Monash University Considers Changing Selection Criteria

The Age, Farrah Tomazin, 09/10/09

The Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, Professor Ed Byrne, has indicated that the university is considering changes to its student selection processes. In response to Australian Government calls for universities to increase the proportion of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, Professor Byrne claimed that tertiary entry (ENTER) scores limited some students’ access to university study. He claimed that Monash University was keen to expand its selection processes to ensure that students from a wider range of backgrounds attended the university, and suggested that Monash University was considering the introduction of a post-school ‘transition’ college. Students enrolling in the transition college would undertake preparation for university and would upgrade their skills before a formal assessment was undertaken to qualify them for entry into an undergraduate course. Professor Byrne stated that ‘I'm a firm believer that you can have a range of routes of entry into university that don't in any way diminish the standard. You could look at ways of assessing young people robustly to make sure they have the desire, the passion and the ability for a university education, and then, through a transition process, improve their skill sets before a formal assessment which replaces the ENTER as the major route to university.’ Professor Byrne indicated that the expansion project was likely to be focused on the university’s Berwick, Peninsula and Gippsland campuses.

 

 

 

 

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