Background Information for Student Affairs Personnel
A group of concerned student services leaders brought a resolution to the 2012 AACP House of Delegates recommending that the academy adopt a guideline related to the management of admissions. The motivation for the resolution was first and foremost the need for fairness for applicants, but they also had examined the experience of other health professions that had adopted cooperative admissions guidelines or admissions “traffic rules.” They recognized that such a guideline could offer transparency for applicants with respect to what the community had agreed to in terms of the timing of admissions decisions and related financial transactions. For the schools, it could establish clear expectations for students that they would make a decision to hold only one admissions offer by a date in early spring rather than waiting until much later in the application cycle before relinquishing multiple offers, leveling the playing field. The Bylaws and Policy Development Committee determined that the proposed guideline was not a statement of educational policy and the matter did not come to the House for a vote.
The recommendation to adopt the Cooperative Admissions Guidelines resurfaced as part of the deliberations of the Special Committee on Admissions appointed by AACP President Peggy Piascik in 2013. This committee presented a draft guideline to the Board of Directors in July 2014. The Board recognized that this was a significant issue for which more information was needed prior to making a decision. In the two years since the special committee submitted the guideline for Board approval there has been a significant amount of communication with academy members on this matter. This has included a board/member taskforce, town hall sessions, surveys, webinars, and individual conversations with deans and admissions staff.
During the November 14–15, 2016 Board meeting the Board approved the statements below and the Cooperative Admissions Guideline:
