S.05-18
    t m t Simon Fraser University
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    Dean of Student Services & Registrar
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    tel 604.291.4176; fax 604.291.5732; email ron_heath@sfu.ca
    Memorandum
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    To:
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    Senate ?
    From: ?
    RoI/L
    ervices & Registrar
    Subject: ?
    Guaranteed Admission Initiative
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    Date: ?
    January 7,
    Senators may have seen recent notices in
    The Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail
    as well as some
    of the local community newspapers setting out a guarantee of admission, residence access and
    scholarships for students who meet prescribed admission criteria. This new initiative follows from
    experience in the last admission cycle in 2003/04 that saw a rather dramatic drop in the number of
    applications received at Simon Fraser University and at most other universities. In the course of our
    recruitment visits to secondary schools and at other public events, it became apparent that there was
    a lot of misinformation about admission requirements and there was the distinct possibility that this
    was having a significant negative impact on whether or not students were choosing to consider
    applying to university. Similarly, the opening of new residence accommodation within the past year
    dramatically changes the historic situation where only a small portion of applicants could expect to
    • gain entry to residence.
    The University has been advised of our funded enrolment targets for the 2004/05 year and the
    minima admissions criteria set out in the guarantee have been developed based on our experience
    over the past few years. Assuming some moderate success with the campaign, there is the possibility
    that the admission targets will be achieved based on these guaranteed minimum admissions
    averages. In the information about the guarantee, it is specified that these criteria will be in effect
    until such time as the University reaches its enrolment targets; thereafter, applicants meeting the
    criteria will be offered admission to a subsequent semester.
    The basics of the guarantee are:
    1)
    Students who satisfy the subject requirements with a minimum average of 80% are guaranteed
    admission to all programs except Business Administration. For Business Administration the
    guarantee applies at
    85%
    While the preliminary offers will be made on the basis of self-
    reported grades or interim grades provided by the secondary school, students are expected to
    achieve the minimum 80% on their final examination results.
    2)
    Students who are accepted for admission and who submit an application for residence before
    the specified deadline will be guaranteed residence accommodation. This should be of
    particular interest to students from outside both the lower mainland and the province who
    might otherwise have not considered SFU if they would be expected to seek off-campus
    accommodation.
    3)
    New semester one students are able to register in the first few days of registration.
    4)
    Scholarship.
    Students with
    They
    a minimum
    are also
    admission
    encouraged
    average
    to apply
    of
    for
    90%
    other
    are guaranteed
    major scholarships.
    a $3500 SummitFor
    students
    ?
    •.
    outside the lower mainland, the scholarships include an additional travel grant.
    ?
    - -
    5)
    A special award for students with admission averages between 85% and 89% will be
    introduced. While the Summit Scholarships (#4, above) compare favorably with scholarship
    programs at other universities, many are offering awards to students in this admission grade
    range and we will be able to do the same and remain competitive for these quality students.
    There are some other features of the new campaign. Students submit applications electronically
    through PASBC (PostSecondary Applications Service for British Columbia) and our goal is to
    respond within two working days acknowledging receipt of the application and confirming
    documentation required to complete the application. Once a file is complete in terms of required
    documentation, our goal is to provide a response on admission to the student within two working
    days. While these are goals, because we are unable to control the flow of applications, it may take
    more or less time to respond. Additional staff worked over the Christmas break and they will also
    work evenings during the application period to assist us in meeting our goals. We are also
    developing an enhanced admissions package that will be sent to all successful applicants. Faculties
    who wish to contact successful applicants will be able to do so in order to establish direct contact
    with potential students.
    To track the interest generated by the newspaper ads and other press releases, different website
    URLs were attached to each media format. The first ads appeared on December 5
    Ih
    and by the 19th
    of December, there were over 11,000 hits to our special web sites. We will be continuing with the
    ads in
    The Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail
    and other community papers during the weekends of
    January
    8th
    and
    22nd
    We have also notified all BC and other Canadian secondary schools of the
    guarantee.
    Details on the guarantee can be found at the following website:
    http://students.sfu. ca/guarantee!
    0,

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