 6,900 in 1991 to 7,800 in 1995. During the same period, the number of spaces for new freshmen decreased from 4,850 to 3,700. At the same time, the number of graduates increased from 1,816 in 1991 to 2,874 in 1995.
"These pressures have forced us to become increasingly selective in our admission of new students," Pres. Bennion said. "While our efforts have been to balance academics with a number of other considerations, the average high school
grade point averageT of those admitted has increased from 2.7 in 1984 to 3.4 in 1995. We worry about becoming even more academically selective than this."
Under the current selection system, all applicants are initially screened for worthiness and academic preparation. Those who are best qualified in both areas are admitted. Those who are found lacking in their spiritual preparation or are not academically prepared for college-level work are denied.
The remaining applicants are placed in a holding pool for a second and more extensive evaluation. This evaluation includes a careful look at Church activity, seminary attendance, recommendations and personal essays. Those with the strongest scores receive an admission option, while those who have poor evaluations are denied.
At one point earlier this year, this pool still had about 2,000 qualified applicants who were nearly equal in qualification to fill the remaining 1,000 spaces.
Beginning the fall term of 1996, the final spaces will be filled through the equal access system. "This system will help depersonalize denials and minimize the blame many tend to put on the bishop, seminary teacher or the Ricks College Admissions Office when they are not admitted," said Brent Kinghorn, community services vice president. "This program capitalizes on the fact that those denied from the equal access pool are as well qualified as those accepted."
The method also will reduce subjectivity in the final selection of students. Brother Kinghorn said, "It presents the most fair way to admit those whose academic preparation and Church activity are totally acceptable for enrollment at the college."
The new policy was approved by the college's Board of Trustees early in September.