May 18-20, 2005

FINAL AND APPROVED
New Board of Regents' Policy; Single Admissions File

THAT:      The Montana Board of Regents of Higher Education approves the attached policy that creates a single admissions file for many students in the Montana University System. The policy does the following important things:

(1)             it creates a single admissions file that follows students around, much like their medical records.

(2)             because the policy establishes a new practice and expectation in the Montana University System, its provisions are limited, initially, to students who transfer between units of the Montana University System or students who decide to take classes at more than one unit of the Montana University System in the same semester. It does not apply to students who are attending a campus of the Montana University System for the first time.

(3)             it requires an analysis of general education course work, to determine if students have satisfied the expectations of Regents' Policy 301.10.3, concerning the so-called block transfer. At the present time, that analysis is not automatically completed for students, when they transfer from one campus to another in the System.

(4)             it establishes a new, $8 fee for this service.

(5)             it establishes a deadline for sending the admissions file to another campus.

(6)             it creates a process for extending this same service to students at the tribal and independent colleges throughout Montana.

EXPLANATION:      The current practice, in the Montana University System, requires students to create a new admissions file every time they move to a different campus. Much of the information in the new admissions file may already be available at another campus, but students are usually required to complete or assemble another set of original documents. This policy will permit most students to establish a single admissions file, and then supplement that file if they move to different campuses within the Montana University System.

In an ideal world, all of the admissions file documents would be created and stored electronically. They could then be transmitted electronically to the new campus, under the provisions of this proposed policy. Unfortunately, the technology for such an electronic process is not in place throughout the Montana University System, so a traditional paper copy and snail mail procedure will have to be utilized. A work group, made up of registrars and admissions officers from the various campuses, is studying the cost of developing a computerized admissions process as a next step in implementing this proposed policy.

The policy will be implemented on all of the campuses of the Montana University System by Fall Semester 2005.