Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140076
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By THOMAS C. McMILLAN and H. THOMAS MULLIS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's a serious error to judge a student's caliber by looking only at the Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. To look only at averages compounds that error.
At Radford University, we have students with high SAT scores and students with low scores. We have learned that SAT scores are poor predictors of academic success. Some students with high scores have failed out of the university in their freshman year, and some with low scores have gone on to graduate with honors. Experiences similar to ours have been shared by other universities and have been documented in the literature. SAT scores are such an unreliable predictor of academic success that some prestigious institutions no longer require that they be submitted with an application for admission.
SAT scores are among many measures considered by Radford University when students apply for admission, but high-school grade-point average and class rank are more reliable predictors of academic success. Determining a student's chances for success is a difficult responsibility. Perhaps admitting students for whom this determination is a close call makes it easier for some students to get into Radford University. However, those same students will likely find it more difficult to succeed here. We feel they should be given the opportunity to prove themselves, but using only one measurement of academic potential (SAT scores), and a poor one at that, militates against admission.
Another point to consider is that a high percentage of Radford University's student population comes from Virginia. Since we accept more in-state students, the more ``elite'' institutions are able to select excellent students from a larger pool.
Because schools like Radford University serve Virginia so well, other colleges in the state are able to look elsewhere for students. Schools such as the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia pump up their SAT averages by admitting only the best out-of-state students. These factors have the effect of exaggerating the apparent difference in quality among Virginia's state schools.
Your editorial refers to President Owens' renewed stress on academics. It's encouraging to have such visible and unqualified support from President Owens, but it's important to realize that faculty members have always stressed academic excellence. As a result, Radford University has many excellent programs and graduates.
The School of Nursing is one of the finest in the state, and our Department of Communications Disorders, with its associated clinic, enjoys a national reputation. The bachelor of science degree offered by the computer-science department is one of few such degrees in the state that is accredited by the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board. Our statistics graduates have done well in graduate schools and industry. Faculty in several departments have worked to provide students with international learning opportunities, and the New College of Global Studies is an exciting new development at Radford University.
We have touched upon only a few of the programs at the university, but they all enjoy a fine reputation with graduate schools and employers. Radford graduates have succeeded in becoming physicians and attorneys. Many have found their way onto the faculties of colleges and universities, and all have graduated with the competence to make a meaningful contribution to society.
Radford University is currently reviewing its admissions criteria. Whatever the outcome of this review, you can be confident that those students admitted will have to achieve the same high standards that their predecessors accomplished.
Thomas C. McMillan and H. Thomas Mullis are vice president and president, respectively, of the General Faculty at Radford University.
by CNB