The college admissions process can be highly competitive, and therefore a source of contention and conflict. Over the last decade, we have seen an increase in media articles highlighting the flaws in our present-day education system, particularly those which show a lack of fairness in admissions processes in schools which have historically presented themselves as fair and meritocratic.
The following case study involves two admissions officers at Green State College, a prestigious college in the United States. Green State College prides itself on the efforts it makes to ensure each of its incoming freshman classes are diverse, thereby providing a rich and fulfilling experience for students to develop both inside and outside of the classroom. The college states that in their admissions process, they aim to select students from a wide range of backgrounds, balancing gender, race, socioeconomic statuses, and disabilities in their selection criteria. college admissions
As such, the admissions office is not exactly a harmonious environment. The office has representatives from the major departments of the college structure. Each of these departments has its own set of interests and concerns, not all of which are compatible with one another. Aside from the main team responsible for sorting through applications one by one, there is a diversity team, a legal team, an athletics team, and a donor/legacy team. The way the admissions process is designed, these teams must work together to take a holistic look at each applicant to ensure that the incoming class sufficiently represents each of these department's interests. college admissions
As one might imagine, it is a high-pressure job, especially in today's environment where college admissions across the board have become more competitive than ever and the public's view of the meritocratic admissions process is eroding due to numerous admissions scandals. The job frequently involves strong feelings, arguments, and difficult compromises, as the stakes are extremely high and the environment is prime for litigation by disgruntled parents of applicants. Accusations or appearances of unfair practices or breaching the civil rights act or the affirmative action act are major concerns for all of those on the admissions team.
The admissions team has filled up 99 percent of the class. That is, 1,584 students have been admitted out of 1,600 available spots. This leaves only six spots left to be filled. These places were meant to be allocated to students from all backgrounds with varying gender and race. However, this year, due to a tight budget, they have had to eliminate their need-blind policy, as their budget for scholarships has been slashed by 20 percent. That means three of the available spots have already been assigned to legacy students whose parents will be able to pay full tuition. college admissions
Shania and Wilbur are in disagreement over which students should be admitted to the remaining three spots. Shania is the head of the diversity department and has traditionally focused her attention mostly on promoting greater socioeconomic inclusion in Green State College admission, where she has been working for five years now. Wilbur, who works for the donor/legacy team, is arguing to give these three spots to triplets whose parents have consistently donated millions of dollars to the college over the past decade.
One of the three triplets happens to be a potential recruit for the field hockey team as well. Shania is irate because she knows that there were originally supposed to be six need-blind spots, so she thought she would at least be able to fit in three scholarship students. It is up to Shania and Wilbur to negotiate over who is going to get these last three spots. college admissions
Case Study: Part 1 Negotiation on college admissions
College Admissions officers Shania and Wilbur are sitting at a small conference room table. They have been talking for some time already.
Shania: You're aware that this year we weren't even able to admit the number of scholarship students as we'd planned because of the budget, right? I have about 10 unawarded scholarships, and now we're down to three spots. You want to give the three spots to triplets from a wealthy family. I feel like I've already compromised. I'm not willing to back down on this.
Wilbur: I completely understand where you're coming from, Shania. But this family has been one of the school's best, most consistent donors. You're aware they donated the Fontana Building in the Spiegler quad, right? Do you think if we turn down their three kids, they're just going to shrug their shoulders and say "oh well"? There's no way we can't admit them.
It will look really bad in their community in Greenwich. It might lead to a lot of other wealthy donors giving up on GSC if they find out it doesn't help their college admissions chances. You know we have to keep the cash rolling in or else you can say goodbye to a lot more than those 10 scholarships. This is all about give-and-take, Shania.
Shania: But where does it end? By that logic, we might as well toss scholarships out the window altogether and just let wealthy parents line up and buy their kids a spot.
Wilbur: Come on. It's not like the Fontana kids aren't qualified.
Shania: They don't deserve the spots. I've seen their grades.
Wilbur: That's not fair. Sherry has decent grades.
Shania: Oh, that's right! I forgot that here at Green State College, we look for applicants with decent grades. Be real with me. If it weren't for the fact they're all children of alumni, we wouldn't even be talking about them. And I don't see how it makes sense to admit all three of them based on one of them having decent grades. They might all look the same, but they aren't the same person. We should treat them on an individual, case-by-case basis.
Wilbur: We absolutely cannot admit just one of them. That would be PR suicide.
Shania: Fine, then let's not admit any of them, seeing as none of them are actually academically qualified. I'm telling you as someone that has worked in this office for five years and in college admissions for 10 years. This is unprecedented. I can't even believe you're coming to me with this proposal.
Wilbur: Come on, Shania. They're financially qualified. Everyone knows how this works, so don't act naive.
Shania: If you want to run admissions like a pay-to-play, you might as well go join Yorkshire's admissions office. And you know what? You weren't here, but this same thing happened two years ago, and who got the short end of the stick back then? Me. I haven't even been able to distribute all of the scholarship money this year.
Chase the dean promised me 10 scholarships per year after that, and now I'm fighting for three?? Either way, I'm still wasting seven scholarships even if I do get these spots. Seven scholarships. Do you even understand how much of an impact it will have on seven deserving 18-year-olds if they get into this college? But no. Instead, we should just give these spots away to some rich triplets.
Wilbur: I'm not the enemy here. I'm just doing what I've been told. How do you think we get the money for those scholarships in the first place? From the magic money tree?
Shania: The furthest I'm willing to go is to consider one of the triplets. But I've reviewed their files again and again, and it's been a constant issue this admissions cycle.
Wilbur: We absolutely can't just admit one. It will look so bad. They've donated three million dollars over the past few years alone.
Shania: Three million dollars is peanuts compared to all of other legacy students we've already admitted this year. Is this school really on life support? Or are you truly trying to destroy any chance a kid from working-class parents has at getting into this place? Like why even work in education?
Wilbur: I'm just doing my job. Cody told me to talk to you about this.
Shania: So that's your excuse? You're just doing his dirty work? If you're going to screw over working-class kids, at least own up to what you're doing. If you're going to survive in this office, you better learn how to get a mind of your own.
Wilbur: This is literally my job, Shania. I have a target to reach, and Cody is going to be down my neck if I don't get it. I'm the one caught between a rock and a hard place here. I have until the end of today to report back to him. If I don't get your approval then I'll have to escalate this formally.
Shania: You're fighting so hard on this and not budging. It's starting to make me think someone slipped you guys a dollar or two for this one—for you to be challenging me and my authority in this office.
Wilbur: Excuse me? If you're insinuating that I'm taking bribes, then I'm done with this conversation.
Wilbur slams his laptop shut, shoves his chair, and leaves the office.
Case Study: Part 2 Mediation
Two days have passed since Shania and Wilbur's last conversation. Shania refused Wilbur's demands and deadline, so the dispute has dragged on without resolution. Not only that, but the issue has become intensely personal, especially with the first negotiation having devolved into insults and a rumor that Wilbur is taking bribes.
The issue has stagnated to the point where a higher-up administrator, Chase, has offered to facilitate another discussion. He has talked to Wilbur and is convinced that he can solve the issue. After talking to Wilbur, he sends an email to Shania asking if the three of them can sit down over lunch and try to resolve the issue.
college Admissions officers Shania and Wilbur are joined by senior college Admissions Director, Chase, at the same conference room where they initially met.
Chase: Thanks for sitting down with me, you two. I know that things are tense and uncomfortable, given all that's been going on lately. I want you both to remember, the college admissions process is stressful, your jobs are difficult, so it's natural for emotions to get heated. I'm sure you guys didn't want the issue to escalate to this point.
That's why I invited you guys to lunch to see if we can try and sort out this issue amicably. Shania, I know from my conversation with Wilbur that he's very upset at the accusations you made regarding his integrity, and understandably so. That said, I'm happy that you responded to my email and that you came here today.
Wilbur: Thank you for setting this up, Chase. We really appreciate it.
Shania: Yeah, I mean, I'm just not sure why the whole office had to know about this. I know that I'm not the person who made this into an office wide issue.
Wilbur: I didn't tell the whole office, Shania. I just talked to Cody about this, which was something I was supposed to do, since part of my job involves reporting directly to him. And the fact you'd even put it like that—
Chase: OK, OK. So, before we start getting into the details of what happened, I want to try to understand what exactly happened. Wilbur, I'm already pretty familiar with your side of the story, so Shania, why don't you tell me what you think happened.
Shania: So, Wilbur came up to me and basically said that he needs to take the last 3 spots for these legacy triplets that aren't even vaguely qualified, pushing out 3 working class kids with top credentials and grades. He wouldn't budge on any single one of them, and he's insisting that all of them need to be admitted. We've never had this situation before. I've been put in a corner and told to not to authorize scholarships when I'm well within my right to.
So, to have someone come to me and tell me that I should reject hardworking students for wealthy kids that wouldn't have got in if they weren't legacies—it just doesn't sit right with me. Not to mention the fact that he has spread this issue across the whole office. It's just unprofessional. He's not even the right person to come and speak to me about this. Cody, his supervisor should have talked to me about it. Frankly, the fact that I'm hashing this out with him is just insulting to my position and my experience in this office.
Chase: So, what I'm hearing is that you feel disrespected in this office, and you feel like this is the last straw? Is that correct?
Shania: I mean to some extent, but that's not really my main point. This has been a tough college admissions cycle as it is, and I don't like it when people throw curveballs at me. I have my targets to meet, too, you know. There are kids who really deserve a chance to come to this school, and I feel like they're getting pushed aside for reasons that aren't budgetary. They are just catering to the expectations of some wealthy family. It's like we're working for them, basically.
Chase: Okay, Shania. I think I understand. But do you understand that the college has slashed our budget? We all know that we need donor money to keep the wheels moving—to keep the lights on, to speak.
Shania: Yes, I understand that, Chase. I wasn't hired yesterday. But it's not as if we haven't admitted any donor children this cycle.
Chase: But we wouldn't be fighting on this if it wasn't a necessity, so we're going to need you to compromise on this.
Shania: Compromise? Chase, I already offered to meet him in the middle. I said maybe we should admit one of the triplets but not all. I don't see why we have to let down all 3 students just for one family.
Chase: Is that true, Wilbur?
Wilbur: No, she said that she is not budging on anything. That's why she's been ignoring me. When I asked for her to get back to me two days ago, she didn't.
Shania: See? That's just a lie and he knows it. Speaking of lies, he's been going around calling me the aggressor and playing the victim, as if I chewed him out the other day and he's done nothing wrong. I said as a joke that maybe he's taking money because he came at me so fiercely. I didn't literally mean it. He's tarring my name in this office. The fact that you came to me after having spoken to him doesn't sit right with me. You've heard his story first so you're going to be swayed by that.
Chase: That's not true, Shania, and it hurts me you would say that. I'm here to listen to both of you equally and try to solve this problem. The bottom line is, I completely understand why you're so upset. Honestly, I think I would be in your position too. I just don't think it's possible to admit only one of them. If I were to bring this matter to the president of the college, I'd bet my right hand he would agree with me too.
Shania: If that's the case and you guys have already made up your minds, then why involve me again? This is just a waste of time. To be honest, I'm more insulted by the way Wilbur has handled this. Trying to play hardball with me over a situation he barely knows. When he didn't get his own way, he tried to stir the pot with everybody else in the office. If you're so sure the president of the college has a strong feeling about this matter, then he should be the one speaking with me, not either of you two.
Wilbur: You can't just walk away when you don't get what you want.
Shania: That's rich coming from you. Isn't that what you did at the end of our last conversation?
Shania gets up and leaves.
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Next Business Day
After the wake of the failed mediation, you, a mediator, with the University's Human Resources Department has been called to make a second attempt at mediating the conflict between Shania and Wilbur. college admissions Before meeting with Shania and Wilbur and formally beginning the mediation process, your job is to collect as much information as you can about the situation and devise a strategy for mediation, incorporating your expertise in mediation as well as the details you gather from the transcripts of the initial unsuccessful negotiation attempt and the unsuccessful mediation attempt.
(You, as a mediator, with the University's Human Resources Department, have been called to make a second attempt at mediating the conflict. college admissions Before meeting with Shania and Wilbur to formally begin the mediation process, your job is to collect as much information as you can about the situation and devise a strategy for mediation, incorporating your expertise in mediation as well as the details you gather from the transcripts of the initial unsuccessful negotiation attempt and the unsuccessful mediation attempt).
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Draft an HR incident report on the conflict and make recommendations for how to best resolve the dispute. Complete the following in a Microsoft Word document: college admissions
-Analyze the sources of conflict/challenges in this negotiation (communication, personality, emotions, cultural barriers, power dynamics, etc.). college admissions
-Summarize the important details from the unsuccessful negotiation and mediation.
-Provide your assessment of why these negotiations and mediation attempts were unsuccessful. college admissions
-Evaluate the outcomes of these two processes.
Identify outstanding issues that need to be resolved and how they can best be resolved. college admissions
-Provide support for your recommendations by discussing mediation strategies, processes, specific techniques, and sentence structures you have learned. college admissions
-Within the HR incident report, create a plan of action for conducting a second mediation with Wilbur and Shania. Consider the mediation principles that you noticed were perhaps neglected or practiced incorrectly during the unsuccessful negotiation and mediation:
-Identify a procedure you will adopt and how you would explain each step. college admissions
-Discuss how you will prepare for the discussion. college admissions
-Identify the techniques you plan to use to facilitate the session and how it will be structured. college admissions
-Propose the content that will be covered in the mediation, including the issues you will discuss to facilitate better communication practices between Wilbur and Shania. college admissions
-Determine how you will enforce neutrality while remaining empathetic to the needs, interests, and concerns of each person.
-Remember the point at which you entered the scenario; multiple issues have now developed. In addition to the initial issue regarding the Fontana triplets' college admission, you now need to navigate Shania's feeling of being slighted by Wilbur by him telling people about the issue, and the fallout of Chase's biased intervention.
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