Admissions Committee

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Description and Charge

  1. The charge of the Admissions Committee is to select a sufficient number of well-qualified students that best represent the mission of the XUSOM, Aruba
  2. The Committee has the complete and final authority to evaluate and admit medical students.
  3. The selection of students will be unbiased and not be influenced by political or financial factors.
  4. The Committee reports to the Deans (Basic Sciences and Clinical Sciences) and Chief Academic Officer

Membership

  1. The admission committee is a standing committee. Members are recommended by the Deans and the Chief Academic Officer makes the appointment.
  2. Committee members serve one-year terms and may be reelected with no maximum term of service.
  3. The committee consists of Chair, Secretary, Admissions Coordinators, Faculty, and general members

 

Duties

  1. The Chair will have authority of the committee and designate assignments as needed.  The Chair will be the signatory on all acceptance letters and welcome the students to the University.
  2. The secretary will take the minutes for the meeting and distribute the minutes to the committee prior to the next scheduled meeting.  They will review applications and move forward with those students that meet our qualifications for the interview process. The Secretary will review all acceptance and rejection recommendations from the faculty and make their recommendation to the Chair.
  3. The Admissions Coordinators will be required to attend all meetings.  They will review applications and move forward with those students that meet our qualifications for the interview process. They will keep the committee aware of trends in applications, issues with applications, common questions from applicants, and general questions from prospective students.
  4. Faculty members, including the Chair, are required to attend all committee meetings.  Faculty members will be responsible for interviewing prospective students that have been recommended for interview by the Secretary and the Admissions Coordinators. Faculty members will complete a prospective student interview assessment and make their recommendation to the committee of acceptance, rejection, or defer. Faculty members will report back to the committee trends in interviews, issues, or areas of improvement to the interview process, and recommend changes that will benefit the students and the University.
  5. General members will be responsible for making recommendations to the committee, updating the committee on possible improvements based on feedback. 

 

Actions

  1. The faculty members of the committee are responsible to interview each applicant, evaluate each interviewed applicant, complete the file and send a recommendation for admission or rejection.
  2. The committee is responsible for periodic evaluation of the policies and procedures of admission and suggests changes

 

Procedures

  1. All applicants whose primary application has been verified by the admission staff in the Aruba office, are invited to complete the application file.
  2. Applicants are assigned to a member of the admission committee for an interview.
  3. The interviews may be by telephone, Skype, Zoom, or in-person at the office in Woodbury, NY, or in Aruba.
  4. The faculty members use a standardized form to give a rating to each student. The scoring considers the academic qualifications, attributes and personal experience along with evaluation of personal statements and LOR.
  5. The members, each independently, review and render their decisions (accept, defer, or reject) and provide supporting comments.
  6. With a combination of acceptable GPA and acceptable interviews, the applicant is offered conditional acceptance
  7. Once accepted, the student is informed of the process of registration and travel to Aruba for the Basic Sciences
  8. Details of admission policies and procedures are published on the school website and included in the faculty handbook.

 

 

Meeting Procedures

Frequency and Duration of Meetings

Meetings will be held at least once every semester. Additional meetings may be convened in a semester at the call of the Chair.

Quorum

A simple majority of the total membership of the committee shall constitute a quorum. A quorum shall be required to take any action. 

Conflict of Interest

Members are expected to declare a conflict of interest if their real or perceived personal interests might be seen to influence their ability to assess any matter before the committee objectively.  A declaration may be done at a meeting or in writing to the Chair.  If the declaration is accepted by the Chair, the concerned member/s will be excused from the respective meetings and excuses will be recorded in the minutes.

Lines of Accountability

The Admissions Committee is accountable to the Deans and the Chief Academic Officer.

Minutes and Reports

Minutes of notes of all meetings are kept with the Chair of Admissions.  Minutes are circulated to all members.

Revision

By-laws will be reviewed and revised by the Admissions Committee annually, and presented in Faculty Senate for approval.