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K-State Today

January 30, 2020

Workshops on holistic graduate admissions for STEM fields Feb. 3-5

Submitted by Kim Coy

The physics department will host workshops on holistic graduate admissions for STEM fields. Holistic admissions can improve your incoming grad class, and they help you admit excellent-but-marginalized students. If you are graduate faculty in a STEM department — especially if you are on the graduate admissions committee — these workshops are for you.

Interested faculty can contact Eleanor Sayre at esayre@k-state.edu, for more information.

• "The Use of GRE Scores" 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3. in 2047 College of Business Building. What do GRE scores tell you about a graduate student applicant? Our project — in partnership with the American Physical Society — seeks to understand and integrate holistic admissions practices into graduate school admissions for STEM departments. Using an evidence-based framework for comprehensive and systematic review of applications, we help you look beyond GRE scores to build a stronger, more inclusive entering class. In this workshop for STEM faculty, we will discuss the problematic nature of anchoring admissions decisions on GRE scores, using cut-off scores, and the implications on the diversity of both applicants and admitted candidates. Supported by NSF-1633275.

• "Evaluating Non-Cognitive Variables in Graduate Admissions" 3:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, in 119 Cardwell Hall. What makes a good scientist? How can we evaluate a graduate application for qualities that we as physicists value? Our project  — in partnership with APS — seeks to understand and integrate holistic admissions practices into graduate school admissions. Using an evidence-based framework for comprehensive and systematic review of applications, we help you look beyond transcripts and standardized test scores to build a stronger, more inclusive entering class. In this hands-on workshop, we will discuss the importance of non-cognitive variables and how to identify and evaluate evidence of non-cognitive variables in graduate applications using an application review framework. Supported by NSF-1633275.

• "Using Rubrics in Graduate Admissions" 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, in 2047 College of Business Building. Holistic admissions practices are comprehensive, contextualized, and systematic. Using a rubric to evaluate graduate applications ensures that the entire application is read (comprehensive), achievements are defined in context (contextualized) and that all applications are being reviewed in the same way (systematic). In this workshop for STEM faculty and grad admissions committees, we will discuss how to develop and use rubrics to improve graduate admissions in your department. Participants will build a rubric of their own and use it to evaluate a piece of a graduate application. Supported by NSF-1633275.