SUBJECT:  March 21, 2002 Town Meeting on Admissions Testing

Dear Colleagues:

You are encouraged to attend a Town Meeting of the San Diego Division that has been scheduled for:

Thursday, March 21, 2002
12:30 p.m.- 5:15 p.m.
Hojel Hall of the Americas Auditorium
Institute of the Americas

I recognize that the scheduling of this event may be difficult for many of you - not to mention that virtually all of you will, by March 21, be thoroughly exhausted in the wake of the Winter Quarter. I urge you, nevertheless, to understand that the importance of this Town Meeting cannot be overemphasized. President Atkinson has challenged the University to think systematically about the use of standardized testing in our admissions processes. His remarks in this regard have attracted statewide and national attention. Whatever the University chooses to do (or not to do) with respect to standardized testing will have profound impacts on the institution, and on its image in the wider community, in the years ahead. It is up to the faculty of the University to play a major role in this decision. For all these reasons, I urge you to attend some or all of this Town Meeting so that we may begin the process of formulating a coherent campus position on this exceedingly important issue.

During the Town Meeting we will be joined by officials from the UC Office of the President and the systemwide Academic Senate.

At a bare minimum, if you cannot attend the Town Meeting at all, I do hope you will take the time to peruse the documents I mention below - essential ingredients in our education on the matter of admissions and standardized testing at UC.

Several resources are available for those who want to learn more about these issues. Appended to the meeting notice, which will be sent to you via campus mail in the next few days are: (1) President Atkinson's Keynote Address, A California Perspective on the SAT I, delivered at a conference on "Rethinking the SAT: The Future of Standardized Testing in University Admissions", Santa Barbara, November 16, 2001; (2) The Use of Admissions Tests by the University of California, a discussion paper prepared by the Academic Senate Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS); (3) UC and the SAT: Predictive Validity and Differential Impact of the SAT I and SAT II at the University of California, an analysis conducted by the Office of the President Director of Research and Evaluation Saul Geiser and Roger Studley, Senior Research Analyst in the OP Admissions and Outreach Office; and (4) Director Geiser's and Analyst Studley's research addendum, Additional Findings on UC and the SAT. These documents, along with other related material that becomes available, are posted to the Academic Senate web site (http://www-senate.ucsd.edu/).

I urge you to mark your calendars for Thursday, March 21. I look forward to seeing you then.

                                                Most Cordially,

                                                Michael A. Bernstein
                                                Chair, Academic Senate: San Diego Division