Recent changes have prompted San Diego State University Senate to create a task force to review how new admissions policies are being implemented.

Almost 62,000 students applied to SDSU for fall 2010. These applicants are the first to apply for admission since SDSU made changes to its undergraduate admissions process.
SDSU Senate Chair Edith Benkov helped create the task force.

Benkov said the new changes, including local entitlement and impaction, are significant compared to smaller changes made by the University Senate in over the past decade.
“Because this was a perhaps more radical revision of our policies, the Senate officers and myself thought it would be a good idea to have a group give a fuller review to how these particular new policies would affect our overall management enrollment strategy,” Benkov said.

Benkov said a task force was needed to review policy implementation to see if the new policies meet the University Senate’s impaction and enrollment management principles. The principles have been in order since the University Senate declared the first round of impaction in 1997. But SDSU has since changed.

“We’re in a mode of shrinking rather than a mode of expanding,” Benkov said. “We first put in enrollment management because we knew that we would be slowly expanding and not able to take in all of the students.”

Benkov said the task force was also created so that it could review how effectively policy implementation has proceeded.

“It’s trying to balance among all of our majors, among all of the people who want to come to SDSU, and make sure that we can let in as many people as we possibly can, but at the same point not create any real inequities in any area,” Benkov said.

Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs Sandra Cook is a part of the 16-member task force. She said that it is important for a task force to examine these policies because people have a lot of questions about them.

“In my mind (the task force) is there to monitor, because the new policy has created a lot of mistrust and questions,” Cook said. “The committee will act to keep everybody informed, so the process will be as transparent as possible.”

Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Eric Rivera will represent the Division of Student Affairs on the task force.

“I think it’s a great thing that they’re putting a task force together so they can have community discussion around enrollment management policy,” he said.
Rivera said he hopes that all views will be heard.

“I hope it will generate some great dialogue in regards to the future of the student body at San Diego State University, because who we let in affects who we are,” Rivera said. “So my hope is through all these different perspectives and input from different people and stake holders that we do what is best for the entire community, the entire San Diego State community.”

Benkov said the University Senate felt the task force should represent all groups who are affected by the policy changes, which is why there are five student representatives. Those named to the task force will represent local students, out-of-area students and transfer students.

“Any policy, as far as I’m concerned, that relates to student issues should have student voice on it,” Benkov said. “We don’t do things without including the various stakeholders that are involved.”