Our Admissions Firewall
February 21, 2022 10:02 AM

Dear Colleagues,

As we finalize our review of applications for admission for the Fall 2022 semester, in cooperation with the Senate Committee on Admissions, we would like to remind you of the university policies regarding admissions confidentiality and third-party inquiries. Admissions officers may discuss a student’s application only 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 university admissions officer, and admissions officers are prohibited from sharing information with third parties regarding a student’s application.

A university 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.

Unsolicited letters of recommendation or emails of support or appeal are not accepted or considered in our processes. Please review this 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, they may not discuss the applicant’s admission status with the recommender. If they are contacted about an applicant’s admission status by a recommender, they are to notify the recommender that while they may accept supporting information for the applicant’s file, they 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.

Thank you for helping to protect the integrity of our admissions process.

Sincerely,

Andrew Borst
Director of Undergraduate Admissions
Office of Undergraduate Admissions

Elizabeth Spark
Assistant Dean for Admissions, Registration, and Enrollment Services
Graduate College