Chart a Course for Holistic Admissions Transformation Using an Interprofessional Model
Purpose:
Holistic admissions review involves consideration of factors such as personal attributes, experiences, and alignment with the institutional mission, in addition to traditional metrics such as GPA and standardized test scores. While implementing a holistic approach to admissions clearly requires new policies and procedures, the need for a concomitant culture shift can be the most difficult aspect of the process, requiring strong leadership from among the faculty as well as from higher administration. This course is designed to introduce physical therapy educators to an interprofessional model for holistic admissions spanning from recruitment to workforce placement, to describe strategies for gaining both faculty and administrative support for implementing the initial components of that model, and to present preliminary data regarding the effects of that initial implementation.
Methods and/or Description of Project:
During this educational session, presenters will describe the research landscape related to holistic admissions in health professions education. The Dean, former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Admissions Committee Chair of the College of Allied Health Professions (CAHP) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center will share their experience with developing, implementing and evaluating comprehensive holistic admissions for the entire college, consisting of 14 programs. The interactive course format will invite participants to engage the presenters as it pertains to the participants’ unique journeys with implementing holistic admission practices at their own institutions, allowing for a rich exchange of information and experiences.
Results/Outcomes:
A review of the literature on admissions across multiple health care professions reveals that the profile of applicants and matriculants tends to be highly skewed, not only in terms of racial and ethnic diversity, but also relative to socioeconomic status and status as a first generation college attendee. These three factors are interrelated, and the skewed distribution of matriculants relates in part to admissions processes that are highly dependent on standardized test scores and GPAs, both of which are highly correlated with applicants’ household incomes. Giving greater consideration to applicants’ attributes, experiences and other “noncognitive” variables not only decreases the inherent bias related to overemphasis on standardized tests and GPA, but has been suggested to be predictive of student retention and eventual success in practice.
In 2015, the CAHP committed to a comprehensive review of all aspects of admissions for all 14 programs to 1) identify admissions criteria that were mission-based and balanced with respect to experiences, attributes and metrics, 2) select evidence-based recruitment and admissions practices that were inclusive and equitable 3) standardize practices amongst all programs in the college to the extent our different accrediting bodies would allow and 4) create an assessment plan for the ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of our holistic admissions policies and processes.
The first step in this process was to examine descriptive data characterizing those who applied, interviewed, were offered admission, matriculated and graduated. This data helped to inform faculty and drive crucial conversations around the college’s outcome goals. With input from both leadership and members of the college engaged in admissions, we established goals and practices to increase student diversity in terms of socioeconomic status, first generation college attendance, and geographic origin.
The successful use of an interprofessional admissions committee with representation from each of the College’s 14 programs was a unique feature of our admissions transformation process. The committee was instrumental in finding evidence-based methods of assessment and developing recommendations for admissions policies and practices. Workshops and consensus activities were used to identify eight non-cognitive variable (NCV) criteria that were connected to institutional mission and goals. These NCVs were subsequently adopted across all programs as a major factor in determining which applicants were offered personal interviews. Similarly, the committee was instrumental in promoting the use of multiple mini interviews as an evidence-based interview method, and several programs adopted various iterations of that highly structured approach to personal interviewing.
The admissions transformation was viewed as part of a continuum of activities that included recruitment, post-admissions retention, and ultimately, workforce placement. Culture building and change management initiatives, many led by the dean and associate dean, supported the college in making multiple organizational changes. Training of all individuals involved in admissions was provided in the areas of diversity and inclusivity, unconscious bias, and use of the NCV and interview scoring rubrics. Additional College-level committees were involved in discussions around student academic and behavioral support services, expansion of scholarship funding, and development of a need-based methodology for scholarship distribution.
Initial analysis of data from the current admissions cycle revealed several promising trends. Across all applicants from all programs, the NCV scores were clearly assessing a construct unrelated to the standardized test scores and GPAs, as demonstrated by a complete lack of correlation between NCV scores and test scores or GPAs. As a result, those applicants moving on to the personal interview stage of the process tended to have a balance of reasonably good scores on both the NCVs and on traditional academic indicators (GPA and standardized test scores), while high scores on those traditional measures alone did not guarantee moving to the next phase of the process. The process of training readers who scored the applicants’ NCV responses using a validated rubric appeared to be successful in terms of the inter-rater reliability of NCV ratings. Qualitative feedback regarding the use of multiple mini interviews was obtained from both applicants and assessors, and in both cases was overwhelmingly positive.
Conclusions/Relevance to the conference theme: Theme: Navigating workforce needs for society
Subtheme: Developing a Diverse and Culturally Competent Workforce
This course is directly related to the subtheme of Developing a Diverse and Culturally Competent Workforce. The course will help Physical therapy educators prepare a workforce that is capable and committed to meeting the needs of a rapidly diversifying population, as well as a workforce that is interprofessional in nature and can effectively work to reduce health disparities. We will focus on an initial component of developing such a workforce, the implementation of a model for holistic admissions that is interprofessional in nature and based on practices that are inclusive, equitable and balanced with respect to experiences, attributes and traditional academic metrics. Participants will be exposed to the rationale for and initial results of implementing such a model.