[La-cgs] Transcript issue

[Sushma Krishnamurthy]

Thank you Mary.  We just had an applicant who refused to provide us with a transcript from a university where he took a single class 37 years ago. He withdrew his application as he was upset that he had to provide it to us.

This issue recurs each semester.
It would be great for us to discuss the matter at our next  meeting.
Sushma

______________________________
Regards,
Sushma Krishnamurthy

Sent from my cellphone.
Please excuse the typos!
________________________________
From: Mary J Farmer-Kaiser <mary.farmer-kaiser at louisiana.edu>
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2022 8:37:44 AM
To: Sushma Krishnamurthy <krishnamurthy at ulm.edu>
Cc: Louisiana Council of Graduate Schools <la-cgs at lists.latech.edu>
Subject: Re: [La-cgs] Transcript issue


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Hi Sushma,

It is a UL System policy, but it’s indirect and it doesn’t distinguish between levels. The ULS policy requires that we require a minimum GPA for regular/conditional admission on ALL coursework attempted rather than degree coursework or some other defined criteria. Since you cannot determine a GPA on all coursework attempted without all transcripts, you have to ask for all transcripts. We recently had an applicant who had 19!! transcripts. While 19 is the most we’ve ever seen, this policy was written in a time when students didn’t transfer, do dual enrollment, take an online class here an there, etc. We had another applicant recently who is an MD that we were having to ask for a community college transcript from 20 years ago. He rightly questioned (to me and the president) the absurdity of this transcript having any real bearing on the holistic admission practices that we proclaim. All I could do was agree with him. It goes against all holistic admission best practices.

I actually raised the possibility of changing this policy recently with Jeannine, and she indicated that no one has questioned the policy to her knowledge and suggested I get with the other UL schools to discuss. I was planning to ask for this to be an agenda item for when we gather this Fall.

I’ll pull the policy when I get back to the office on Monday and forward.

Have a good weekend,
Mary

Mary Farmer-Kaiser, Ph.D.
Professor of History
Dean of the Graduate School
University of Louisiana at Lafayette

On Jul 22, 2022, at 9:38 AM, Sushma Krishnamurthy <krishnamurthy at ulm.edu> wrote:


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Dear All,

I was wondering how each of your institutions handle transcripts for doctoral applicants.  Students typically attend multiple institutions (community colleges or in universities other than in their institution of graduation) while earning their bachelor's degrees.   At ULM, we require transcripts from each institution of attendance and not simply a final transcript from the university of graduation.

Is there a reason we would need to request all bachelors level transcripts from every university/college that a student has ever attended for someone applying for a doctoral degree? Shouldn't a final transcript (which has a record of transfer courses) from an institution of graduation, suffice?  I was always told this is a UL system policy, but I don't find that verbiage anywhere. I am trying to streamline our application process. My question relates to undergraduate transcripts alone.  We require the submission of all graduate level transcripts

Regards,
Sushma

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