Admissions Bill

The legislature has sent to Gov. Newsom (for signature or veto) AB 1215, a bill dealing with admissions following the admissions scandal that affected some UC campuses - including UCLA. A summary of the bill is below. It seems likely that the governor will sign the bill - which is technically a "request" to the Regents due to their constitutional autonomy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1215, as amended, Boerner Horvath. Public postsecondary education: University of California: admissions policy: systemwide protocols.

Existing law establishes the University of California (UC), under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth the missions and functions of the segments of postsecondary education in this state. Provisions of the act apply to UC only to the extent that the regents act, by appropriate resolution, to make those provisions applicable. A provision of the act expresses the intent of the Legislature that, in determining the standards and criteria for undergraduate and graduate admissions to UC and the California State University, the governing bodies of the segments, among other things, develop processes that strive to be fair and are easily understandable.

This bill would request the regents to adopt a policy directing the Office of the President of the University of California to establish systemwide protocols for admissions of students no later than February 1, 2022, to become effective for the fall 2023 admission cycle of the university, beginning August 1, 2022.

The protocols adopted under the bill would prohibit consideration of a student applicant’s family or other personal relationship connections to university staff or faculty in any decision related to, or resulting in, that student’s admission to the UC system and communication between any person employed in in, or connected with with, any UC campus development office and any UC campus admissions office regarding any UC student applicant or prospective UC student applicant. The protocols would also require verification of the athletic talent of all prospective student athlete applicants and tracking of the participation of student athletes in the sport for which they were recruited.

Under the bill, the protocols would also require the office of the president to annually select a random sample of student applicants admitted by exception, and verify that each UC campus that admitted any student in this manner recorded a rationale for each such admission, and that each recorded rationale aligns with the guidance issued by the UC’s Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools. The bill would require the protocols to require the office of the president, by July 1, 2022, to begin conducting an audit of the undergraduate admissions process by annually auditing 2 campuses each year, and to review the undergraduate admissions process of each UC campus once every 5 years. The protocols would also require, no later than 120 days after the completion of each audit conducted under these protocols, the office to determine whether each UC campus has adequately completed all corrective actions identified as a result of any of these audits, and to determine whether each UC campus has fully adopted all UC systemwide admission policies in accordance with the protocols. The protocols would require the office of the president, on or before May 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, to submit a report to the budget, appropriations, and education committees of both houses of the Legislature on admissions policies and campuswide standards for admissions with respect to specified subjects.

Full bill text at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1215.