Open forum aims at improving minority admissions: 10/3

Open forum aims at improving minority admissions

The Office of Diversity sponsored the First Annual Health Advisors and Admission Coordinators workshop on Sept. 17. Hosted by Thaddeus J. Bell, M.D., and Kathy Whitaker, this open forum examined ways to improve the quality of applicants from historically black colleges and increase their enrollment to the Medical University.

Their objectives centered on identifying the minimum requirements for each discipline and any areas needing improvement within those disciplines, improving students’ academic credentials, addressing changes that may affect the admission process and increasing students’ awareness of available support systems and programs.

Low self-esteem, high credit card debt, advisors not giving the entire story concerning financial aid, too much focus on medicine and dentistry as career opportunities, little to no interviewing skills, and faculty not including the necessary components for standardized tests were considered as contributing factors for the problems facing African-American students.

Therefore, this panel developed several action items for developing a workable network system between the students, the South Carolina black colleges and the Medical University.

To keep the line of communication open, the Office of Diversity will have this forum every September at the Medical University. For more information, contact Whitaker at 792-2146.