{"id":3942,"date":"2023-06-30T03:36:59","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T03:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=3942"},"modified":"2023-06-30T04:01:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T04:01:12","slug":"uw-madison-blacked-out-admissions-criteria-in-response-to-gop-legislators-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=3942","title":{"rendered":"UW-Madison Blacked Out Admissions Criteria in Response to GOP Legislator\u2019s Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.wisconsinrightnow.com\/uw-madison-admissions\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"uw-madison<\/p>\n

UW-Madison blacked out lengthy sections of its admissions criteria in response to an open records request from a Republican legislator who is now trying to change state law to mandate that the flagship university admit Wisconsin students in the top 5% of their classes.<\/p>\n

UW-Madison\u2019s freshman class was 8,628 students back in September of last year. The UW\u2019s own numbers show that about 45% of that class is from Wisconsin; the rest are from other states or other countries. Sixty percent of Wisconsin freshman applicants who applied to UW-Madison last fall were accepted.<\/a><\/p>\n

On Thursday, in the wake of the United States Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in university admissions at two prominent schools, Wisconsin Right Now obtained the blacked out documents that were sent to state Rep. David Murphy in September 2021.<\/p>\n

UW-Madison told Murphy it redacted the documents to protect \u201ctrade secrets\u201d and because \u201crelease of such information would harm the public\u2019s interest.\u201d The university was also concerned that employees could face \u201creprisal\u201d if their names were released.<\/p>\n

READ THE REDACTED DOCUMENTS HERE:<\/p>\n

Undergraduate Admissions Holistic Review \u2013 Freshman Applicant Evaluation Page 2021-2022 FINAL (002)_Redacted[40]<\/a><\/p>\n

Undergraduate Admissions Holistic Review \u2013 Additional Training 2021-2022 DRAFT_Redacted[89]<\/a><\/p>\n

Letter to Rep. Murphy re Records Request 2021.09.17[17]-1<\/a><\/p>\n

Transfer Applicant Evaluation Page 2021-2022 FINAL (002)_Redacted[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

Undergraduate Admissions Holistic Review \u2013 Principles 2021-2022 FINAL (002)_Redacted[71]<\/a><\/p>\n

Undergraduate Admissions Holistic Review \u2013 Guidelines 2021-2022 FINAL_Redacted[14]<\/a><\/p>\n

The group of Republican lawmakers, including Murphy, on Wednesday introduced legislation that would guarantee a seat at UW-Madison for any Wisconsin high schooler who graduates in the top 5% of their class.<\/p>\n

The action also came after Wisconsin Right Now published a series of stories from family members who were upset that high-achieving Wisconsin students were being turned away by UW-Madison.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the amount of money that we as taxpayers [pay] for K-12 and University of Wisconsin System, is it too much to say \u2018We want that top 5%?\u2019\u201d Rep. Jerry O\u2019Connor, R-Fond du Lac, asked reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor said the numbers leave Wisconsin kids left out.<\/p>\n

\u201c[There] seems to be an institutionalized brain drain, sending some of our best people to other states,\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cAnd guess what happens when they graduate from the University of Minnesota, or Iowa, or Indiana? They make that their home. They don\u2019t come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

But legislators have had trouble getting information about how UW-Madison decides which students to admit.<\/p>\n

Murphy, R-Greenville, said getting any answers about UW-Madison\u2019s admissions is a part of the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs chairman of the Colleges and Universities Committee, my office asked for UW-Madison\u2019s admissions policy. We got a more than 50-page document that is about 90% redacted,\u201d Murphy added.<\/p>\n

Specifically, when it came to the open records request, UW-Madison claimed that releasing the redacted information would \u201cundermine the significant public interest in maintaining the competitive position of UW-Madison \u2013 vis-\u00e0-vis its peer institutions \u2013 when recruiting and evaluating students.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would also \u201chave a deleterious effect on the puplic\u2019s interest in maintaining a fair and equitable application review process,\u201d the university wrote.<\/p>\n

The letter continues that releasing the information \u201cwould likely have the effect of harming those applicants who did not or could not access such information, which would place those applicants at a significant disadvantage when applying to UW-Madison.\u201d<\/p>\n

The university added, \u201cInformation contained in these documents can directly or indirectly identify UW-Madison employees who review admissions applications. Due to the highly competitive nature of college admissions, UW-Madison has redacted any information that may directly or indirectly identify these employees in order to protect them from potential reprisal by applicants who are not granted admission to the university.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter was signed by Nancy K. Lynch, the vice chancellor for Legal Affairs.<\/p>\n

One partially redacted document was called Undergraduate Admissions Holistic Review: Principles for the 2021-22 enrolling class and was stamped \u201cfor internal use only.\u201d<\/p>\n

The document says UW-Madison uses a \u201cholistic, competitive and selective admissions review process that aligns with our mission. Our goal is to recruit, admit and enroll a high quality and diverse incoming class.\u201d<\/p>\n

The academic record comes first, but UW-Madison also considers written essays, extracurricular activities, leadership involvement, letters of recommendation and standardized test scores when required or provided, the document says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur primary commitment is to residents of Wisconsin. We seek students who will add unique perspectives to the educational environment of UW-Madison, including members of historically underrepresented ethnic and racial groups those from rural Wisconsin farm backgrounds, first-generation college students, veterans and those currently serving our country in the armed forces, women interested in STEM majors and international students,\u201d the policy says, adding that UW-Madison was also looking for students with \u201cspecial talent in music, dance, art design, athletics or other areas of institutional need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Generally students who earn As and Bs in rigorous courses are considered competitive, and class rank is also considered, the policy said.<\/p>\n

Under college record, a passage was blacked out. Sections under essays were blacked out, including common app essay prompts. Students may be required to submit a standardized test score to demonstrate English proficiency, the policy says.<\/p>\n

Sections under non cognitive competencies were also blacked out.<\/p>\n

The policy discussed \u201chigher predictors of success in college for non-traditional students than either GPAS or SAT-ACT scores.\u201d But what those are was blacked out.<\/p>\n

The university lists diversity as a consideration and says that Madison desires \u201cto enroll more students from a variety of cultures from across the US and around the world. We also seek to enroll students who identify with race and ethnicities who are underrepresented in the population of the State of Wisconsin,\u201d listing African-American, Hispanic, American Indian, Southeast Asian. Madison strives to enroll students \u201cfrom every county in the state of Wisconsin, all 50 states and a range of countries worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whole sections under the admissions policy for transfer students and new freshmen were blacked out, including rating value for college academic rigor, indicators of college ready writing, and the rating value given to positive campus contributions.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin students \u201cwho have good grades and are taking competitive course work based on what\u2019s available to them at their high school are likely to be admissible,\u201d the policy says.<\/p>\n

Rewriting the Admission Formula<\/h2>\n

O\u2019Connor\u2019s plan would require the UW System to rewrite its admissions formula, and share with schools, parents, and teachers more of what it takes for students to get into UW-Madison.<\/p>\n

The UW has said it shares the lawmakers\u2019 goal of keeping Wisconsin\u2019s \u201cbest and brightest\u201d in the state, and at a UW school. But the university didn\u2019t specifically comment on the requirement that the Republicans are pursuing.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor said he hasn\u2019t spoken to the university about the requirement, but did say \u201cthis issue has been brought-up to the university previously, and they\u2019ve made no changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are fewer than 70,000 high school graduates in Wisconsin each year. Five percent of that comes to about 3,500 kids. UW-Madison accepts about 3,600 Wisconsin students each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the idea that we are going to push somebody else out, I don\u2019t buy that,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n

Any changes to UW admissions will come later, however. Lawmakers in Madison are due to wrap up their session for this year by the end of the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.wisconsinrightnow.com\/uw-madison-admissions\/ UW-Madison blacked out lengthy sections of its admissions criteria…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":3944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wi-right-now"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3942"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3945,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3942\/revisions\/3945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}