MONTANA
BOARD OF REGENTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Policy and Procedures Manual
SUBJECT: ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Policy 301.5.4 -
Single Admissions File
Effective Fall Semester 2005; Issued June 14, 2005
I. Board Policy:
In order to assist undergraduate students who
transfer between units of the Montana University System; or
enroll in coursework at more than one unit of the Montana University System in the same semester
the Montana Board of Regents authorizes a “single admissions file” that will follow the student throughout the System, much like a patient’s medical records, regardless of which campus(es) the student enrolls in. The file will be supplemented with additional information, when that information is part of the admissions and transfer decision process at the student’s new institution.
II. Procedures:
A. A student will assemble the appropriate paperwork for admission to a unit of the Montana University System. That file will serve as the basis, or starting point, for this policy. The unit assembling this initial admissions file shall charge a $30 fee for that service, as authorized by Board Policy 940.2.
B. If a student decides to attend another unit of the Montana University System, under the two (2) situations described under Board Policy above, that student must complete a Request for Transmittal of Application Materials and submit it to the unit of the Montana University System that the student most recently attended, hereinafter referred to as the sending institution. The sending institution will prepare a certified copy of the student’s admissions file, and pass it along to the unit or units identified in the admissions file transmittal form. The certified copy will include:
1. a copy of all the documents that make up the initial admissions file, described in under Procedures, paragraph A, including transcripts from other educational institutions;
2. any additional admissions information added by subsequent units of the Montana University System, if the student has attended more than one unit;
3. a certification statement from the sending institution;
4. an official transcript of the coursework completed by the student at the sending institution;
5. for transfer students, an analysis of the general education coursework completed by the student at the sending institution. If the student has completed the lower division coursework in the approved general education program at the sending institution, which satisfies the transfer expectations in Board Policy 301.10, under paragraph II.A, Procedures, a statement to that effect will be included in the certified information. That statement will become a permanent part of the admissions file passed on to other institutions. If the student has not completed such a program, that fact should also be part of the certified information.
6. any additional and relevant information that was part of the admissions decision process at the sending institution or any other unit of the Montana University System that the student might have attended.
The sending institution may assess an $8 fee for this service to cover the cost of copies and postage.
C. A student may be required to supplement the information in the initial admissions file, once it is submitted to the new institution, in order for the new institution to determine the admissions status of the student. That is especially true if the initial admissions file was assembled at a two-year institution and the student is now seeking admission to a four-year institution. Examples of such supplemental information may include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. ACT or SAT scores and a high school transcript;
2. immunization records;
3. residency information.
D. Once the student has completed the admissions file transmittal form, and submitted it to the appropriate personnel at the sending institution, the sending institution will have ten (10) working days from the receipt of the request to transmit the file to the new institution or institutions.
E. This policy is only intended to assist students in the collection and transmittal of information that is part of the documentation necessary for admission to the units of the Montana University System. It does not guarantee admission to the new institution or institutions that receive the admissions file information. That decision is still left up to the individual units of the Montana University System.
F. Because of storage limitations, any admissions file assembled under this policy only has to be retained by each campus that comes into its possession for two (2) years from the date of its receipt.
G. The tribal colleges and independent colleges in the State of Montana may elect to participate in this admissions file process. To do that, they must be willing to provide the services and expectations set out in this policy. The tribal colleges and independent colleges must notify the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, in writing, of their intent to participate in this “single admissions file” process.
III. History:
New policy, Single Admissions File, approved by the Board of Regents May 20, 2005 (Item 127-107-R0505).