The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 19, 1999 Page: 7 of 24
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THE KICK THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19.
1999
Two-part application new this fall
TWO-PART, from Page 1
creased to 17 from last year's eight;
for Hispanic students, they in-
creased to 45 from 28.
Wright said that although the
change to a two-part application
has been the major factor in this
year's application increase, good
publicity has also been important.
She cited Rice's rankings in na-
tional magazines and positive com-
ments in the Princeton Review and
Kaplan college books, as well as
new brochures published by the
Admission Office.
In addition to making the appli-
cation process easier for students,
the new two-part application pro-
cess allows the Admission Office
to be more efficient. Browning
said. "Having this part one/part
two process has allowed us to be-
gin assembling folders and work-
ing on the application process ear-
lier," she said.
All but one of the schools in
Rice's consortium group, which
includes about 30 of the most se-
lective universities in the country
including Massachusetts Institute
of Technology and Stanford,
Harvard, Duke and Princeton Uni-
versities, have two-part applica-
tions.
The new application also allows
for the more efficient use of alumni
interviewers, Wright said, because
only students who have already
applied are assigned interviewers.
The only downside of the sys-
tem, she said, is that the people
handling the applications have to
do two mailings instead of one.
"In the beginning it did take a
little longer to get the part twos
out on time. [Part two] is sup-
posed to go out within 24 hours,
and that didn't happen in the very
beginning, but it's going out very
routinely now," Wright said.
Students now receive part two
of the application four to six days
after sending in part one, Wright
said. Students who were late in
sending part one and were con-
cerned about meeting part two's
Nov. 1 deadline were advised to
use the Common Application or
look up Rice's application on the
Web: The Admission Office ex-
tended the deadline for students
whose applications were late for
this reason.
The completion rate is slightly
lower for two-part applications,
Wright said.
"When people apply in August,
their plans may change by the time
they get around to the latter part
of [the application process],"
Wright said. "So my experience
with other institutions is that the
completion rate is about 5 percent
lower." Students who send in only
part one are still counted as appli-
cants for statistics such as the ac-
ceptance rate, Wright said.
With last'year's introduction of
bar codes on the forms, the Ad-
mission Office has 'been able to
better answer applicants' ques-
tions about which parts of an appli-
cation have been received, Brown-
ing said. Each part is identified by
a pre-printed code, and students
are sent a sheet of labels carrying
their personal information to affix
to the forms in part two.
The increase of early decision
applications will not necessarily
mean an increase in early deci-
sions acceptances, Browning
said.
"We don't know until we look
at the strength of the applicant
pool. Just because applications are
up doesn't mean that quality went
up," Browning said. "We'll respond
to the strength of pool."
Exeter system problematic
Rice offers some benefits to domestic partners
RICE, from Page 1
benefits to students' domestic part-
ners under the Rice health insur-
ance policy. Despite a 1997 resolu-
tion by the Faculty Council to the
Board of Trustees, the same ben-
efits have not been extended to fac-
ulty and staff. The university does
offer benefits such as Cohen House,
library and gym privileges to do-
mestic partners.
The resolution, proposed and
written by External Affairs Vice
President Merritt McAlister, states,
"Rice University does discriminate
on the basis of sexual orientation;
same sex domestic partners of Rice
faculty and staff are not eligible to
receive the same benefits for their
partners that heterosexual faculty
and staff receive for their opposite-
sex partners."
'Rice University does
discriminate on the
basis of sexual
orientation.'
— From the SA resolution
The resolution was submitted
Thursday to President Malcolm Gil-
lis, Vice President for Student Af-
fairs Zenaido Camacho, Associate
Director of Student Activities Mona
Hicks and Assistant Dean for Stu-
dent Affairs Cathi Clack.
Huffer is the chair of an ad hoc
committee she helped form last
spring to address the issue of ben-
efits for same-sex domestic partners.
She said she believes the issue will
be resolved. "I feel very hopeful, and
I think that it makes a huge differ-
ence that the students passed this
resolution," Huffer said.
McAlister said the SA resolution is
a way to educate people about the
issue. "When you feel there's an is-
sue of inequity and discrimination,
you try all the avenues you can to
change it," she said.
EXETER, from Page 1
said.
McFarland said these courses
have not'yet been added because it
was not a priority at the beginning of
the semester when the administra-
tive offices upgraded to the Exeter
program.
' We will have a
ceremony [for the old
program] and send it
to sea.'
— Barry McFarland
Acting Registrar
"We decided earlier this year
that it would be more important to
do the things that would get the
students started for the year, know-
ing we would have to catch up
later," McFarland said. "There are
so many people and so many hours
in the day, and you just have to
decide what you need first and the
most."
Vice President for Enrollment
Ann Wright agreed that degnpe au-
dits are late because they were a
lower priority than registration ear-
lier in the semester.
"We required staff to work on
registration earlier, obviously, so
they are running a little behind in
this area," Wright said.
McFarland said he thought de-
gree audits would be available last
Friday, but he expects them to be
finished soon.
"Originally they were scheduled
to be done last Friday night, and
we're still waiting for the word to
say that they will be done. I've been
told three days in a row that
they should be done [that night],
so they're literally on the cusp
of being complete," McFarland
said.
Amy Chambers, a Will Rice Col-
lege senior who plans to graduate
in May, said she is frustrated be-
cause she expected to receive her
degree audit earlier this week. She
says she thinks she has taken
enough courses to complete her
major, but is not sure.
"They keep saying they'll have
[the degree audit] and they still
aren't done with it. They were sup-
posed to put it in our mailboxes this
we#, and they haven't," Chambers
said.
"I was abroad last year, and my
degree audit at the beginning of the
year didn't have the transfer courses
from that time on it. 1 Want to know
where I stand now," she said.
Next semester, degree audits will
be made with both the old pro-
gram and Exeter so the Registrar's
Office can lest the accuracy of the
new program.
McFarland says that next fall the
Registrar's Office will not use the
old program at all, and entirely de-
pend on Exeter.
"We will have a ceremony [for
the old program] and send it to sea,"
McFarland said.
There are so many
people and so many
hours in the day, and
you just have to decide
what you need first
and the most.'
Barry McFarland
Acting Registrar
He also said he does not expect
any problems with self-scheduled
exams, although this is the first
time Exeter will be used for this
purpose.
"This is the first time we will have
done self-scheduled exams on the
new system," McFarland said. "We
have everything in place. We will
start scheduling next week, and we
should be able to handle
that in a straightforward way," he
said.
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McAlister, Jett & Tam, Mariel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 19, 1999, newspaper, November 19, 1999; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246662/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.