B.A. and B.Sc. General Admission - Faculty of Applied Sciences

Abstract

Two new admission categories are proposed for the Faculty of Applied Sciences: general admission to the B.A. program, and general admission to the B.Sc. program. As in the corresponding categories of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science, general admission signifies standing within the Faculty without commitment to any particular major. In the Faculty of Applied Sciences, these new categories will complement the existing categories of direct admission to Schools, bringing in additional students that can help in meeting Faculty admission targets. Based on these new categories, an overall redesign of the admission structure is proposed that both simplifies the existing regulations and completes the integration of the School of Interactive Arts and Technology and the TechOne program within Faculty admission requirements.

I. Introduction

Since the inception of direct admission by faculty and credential, admission to the B.A. program in Applied Sciences has been coupled with approval as a Communication major, while admission to the B.Sc. program has been associated with approval as a Computing Science major. Indeed, the degree codes for these credentials are "CMNS" and "CMPT", respectively, in comparison to the "BA" of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the "BSc" of the Faculty of Sciences. Correspondingly, admission to the B.A.Sc. program is associated with approval Engineering Science and admission to the B.Sc. (Kinesiology) with approval for that School. Each School within the Faculty had its own credential; a coincidence which equated admission by faculty and credential to admission by school.

In general, direct entry routes for Applied Sciences programs have seen admission averages significantly higher than other categories for general university admission. While direct entry has had recruitment advantages for excellent applicants, the high admission averages have meant that the Faculty has turned away many potentially successful students. To compensate for the lack of general admission, some complexities in the admission structure have been introduced in the form of the Computing Science Guaranteed Placement program and the Applied Sciences One program for B.G.S. (Applied Sciences) applicants. Even so, the general tendency has been for substantial numbers of Applied Sciences applicants to be made general admission offers to the B.A. and B.Sc. programs of the other faculties. Neither the applicants nor the other faculties are necessarily well-served by this.

The recent incorporation of new programs into the Faculty has created additional complexities with respect to degree designations and admission models. The new School of Interactive Arts and Technology has now been established with a commitment to both B.A. and B.Sc. options. Also new for September 2004 is the Geographic Information Science program leading to the B.Sc. degree. These new programs mean that the coupling of credential codes to unique majors has become a problem.

Introduced into the Faculty for September 2003, the TechOne program presents another strong case for a general admission categories associated with the B.A. and/or B.Sc. degrees. TechOne is designed to allow students to complete an integrated year of studies that keep options open for a range of follow-on programs. At present, follow-on options for Business, Computing Science, Engineering Science and Interactive Arts and Technology are defined, while options for communication are under consideration. So far, however, TechOne applicants have generally been offered admission to an unspecified Bachelor's degree program without commitment to a well-known credential such as the B.A. or the B.Sc. This lack of specificity was partly due to the unknown nature of the follow-on degrees for Interactive Arts and Technology, which issue has now been resolved. Unfortunately, the unknown nature of the credential has represented a significant recruitment challenge for the program. Offering general admission to a B.A. or a B.Sc. program has the potential to resolve this issue.

This document proposes general admission categories for the B.A. and B.Sc. degrees within Applied Sciences, together with appropriate admission requirements. In addition, an overall restructuring of admission requirements for all programs in the Faculty is proposed on order to harmonize those requirements with the general admission models and with each other.

II. General Proposal

The following new codes are proposed for the Applied Sciences general admission categories.

• ApBA - the proposed new requirements for admission to B.A. in the Faculty of Applied Sciences, along with a proposed SIMS code.
• ApBSc - the proposed new requirements for admission to B.Sc. in the Faculty of Applied Sciences, along with a proposed SIMS code.

II.1 Analysis of BC12 Admission Requirements for B.Sc. General Admission

A B.Sc. admission model for Applied Sciences has been defined to support the requirements of the direct B.Sc. programs within the faculty (Computing Science, Geographic Information Science, Interactive Arts and Technology) as well as the related programs in Engineering Science and Kinesiology. An applicant admitted to the B.Sc. program ought to be well-prepared to pursue any of the direct B.Sc. programs without delay, and sufficiently well-prepared to pursue the related programs with only minimal delay.

Table I below provides details of this admission model.

In order to assess this model, a study of BC12 applicants for Fall 2004 admission was undertaken. Each of the existing admissions models and the proposed model shown in Table I were assessed for the following groups of applicants: TechOne/IAT applicants, CMPT applicants, ENSC applicants, KIN applicants, all FAS applicants and all SFU applicants. Only BC12 applicants reporting at least 5 grade 12 courses were considered; an applicant was considered to meet a particular course model if the applicant had a qualifying set of courses in accord with the model and an average over these courses of at least 67%. For each applicant group and admission model, the percentage of applicants meeting the requirements of the model was determined. For example, it was found that 70% of TechOne/IAT applicants met the existing BACH course model, whereas 78-80% met the proposed ApBSc alternative. Table II shows the percentages for each applicant group and course model considered.

As shown in Table II, each of the existing subject-specific models within Applied Sciences is fairly selective. Direct applicants to a particular subject tend to be the best-prepared group for the corresponding admission model, as would be expected. Applied to the overall SFU applicant pool, the models tend to significantly restrict the number of qualified applicants, with the percentage of qualifying applicants ranging from 39% (assessed against the ENSC course set) to 63% (assessed against the KIN course set).

The proposed ApBSc model is quite effective in ensuring that general admission is broadly accessible to applicants with a reasonable, if not ideal, preparation for science-oriented programs in Applied Sciences. Notably, the restriction of the first science course to one of biology 12, chemistry 12 or physics 12 has almost no negative effect on the percentage of qualifying applicants, provided that the second science slot is more broadly based. From the accessibility perspective, the ApBSc model fares significantly better than the current BSC model of the Faculty of Science, particularly for TechOne/IAT applicants and CMPT applicants.

Recommendation 1

It is recommended that the ApBSc model be chosen as the model for general admission to B.Sc. programs within Applied Sciences, and to the BGS(Applied Sciences) degree program.

General admission to the B.Sc. degree should be emphasized as the preferred general admission route for the Faculty. With the introduction of B.Sc. general admission, it is no longer necessary or appropriate to emphasize admission to the B.G.S. (Applied Sciences) program as a surrogate for general admission. Eliminating the separate admission model for the B.G.S. (Applied Sciences) program both deemphasizes this admission route and simplifies the overall structure of admission requirements. In addition, it ensures that applicants for general admission via this route are evaluated in accord with the same requirements as those for B.Sc. general admission.

Recommendation 2

B.Sc. general admission should be made available to applicants effective for Fall 2005 admission.

Faculty of Applied Sciences admission has fallen below targets for both Fall 2003 and Fall 2004 admission. Implementation of general B.Sc. admission for the Fall 2005 cycle is needed to address this problem.

Recommendation 3

B.Sc. general admission to Applied Sciences should be an automatic second stage consideration of BC12, BCIB and CAN12 applicants to the following programs, effective for Fall 2005 admission.

• Computing Science
• Engineering Science
• Geographic Information Science
• Interactive Arts and Technology
• Kinesiology

Automated evaluation procedures will continue to apply for BC12, BCIB and CAN12 applicants to these subjects. Should an applicant not meet the subject-specific criteria, a general admission to the B.Sc. program of the first-choice faculty should be considered prior to alternatives.

Recommendation 4

The Dean of Applied Science Office will coordinate assessment of applicants for either direct admission to the program or B.Sc. general admission to Applied Sciences for all college and university transfer applicants as well as all non-Canadian high school applicants to the following programs, effective for Fall 2005 admission.

• Computing Science
• Engineering Science
• Geographic Information Science
• Interactive Arts and Technology
• Kinesiology

Timely offers of direct program admission shall be given highest priority in accord with recommendations from the individual programs. However, general admission will be considered whenever a timely direct offer cannot be made based on the information available or when the applicant fails to meet program-specific criteria.

Recommendation 5

It is recommended that the ApBSc model be used for each of the following programs within Applied Sciences, with appropriate phase-in provisions.

• Computing Science
• Geographic Information Science
• Interactive Arts and Technology

It is anticipated that each program would maintain a separate admission average that may vary from year to year depending on spaces available. Applicants below the program-specific average but above the faculty general admission average would continue to qualify for general admission in accord with recommendation 3.

Effective for Fall 2005 admission, the ApBSc model should become the default model for evaluating applicants to these programs, while still allowing applicants to qualify under the existing CMPT or BACH models. As a greater number of applicants are expected to qualify under the ApBSc model than under the existing models (as shown in Table II), its use as the default model will minimize the manual evaluations necessary to implement the phase-in provisions. The ApBSc model should be fully phased-in (required for all applicants) by Fall 2007.

III. Analysis and Recommendations for B.A. Admission to Applied Sciences

This section develops recommendations with respect to B.A. admission for Applied Sciences. Subsection III.1 presents an analysis of BC12 admission issues and potential models, while subsection III.2 presents recommendations.

III.1 Analysis of BC12 Admission Requirements for B.A. General Admission

Table III below provides comparative BC12 admission models for the three reference points arguably most relevant to the design of the ApBA criteria, namely those of BA, BACH and BUS. The BUS criteria are considered relevant due to the role of Business Administration as a follow-on option to TechOne and the normal practice of considering B.B.A. applications for B.A. admission if they do not qualify for direct entry to Business. The BA model is relevant in each of its roles as the university standard for general admission, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences standard for B.A. admission and as the School of Communication admission model. The BACH model applies both for its present role in TechOne admission and for direct admission into the School of Interactive Arts and Technology. The models refer to BC12 and AP/IB courses selected from lists 1, 2 and 3 of SFU overall admission requirements for BC and Yukon applicants (see the Admission section of the SFU calendar). The five rows of the table represent the five courses to be used in the admission calculation: one from list 1, two from list 2 and two more from either list 2 or list 3. The models presented are simplified slightly to focus on essential characteristics, eliminating details related to rarely used courses.

As can be seen from this table, the design variations relevant to the ApBA requirements focus on the two required courses that must be chosen from list 2 of the overall SFU requirements. List 2 is divided into 4 groups: math, science, humanities and social sciences. The BA model provides completely free choice among these courses. The BUS model requires math, but allows the second course to be chosen from either science or arts courses. The BACH model requires math and science courses, with an arts-oriented requirement also specified.

In light of these models, Table IV provides a proposed alternative for ApBA requirements.

This model adds an arts-oriented requirement among the list 2 courses. Applicants with only math and science courses from list 2 might be quite reasonably be expected to apply and qualify under B.Sc. requirements.

A second study of BC12 applicants for Fall 2004 admission was undertaken similar to the one described in section III for science-oriented models. The existing models shown in Table III and the proposed model shown in Table IV was assessed for the following groups of applicants: TechOne/IAT applicants, CMNS applicants, CMPT applicants, all FAS applicants and all SFU applicants. Only BC12 applicants reporting at least 5 grade 12 courses were considered; an applicant was considered to meet a particular course model if the average had a qualifying set of courses in accord with the model and this average was at least 67%. For each applicant group and admission model, the percentage of applicants having the BC12 courses required by the model was determined.

III.2. Recommendations

Recommendation 6

It is recommended that the ApBA model be chosen as the model for general admission to B.A. programs within Applied Sciences and for direct admission to the School of Communication, effective Fall 2006.

Recommendation 7

B.A. general admission should be made available to applicants effective for Fall 2005 admission.

Implementation of general B.A. admission for the Fall 2005 cycle is needed to help address continuing shortfalls in meeting admission targets.

Recommendation 8

B.A. general admission to Applied Sciences should be an automatic second stage consideration of BC12, BCIB and CAN12 applicants to the School of Communication, effective for Fall 2005 admission.

Automated evaluation procedures will continue to apply for BC12, BCIB and CAN12 applicants. Should an applicant not meet the subject-specific criteria, a general admission to the B.A. program of the first-choice faculty should be considered prior to alternatives.

Recommendation 9

The Dean of Applied Science Office will coordinate assessment of applicants for either direct admission to the program or B.A. general admission to Applied Sciences for all college and university transfer applicants as well as all non-Canadian high school applicants to the School of Communication, effective for Fall 2005 admission.

Timely offers of direct program admission shall be given highest priority in accord with recommendations from the School. However, general admission will be considered whenever a timely direct offer cannot be made based on the information available or when the applicant fails to meet program-specific criteria.

IV. TechOne Admission

IV.1 Synopsis of 2004 TechOne Admission Issues

Admission to TechOne is somewhat anomalous within the overall context of SFU's structure of admission by faculty and credential. As a first-year program, there is no specific degree credential associated with TechOne itself. Rather, the credentials are associated with follow-on options, currently Business Administration, Computing Science, Engineering Science, and Interactive Arts and Technology. Whereas the B.B.A. and the B.Sc. credentials have long been associated with the first two options, the credentials for Interactive Arts and Technology were unknown until this year. The pseudo-credential BACH (Bachelor's degree - unspecified) has been used for IAT applicants, as well as for those who have applied or been admitted to TechOne without a specified follow-on option.

For Fall 2004, students entering TechOne were assessed based on course requirements using one of the three codes BUS, CMPT or BACH. The first two codes were used for a small number of students who were also given direct admission to follow-on programs in business administration (B.B.A.) and computing science (B.Sc.), respectively. The vast majority of applicants were admitted under the BACH code.

The Senate-defined BC12 course requirements for BACH include specific arts and science requirements at the grade 12 level. This is appropriate to the intention of the TechOne and to the admission of students who are prepared to move in either direction. However, in analysis of applicant pools for Fall 2004, it became clear that significant numbers of applicants lacked this broad preparation. As shown in tables II and V the BACH code is highly selective. In particular, many science-oriented applicants failed to have the required arts 12 course in fine and performing arts or social sciences. In order to avoid unduly limiting the applicant pool for Fall 2004, a temporary waiver of this requirement was sought and granted.

Even with the waiver in place as described, the number of qualified direct applicants to TechOne was well under 200 and far short of the 1000 or so needed to fill 400 spaces at a typical 40% rate. To address this issue, TechOne was defined as the primary default admission route for 2004, for SFU applicants deemed admissible to the university, but not to their specified program choices. Over time, it is reasonable to expect that the number of direct applicants to TechOne will grow, as will the acceptance of TechOne as an attractive first-year program for those directly admitted to follow-on programs in business and applied sciences. Furthermore, as more programs are developed at the Surrey campus, the oversize admission targets associated with TechOne should be reduced.

In summary, there are three essential issues that need to be addressed with respect to TechOne admission. The first is that TechOne admission may be offered in concert with admission to a variety of degree programs, which may have differing admission requirements. The second is that the combined arts-and-science general admission requirements represented by the existing BACH code is too restrictive, filtering out applicants who may have an initial orientation to one or the other. The third is that the admission models must continue accommodate the role of TechOne as a default program while the Surrey campus develops.

IV.2 TechOne in Concert with Direct Program Admission

Over time, it is expected and desirable that TechOne will see an increasing number of students admitted both to the program and to follow-on options in applied sciences and business. Within applied sciences, options for Communication and for Engineering Science are under consideration to join the existing options in Computing Science and in Interactive Arts and Technology. Other options in information technology are also being developed.

When an offer to TechOne in concert with direct program admission is contemplated, the current and recommended practice is to give priority consideration to the admission requirements of the follow-on program. This is necessary to ensure that needs of the full degree program are met as well as to prevent the use of TechOne as a back door to program admission. However, it does raise the question of whether and how TechOne admission requirements should apply to such applicants.

An alternative to applying TechOne admission requirements is to apply TechOne prerequisites. That is, a student directly admitted to a follow-on program would only further be assessed to ensure that the prerequisite requirements of the TechOne core courses were satisfied. At present, the principal prerequisite of concern is the BC Math 12 prerequisite to CMPT 120.

To date, all admission models used for entry into TechOne have included Math 12. It may be simplest and best to continue this as a general rule. However, in the event that the direct admission requirements of a program does not meet this prerequisite, measures to check prerequisites and to find alternatives for those lacking the appropriate preparation should be put in place.

Recommendation 10

Applicants being considered for admission to TechOne in concert with direct admission to a specific degree program should first be assessed in accord with the requirements of the degree program. TechOne registration should be conditional on satisfaction of prerequisite requirements or obtaining appropriate waivers. Admission offers including TechOne as an option should highlight prerequisite requirements that are not otherwise included in the admission requirements of the program in question.

IV.3 TechOne Admission for Direct TechOne Applicants

One of the goals of TechOne is to allow students to undertake a general year of introduction to art and technology without commitment to a specific follow-on program. In essence, TechOne is itself a form of general admission program within Applied Sciences. To date, a single direct admission model has been defined for the TechOne program, namely, the BACH course model, emphasizing both arts and science coursework at the grade 12 level.

With the introduction of B.A. and B.Sc. general admission models for Applied Sciences, it is conceivable that each of these could be considered as admission routes for direct TechOne applicants. That is, in making the selection of TechOne as the program of choice in the on-line application form, the credential submenu could be populated with choices for B.A. and/or B.Sc. (in place of) the current unspecified Bachelor's degree corresponding to the BACH code. The Bachelor of General Studies might also be a reasonable credential option for TechOne applicants to choose.

Nevertheless, there is considerable merit in retaining a single admission route (credential and associated admission requirements) for assessing direct TechOne applicants. This both simplifies the explanation of admission requirements and ensures that all applicants are assessed according to a common standard. Of the potential alterntaives, assessing TechOne applicants according the B.Sc. requirements makes the most sense, both from the perspective of the preparation appropriate to technology-oriented program as well as the strong association with a science-orientation in follow-on programs within the Faculty of Applied Sciences. Indeed, TechOne applicants naturally seem to be better prepared for the science-oriented model of ApBSc than of the mixed arts-and-science BACH model as shown in Table III.2.

Recommendation 11

Effective for the Fall 2005 admissions cycle, the standard credential associated with TechOne direct applicants should be the B.Sc., in place of the BACH pseudo-credential.

Recommendation 12

The ApBSc course model should be phased-in for assessing TechOne applicants effective Fall 2005. Most TechOne applicants will either benefit or find no change in status with admissibility in comparison to the existing BACH model. For admission prior to Fall 2007, however, TechOne applicants should continue to also be assessed in accord with the BACH model in the event that they are not admissible under ApBSc requirements. This will ensure that the new requirements may be phased in without disadvantaging applicants who have prepared according to currently advertised requirements.

IV.4 TechOne Admission as Default Admission Option

It is anticipated that continued growth in enrolment targets at the Surrey campus will see TechOne admission targets set at fairly high levels for several years. To meet these targets, it is anticipated that TechOne offers will continue to be made to generally qualified applicants who do not satisfy requirements for their initial program choices.

Recommendation 13

Effective for the Fall 2005 admissions cycle, TechOne admission coupled with B.Sc. general admission to Applied Sciences should be specified as the default alternative for unsuccessful applicants to other SFU programs.

V. Proposed Calendar Requirements for Applied Sciences Admission

V.1 Admission from British Columbia and Yukon Secondary Schools

Recommendation 14

The following calendar text is proposed to outline BC12 admission requirements for Applied Sciences. This table is patterned after the grade 12 requirements table given on page 29 of the 2004-5 SFU Calendar.

V.2 Admission from Other Canadian High Schools

The summary of direct entry requirements for CAN12 applicants to Applied Sciences should be revised in line with the changes for BC12/BCIB applicants.

Within the calendar section entitled Canadian High School Requirements, the current requirements for direct admission into Applied Sciences are listed as additional constraints beyond the requirements for overall admission to SFU. The following revisions to these constraints are proposed.