Advisory committee discusses class of 2024, the largest in University history

In a Tuesday morning meeting, Assistant Director of Admissions Robert Noffsinger posed two questions about UNC’s newest students: “Who is our class, and how did they get here?”

Noffsinger proceeded to tell the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions about the roughly 5,300 first-year and transfer students enrolled at UNC for the fall semester.

This incoming class is the largest class in history, according to Jennifer Kretchmar, senior assistant director of admissions for research, in an email to The Daily Tar Heel.

“This was a class that coalesced and formed during a time period wrought with concerns for public health and racial injustice,” Noffsinger said during the meeting. 

Kretchmar said the University’s rise in enrollment can be attributed to offering remote alternatives early to students, such as the Carolina Away program.

Carolina Away was created for incoming first-year and transfer students who were unable to come to campus in the fall. Kretchmar said in an email that a total of 582 students enrolled in this online learning alternative. 

“We hope that they'll find an environment where they are encouraged to tell their stories, that they’re able to learn from those around them and they’ll have their unique and individual stories heard," Noffsinger said in reference to all students since classes have moved online.

Students can voice their experiences, expectations and aspirations in a survey that will arrive in their inboxes next week from the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, said Abigail Panter, senior associate dean for undergraduate education.

Associate Director of Admissions Jared Rosenberg spoke about updated testing exemptions and procedures for students who plan to apply to the University or any UNC System school for fall 2021.

Rosenberg said prospective students do not have to submit SAT or ACT scores to the University but are able to self-report scores if they choose. Test scores are only one factor considered in the application process.

“We will consider students comprehensively for admissions, scholarships and Excel at Carolina opportunities, whether they submit a test score to us or not,” Rosenberg said.

This change in testing procedures is a first for UNC and will be reviewed next summer by the Board of Governors, Rosenberg said.

Bettina Shuford, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, questioned whether the test score exemption for this year's applications will indicate if scores will be needed in the future.

In response, Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admissions Steve Farmer, who recently announced that he will be leaving UNC after this semester, discussed the holistic impact of these changes.

“It’s not just testing that’s going to be different next year, and the year after, and the year after. It’s everything,”  he said. “Students are, like the rest of us, going through an unprecedented, extraordinary, excruciating time."

Farmer stressed the University's commitment to supporting students during unparalleled circumstances.

“We have a duty and obligation to understand people where they are and try to fit them into the mosaic, the jigsaw puzzle of the University in a way that will help the University achieve its mission and will help every student thrive,” Farmer said.

@cameronmilnee

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