Indiana University trustees want admissions streamlined

Trustees at Indiana University say the school could streamline the application process and make it easier for students applying to more than one campus.

Indiana University's Board of Trustees suggested last month that improvements could be made to applications, The Herald-Times reported. Student trustee Anna Williams said the current process is "overwhelming."

"We cannot ask students who are already particularly stressed and nervous to overcome this issue because of a systematic lack of integration that we have," Williams said.

Indiana University applicants currently have to apply separately for each campus. Several trustees worried getting rejected from admission to the Bloomington campus could discourage applicants from applying to a regional campus.

David Johnson, vice provost of enrollment management at the university, said rejection letters contain information about other campuses.

About 40 percent of Indiana residents who were denied admission at the Bloomington campus this fall applied to another Indiana University campus. Almost half of them were accepted.

Jim Kennedy, the university's student services and systems associate vice president, said officials are looking into how to streamline the process.

"There are ways we could make the process easier," he said.

The university already reaches out to those denied admission at the Bloomington campus, Kennedy said. That includes letters and having fees waived on applications for many in-state students.

Information such as transcripts and test scores are stored university-wide when students apply to the Bloomington campus, making applying to other campuses easier.

Trustees suggested allowing applicants to simply check off multiple campuses on one application. Kennedy said that would be considered, but that the university has to careful not to flood campuses with applicants who aren't serious about enrolling.