> SFU eases admission exam requirements
SFU eases admission exam requirements
Contact:
Bill Krane, Associate Vice-President, Academic, 778.782.4636, krane@sfu.ca
Kate Ross, Registrar, 778.782.4176, kuross@sfu.ca
Bill Krane, Associate Vice-President, Academic, 778.782.4636, krane@sfu.ca
Kate Ross, Registrar, 778.782.4176, kuross@sfu.ca
July 8, 2008
Simon Fraser University has decided to ease the requirement of four provincial Grade 12 exams for admission to the university.
Beginning with fall 2009 admissions, prospective SFU students will now need to have a high-school graduation certificate and to have passed only one provincial Grade 12 exam: English 12 (or Language Arts 12, or the new English 12 First Peoples that comes into effect in September).
SFU's past practice has been to require incoming students to have their “Dogwood” graduation certificate, a pass in Grade 12 English and passes in three other Grade 12 exams.
The change was approved Monday night by the SFU Senate, the body responsible for academic governance. An easing of exam requirements was previously approved by the University of Victoria (last December) and the University of B.C. (in May).
An SFU senate committee that proposed changing SFU’s requirements said it would help SFU compete for students with such universities as Toronto, Queens, McGill, Waterloo, Dalhousie and Guelph. Those institutions all accept high-school class marks and have no provincial exams. (Only B.C. and Alberta do.)
Committee chair Bill Krane, SFU’s associate academic vice-president, said easing the SFU requirements would give prospective students more and earlier certainty about the fate of their applications to SFU, and would permit earlier decisions on scholarship awards. “Timing is often critical in attracting high-calibre students,” said Krane.
B.C. now requires for high-school graduation a pass in Grade 12 English, plus four other exam passes in a list of subjects spanning Grades 10-12. Those four passes therefore do not have to include Grade 12 exams.
B.C. high schools say fewer and fewer senior students are writing optional Grade 12 exams because an increasing number of universities, colleges and technical schools are considering only class marks only when making admission decisions.
Krane’s report to the SFU senate said:
“Presently, almost all B.C. Grade 12 students admitted to SFU are given admission offers prior to writing provincial exams, based on self-reported or interim grades. Final marks are only used to revoke admission offers.
“B.C. Transfer students from the colleges and university-colleges are admitted based on their college grades. Most colleges eliminated the requirement for optional B.C.12 exams last year.
“Students from other provinces are admitted without the equivalents of B.C. Grade 12 examinations.
“B.C.12 final grades arrive in August, making it all but impossible to effectively use the grades in our present admission process.”
If a prospective student does write optional Grade 12 exams the results would be used by SFU only if they increased the student's admission average.
The 60-member SFU senate includes faculty members, students, deans, and senior administrators.
Beginning with fall 2009 admissions, prospective SFU students will now need to have a high-school graduation certificate and to have passed only one provincial Grade 12 exam: English 12 (or Language Arts 12, or the new English 12 First Peoples that comes into effect in September).
SFU's past practice has been to require incoming students to have their “Dogwood” graduation certificate, a pass in Grade 12 English and passes in three other Grade 12 exams.
The change was approved Monday night by the SFU Senate, the body responsible for academic governance. An easing of exam requirements was previously approved by the University of Victoria (last December) and the University of B.C. (in May).
An SFU senate committee that proposed changing SFU’s requirements said it would help SFU compete for students with such universities as Toronto, Queens, McGill, Waterloo, Dalhousie and Guelph. Those institutions all accept high-school class marks and have no provincial exams. (Only B.C. and Alberta do.)
Committee chair Bill Krane, SFU’s associate academic vice-president, said easing the SFU requirements would give prospective students more and earlier certainty about the fate of their applications to SFU, and would permit earlier decisions on scholarship awards. “Timing is often critical in attracting high-calibre students,” said Krane.
B.C. now requires for high-school graduation a pass in Grade 12 English, plus four other exam passes in a list of subjects spanning Grades 10-12. Those four passes therefore do not have to include Grade 12 exams.
B.C. high schools say fewer and fewer senior students are writing optional Grade 12 exams because an increasing number of universities, colleges and technical schools are considering only class marks only when making admission decisions.
Krane’s report to the SFU senate said:
“Presently, almost all B.C. Grade 12 students admitted to SFU are given admission offers prior to writing provincial exams, based on self-reported or interim grades. Final marks are only used to revoke admission offers.
“B.C. Transfer students from the colleges and university-colleges are admitted based on their college grades. Most colleges eliminated the requirement for optional B.C.12 exams last year.
“Students from other provinces are admitted without the equivalents of B.C. Grade 12 examinations.
“B.C.12 final grades arrive in August, making it all but impossible to effectively use the grades in our present admission process.”
If a prospective student does write optional Grade 12 exams the results would be used by SFU only if they increased the student's admission average.
The 60-member SFU senate includes faculty members, students, deans, and senior administrators.