As we begin to review applications for admission for 2020, we would like to remind you of the campus policies regarding admissions confidentiality and third-party inquiries. Admissions officers may only discuss a student’s application with the applicant, the applicant’s parents/legal guardian, spouse or school-appointed counselor. Other individuals, including university employees without admissions responsibilities, are not permitted to inquire about a student’s application with a campus admissions officer.
A campus admissions officer is considered anyone with admissions responsibility, this includes not only admissions staff in central admissions units such as the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Graduate College, but also faculty and staff within academic college and departmental offices responsible for reviewing and making decision recommendations for applicants. A firewall has been placed around faculty, administrators, and admissions staff with admissions responsibility so that those without admissions responsibility may not influence decisions. Please review the Summary of University of Illinois Admissions Firewall Practices for a complete list of inquiries that are and are not permitted, as well as examples of scenarios and appropriate responses.
At the graduate level, it is important to note that those with admissions responsibility are allowed to accept information from an applicant’s recommenders in the form of formal letters, emails, and phone communications; however, you may not discuss the applicant’s admission status with the recommender. If you are contacted about an applicant’s admission status by a recommender, your responsibilities are to notify the recommender that while you may accept supporting information for the applicant’s file, you may not discuss the applicant’s admission status without expressed written permission from the applicant. Also at the graduate level, the Graduate College discourages any discussions with an applicant’s parent and/or spouse regarding the applicant’s status without the written permission from the applicant.
Inappropriate activities or attempts to circumvent these policies should be reported to the Ethics Officer or reported anonymously using the anonymous report feature of the Admissions Inquiry Log.
