Our goal is to fill the open slots with the best out there because we are trying to build a world-class university," Ken Pitts quoted Provost Nariman saying in an article in yesterday's Diamondback. Admirable words with a positive outlook for the future of our university. Enlisting the help of world-class faculty to persuade applicants who have been accepted to choose this university over others is an extra push the university is taking to try to ensure the cream of the crop for the incoming freshmen, but will faculty alone be enough?
Twenty-seven thousand applications were received for about 4,000 undergraduate spots for the class of 2012. While the university boasts an average applicant GPA of 4.0 and an SAT score averaging between 1250 and 1390, would we be shocked if students with outstanding credentials weren't so quick to declare this university as their destination in the fall? Not really.
While faculty might be stepping up their game to get students to commit to the university, administrators need to start looking at current situations, which might deter exemplary students from wanting to come here. Instead of focusing on long-term bragging rights in terms of GPA and SAT scores, perhaps adequate housing and a sense of security on and off the campus would be a good place to start. Is a standout student with the potential to shine among a student body of 25,000 going to accept a spot at a university that won't provide housing? Or will they look to other institutions where their excellence will really be treated as such, and their years as a student will be valued as much by the university as it is by him or her? How many of the university's brightest students were kicked off the campus as juniors and seniors in recent years? Does this situation really scream, "We care about your excellence"? Of course not.
Looking beyond the housing crisis, the university needs to emphasize all it has to offer. While the business school might be our academic claim to fame, many other departments have award-winning faculty and programs that go underrated when trying to entice students to join the Terrapin family. Emphasizing the potential for growth to stand out in these lesser-known departments could help encourage students who long for a chance to break out to truly consider this university over other renowned public universities. We have these advantages, why not use them?
With the creation of East Campus in the works, discussions on the table with about how to solve the current housing crisis and world-class academic and sports programs, the university has a unique opportunity to go beyond words and achieve a new level of excellence in terms of academics, potential for growth and collegiate experience for its students. But change needs to come quicker in order to secure our status as a world-class university. Long-term goals are good to have, but short-term sights of what needs to be accomplished now will help ensure that future applicants will have a reason to sign on. A project that will be completed in six years won't make any incoming freshmen eager to consider our university, but goals that are conceivable within their tenure as a student give them reason to believe the university is working toward a better experience for them. After all, we cannot expect our applicants to give the very best of themselves to a university that will not give them the same in return.
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