Admissions Process Review

Background

The Undergraduate Admissions Process Review project was a Registrar’s Office-led initiative that aimed to

• define current processes, including reimagining the Admissions Information Form (AIF)
• Identify operational challenges and seek productivity gains
• identify barriers to equity and anti-racism

The project was motivated, in part, by the need to change supporting technology (OnBase) as well as the desire to understand and implement best practices to ensure inclusive, equitable admissions. The project was informed by the work done by the President’s Anti-Racism Taskforce and the Scarborough Charter. 

Project Team

The project team was comprised of the following team members.

Scope and Stakeholders

The project considered all processes within the timeline of UW receiving an application for admission to communicating the admission decision.  Not included in the scope of the project was Ontario University Application Centre data, sociodemographic data, recruitment, marketing and outreach and student support upon enrollment.

Stakeholders included individuals from the Faculties and Schools who lead undergraduate admissions; key individuals from the Registrar’s Office; and key partners across campus. It is worth noting that consultations happened across a broad spectrum of stakeholders:

• 11 Faculties and Schools (with four of these having centralized admissions out of the RO)
• 72 individuals in total

Project Approach

• Information gathering
  • Collected existing documents from stakeholders.
  • Collated interview questions and scoring rubrics, assessment guides, policies and decision weighting details.
• Process mapping
  • Created 18 unique process maps documenting current admissions processes.
  • Held 11 validation meetings to confirm the accuracy of these maps.
• Equity and Anti-Racism training
  • A training session called Equity 101 was offered to all stakeholders by the Equity Specialist
• Broader context gathering
  • The Project Team held conversations with various campus organizations and student groups to gain perspective on how admissions processes are understood and navigated outside of the Registrar’s Office and the Faculty and School stakeholders.
• Equity audit
  • An equity audit of current admissions practices led by the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism and the Office of Indigenous Relations.
  • Key considerations included.
    • Black, Indigenous, and other racialized applicants.
    • Applicants with disabilities and those who require special consideration.
    • How areas of strength in certain Faculties and Schools that could be leveraged across campus.
• Focus groups
  • Focus group meetings were held with each of the Faculties and Schools participating in the project. Features of each meeting included:
    • Stakeholders grouped by Faculty or School
    • A limited participant lists.
    • 1-2 hours of discussion, with multiple meetings for more competitive programs
    • Reference material and questions provided in advance.
• Drafting recommendations
  • 50 recommendations were drafted and grouped into 9 categories.
    • Transparency and Centralization
    • Non-Academic Admissions Requirements
    • Professionalism and Employability
    • Accommodations         
    • Data
    • Human Resources
    • Training
    • Operations
    • Out of Scope
• Feedback sessions
  • Shared recommendation with stakeholders in advance of a feedback meeting
  • Feedback sessions included a senior project team member (Sponsor or Project Owner)
  • Discussion was unstructured and driven by reactions and questions.
  • Meetings were used to gather understanding of support and areas of resistance to bring forward to Senior Leadership
• Recommendations finalized

Since of the project, work has been underway to implement many of the recommendations provided, including improvements to the Special Consideration form and processes.