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S.92-33

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC

J.M. Munro, Chair, Senate

Committee on Academic Planning

Subject: ?

Advanced Registration for Direct Entry from B.C. Secondary Schools

Date: ?

April 23, 1992

Action undertaken by the Senate

Committee

on Academic Planning at its meeting

of April 8, 1992 gives

rise to the following motion:

Motion

• "That Senate approve

and

Governors, that students s

entry from B.C. secondy

for 92-3, and that ip-egi

and

report on t3.e'finding

ecompiid approval to the Board of

admission on the basis of direct

;chools be given advanced registration

trar monitor the effects of this change

to SCUS."

A)A" 

/fla&

AMY

/qQ

1^1

Simon Fraser University

Roger Blackman

Department of Psychology

Department Chair

CC 5245 291-3358

MEMORANDUM

To: Jock Munro, Chair SCAP 

Date: ?

April 3, 1992 

Topic: Advanced Registration for Direct Entry Grade 12 

Students 

Please place on the SCAP agenda the following 

recommendation regarding advanced registration for Direct 

Entry Grade 12 students that has been approved by SCUS. 

Motion 

"That students seeking admission on the basis of direct 

entry from B.C. secondary schools be given advanced 

registration for 92-3, and that the Registrar monitor the 

effects of this change and report on the findings to SCUS." 

It is further proposed that this advanced registration 

be scheduled in the manner described in Alternative 2 in the 

attached memo from Ron Heath to SCUS and dated March 26, 

1992. 

Additional documentation offer a brief history of this 

recommendation, including a rationale for the above motion. 

\scus5\jmadregl 

U S

[]

Simon Fraser University

Roger Blackman

Department of Psychology

Department Chair

CC 5245 291-3358

MEMORANDUM

To: Jock Munro, Chair SCAP 

Date:

April 2, 1992 

Topic: Change in Registration Timing for B.C. Direct Entry 

Secondary School Students: A Recommendation from SCUS 

When teleregistration was being planned in 91-1, it was 

recognized that changes accompanying this new procedure 

might have a negative impact on the admission of B.C. direct 

entry secondary school students. Specifically, it was 

anticipated that other universities, particularly but not 

only UBC and the University of Victoria, would complete the 

admission and course registration process much earlier than 

at SFU, and that this would undercut our recruiting efforts. 

While most secondary school students are admitted 

provisionally in the spring, the timing of course 

registration varies across universities, with SFU's 

registration being by far the latest. Students considering 

competing offers would be faced with paying substantial non- 

refundable deposits to other universities several weeks 

before they would know the outcome of their registration at 

SFU. It was also recognized that the problem would be 

exacerbated by the lower success rate in our registration 

system compared with that at other universities. 

In response to these concerns, it was proposed by Nick 

Heath, Director of Admissions, that changes should be made 

in our registration release timing for B.C. secondary school 

students. The proposal was that these students applying for 

fall entry to SFU should be allowed to register earlier in 

the summer, preferably at a time before the deadline for 

non-refundable deposits at UBC and the University of 

Victoria. There was insufficient time to address this 

proposal before registration for 91-3. The matter was 

forwarded to the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies 

(SCUS) for its consideration. 

SCUS formed a small subcommittee to identify and assess 

the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed change in 

the timing of registration for students admitted from B.C. 

secondary schools. That subcommittee returned to SCUS with 

a split report that listed some of the pro and con arguments 

but left it to the full committee to decide the issue. 

1

•

??

SCUS first considered the general question of whether 

B.C. secondary school students should be given early 

registration. The basic argument against the proposal is 

that it would be unfair to continuing students and to other 

new students who would find it more difficult to secure 

places in 100-level courses. The counterargument is that it 

would be unfair to students admitted from secondary school 

not to make the proposed change. It is relevant to note 

that about 15% of the students who currently register in 

100-level courses are upper-level students. 

After considerable discussion, and having received the 

opinion of the SF13 Student Society and a large petition from 

students, SCUS narrowly decided in favour of the proposal. 

The consensus view of SCUS is that the potential disservice 

to B.C. secondary school students of failing to advance the 

timing of their registration weighs heavier than the 

expected costs to other student groups. SCUS asked the 

Registrar to report back to it with some alternative 

mechanisms for implementing the change. 

At a subsequent meeting, SCUS again •reviewed the 

arguments for and against the change and considered the 

alternative mechanisms proposed by the Registrar. SCUS then 

voted in favour of a proposal that would allow B.C. direct 

entry secondary school students to register earlier than 

•

?

before and on a schedule that was coincident with continuing 

students. 

\scus5\jmadreg3 

.

2

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

At the last meeting, the following motion was approved:

"that SCUS approve, for 92-3, priority registration for students admitted directly from BC

Grade 12 and that the Registrar will monitor and provide feedback to the Committee".

It has been determined that this motion will have to proceed to SCAP and Senate for

approval before implementation, and that the method of implementation should be

included as part of the proposal.

Two alternatives for implementation were considered. In each case, it is assumed that

there will be approximately 1200 students in this category, and that a maximum of 900 to

1000 students may be released to the telephone registration system on any given day.

Alternative 1

The first alternative would allow the BC Grade 12 students absolute priority by releasing

one half of these students to the system on day I and the remainder on day 2 of the

telephone registration process for the Fall 92-3 Semester. On day 3, the top 900 - 1000

RPN students would be released to the telephone registration system.

Alternative 2

The second alternative, and the one that is being recommended for implementation,

would call for the release of the target of approximately 1200 BC Grade 12 students over

the first five days of the telephone registration process for the Fall 92-3 Semester (i.e.

approximately 240 per day based on a descending admission GPA). Concurrently, on

each of those days, approximately 660 - 760 continuing students would be released to

telephone registration starting with those students with the highest RPN. On day 6, all

900 - 1000 students would be released on the basis of the RPN.

The process being recommended should allow senior students, especially those in

graduating semesters, sufficient opportunity to register in courses necessary to complete

programs. It also should give those students who have been offered entrance

scholarships the opportunity to gain entry to courses required for their programs. In

effect, this is a compromise situation between the current procedure and one which

would give the new student first chance at all courses.

Motion: "that SCUS approve, for the Fall 92-3 Semester, the process identified in

Alternative 2 as- set out above, for the release of students to the telephone registration

system."