Admissions Committee Terms of Reference
Membership
The Committee will be composed of approximately 12 members, at least 2 of whom are members of Council. The committee is normally chaired by a Council member, who is appointed in keeping with the General Guidelines for the Selection of Council, Committees, and Task Forces. The remaining members will be drawn from a broad cross-section of the post-secondary system and will include at least one member from the secondary school system. Members will be chosen for their expertise and/or interest in post-secondary admissions.
Normally, the term of membership is three years subject to renewal for additional terms if mutually agreed.
The Executive Director and Co-chair, and Associate Director, Admissions and Research are ex officio, non-votingmembers of the Committee. The Associate Director, Admissions and Research is the primary staff liaison and support for the Committee. As requested or required, other BCCAT staff may also attend as non-voting resource persons.
Purpose
The ability of students to transfer credits in BC’s well-developed Transfer System is integrally linked to opportunities to be admitted to and move among post-secondary institutions. The Admissions Committee examines data and issues pertaining to overall system capacity and student demand, mobility, and success. It recommends policies and practices that facilitate the admission process for direct entry and transfer students within the BC post-secondary system. The Committee works in a collegial manner that is reflective of BC’s collaborative and decentralized post-secondary system made up of autonomous institutions. The Committee provides expert advice and reports to Council.
The work of the Admissions Committee is intended to be of benefit to institutions for enrolment planning, government for system planning, and students for education planning.
Objectives
- Recognizing institutions’ governance and decision-making processes, to recommend areas in which institutions might agree to cooperate in developing admissions policies and practices that would simplify admissions processes, remove systemic barriers, and/or assist students in their planning.
- In cooperation with the Research Committee of Council and working closely with the Student Transitions Project Steering Committee, to initiate, approve, monitor, and disseminate information on research projects related to admissions, access, student mobility, and student success, including inter-institutional studies on overall system capacity and student demand involving direct entry and transfer students.
- To assist institutions by providing data that could help with enrolment planning and forecasting decisions, with respect to both direct entry and transfer students.
- To examine admissions-related trends and issues with respect to the transition of secondary school students into and among post-secondary institutions in the BC Transfer System in order to inform transition planning, support transition processes and programs (such as dual credit programs), and remove barriers.
- To collect and disseminate comparative information about the post-secondary system, its institutions, and their admissions policies and practices, and recommend ways in which it can be provided to students, educators, and the general public, building upon the wealth of information already provided at the system level (e.g. Education Planner and the BC Transfer Guide) and by individual post-secondary institutions.
- To examine admissions-related data and issues with respect to the mobility of high school and post-secondary students at the inter-provincial and international levels.
Last revised and approved by Council: March 2, 2012.
