The Admission Office is considering changes for next year that include a possible switch from Early Decision to Early Action and the introduction of online decision notification, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said Monday at a meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC).
At the town hall-style meeting, the section of "Rights, Rules, Responsibilities" governing on-campus protests was also revised.
The Admission Office has hired a research firm to conduct focus groups with current undergraduates and prospective students. Rapelye said she hopes the research will shed light on "good and bad stereotypes, myths and outright misconceptions" about the University.
Among other topics, the firm is researching prospective students' views on Early Action — a program that allows students to apply early but does not compel them to attend if admitted — as opposed to Early Decision, which does require admitted students to attend.
"[The University] has had both Early Decision and Early Action in the past 25 years, so I think we're in a position of strength," Rapelye said. "To find out the right move, we have not only research but also tradition to fall back on."
In recent years, several universities, including Yale and Stanford, have switched to Early Action. Princeton has an Early Decision program.
The Admission Office "watched what happened at our peer institutions after they made the move [from Early Decision to Early Action], but ... didn't think it prudent to do the same thing right after they did," Rapelye said.
Rapelye also discussed possible technological changes for next year, including an online checklist for applicants as they proceed through the application process and an online notification board for admissions decisions.
Changes made this year — including a switch to the Common Application, which is used by over 250 other colleges, and the introduction of an online application — have been successful, Rapelye said, noting the new admissions website gets 300 to 500 queries from prospective students each week.
Rapelye added that her office — which has recently gone to a committee process in making admissions decisions — did not have a bias toward the Common App or the University's application, but she is interested to see the yield for students who used the Common App.
Discussing the University's efforts to recruit a more diverse applicant pool, Rapelye said one surprise of the firm's research has been that many prospective students' first introduction to Princeton is the T.V. show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
"To know that, to know that this is part of the culture students are coming from, is important," she said.
Later in the meeting, chair of the Rights and Rules Committee Hendrik Hartog, a history professor, presented proposed changes to the section of "Rights, Rules, Responsibilities" dealing with on-campus protests.
The changes would enumerate the places on campus where protests are allowed and would relax the requirement that protestors notify the Dean of the College in advance, Hartog said. The new wording states that groups "should seek approval" in advance, but this phrasing is intentionally softer than "must," he noted.
Advocating the changes was Bob Bloom '51, who said he was hassled by security in February 2004 while protesting an on-campus appearance by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell.
"My main interest is not to vindicate my personal rights, but to get the rules to change so they conform to constitutional rights, which are under more vicious attack than any time in my lifetime," he said.
Bloom showed the audience the sign he had held while protesting Powell, which read, "Powell — liar, war criminal, resign."
"I'm rather direct in my approach," he said.
Later in his presentation, Bloom began to choke up as he recalled a woman he knows whose son died in Iraq.
"It's ridiculous that she can't hold up a sign and protest [on campus]," he said.
After lengthy discussion, the CPUC voted to approve the proposed changes with a minor amendment.
"You know what they say," Tilghman said as she adjourned the meeting. "Don't ever draft a document by committee."
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