KEY POINTS:
Students wanting to get into the University of Auckland from next year will be ranked according to their academic achievements but those who do not score highly may still be accepted.
A report by the Undergraduate Admissions and Equity Taskforce - a group of staff and students formed after the university decided in December to restrict entry to all courses from next year - has called for the development of elaborate admission policies to better diversify the student body.
More Maori and Pacific Island students are sought.
The taskforce's report, accepted by the university council yesterday, said limiting entry presented "major challenges" to the country's biggest university, particularly around its commitment to excellence and equity.
Submitters to the taskforce criticised the way the decision to limit entry was handled.
Among the report's 21 recommendations was one to retain a single ranking system for applicants' academic achievement but to "carefully review" students with low scores.
Where necessary, those candidates would be interviewed to see if they had what was needed for their intended study path.
Submitters to the taskforce were concerned that low-scoring students - often talented musicians or artists - might not get in.
Applicants to newly restricted arts, science, theology and first-year law courses might also have to undergo interviews or prepare portfolios.
The report said submitters did not favour interviews or application essays but there was some support for a system that took into account aptitude tests, motivation, extracurricular activities and where students were placed in their school cohort.
Taskforce chairwoman and university deputy vice-chancellor (academic) Professor Raewyn Dalziel said faculties would develop their own policies.
Aspiring students should know the standards they will have to reach by July.
"They may have to reach, in those new [restricted entry] faculties, a slightly higher standard than perhaps when it was open entry," she said.
The number of places they will be competing for might not be known until August but Professor Dalziel said it was likely to match this year's.
She said the subjects high school students needed to take to meet entry requirements were unchanged and laid out in the updated prospectus.
The university's entry restriction followed a move by the Government to change the way it funds tertiary institutions from a "bums on seats" model to one based on agreed outcomes.
The university aims to increase student numbers by 1 per cent a year while increasing the proportion of post-graduate students.
The entry restriction plan sparked debate about a return to elitism for the university and some feared under-represented groups would be further disadvantaged.
The report called for quotas for under-represented groups - such as Maori and Pacific Islanders - for newly capped courses.
At present, the university's proportion of full-time equivalent Maori students lags behind those of Waikato, Massey, Victoria, Otago and Auckland University of Technology.
Maori make up 7 per cent and Pacific students 9 per cent of the student population, compared with 10 per cent for the regional population.
"As a university we are committed to academic excellence and to reflecting the diverse communities which we serve," said Professor Dalziel. "The report provides a clear framework for managing entry in a way that is fair and equitable."
ENTRY STRATEGY
Among the taskforce's suggestions:
* Not re-admit "special admission" students - such as over-20s without university entrance - who don't do well in foundation or preparatory programmes
* Continue to rank applicants' academic achievement using a single system but consider other factors - including the university's equity goals - when deciding whom to take
* Publish indicative minimum rank scores each year for entry to each undergraduate qualification
* Set targets for the number of Maori and Pacific Island students - initially to match the proportion getting university entrance at school, then moving to a population-based figure within five years
No more artistic licence for those late assignments
Arts students who don't turn up to exams or fail to hand in assignments can increasingly expect to be pulled up by staff.
The University of Auckland's faculty of arts is trialling a "track and trace" project this year, which could be rolled out across the campus in the future.
Deputy vice-chancellor (academic) Professor Raewyn Dalziel said individual departments had kept an eye on students for a long time.
But the new approach was more co-ordinated.
"It's trying to trace students' progress throughout the year across all of the courses they are doing."
Students "at risk" of not succeeding - such as those with time management or language problems - would be referred to support services.
"Some students don't succeed and we want to make sure that more students do succeed," said Professor Dalziel.
The arts faculty had a higher proportion of students who made "unsatisfactory progress" and a higher proportion of students who didn't pass.
"The highly selecting faculties have very, very high pass rates," she said.
"Those that are open [entry] do tend to have lower pass rates."
