Graduate Admissions Standards Guidelines
The
Graduate Council
The Montana Board of Regents
Policy 301.3 states, “All graduate programs in the Montana University System
shall establish admission and selection standards that are appropriate to the
program of study.”
The Graduate Council at The
University of Montana encourages all graduate programs to develop and
rigorously apply admissions standards that ensure that the highest quality
students participate in our graduate programs. All changes to admission requirements must be
approved by the Graduate Council. The
admissions standards will default to existing program requirements in the
absence of changes submitted to and approved by the Council.
Guidelines: It is the expectation of The University of Montana and Graduate
Council that graduate programs require a certain level of performance on a
standardized test such as the GRE or GMAT or LSAT, etc. when selecting students
for admission.
If programs elect to allow
for applicants to demonstrate performance potential by means other than
standardized testing, the Graduate Council recommends the program requirements
follow these guidelines:
Either –
The applicant has a graduate
degree in the field from an institution or program that is accredited, if
applicable, along with at least one other qualification from (a), (b),
or (c) below.
OR
The applicant has a GPA from an
accredited undergraduate institution sufficient for success in the department’s
graduate program along with at least two other qualifications from (a),
(b), or (c) below.
a)
Experience:
Extensive, high-level, and relevant
experience in the field of application
b)
Public
Dissemination/ Performance:
Record of high quality scholarly and/or artistic contributions such as:
Publications in peer reviewed
journals
Presentations at national
conferences
Portfolio of artistic work or
performances
c)
Other Application
Materials:
Demonstration of ability to function with excellence in the discipline, by
means such as:
Audition
Interview
Writing samples
Process: Graduate Council will begin review of
proposed changes to admission criteria on February 19, 2008. Such changes must be approved by the Council
prior to using the new criteria for admitting students. For those programs that choose to substitute
for a standardized test, the following items must be addressed: (1) the reason
a standardized test is not suitable for all students applying to the program,
(2) the reasons the chosen criteria are suitable predictors of performance, and
(3) the process the program will implement to evaluate the chosen
predictors. The alternative criteria
proposed should be specific and able to be consistently evaluated.