Examination of Admissions Criteria in Higher Education Graduate Preparatory Programs
Location
Session 1 Presentations - Higher Education
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Regardless of whether graduate preparatory programs in Higher Education/Student Affairs (HE/SA) desire to be highly selective or open access, faculty and program directors should seek additional insight into those applying to their programs. Recognizing the national movement to remove the GRE/ETS requirements from HE/SA graduate admissions, it’s likely that faculty will need to focus on undergraduate G.P.A., quality of writing, and recommendation forms/letters. This reinforces there is clearly a need to empirically study these admission criterions and their correlation to student success once matriculated into the program. Faculty should now be positioned to systematically examine their admission’s decisions and/or providing interventions to at-risk students based on deficiencies found in their admission application. This presentation will explore this topic and serve as a calling for empirical research.
Keywords
graduate admissions, higher education, student affairs, professional preparation
Professional Bio
Steven Tolman is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education Administration at Georgia Southern University. His previous roles included serving as a Higher Education Administration program director and 12 years as a student affairs administrator. He holds a Doctorate from Rutgers University, Master’s from Texas Tech University, and Bachelor’s from Central Michigan University. His research is theoretically informed and guided by the tenets of student development theory. In particular, he explores the application of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Kolb’s Experiential Learning, Sanford’s Model of Challenge and Support, and Astin’s Theory of Involvement. This theoretical framework is intertwined with the two streams of his scholarly agenda: 1) The profession of student affairs and 2) The residential and co-curricular experience of college students.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Tolman, Steve and O'Halloran, Kimberly, "Examination of Admissions Criteria in Higher Education Graduate Preparatory Programs" (2021). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 9.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2021/2021/9
Examination of Admissions Criteria in Higher Education Graduate Preparatory Programs
Session 1 Presentations - Higher Education
Regardless of whether graduate preparatory programs in Higher Education/Student Affairs (HE/SA) desire to be highly selective or open access, faculty and program directors should seek additional insight into those applying to their programs. Recognizing the national movement to remove the GRE/ETS requirements from HE/SA graduate admissions, it’s likely that faculty will need to focus on undergraduate G.P.A., quality of writing, and recommendation forms/letters. This reinforces there is clearly a need to empirically study these admission criterions and their correlation to student success once matriculated into the program. Faculty should now be positioned to systematically examine their admission’s decisions and/or providing interventions to at-risk students based on deficiencies found in their admission application. This presentation will explore this topic and serve as a calling for empirical research.
