How Does the Admission Practices Committee Work?

With all due respect to Dan Brown and the Da Vinci Code, the Admission Practices Committee is not a secret society that meets in a hidden underground bunker somewhere in Illinois. Committee members are not a collection of zealous policing agents who are constantly on the prowl for violators of the Statement of Principles and Good Practice (SPGP). Instead, it is a committee designed to help educate all players involved in the college search and decision process about the principles and guidelines that have been established by the membership of the National Association of College Admission Counseling.

The primary source for educating all members about the college recruitment and admission process is the SPGP. If you have never read the SPGP, you should! If you have a question about a particular practice, you can always contact the AP Committee or by reviewing the AP Committee’s frequently asked questions. This is especially important for any high school or college preparing to initiate a new process. To make sure you are in compliance, you can always check first with the SPGP or the AP Committee.

In some cases, individuals may decide to present a formal allegation to the AP Committee.  To do so, simply fill out and submit an Admission Practices Inquiry Form. Information provided to the AP Committee is kept in the strictest confidence throughout the entire process. When working with institutions found to be in violation of SPGP, the name(s) of the individual(s) who initiated or filed the allegation are never revealed. The AP Committee will also respond to the individual who filed the allegation with the outcome of the full process. The AP Committee will attempt to deal with allegations in a very timely manner after they have been submitted.

Unlike Dan Brown, the ideal scenario is for the AP Committee to have very little work to do or puzzles to solve. However, it is essential that members bring possible violations to the attention of the AP Committee to insure a fair and ethical college search, admission and decision process.

Tony Bankston
Illinois Wesleyan University
Admission Practices Committee Member