BILL NUMBER: ACR 73	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Alejo

                        JUNE 29, 2011

   Relative to the University of California.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 73, as introduced, Alejo. University of California: graduate
admissions.
   This measure would request the Regents of the University of
California to implement a comprehensive approach, by the end of the
2012-13 academic year, in the respective admissions processes of the
university's various graduate programs and professional schools by
including a broad variety of academic and personal qualifications.
This measure would also request review and revision of the admissions
policies of graduate programs and professional schools to include a
broader variety of important qualifications, with evaluation of the
weight and value given to these qualifications, so that standardized
test scores are not the overriding criterion used to determine
admissions.
   The measure would also request the Regents to prohibit, by the end
of the 2012-13 academic year, standardized test scores from being
used as the sole criterion for consideration, or the primary
criterion for ending consideration, of an applicant for admission to
the University of California's various graduate programs and
professional schools. The measure would request the Regents to
describe the factors considered for admissions decisions by each
graduate program or professional school. This measure would then
request the Regents to make these descriptions reasonably available
to any interested person by publishing the description of the factors
in each graduate program's and professional school's catalogue and
by making the information available on their respective Internet Web
sites.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, The University of California is committed to enrolling a
student body that reflects the diversity of the State of California;
and
   WHEREAS, According to the results of the 2010 census of the United
States, people of color comprise the majority of the general
population of the State of California, making it the most racially
and ethnically diverse state in the country; and
   WHEREAS, Over the last 15 years, there has been a dramatic
decrease in the number of underrepresented people of color -
including African American, Latino, and Native American students -
admitted and enrolled in the graduate programs and professional
schools of the University of California; and
   WHEREAS, From fall 1994 to fall 2009, inclusive, the number of
African Americans admitted to law schools at UC Berkeley, UC Davis,
and UCLA declined 49 percent, from a total of 239 to 121, and their
enrollment rate over the same period declined 61 percent, from a
total of 87 to only 34; and
   WHEREAS, From fall 1994 to fall 2009, inclusive, the number of
Latinos admitted to law schools at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UCLA
declined six percent, from a total of 273 to 257, and their
enrollment rate over the same period declined 26 percent, from a
total of 110 to only 81; and
   WHEREAS, From fall 1994 to fall 2009, inclusive, the number of
Native Americans admitted to law schools at UC Berkeley, UC Davis,
and UCLA declined 21 percent, from a total of 34 to 27, and their
enrollment rate declined 25 percent over the same period, from a
total of 12 to only nine; and
   WHEREAS, From fall 1995 to fall 2009, inclusive, the number of
people of color admitted to UC business schools declined 60 percent,
from a total of 149 to 59, and their enrollment rate declined 50
percent over the same period, from a total of 68 to only 34; and
   WHEREAS, From fall 1995 to fall 2009, inclusive, the number of
underrepresented people of color admitted to all of the UC graduate
programs declined 26 percent, from a total of 1,385 to 1,028, and
their acceptance rate declined 47 percent over the same period, from
a total of 751 to only 395; and
   WHEREAS, Over the last 10 years, there has also been a significant
decrease in the number of Asian Americans, including Filipino
Americans, admitted and enrolled at certain graduate programs and
professional schools of the University of California; and
   WHEREAS, From fall 1995 to fall 2008, inclusive, the number of
Filipino Americans admitted to law schools at UC Berkeley, UC Davis,
and UCLA declined three percent, from a total of 33 to 32, and their
enrollment rate declined 12 percent over the same period, from a
total of 17 to only 15; and
   WHEREAS, From fall 1995 to fall 2009, inclusive, the number of
Asian Americans admitted to University of California graduate
programs declined 11 percent, from a total of 2,333 to 2,078, and
their acceptance declined 22 percent over the same period, from a
total of 1,097 to only 854; and
   WHEREAS, These dramatic declines in the numbers of
underrepresented people of color admitted to, and enrolling in,
University of California graduate programs and professional schools
has discouraged underrepresented people of color from applying to
graduate programs and professional schools they perceive as hostile
and unwelcoming; and
   WHEREAS, Limiting educational opportunities in higher education at
the graduate and professional school level perpetuates inequity
among Californians; and
   WHEREAS, The dramatic decline in the numbers of underrepresented
people of color admitted to, and enrolling in, University of
California graduate programs and professional schools harms all
students because their education is without the benefit of the
perspectives those now-absent students once brought to classroom
discussions; and
   WHEREAS, The dramatic decline in the number of underrepresented
people of color enrolling in University of California graduate
programs and professional schools contributes to a declining number
of underrepresented people of color entering into professions,
including law, business, education, and engineering; and
   WHEREAS, The University of California Regents Study Group on
Diversity Subcommittee reported in their 2007 "Report of the Work
Team on Graduate and Professional School Diversity" that traditional
ranking methodologies have been shown to have an adverse effect on
new enrollments of underrepresented minorities, and the University of
California should leverage its influence with organizations that
rank or assess university academic programs to include metrics on
diversity and social climate; and
   WHEREAS, The University of California Study Group on University
Diversity reported in their 2007 "Overview Report to the Regents"
that change is needed to achieve a level of diversity among students,
faculty, and staff appropriate to their mission, as well as a social
climate on each of their campuses that is open to and inclusive of
persons from all backgrounds; and
   WHEREAS, The current admissions policies of University of
California graduate programs and professional schools are too narrow
and do not allow for a large number of qualified students of color to
be admitted and enrolled; and
   WHEREAS, The University of California had approved a proposal for
a comprehensive review of its freshman admissions process to consider
a broad variety of academic and personal qualifications; however,
the same approach is not used in its graduate and professional
schools admissions process; and
   WHEREAS, Standardized test scores, as the sole criterion for
consideration or as the primary criterion to end consideration of an
applicant, could well constitute a major obstacle to the admission of
underrepresented people of color to the University of California's
graduate and professional schools, and the overreliance on
standardized test scores, to the exclusion of other valuable
admissions information, exacerbates the problem of low admission and
enrollment rates of people of color; and
   WHEREAS, The Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), the
organization that administers the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT),
launched a five-year effort in January 2001 to urge law schools to
deemphasize numbers-based admissions policies and to broaden their
admissions criteria; however, despite those efforts, law schools
still continue to place a substantial emphasis on standardized test
scores; and
   WHEREAS, The American Bar Association's Commission on Racial and
Ethnic Diversity in the Profession reported that representation by
people of color in the legal profession is significantly lower than
in most other professions, that entry into the profession by people
of color has slowed considerably since 1995, and that enrollment by
people of color has dropped significantly at top public law schools
in California; and
   WHEREAS, Industry standards and guidelines militate against using
standardized test scores as the sole criterion for making important
decisions that impact people's lives, and support the use of multiple
measures to make high-stakes decisions when these measures are
available and will add to the validity of the decision; and
   WHEREAS, By broadening the admissions criteria of the graduate
programs and professional schools, and by prohibiting the use of
standardized test scores as the sole criterion for consideration or
as the primary criterion to end consideration of the applicant, the
Regents of the University of California would assert that the
University of California is committed to admitting and enrolling all
students, and would assure underrepresented people of color that they
are welcome and wanted; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California
requests the Regents of the University of California to implement a
comprehensive approach in the admissions processes to include a broad
variety of academic and personal qualifications for their respective
graduate programs and professional schools by the end of the 2012-13
academic year; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature requests that the comprehensive
approach also include reviewing and revising the admissions policies
of graduate programs and professional schools, which claim to include
some additional qualifications, to include an even broader variety
of important qualifications, as is already done for the undergraduate
admissions process of the University of California; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Legislature requests that the comprehensive
approach include reviewing and revising the weight or value placed on
each of the important factors so that the standardized test scores
are not the overriding criterion used to determine admissions; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature officially requests the Regents of
the University of California to prohibit, by the end of the 2012-13
academic year, standardized test scores from being used as the sole
criterion for consideration, or as the primary criterion to end
consideration, of the applicant for admission to the University of
California's various graduate programs and professional schools; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature requests that the Regents of the
University of California describe those factors that are considered
by each graduate program's or professional school in making
admissions decisions, and make those descriptions reasonably
available to any interested person, by publishing the description of
the factors in each graduate program and professional school's
catalogue, and making the information available on their respective
Internet Web sites; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit a copy of
this resolution to each Regent of the University of California and to
the author for appropriate distribution.