Admissions Policy and Procedure

Overview

Wilmette Institute’s admissions process is based on a holistic strategy that considers the key goal of ensuring that each student is a strong fit to complete the certificate program successfully and that the program is also a strong fit for the student to advance their learning, service, and career objectives. Academic excellence, measured through grades (i.e., GPA) and standardized exams (i.e., GRE), is not the primary admissions criteria. Rather, rigorous consideration of an applicant’s academic interests, life experiences, and communication skills factor strongly for admission.  Nor is financial aid a factor in admissions, as students attend the program “tuition-free” bolstered by donations from Baha’is established to reduce the strain associated with student debt. 

Moving away from mainstream approaches to admissions decisions requires considering cultural and procedural aspects. Cultural change happens when the admissions processes consider evidence of alternative cognitive and non-cognitive factors, leading to improved selection processes, greater fit in the program, and enhanced student outcomes. Holistic admissions provides a supportive, rigorous approach to doing what many admissions committees already do informally – assessing quantitative and qualitative evidence to determine the likelihood that an applicant will succeed in the program.

Best practices in higher education admissions include an application process carefully designed to draw out an applicant’s strengths in various dimensions. The WI Office of the Registrar, Admissions, and Student Services uses a rubric for analyzing an applicant’s strengths in several relevant areas to ensure rigorous, consistent, and fair evaluations, coupled with an interview process, personal essay, and personal or professional references to demonstrate skills, interests, and abilities which strongly align with certificate program learning outcomes.

Minors (Under the age of 18)

No applicant under 18 (Minor) will be eligible to register in the WI certificate program until the Parent/Guardian Consent Form has been signed and returned. All admissions requirements must be met by all students, including minors. Among the elements of the enrollment process, the interviewers determine if an applicant is a good fit for the program. Minor applicants and their parents/guardians accept that WI is designed to be delivered in an adult learning environment. Students are expected to behave as adults and assume adult responsibilities.

Admission by Exception and Special Talent

Wilmette Institute allows the Admissions Committee to admit students by exception or special talent who demonstrate the potential to succeed in the WI certificate program but do not meet all the eligibility requirements for admissions. All applicants will be reviewed by the Admissions Committee on a case-by-case basis, valuing the merits of each independently of the others.

By this policy, the Admissions Committee allows up to ten percent of new enrollments per year for admission by exception. This percentage includes students “from low socio-economic backgrounds or students having experienced limited educational opportunities,” other students from marginalized and diverse populations who are underrepresented, and students with special talents who would fit into the program without meeting the minimum academic requirements. All decisions on admission by exception will be recommended by the Admissions Committee and approved by either the WI Director or Associate Director.

The Admissions Officer and Committee must review all applications in minute detail to identify candidates “from low socio-economic backgrounds or students having experienced limited educational opportunities,” other students from marginalized and diverse populations who are underrepresented, and students with special talents who would fit into the program without meeting the minimum academic requirements. If this is the case, and certain admissions criteria are not met, the Committee must indicate in the Admissions Package which criteria are not met and why and then justify admission by exception and/or special talent. The Committee must also indicate that by admitting the candidate, the percentage of students admitted by exception and special talent will not exceed 10% of all enrolled students. The decision of the Admissions Committee and the entire Admissions Package will then be relayed to the Director or Associate Director for final approval. 

Admissions Requirements

An Applicant to the WI Certificate Program must meet all the following minimum qualifications:

  1. Must be 18 or older. Exceptions can be made if the Parent/Guardian Consent Form is signed and the applicant is deemed a good fit for the program.
  2. Completed or currently enrolled in an accredited Bachelor’s degree program with two years of study completed (Junior or Senior status). Transcripts required. Transcripts from universities outside the US are accepted, but all transcripts must be submitted in English.
  3. Currently reside in the U.S. or Canada where WI is authorized by a state educational authority (*see list of currently approved states)
    • *Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
  4. Strong command of the English language
    • Applicants must demonstrate English proficiency if their native language is not English unless their higher education degree was completed in English. Applicants who meet the above condition will be asked to submit the results of a recognized English language proficiency test to demonstrate English proficiency. If they don’t have an existing proficiency test, they can take a Duolingo proficiency test or any other widely recognized English language proficiency examination. WI requires a score in the B2 range of the international standard, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
  5. To enroll and remain in the WI certificate program, applicants and students must confirm that they are not taking more than twelve units per quarter or semester in another institution of higher learning.  An applicant’s / student’s transcript is required to confirm compliance. If incompliant, the applicant/student will not be allowed to enroll until the Admissions Officer verifies compliance.
  6. Identity verification is required with applications. Student Identity Verification Policy. Student identification will be verified during the admission interview. During the interview, a current government-issued photo ID must be shown, and the date of birth and state of residence must be accurate to ensure the integrity of the student’s permanent record.  Once enrolled, the student information system database (Populi) captures this verification data.

Application Process

  1. Applicants complete and submit the Online Admissions Application Form found on the WI website 
  2. Applicants submit names and contact information for academic and personal references and their relationship to the applicant. The Admissions Officer and/or the Admissions Committee will determine if it is necessary to contact the references. 
  3. Applicants must compose and submit an Admissions Essay based on one of five topics selected by the applicant.
  4. Applicants fill in an Admissions Survey. The survey aims to gather additional information to help determine fit for the program. 
  5. In case of an incomplete application, the Admissions Officer will follow up with applicants to indicate missing information, submission channels, and deadlines. An exception to this rule may be made for official university transcripts if obtaining them will make the student miss the application deadline. In this case, acceptance into the program will then be provisional, and students will be required to send in an official transcript before starting the second course in the program.
  6. Often, the Admissions Officer supports applicants with pre-admission counseling. The Admissions Officer is available to prospective students for consultations over the phone or through Zoom by appointment.   
  7. Once all required admissions documentation is submitted, the Admissions Office will schedule an interview with the applicant. The Assistant Director or the Chief Academic Officer will conduct the interview.
  8. If the application is 100% complete before the submission deadline, the Admissions Officer will submit admissions documentation for each applicant to the Admissions Committee for final admissions decisions, which are communicated to the Admissions Officer in writing.
  9. The Admissions Officer communicates admissions decisions and next steps with all applicants in writing through official channels (email).
  10. The key next step is for the student to sign the Enrollment Agreement in which the institution requires students to affirm receipt of the catalog and other institutional documents that disclose the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of both the student and institution prior to completing the enrollment process.

Admissions Application – The application helps us measure the potential of applicants to complete the Social Transformation certificate program successfully. The application contains four sections:

  1. An introduction that provides information about the program and the admissions process.
  2. Program details and educational experience. In this section, applicants confirm which quarter they can begin their studies, provide information and transcripts from their previous academic experience, and confirm their plans to transfer WI credits to another institution.
  3. References and Essay. In this section, applicants provide information about their references, which must be academic or professional. Applicants can also submit a reference who is a member of the Auxiliary Board (a Baha’i institution). In this section, applicants also submit their application essays.
  4. Survey about the candidates’ interests and expectations for the program.

Essay Scenarios and Instructions

Admissions Essay Scenarios – Choose one of the following essay topics: 

  1. The Social Transformation Certificate program offers courses on the following topics: social change, race unity, sustainable development, and education. Write about your experience with one of these topics and how this certificate will advance your goals.
  2. Share some community-building and/or social action endeavors you have participated in. How have these experiences prepared you for building the capacity to contribute to public discourse? How will this certificate program help you achieve your goals about discourse?
  3. Discuss your future career and/or educational goals upon completing your degree program and how the WI Social Transformation program can enhance fulfilling those goals.
  4. Describe the “forces” in your personal life or work where challenges and obstacles contributed to your constructive resilience to succeed. How might the WI Social Transformation certificate program speak to those forces?
  5. Share and discuss one personal or work experience where your mentorship or applied wisdom significantly impacted somebody’s life choices and aspirations. How might the WI Social Transformation certificate program relate to that experience for your future?

Essay Instructions

Admissions Survey

The Admissions Survey is to be completed with the Application form. It has six sections:

  1. What the candidate expects or needs from the Wilmette Institute
  2. What interests the applicant has regarding community involvement, working with faculty, and independent study.
  3. How comfortable the applicant is taking distance learning online courses.
  4. How prepared the applicant is to tackle various aspects of academic online learning.
  5. The level of importance for the applicant of intercultural exchanges
  6. Academic and professional interests of the applicant.

Interview Questions and Rubric

The admissions process involves one formal interview with the candidate over the phone or via Zoom. However, the Admissions Officer may hold a preliminary, less formal interview to resolve specific questions or issues with the candidate’s application. The Admissions Officer can take notes and use this information to complement the application to provide more complete information for the admissions committee.

The admission interview seeks to interact with each candidate live to determine the level of mutual fit between the applicant and the program. Our interview questions help provide evidence to the Admissions Committee of how the applicant’s life experiences have prepared him or her to complete the program and contribute to the WI online learning community.  Questions may be added to gather information about the application responses, essay, or references. 

The interview begins after the applicant shows a current government-issued ID during the video conference, and the interviewee can determine if it is a valid ID for the applicant. The interviewer takes notes and scores each answer according to the rubric (see below).

The following interview questions are obligatory for all applicants. Additional questions may be added by the interviewer to follow-up or gather additional relevant information.

  1. What attracted you to this certificate program at this point in your life?
  2. Tell us how this program fits your future academic, professional, or personal plans.
  3. Each course in this graduate certificate program requires deep study, consultation, action, and reflection. We estimate it will take approximately 10 hours per week to study the resources, conduct fieldwork, and do the writing assignments. What are your thoughts about the academic rigor and time needed for fieldwork in the program? How will it fit in with the rest of your activities?
  4. The content and pedagogy of this program are designed to explore the spiritual and material dimensions of social change. What are your thoughts on this approach?
  5. Share some community-building and/or social action endeavors you have participated in. How have these experiences prepared you for building the capacity to contribute to public discourse? How will this certificate program help you achieve your goals about discourse?
  6. How comfortable are you studying at a distance (online)? (Familiarity with educational technology, ability to self-organize their time, etc.)

Final Decision

The Admissions Officer will submit only completed applications to the Admissions Committee. 

The Admissions Committee, composed of the Admissions Officer, the Program Coordinator, and the Chief Academic Officer, reviews the complete applications and the interview results using rubrics to score results. The Admissions Committee will make the final decision regarding admissions for all applicants.

Admissions decisions made by the Admissions Committee are communicated to the Admissions Officer in writing, who is responsible for communicating the decision with applicants through email. Emails will be sent out individually as decisions are made.

The Enrollment Agreement

The Registrar will attach the Social Transformation Enrollment Agreement along with the acceptance letter to accepted applicants. The Enrollment Agreement is sent in PDF format to the student as an email attachment. The email describes the enrollment agreement and its importance to the enrollment process. The email offers support to the enrolling student by contacting the Admissions Officer by phone, text, or Zoom by appointment. The email informs the enrolling student that their signature on the enrollment agreement is a requirement to begin their studies with WI.

The rights, responsibilities, and obligations of the student and the institution are described in detail in the enrollment agreement. Students may take their time reading and understanding the enrollment agreement and should sign only when they feel ready. The enrolling student confirms with their signature that they have read the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of students and the institution. The enrolling student signs the enrollment agreement and sends it to the Admissions Officer as an attachment to an email. The admissions officer then uploads the signed enrollment agreement into our Student Information System Populi, in a secured student folder.

Last updated: 8 April, 2024

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