Ethics serve as the cornerstone of our profession. Whether you work independently, in a high school, or in a college or university whether you are new or a veteran this session is for you. Join us for a panel discussion of the Statement of Principles of Good Practice (SPGP). Since SPGP changes slightly each year, we want to ensure our membership stays up to date on both policies as well as trends in the field. We will also discuss issues concerning our international membership beyond NACAC's SPGP. As with all Webinar Wednesdays, there will be plenty of time for questions and healthy discussion with the panelists.

2. Admissions Practices and the SPGP
INTERNATIONAL ACAC
2016 Webinar
Wednesday
January 13, 2016

3. • Andrew Moe, Swarthmore College (USA ) – Moderator and VP
for Admissions Practices, International ACAC
• AP Committee Panelists:
– Jamie Kanki, New York University (USA)
– Joe Kralick, Stanford University (USA)
Panelists
Webinar Facilitator
Aaron Andersen, University of British Columbia (Canada)
VP for Communications, International ACAC

4. • Review what the Statement of Principles of Good
Practice (SPGP) intends to do and how to find it
• Examine and discuss recent changes to the SPGP
• Collectively discuss typical cases that the AP
Committee reviews each year
• What’s next?
Webinar Aims

5. • What is SPGP?
– NACAC’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice
brings focus to principled conduct among colleges
and universities, high school and independent
counselors in the recruitment of students and
their transition to postsecondary education.
NACAC’ STATEMENT OF
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE

6.  Statement of Core Values and Member Conventions
 Mandatory Practices (what we all must do)
 Interpretation of these Mandatory Practices
 Best Practices (not required, but strongly urged; what
we should do)
 Education, Monitoring Procedures, and Penalties
(how NACAC and International ACAC enforce the
SPGP)
SpGP Components

7. Where is the Spgp?

9. • 2015 National Assembly changes – Mandatory Practices:
– All postsecondary members agree they will not ask candidates,
their schools, their counselors or others to list or rank
order their college or university preferences on
applications or other documents*
– All postsecondary members agree they will permit first-year candidates for
fall admission to choose among offers of admission and institutionally-
affiliated financial aid and scholarships until May 1, and state this
deadline explicitly in their offers of admission, and not establish
policies nor engage in practices whose effect is to
manipulate commitments prior to May 1**
*Not asking students to rank order college choices is already in force. Not
asking them to name their choices will apply to the 2017 admissions
cycle.
**Effective for the 2017 admissions cycle.
WHAT’S NEW WITH SPGP?

10. • 2015 National Assembly changes -
Interpretations:
– All postsecondary members agree they will not ask candidates, their
schools, their counselors or others to list or rank order their college or
university preferences on applications or other documents
• Postsecondary members can assess their
candidates’ level of interest, but not by asking
them to indicate a first choice or to rank or name
their other college choices
• Students are considered “candidates” until they
have officially confirmed their intention to enroll,
usually by submitting an enrollment or tuition
deposit, or have declined their offer of
admission, or have had their offer of admission
canceled.
WHAT’S NEW WITH SPGP?

11. • 2015 National Assembly changes – Best
Practices:
– All postsecondary members should not allow admission,
financial aid, or scholarship decisions to be
influenced by a list or rank ordering of a candidate’s
other college choices. This includes, but is not
limited to, lists obtained from financial aid
applications, testing agencies, or other sources*
Effective for the 2017 admissions cycle.
WHAT’S NEW WITH SPGP?

12. • Anycity University emailed a student congratulations on his
admission for fall 2016. The student received the email on
January 15, 2016. In part, it says:
• “Congratulations on your admission! Your next step is to
secure your place in the Class of 2020. Please submit your
enrollment deposit by February 1 to ensure you have access
to all financial aid and scholarships Anycity offers. The
deposit is fully refundable.”
• Does this violate SPGP?
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 1

13.  Yes.
 SPGP Mandatory Practices:
 B. Admission, Financial Aid and Testing Policies and
Procedures. All postsecondary members agree that they will:
 Permit first-year candidates for fall admission to choose among offers of
admission and institutionally-affiliated financial aid and scholarships until
May 1, and state this deadline explicitly in their offers of admission, and
not establish policies nor engage in practices whose effect is to
manipulate commitments prior to May 1.*
 *Effective for 2017 admission cycle.
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 1

14. • Yes.
• SPGP Mandatory Practices - Interpretations
• Offers of admission must clearly state whether deposits submitted by
students prior to May 1 are refundable or non-refundable. Making a
deposit refundable, however, still obligates an institution to abide by the
May 1 Candidates Reply Date.
• Colleges will neither retract nor adversely alter their offers of admission
and/or financial aid prior to May 1 for candidates who choose not to reply
until that date, nor will they state or imply that candidates might incur
such a penalty by waiting until May 1 (including time zone) to submit an
enrollment deposit.
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 1

15.  If the student applied for financial aid and turned in all
of his documents:
 SPGP Mandatory Practices:
 B. Admission, Financial Aid and Testing Policies and
Procedures. All postsecondary members agree that
they will:
Notify accepted aid applicants of financial aid decisions
before the enrollment confirmation deadline, assuming all
requested application forms are received on time.
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 1

16. • Smalltown College sent an email to counselors in their
database. In part, the message reads:
• “Smalltown College also offers the Presidential Merit
Scholarship. Admitted students receiving a score of at least
30 on the ACT composite or 1300 SAT (critical reading and
math) will receive an automatic $5,000 Presidential Merit
Scholarship, renewable for four years.”
• Does this violate SPGP?
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 2

17.  Most likely, yes.
 SPGP Mandatory Practices:
 B. Admission, Financial Aid and Testing Policies and
Procedures. All postsecondary members agree that they will:
 Not use minimum test scores as the sole criterion for admission, advising
or for the awarding of financial aid.
 Interpretations:
 Financial aid is defined as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships.
This practice does not apply to scholarship and financial aid programs that
fall under state mandates.
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 2

18. • AdmissionUSA is seeking clients in Lima, Peru. According to their website,
they “adhere to NACAC’s SPGP” and promise to conduct themselves with
accountability, transparency, and integrity.
• The Director of Latin American Recruitment contacts area schools, and
says, in part:
• “We are offering secondary schools the ability to award US$1,000
scholarships to members of their senior class for each family from your
school who indicates they heard about our services from you. There is no
limit on the number of scholarships your school can receive from
AdmissionUSA.”
• Does this violate SPGP?
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 3

19.  Most likely, yes.
 SPGP Mandatory Practices:
 A. Promotion and Recruitment. All members agree that they
will:
 Not offer or accept any reward or remuneration from a secondary school,
college, university, agency, or organization for placement or recruitment
of students in the United States. Members will: (Interpretations)
 Be compensated in the form of a fixed salary, rather than commissions or
bonuses based on the number of students recruited;
 Not contract with secondary school personnel for remunerations for referred
students.
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 3

20. • SPGP Mandatory Practices:
• A. Promotion and Recruitment. All members agree that they
will:
– Not employ agents who are compensated on a per capita basis when
recruiting students outside the United States, unless ensuring they
and their agents conduct themselves with accountability,
transparency, and integrity; Members will: (Interpretations)
• Ensure institutional accountability by monitoring the actions of those
commission-based agents acting on the institution’s behalf;
• Ensure transparency with a conspicuous statement on their website that
indicates their institution uses agents who are compensated on a per
capita basis
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 3

21. • Ensure integrity by dealing ethically and impartially with applicants and other
stakeholders, honoring commitments and acting in a manner that respects the
trust and confidence placed in the institutions and the individuals representing
them;
• Adhere to US recruitment remuneration laws (US Higher Education Act) for US
citizens, where applicable;
• Not contract with secondary school personnel for remunerations for referred
students.
• Awarding of money in any form would be interpreted as a “remuneration
for referred students”, regardless of whether it’s in the form of a
scholarship.
• Secondary schools (and employees) that refer students for placement and
recruitment in the US would be in violation of SPGP.
TYPICAL AP CASES – CASE 3

22. • International ACAC recognized the NACAC SPGP is not a perfect
documents, especially for international topics.
• International topics and concerns include:
– Rise of agent use, and ensuring integrity, transparency, and accountability in
the use and employment of agents
– Double-dipping and receiving fees from families and institutions
– Counselor conflict-of-interest – who employs this counselor, what incentives
are established, additional fee-based compensation
– Admissions officers accepting honorarium for representing their institution –
many more expenses for international trips and different compensation
offered internationally compared to domestic trips
– Diversity of institutions across multiple countries and how US-centric
deadlines and mandatory practices may affect practices in other countries
WHAT’S NEXT?

23. • If you are interested in being part of the discussion
to develop the International ACAC SPGP, please
email Andrew Moe at moe@oacac.com
• If you wish to voice your concerns about ethical dilemmas professionals face – or
you have international topics for a new SPGP – please email moe@oacac.com
• If you have ANY complaint, question or concern about existing practices and
procedures you witness or encounter when counseling students and families,
please email moe@oacac.com
WHAT’S NEXT?