S.91-47
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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
MEMORANDUM
To:
?
Senate
From:
Nick Heath, Secretary
Senate Undergraduate Admissions Board
Date: ?
1991 09 19
Subject: Procedure for entry of International Students to the
Business Administration Program
As a result of action taken at today's meeting, the Senate Undergraduate
Admissions Board recommends that Senate give consideration and approval to
the following motion:
"That approval be given to the proposal to change the
procedure for entry of International Students to major, minor
• ?
and honors programs in the Faculty of Business
Administration, as set out in the enclosed document, SUAB
220, and approved by the Senate Undergraduate Admissions
Board."
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SUAB 220
S ?
MEMORANDUM
September 19, 1991
TO: ?
Nick Heath, Secretary, SUAB
FROM: ?
Robert Rogow, Undergraduate Program Director, ?
Faculty of Business Administration
SUBJECT: Requested change in procedure for entry of International
Students to program
The Faculty of Business Administration requests Senate Undergraduate
Admissions Board approval of the procedure for admitting visa students as
Business majors, minors or honors students.
The proposed change would eliminate the present pre-clearance by the
Admissions office at the time of initial application to SFU. Based on their
- preSFU academic performance, -
the number of visa-students- estimated-to - - -
yield about ten percent of Business's total admissions are accepted into the
Faculty by Admissions, conditional upon their subsequently meeting the
same standards (CGPA, specific courses, etc.) as resident students. There is no
provision for subsequent admission of any other visa students.
All visa students who express an interest in Business upon applying to SFU
• ?
would be informed in writing of the existence of the ten percent Business
quota, the procedure to be followed in selecting students to fill that quota, the
recent semesters' minimum CGPA for acceptance of visa students, and any
other information necessary to give them an honest and realistic assessment
of their chances of securing admission to the Faculty.
Visa students, like resident students, would apply after 30 hours (typically, at
between 50 and 55 hours). Qualified pplicants would be selected in the same
fashion as resident students but ?
require a higher SFU CGPA (one
high enough to yield ten percent of all admissions), b"*
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Rationale:
[1] There is some unavoidable unfairness in early selection. Some
students with excellent admission GPAS (who received provisional
admission to Business) will subsequently perform poorly at SFU. (For
example, 2 of the 17 applying for September 91 admission had under
2.7 CGPAs; there may have been others who didn't bother to apply.
Some students with weaker admission GPAs will perform well at SFU.
(For example, in May 91 there was one student lacking pre-clearance
who had a 3.9 CGPA in September one who had a 3.8).
[21 Performance in SFU courses--especially those listed as prerequisites for
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entry into Business--provides a better predictor of success in Business
than performance earlier and elsewhere.
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[3]
Senate's
students
understandable
into believing
objective
that admission
of avoiding
to SFU
misleading
meant admission
visa
?
into
OF
Business could be met by the procedures mentioned above.
[4]
At present a high degree of ambiguity and anxiety exists among the large
majority of Business-desiring visa students who didn't receive
provisional admission. In the past the ten per cent maximum was
exceeded; varying numbers of the academically superior students
among them were admitted from semester to semester. Varying
advice and folklore was disseminated at SFU and the private and
public colleges. If admission were to be done by Business after the
student had met all prerequisite requirements, the CGPA cut-off would
probably be fairly stable and predictable from semester to semester for
visa students. (For example, in May 1991, when Canadian residents
had a 2.8 cut-off, the top 10 percent of all visa students would have had
a 3.3 cut-off. In September 1991, when Canadian residents will have a
2.7 cut-off, the top 10 percent of all visa students would have a 3.1 cut-
off.)
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49.1
0
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Memorandum
To: ?
Senate
From: Nick Heath,
Secretary, Senate Undergraduate Admissions Board
Date:
1991 09 25
ISubiect: SUAB 220: Further Rationale
This supplements the rationale provided by Dr. R. Rogow in SUAB 220 and
has been provided at the suggestion of SCAR.
The procedures for admitting international students to limited
enrollment programs were approved by Senate in 1984 (S.84.33). Renewal
must be sought and obtained every three years, otherwise the policy will
lapse. Senate approved renewaLatSUAB's request in 1987 anth1990. - - - -
?
-
The attached proposal would have the following effect:
Existing
Student must specify if intended
major is BUS. Student must state
whether an alternate program is
acceptable if entry to BUS is
not granted.
Students are carefully selected
in Admissions if BUS chosen.
Small size of quota make academic
criteria very high. (Typically
4.0 for BC12 and 3.50 for
transfers.)
Letter specifies if admitted to
limited program, must complete
lower division requirements and
maintain current domestic student
entry gpa to guarantee approval
of major (typically 2.8).
If not admitted to BUS, may not
transfer to that program later
(regardless of gpa). Academic
record changed to show alternate
major.
Proposed
Student not req'd to specify
(same as domestic students).
Students will be selected as for
all other programs, with no regard
for citizenship/visa status.
(Admission gpa typically 2.75 for
BC12 and 2.50 for transfers.)
Letter will specify admission to
general program, without
guarantee of entry to BUS major.
Student advised of int'l quota
and recent gpa required by int'l
students to receive approval of
major.
Activity
Application
for admission
Admission decision
Offer of Admission
S
Notification to Dept. List of selected students sent to
?
Faculty
Approval of Major BUS approves majors for domestic
students according to demand (gpa
may fluctuate - typically 2.8).
Notification unnecessary.
Unchanged
1
BUS approves majors for int'l
students previously selected by
Admissions (gpa fixed at time of
admission - typically 2.8).
Competition among int'l students
for approval of entry to major.
Process exactly parallels
domestic student competition
for entry (gpa may fluctuate -
3.3 likely).
BUS approves majors for int'l ?
Not necessary
students not previously selected
by Admissions only if space
remains (gpa - typically 3.5+).
The main reason for the change in procedure is to create a fairer
competition for the limited spaces available, which amount to only some
45 per year. Although admission gpa is a reasonable measure for
predicting academic performance, it is especially imperfect when used to
make fine distinctions between students of widely varying backgrounds.
For example, we frequently have to select one candidate from a group
such as
• degree holder from a prestigious U.S. or Canadian university,
• transfer student from a U.S. college with questionable academic standards,
• secondary school graduate with no post-secondary experience from Norway,
• B.C. secondary school graduate with no post-secondary experience.
These will all be in the same competition, making direct comparisons
highly problematical. Adjudication of such diverse cases, looking for
near-scholarship levels of achievement, give rise to unfair decisions.
One year later, when the students have completed their lower division
courses required for approval of the major in BUS, the students selected
by Admissions, who had received a guarantee of program approval if a
2.80 gpa were achieved on the lower division required courses, might
have a significantly lower gpas, based on comparable course work, than
other students who were not pre-selected by Admissions for the BUS
major.
The respective administrators in the Faculty of Business Administration
and in the Office of the Registrar perceive that the current procedure is
unfair. We believe that most international students share this view.
nh Sep 91
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