Report 2019-113 Recommendation 6 Responses

Report 2019-113: The University of California: Qualified Students Face an Inconsistent and Unfair Admissions System That Has Been Improperly Influenced by Relationships and Monetary Donations (Release Date: September 2020)

Recommendation #6 To: University of California

To provide assurance that campuses' use of the admission by exception policy is aligned with the policy's purpose, beginning in June 2021, the Office of the President should annually select a random sample of applicants admitted by exception and verify that campuses recorded a rationale for each admission and that each rationale aligns with BOARS's guidance.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022

The Office of the President is unable to independently determine the eligibility status of all applicants. The algorithms in place in the application program provide a preliminary eligibility determination for the majority of applicants, but there are many scenarios in which only a trained reader can identify and resolve issues of eligibility. The Office of the President does not review individual applications. Therefore, the campuses are best equipped to make those determinations.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

The Office of the President implemented this recommendation by developing campus guidelines and a selection methodology to randomly sample applicants admitted by exception from fall 2021 and verified that campuses recorded a rationale for each admission and that each rationale aligns with BOARS's guidance. This process will continue on an annual basis.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented

The Office of the President provided its report on its audit of admissions by exception, wherein it described that it randomly selected applicants whom the campuses coded for admission, validated that the campuses provided a rationale for those admissions, and confirmed by reviewing the application that the admission by exception aligned with BOARS guidance on permissible reasons for admitting applicants by exception. Although this process can verify that campuses record appropriate rationales when admitting applicants by exception, it reviews only applicants whom the campuses reported were admitted by exception. Because it relies on the campuses reporting, this review process does not ensure that campuses appropriately identify all ineligible students that they admit. To properly verify that campuses identify all ineligible students that they admit and provide a rationale for doing so, the Office of the President must independently determine the actual number of applicants who were ineligible, and verify that the campuses provided appropriate rationales for admitting those applicants.

6-Month Agency Response

Campuses have established practices for Admissions by Exception policy, however UCOP located gaps in training and/or documentation from some of the campuses. UCOP has requested additional materials to verify training protocols and stronger language in the documentation.

Also, the annual random sampling will begin in June 2021, when the Office of the President will review Admission by Exception reported by campuses by selecting a random sample of applicants admitted by exception to verify that campuses recorded a rationale for each admission and that each rationale aligns with BOARS's guidance.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

Beginning in June 2021, the Office of the President will review annually Admission by Exception reported by campuses and annually select a random sample of applicants admitted by exception to verify that campuses recorded a rationale for each admission and that each rationale aligns with BOARS's guidance.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2019-113

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.