As the arguments and controversy over affirmative action rages on, colleges and universities are beginning to find new ways of revamping their admissions process so that they can reduce or even eliminate the need to consider an applicant’s racial/ethnic identity directly, while at the same time maintain and even promote racial/ethnic diversity among their student population. As Inside Higher Education reports, one such “holistic” model that’s getting national attention is that of Oregon State University:

From all of those concerns came the Insight Resume, which now counts for roughly 30 percent of the decision on whether to admit a student. Applicants respond to six questions, with only 100 words for each question. The questions are designed to measure non-cognitive qualities and to reward students who bring special experiences to the university — but to do so in a way that doesn’t reward members of any one particular group or encourage students to just pad their list of activities.

For example, students are asked about leadership, and are told to describe specific examples of leadership that they have provided “over time.” That last bit — “over time” — is critical because the system is designed to reward depth of activity over what Sandlin termed “the laundry list” of activities. Some of the other topics for short answers are special interests, dealing with adversity, responding to discrimination, and setting and achieving goals. . . .

The answers are evaluated blindly — reviewers do not see the rest of the application or even know the name of the applicant. Gender, race and ethnicity are apparent only if applicants decide to provide the information. Since the system was started, minority enrollments have gone up — not an easy thing when you are a public institution in a state not known for its ethnic diversity. Gains have been particularly notable among Latino students, rising to 775 last year, up from 432 a decade earlier.

The real evidence for the program’s success, Sandlin said, is in academic performance. Skeptics of holistic admissions tend to assume that it benefits students who are somehow weaker because their traditional measures (SAT scores and grades) may be lower. But Sandlin said that Oregon State has found a direct correlation between higher scores on the Insight Resume and retention rates.

Average GPA’s are also going up slightly. She said that the qualities being asked about reward determination, hard work, and other qualities that do in fact relate to college success as much as test scores.

I think OSU might be onto something here. Students frequently complain that standardized test scores can’t really measure their personal character or motivation to do well. With that in mind, criteria such as OSU’s Insight Resume is likely to give students a better opportunity to tell admissions officers about those qualities.

But the clincher in OSU’s favor seems to be the results -- not only is their racial/ethnic diversity on campus increasing, but as their data shows, there is a direct correlation between a student’s Insight Resume scores and their retention rate.

Bravo to OSU for trying something innovative -- and effective.