The Daily Bulletin Archive

At its May 12, 2017, meeting, the College Senate voted to recommend to the president that an acknowledgment deadline for matriculating undergraduate students be established as outlined in the following resolution:

Resolution to Establish an Acknowledgment Deadline for Matriculating Undergraduate Students
Introduced at the April 2017 Senate meeting by the Standards for Students Committee

WHEREAS, the college currently has a May 1 deadline for students to acknowledge¹ their acceptance,² but it is not enforced; and

WHEREAS, matriculating³ undergraduate students must acknowledge with sufficient lead time for the semester to allow for course selection that supports timely graduation, better campus housing availability, the processing of health insurance waivers, the completion of requirements for financial aid packaging (including book deferments), the purchase of course materials before the start of classes; and attendance of classes on the first day of the semester; and

WHEREAS, students who acknowledge late and who have high-demand majors may not be able to register for classes in their majors or fulfill degree requirements that allow them to make progress toward timely graduation or meet academic eligibility requirements for financial aid; and

WHEREAS, there is a considerable time commitment made by staff and faculty members to process and advise students who acknowledge late, yet these students are retained from fall to spring at a much lower rate compared with students who acknowledge earlier,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Buffalo State College adopt the following policy defining an acknowledgment deadline of two weeks before the first day of classes for the semester; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that students who apply or are eligible for acceptance after this date will be notified that their admission will be deferred to the following semester; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these changes will be reviewed in two years to determine the effects on retention and graduation.

1. Acknowledge – when a student accepts the college’s offer of admission
2. Acceptance – when the college accepts a student’s application to the institution
3. Matriculating – accepted by the college to pursue a degree even though the student may not have selected a specific academic program

I thank the members of the College Senate for their detailed review and ultimate recommendation regarding acknowledgment deadlines for accepted students. At this time I am not approving any changes to the policy, procedure, or practices on this issue. The campus continues to put additional strategies and processes in place to encourage early acknowledgment by students. It is premature to revise the policies, procedures, and practices currently in place. We will, however, continue to shape the behavior of our students to move toward the May-June norm for students entering campus.