Post-SCOTUS Decision Implications & Impact on UConn Admissions

Hello everyone and thank you for joining us for our webinar. I want to give a few minutes for others to log in, so if we could wait 30 seconds, I will go ahead and start the program at that point.

OK, let's go ahead and start the webinar. I'd like to thank everyone for taking time out of your schedules to attend this webinar. My name is Vern Granger. I serve as Director of Admissions at the University of Connecticut and you can see on the screen the title of this webinar post SCOTUS decision implications and impact on UConn admissions and so as the decision as the case was being heard.

And and we were trying to figure out what it actually meant. One of the things that that I heard from a number of a school counselor, colleagues, CBO, i.e. C's was not only questions about the case. What were the aspects about the case? What were the different potential outcomes? But what were universities planning? But not only that.

How they can be prepared to to work with their students and counsel their students and and parents. And so that's the purpose of this webinar that we put together was to be able to provide you with some very, very important resources on the case and give you a better understanding of how the the case impacts higher education missions overall. But specifically you can.

So just a couple reminders about the webinar. So I could not see any of you or hear any of you. So if I say something that that just gets you excited and you want to raise your hands and and and let me see it. I cannot see you nor hear you any of the attendees. I will say that we have members of the admissions staff in the background. So I encourage you to please send your questions. We have staff on hand.

Who are going to be able to respond to your questions? Anything that I talk about that you want some additional clarification. We have folks behind the scenes, we're going to be able to answer your questions. We're going to be sending a recording of this presentation via e-mail to you all to folks who registered for the program. So if you have a colleague who did register and they were not able to attend, they're going to get a copy of this this recording and about 24 hours again as I mentioned.

Please submit your questions. We have staff who are going to be responding to your questions on the background. And Please remember that if there are any specific questions that you have about a particular student or scenario on the please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions directly and we'll be providing that contact information at the end of the presentation.

And we're having rain over here in Connecticut, so a little delay in the changing of the slide. So my apologies on that. What I want to do is go over the agenda agenda for the event and the things that we're going to be talking about in in this webinar. So if you can give me a second while we get that fixed, OK, OK. Hopefully everyone could see the agenda. So on the screen you can see an overview.

Of the agenda. So talking about a history of race in its consideration in higher education admissions, I'm talking more about the actual case and overview of the decision. All institutions did receive some supplemental guidance and so we'll be able to share that information with you again talk specifically about the impact that UConn and then share an example of one of the resources that we are providing for you all to be able to help with.

How you work with students and then talk about some things moving forward. So that's what we hope to accomplish by this webinar. Again, we're having some delays with with the connectivity and so a little slow in changing the particular slide. So my apologies for those delays. So again, just a little history about the consideration of race in higher education you can see on the screen, I'm not going to go through this all in detail when you move.

2 to 20 into 2000 and and the Gruder and Bulger cases, Those folks serve as the foundation for how universities.

Practice the reviewing of applications and how we utilize race. Race could be used as one of many factors in the evaluation of an applicant and that's been how we've been utilizing it in universities throughout the country. The Fisher case came in 2013 and it affirmed universities ability to be able to the consideration of race. And so again it brings us to today and the questions that we were facing.

In this case, that was around again the issue of how universities, including UConn, would be able to consider race in the application process.

So on the screen you can see the questions that were examined in these cases with Harvard and UNC who were being cited for how they utilize race in the application review process. And the the the perspective that the plaintiffs brought forth was that they were discriminating against candidates. I mean there's differences in in.

In both of those cases, both those institutions, Harvard specifically was cited for penalized and Asian Americans, UNC whether its use of race neutral alternatives. But again, both of them were, you know, examining the question of how race could be used in the application review process and a feeling by the plaintiffs that it was discriminating against certain applicants and gave other applicants.

An advantage in in the application review process.

So when we go to the next slide, again you can see on the screen a summary of the cases and and again it was released in the summer time. Myself I'm sure many of you who are attending this webinar you were paying attention to the case and and waiting for the decision to come out. And just to give you an overview of the scope of the decision and some of the impacts, the 1st and this is the high level one that race could no longer be considered.

On using that holistic methodology and what that means is that the identification of race and ethnicity that applicant select on the application that was no longer able to be considered in the review process. Also the they they said that the racial categories were too broad and an example of that would be Asians where Asian is a broad category and so how they they they said that students.

From one country where we're looked at differently than students in another and that that let open things up for stereotypes, Harvard and UNC were cited as following precedent, but that that precedent no longer meant district district scrutiny, which has been that standard that universities had to adhere to in their use of race and the application process. And so a couple things that that lived experiences something that.

Came out and I'll talk a little more about that and that universities could still do targeted recruitment in in the attempts to try to increase the pool of of students, diverse students who are looking at their particular institution. So those are a couple of the takeaways that are very, very important. And again I'm going to talk a little more about those things, those very things as we move forward in talking about the case impacts and how how we are looking at it.

At the University of Connecticut.

All right. So when we talk about the guidance and again I mentioned this earlier that universities did receive some guidance on the cases and how we should be interpreting them. We have been working with our legal counsel at UConn and and developing our plan moving forward. We had a work group on campus that had been talking about this for a number of months and and and so we're talking about all the different impacts, the outcomes and so we've been thinking about.

This and what we were going to be doing for a while. So some of the guidance is that we can collect demographic data. So the application question that asked for race and ethnicity that is still going to be collected on the applications and and so that's one thing that's still going to be done.

We've received guidance about redoubling our efforts on recruiting and retaining talented students from underserved communities and that's certainly a part of our plan. Diversity is important to the learning experience at UConn. And so again that's something that we're very, very focused on at UConn. We want to make sure that that our holistic review is holding true to again how we are looking at applicants lived experiences and and.

And again, we see leadership as very, very broad and and the fact that diversity and leadership go hand in hand and that's something that's very, very important in our review process and something that we are thinking about as we think about how we are considering applications, how we are reviewing applications in, in the admissions process at the University of Connecticut.

So if we wait for the next slide to come up, so you can see some of the key points moving forward that we are thinking about #1 personal impact, consider understanding how this decision weighs on the mental, mental health of our student population. And So what we mean by that is that we want to make sure that we are not contributing to any undue mental health burdens on our applicants. And what I mean by that is that we don't want students to feel that the only way they can be recognized in our.

Process is if they've had hardship, if they have, if they have obstacles that they've overcome. Lived experiences is very, very broad and we want students to feel emboldened to talk about those lived experiences and how race and ethnicity has impacted their lived experiences as an example. And so again, that's one of the points that we want to make sure we're making making clear with students and you and your roles and we hope that you can help us share that with with our populations.

Uh, the next thing is about Uconn's mission remains unchanged. We continue to embrace diversity, multiculturalism, integrity and engaged citizenship in our students, faculty, staff and alumni. So the decision came we're complying with the law, but that still that has no change to Uconn's mission and the importance of diversity. And so that's still very, very important in our application, excuse me, review process connects to that. And then.

Again, we are processed as I said is based on our mission. So the the mission of our institution is remains our North Star and again going back to that mission.

You can see on the screen Uconn's mission. And again, I'm not going to read it verbatim because again, you could see it on the screen and you're going to get a recording that shares our vision. But you can see in the middle of the mission, through research, teaching, service and outreach, we embrace diversity and cultivate leadership, integrity and engage citizenship in our students, faculty, staff and alumni. And so diversity still remains important.

To the learning experience and it's something that again is the foundation for the application review process at the University of Connecticut. So again, we know about the courts decision. We're going to be in here and adhering to it and we're going to talk to you more about some of our tactics moving forward that demonstrate our commitment to diversity. But again, I just want to emphasize that our mission remains the same and it has not been impacted or not changing.

As a result of the case and the decisions that were rendered back in the summer that that again we're going to be talking about in a second.

So the impact that UConn, again just to summarize some of the things that we talked about, the things that are no longer included. So race and ethnicity of an applicant is suppressed to our application readers. And so when our readers are looking at an application, they're going to have all the content of the application and the recommendations and the personal statements, essays, resumes, all of that information. Transcripts will still be available, but they will no longer see the race.

And ethnicity of an applicant and there are no proxies to race that are collected to be used in the application process. But what still is included is that applicants can still talk about their lived experiences. And again we want our students to feel comfortable about talking about their lived experiences and not feeling that they only have to talk about the the experiences in the negative sense. Certainly there are going to be circumstances that that's the best way to to share that.

Information and give us a window into the students background and experiences. But we don't want students to feel that that is the only way that they can share lived experiences and then the information that's shared through the recommendation letters. These are two things that that remain unchanged. They have been a part of the holistic review process. They remain a part of the holistic review process and we want your students to again feel comfortable.

About talking about those lived experiences and how they've impacted themselves, how it's impacted their life and it allows us to get that information that's going to be helpful for us as we are building the community at the University of Connecticut. That is very, very important to the the experiences that students get, are able to experience at the university and what makes the university frankly such an amazing place that our students.

Are able to have such amazing experiences at the university.

All right, talking about holistic review, again, I've said this a few times, but our commitment, our fidelity to holistic review remains unchanged in the sense that we are looking at many different factors that are part of our holistic review such as the academic record, such as test scores if they choose to submit those. But we remain test optional in students are not required to submit test scores as a part of our application.

Review process and when we say test optional, we mean that we're test optional in all different aspects about the application review process. And the review process has never been based on one sole criteria. It's been based on many different factors that are part of our application review process. And so I want to make sure to start that this subscription about holistic review is just to emphasize that our commitment to a holistic evaluation.

And ensuring that every single application that is reviewed by a reader is going to be looked at by an individual who is going to be taking into consideration all of the different aspects about the application. Because again, that is very, very important and it allows us to ultimately build the class of students in the application review process. But as I mentioned, we've heard from a number of you wanting more assistance, I'm wanting more guidance on how you can better.

Advise your students. And so we've started to create a number of resources, add them to our website, and one of the things I want to share with you is a video that we're going to be posting. And we think it's a good resource for you to be able to share with your students, with your families that give a nice overview about our holistic review and then some of the important aspects about the application review. So I'm going to play this video for you, hopefully it will be loading.

Very shortly, because again, my apologies for the connectivity issues that we've been experiencing on this webinar.

All right. So we created this video again because one of the things that I heard from a number of you, not only in my UConn director role, but also my role at NACAC is that you all share our commitment to diversity and want to make sure that our students understand how the cases are impacting them. And so we, we want to make sure that in our role at the university that we are providing these resources to really help you.

In your counseling of the students and understanding. And we want students to understand that our application review is still based on the mission, the mission of our institution and that diversity is important. And there are going to be examples where students are able to again tell us, share additional information about them themselves that will ultimately help us in the evaluation of the application. So these this video that we shared, again, it's going to be sent to you by e-mail and within 24 hours.

And it's also going to be posted to our website and we're going to be developing other resources to really help you in, in in advising students about the important parts of our application review process. And you can see on the screen, the personal essay, the points that you see on the bullets on the screen were reflected in that video. And so again, it's important for students to understand how important the essay is for them to be able to share their voice, but.

Again, to stress how we as an admissions office will be looking at the SA. We'll be looking at their personal statements, the other examples, how they talk about their own lived experiences, their background, their perspectives. All of these things are very, very important to us. And then when you're talking about the letter of recommendations and and how important they are and to stress to you again as school counselors, as CBOCBO.

Or as i.e. C's that we review all of the components of the application, including the letters of recommendation, and so while they are not required, we want to stress to you that it is just not a wasted exercise. It is something that that we pay very close attention to and it does allow us again to get better understanding about the applicant. And so this is an opportunity for you to be able to share more about the students and talk about their experiences.

In their background, if you're aware of those and how they've impacted the students, one of the things I'm going to the next screen that wanted to stress with you is that again a Yukon, we've been talking about this the, the, the cases and the potential impact of the cases for a while now. And what you see on the screen is a message to the community that was was sent out way back in October, so when the oral arguments were being heard at the Supreme Court.

Again, we wanted to make sure that we were out front. We were being proactive and affirming our commitment to diversity at the university. And you can see an excerpt from that statement that our president, Doctor Merrick, set out. Stressing again the the university's mission and how it is important that we have students from all different backgrounds and races and ethnicities because that's all. That's the only way that we can have the optimal learning experience.

One of the things that would, one of the reasons why we felt this was very, very important is because one of the things that we do not want to have happen is that students interpreting the decision as UConn saying that diversity was not important to us. And so we want students to hear from the highest levels of the university that diversity continues to be very, very important to us. It is something that is still essential to our review process.

The mission still is the foundation of our application review process. And so these type of statements, examples of the outreach and engagement that we're doing, the resources that I shared with you that that are really emphasizing the points of emphasis in our application review process. Our hope is that this information gets out to our students and and that they still see University of Connecticut as a viable option. And so just talking about some of the different tools.

That we are using in our again commitment to diversity and making sure that that we continue with strategies that that will help in enroll A diverse student body. We continue with our training of our staff and application readers about the holistic review process and what the holistic review process means and that it's not just based on one things, one thing and that the all the components.

Of the application are very, very important.

And that we won't Raider readers to understand that that is key to our ability to build a class of students who are going to achieve the educational mission of our institution. We hold a number of application and recruitment webinars and FAFSA completion workshops throughout. We make those workshops, those webinars, available on demand on the school counselor website. So feel please feel free to view that at any time.

To be able to get the latest content webinars that we have on this area, we do make use of again different venues as far as sharing our visit opportunities to learn more about the university. And so we continue with that active engagement about that and there are many different populations that we work with as far as our outreach, one important group are are alumni affinity groups and so working with those groups who assist.

In the recruitment of our students. So again we students are able to hear about our commitment to diversity from from, from folks beyond the admissions office. It it truly is a campus wide commitment and something that we are very, very important, we are very, very focused on. One of the things and and that I again want to talk about is our enhanced support to schools, community based organizations and in particular in the state of Connecticut.

Our alliance districts. And so we want to make sure that we are making ourselves available as a resource. If there are programs, if there are workshops that you would like to have somebody from the admissions office reach out and and come and speak to you all. I'm going to be sharing information about our contact information. So please feel free to reach out to us because again we want to make sure we're partners in this. We want to make sure that we are our resources.

Um, in our ability to be able to enroll the diverse student body that we hold, very important at the university. And then last but certainly not least, we are affirming our commitment to diversity and highlighting our different resources. So, for example, we have 7 cultural centers and programs. We have a very, very active and and and vibrant Office of Diversity and Inclusion that provides a number of services and resources for our students.

And diversity is embedded in the entire learning experience. And so it's not just reserved for our underserved students. Our commitment to diversity and how it's reflected can be seen and felt by all of the students at the university. And that's important for you all to be aware of as you're talking to your students about the University of Connecticut. And so I just want to wrap up by just sharing some contact information with you again.

My name Vern Granger and you can see our admissions office website which prevent which contains a lot of great information admissions.uconn.edu including a link to our Our Counselor resources e-mail address, telephone number. And then I want to introduce you to a couple other contacts. You see Heather Schrang's name and her e-mail address on the screen. One of the staff members in the office is is overseas, our Counselor and CBOE.

Engagement. And so Heather is a great resource to touch base with about some of the resources that you may want to see more of or from from your perspective, from your seat, because again, we know the vital role that you all play in working with our students. And so Heather is a great resource, but I also want to make mention of our staff website and you can see that on the screen. I'm admissions.yukon.edu.

Slash connect slash staff and on that screen you will be able to find the contact information for all of our territory managers in the admissions office by territory. So for instance if you are viewing this this webinar from Louisiana and you would like to know who is the territory manager in your particular area, I would like to invite that person to see if they can do a webinar for us or come visit our campus.

You can go to that staff page and you can get the contact information to reach out to those individuals. So wanted to make sure we we concluded with the contact information for you to be able to contact us if you have any additional questions, follow up suggestions about some of the things that we can do to be able to serve as better partners to be able to assist you in the jobs, the important work that you were all doing. The last thing I want to mention is just a a reminder.

About an Admissions Financial Aid informational webinar that we will be conducting about the University of Connecticut on Wednesday, October the 4th at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. You will be getting an e-mail about that event and registry registration information for it. It is a virtual event that you will be getting an e-mail about. So some more specific questions about the actual application review process are going to be reflected, are going to be shared.

At that webinar on October the 4th. And so I want to thank you all for taking time out of your schedules to to sit in on this very, very important topic about how the SCOTUS decision is has an impact on the admissions process. And and hear about some of the ways, some of the resources that we are designing and preparing to help you understand how the case has impacted our admissions process moving forward. So thank you all very, very, very, very much for your time.

And please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any additional questions. So thank you all very, very much and have a great rest of your day.