Planning the right recipe for success

Any way you slice the academic pizza, the bottom-line standard for admission into IU-Bloomington will go up. Right now, administrators and high-ranking officials seem to agree that standards will have to be raised some way or another. The current debate, though, primarily concerns what kinds of emphases -- or toppings, if you will -- the IU board of trustees will sprinkle on our beloved Italian pie, as well as the proper way to cook this academic pizza and raise our standards.\nThe most contentious item for debate is Trustee Thomas Reilly Jr.'s proposal for creating an SAT minimum for incoming students, something that could be incrementally raised to bump up our admissions standards. We don't believe establishing a minimum SAT requirement is the best way raise academic standards, especially if it becomes the "be all, end all" admission standard. \nSome students don't test well, and the SATs aren't a reasonable gauge for a student's potential academic success. Raising the SAT score minimums could prove to be an accidentally biased solution, too, as some students of differing economic statuses and races show different performance levels on such exams.\nFocusing on something more like the rankings of potential students in their graduating classes would seem more equitable, if not certainly more fair.\nEstablishing such a standard might actually be a rash decision, though. Our standards will inevitably raise themselves, and some alterations to the current admissions process would allow for the same desired standard increase in a more equal way. \nEach year, more and more students apply to college, but IU is out of room to grow. As long as interest in the campus continues to grow, even at a fraction of the pace it has grown in the last few decades, administrators will have a larger pool of candidates. More potential students should translate into higher academic performances from incoming freshmen, and administrators can be increasingly selective for IUB.\nAdditionally, IUB should focus on a well-rounded application process. Why shouldn't we have a application essay, common to even the smallest of scholarship applications? This would allow administrators another facet to decide admission -- one that doesn't necessarily correlate with economic status. This could also serve to further our academic prowess and \nsimultaneously advance equality of opportunity in Indiana.\nFurthermore, if IUB admission standards climb upward, then more focus should be placed on IU satellite campuses to continue providing a strong public education to the entire state, which is our primary academic mission.\nSuch decisions on behalf of the administration would be part of a larger recipe for IU's success. Let's help the quality of our institution and make the academic pizza available to all who want a slice. We're confident IU can deliver on that order -- although we're not expecting it to be in 30 minutes or less.