Senate Bill No. 0607-07
UNIVERSITY SENATE
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Introduced by:
Undergraduate Academic Council
Date:
December 6, 2006
PROPOSED REVISION OF SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSION AND RETENTION REQUIREMENTS
IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED THAT THE FOLLOWING BE ADOPTED:
1.
That the attached proposed revision of the admission and retention requirements to the
Business Administration and Accounting majors in the School of Business be
approved by the University Senate.
2.
That this proposal be forwarded to the President for approval.
3.
That the revision take effect for students admitted to the University for Fall 2007.
Proposal: Change in Admissions Standards for Freshmen and Transfer Students
Freshmen
The original text in the undergraduate bulletin for students admitted as freshmen
to the university and interested in formal admission to the School of Business is
listed below in plain text. The proposed changes are in bold-face text. The
sections of text from the Bulletin in red italics remain the same.
“To remain a School of Business major during the freshman and sophomore years, each
student must meet the retention standards set by the School of Business.
To remain a School of Business major after their freshman year at the
University at Albany, each student must meet the retention standards set by the
School of Business.
These standards require students to maintain a B (3.00) overall average at the University at
Albany and at least a B- (2.70) average for the designated admission core course categories
taken at Albany.
These standards require students to have achieved at least a 3.10
overall average by the end of each of their third and fourth
semesters at the university and at least a 2.85 average for the
designated admission core course categories taken at Albany.
To remain a School of Business major, students must also have satisfactorily completed
any five of the seven admission core course categories after three semesters at the
University, and all seven (7) of the admission core course categories after four (4)
semesters at the University. (Note: all core course categories not completed prior to
matriculation must be taken at the University and graded on an A–E basis.) These
categories are: (1) B Acc 211, (2) B Itm 215 or A Csi 101 or A Csi 201, (3) A Mat 108
or B Itm 220 or A Eco 320; (4) A Eco 110, (5) A Eco 111, (6) A Psy 101, and (7) A Soc
115Z or 115 or A Ant 108Z or 108. In addition, students must have completed a total of
at least 56 degree applicable credits after four semesters at the University to remain a
School of Business major.
Students’ records will be evaluated after their second semester, and those falling below the
retention standards will receive a warning letter indicating they are in jeopardy of losing
their status as a School of Business major. Students’ records will again be evaluated after
their third and fourth semester to determine that all of the above retention standards have
been met.
Students in the School of Business who have attained junior standing (i.e., 56 degree
applicable credits) and who have met all the retention standards shall be eligible to
enroll in the upper division School of Business courses.”
Transfer Students
The original text in the undergraduate bulletin for transfer students seeking
admission to the School of Business is listed below in plain text. The proposed
changes are in bold-face text. The sections of text in italics and red remain the
same.
“Initial Admission of Transfers with Sophomore Standing or Above to the School of
Business:
All students admitted to the University for summer 1995 or thereafter whose basis of
admission is “TRANSFER” can be admitted to the School of Business by declaring their
major as either Accounting or Business Administration at the time of their application to the
University as long as they will have met the following criteria:
Students must have completed a total of at least 24 degree applicable credits by the end of
the spring semester preceding their summer or fall admission to the University, or by the end
of the fall semester preceding their spring admission to the University. They must also have
a final cumulative average of B (3.00) or higher and have maintained at least a B- (2.70)
average in any designated core course categories completed elsewhere prior to
matriculation.
Students must have completed a total of at least 32 degree applicable credits by the end
of the spring semester preceding their summer or fall admission to the University, or
by the end of the fall semester preceding their spring admission to the University. They
must also have a final cumulative average of 3.10 or higher and have completed
elsewhere a minimum of 4 of the designated admission core courses with at least a 2.85
average prior to matriculation.
(1) To remain a School of Business major, each student must meet the retention standards
set by the School of Business. These standards require students to maintain a B (3.00)
overall average at the University at Albany and at least a B- (2.70) average for the
designated admission core course categories taken at Albany.
(2) To remain a School of Business major, students must also have satisfactorily completed
all seven of the admission core course categories after two semesters at the University.
These categories are: (1) B Acc 211, (2) B Itm 215 or A Csi 101 or A Csi 201, (3) A Mat
108 or B Itm 220 or A Eco 320; (4) A Eco 110, (5) A Eco 111, (6) A Psy 101, and (7) A Soc
115Z or 115 or A Ant 108Z or 108. (Note: all core course categories not completed prior to
matriculation must be taken at the University and graded on an A–E basis.) They must also
have achieved 56 degree applicable degree credits after two semesters at the University.
(3) Students in the School of Business who have attained junior standing (i.e., 56 degree applicable
credit) and who have met all the retention standards shall be eligible to enroll in the upper division
School of Business courses.”
The following paragraph on replaces the three paragraphs on the previous page.
To remain a School of Business major, students must achieve a minimum overall
average at the University at Albany of at least a 3.10 and a minimum 2.85 average for
the designated admission core course categories taken at UAlbany. They must also
have satisfactorily completed all seven of the admission core course categories after
two semesters at the University. These categories are: (1) B Acc 211, (2) B Itm 215 or
A Csi 101 or A Csi 201, (3) A Mat 108 or B Itm 220 or A Eco 320; (4) A Eco 110, (5)
A Eco 111, (6) A Psy 101, and (7) A Soc 115Z or 115 or A Ant 108Z or 108. (Note: all
core course categories not completed prior to matriculation must be taken at the
University and graded on an A–E basis.) Additionally, they must have achieved 56
degree applicable degree credits after two semesters at the University.
RATIONALE:
TO:
Undergraduate Academic Council
FROM:
Paul A. Leonard Dean, School of Business
DATE:
22-September-2006
SUBJECT:
Rationale
for
change
in
admissions standards
CC:
Susan Maloney
John Levato
The School of Business had its Association to Advance Collegiate Schools
of Business (AACSB) maintenance of accreditation review in January-
2006. One of the deficiencies cited by the visit team was the school’s
high level of enrollments relative to the size of the faculty and the
resulting adverse impact on class size. The visit team stated:
The size of the tenure track faculty has fallen since the last
accreditation visit and the student population has grown.
There is continuing pressure to expand the student
population. The result of these circumstances is that class
size is larger than the classroom capacity in many of the
programs. The average class size for required bachelor’s
degree courses at Albany is 159 students - three times the
average of their peer schools.
In response to this issue, the school submitted an enrollment
management plan to Wayne Locust, vice provost for enrollment
management.
The portion of the enrollment plan concerning
undergraduate enrollments is stated below:
Current enrollment levels make it impossible for the School of
Business to achieve its goals and to maintain its AACSB
accreditation. For the fall 2005 semester, the School of
Business had 921 undergraduates; our undergraduate
enrollment target is 850 students. For the spring 2006
semester, our undergraduate enrollments are approaching
950. As the data in the table below show, undergraduate
enrollments have increased by almost 100 students since fall
2002. A substantial portion of the growth in undergraduate
enrollments can be attributed to the dramatic increase in the
number of transfer students. For the fall 2005 semester, the
School admitted approximately 180 transfer students, or
about 40% of newly admitted students.
The additional students have had serious negative impacts on
the quality of the educational experience for all School of
Business students. Average class size has increased and in
many courses there are more students than available
classroom seats. The additional undergraduate students have
also severely
School of Business Enrollments
Fall 2002 to Fall 2005
Fall
2002
Fall
2003
Fall
2004
Fall
2005
Undergraduate
851
871
899
921
Graduate
491*
462
463
518
Total
1,342*
1,333
1,362
1,439
Percent Graduate
(%)
36.6
34.7
34.0
36.0
* Includes Zurich MBA enrollments
strained the School’s ability to provide high quality
advisement and career services. The advisement problem is
especially severe for the large number of transfer students
who are admitted to the School during the summer. Not only
are transfer students admitted in increasingly large numbers,
but many students are admitted immediately before the
beginning of the semester. This makes it almost impossible to
provide advisement and to find appropriate classes. An
additional concern is the weaker academic performance of
transfer students, especially those who are admitted to the
School late in the summer.
To achieve its vision and maintain its accreditation, the School
must get its undergraduate enrollments back to 850. To do
so, the School of Business is taking several actions:
1. The School is preparing a proposal to raise its
admissions standards to an overall GPA of 3.1 (up from
3.0) and a GPA of 2.85 (up from 2.7) in the business
core courses.
2. The School is preparing a proposal to establish an
admissions deadline for transfer students.
3. The School is preparing a proposal to require transfer
students to complete a minimum number of the
business core course before admission is granted.
4. The School has proposed a change in the way transfer
students are advised during the summer to avoid days
when the number of students needing advisements
exceeds our ability to provide advisement.
The school’s request to reduce undergraduate enrollments back to its
historical target of 850 was accepted by the vice provost.
The need to change admissions standards is necessary if the school is to
get its enrollments back to 850, a step considered necessary to maintain
its AACSB accreditation. Preliminary enrollment figures for fall 2006
indicate that the school has 946 undergraduates, indicating that current
admissions standards are too lenient. The classroom overcrowding
situation also continues to be a problem that is having negative impacts
on the quality of the education provided to UAlbany students. By
approving the proposed changes in admissions standards, the School of
Business will be able to retain its accreditation and improve the
educational experience of its students.
