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UD announces 'Commitment to Delawareans'

Provost Dan Rich discusses the ‘Commitment to Delawareans’ at a news conference held at Stanton Middle School.

5:08 p.m., Nov. 15, 2006--The University of Delaware has unveiled its new Commitment to Delawareans, an academic roadmap designed to inform students and parents throughout the state of the courses and level of academic performance recommended for admission onto the Newark campus.

The Commitment to Delawareans was announced Wednesday, Nov. 15, in news conferences at Sussex Central Middle School at Georgetown Middle School in the morning and at Stanton Middle School in the afternoon. The document provides detailed course recommendations and emphasizes the need to begin the path to college readiness as early as middle school, which is why middle schools were selected as sites for the announcement. Copies of the document will be distributed this week to all UD employees.

Louis L. Hirsh, director of admissions, speaks at the morning news conference at Sussex Central Middle School in Georgetown.

At the news conferences, UD President David P. Roselle said, "The University of Delaware has long enjoyed a special relationship with the people of our home state, and this Commitment to Delawareans builds on that tradition. With UD now counted among the finest institutions of higher education in the nation, our coursework is challenging. This initiative will ensure that the state's students have clear guidelines as to what courses in high school will best prepare them for admission to the Newark campus.”

“Delawareans come first in UD admissions,” UD Provost Dan Rich said. “If your child takes the classes we recommend and does well in them, then your child can be confident of success in college and confident that there will be a place for him or her at the University of Delaware. What is more, the University also will do all that it can to meet demonstrated financial need so that a UD education is affordable.”

At the new conferences, Valerie Woodruff, secretary of the Delaware Department of Education, said, "The University's initiative builds well on the Vision 2015 plan released last month. That plan is an ambitious one, but also one we can accomplish. It sets high expectations for all Delaware students, and we must set them high if our students are to meet the real-world demands of college and work. This Commitment to Delawareans also further reinforces the work under way through the State Honors Grant that is focused on ensuring the success of Delaware's public high school graduates. The grant was awarded through the National Governors Association and is funded by the Gates Foundation."

Also speaking at the news conferences, Jean W. Allen, president of the State Board of Education, said, "Our state is committed to ensuring that all students leave school equipped for the demands of postsecondary education or the modern workforce and equipped to be competent citizens in today's global society. It is rewarding to see our expectations for more rigorous requirements matched by the academic roadmap laid out by the University of Delaware in this new initiative."

Valerie Woodruff, secretary of the Delaware Department of Education, in Georgetown

"It is important to note," Hirsh said, "that no Delawarean competes against an out-of-state student for a place in our entering class; nor do Delawareans compete against each other. Instead, we offer admission to every Delawarean whose academic record predicts success."

The goal of the Commitment to Delawareans is to provide clear guidelines so students understand the courses they must complete and the level of performance they must achieve to be confident of gaining admission to the Newark campus of the University of Delaware. Students who follow the prescribed requirements also can be confident that UD will meet their demonstrated financial need up to full in-state tuition with a combination of grants, loans or work-study.

Although no university can provide an ironclad guarantee of admission until a student has completed the application, UD officials said they believe it is important to define what students need to accomplish in grades 9-12, and what groundwork they need to lay before then, to give themselves the best chance of being admitted.

The intention is to help students, parents, teachers and guidance counselors in the state provide the best preparations possible for admission to UD.

UD Provost Dan Rich: “Delawareans come first in UD admissions. If your child takes the classes we recommend and does well in them, then your child can be confident of success in college and confident that there will be a place for him or her at the University of Delaware.”

The Commitment to Delawareans spells out both general requirements and course requirements. The general requirements state:

• You must complete at least 20 full-year academic courses between grades 9 through 12, and at least five of those units must be completed during your senior year;
• The level of these courses must be at least college preparatory or higher. If you school denotes its course levels with “phases” (with 5 as the highest) then these must be phase 3, 4 or 5 level courses;
• At least two of these 20 academic courses must be at a level that is higher than college preparatory--for example, “honors,” “accelerated,” “enriched,” “Advanced Placement,” “International Baccalaureate” or “Academic Challenge.” If your school uses course “phases” (with 5 as the highest), then courses denoted as phase 4 or phase 5 would meet this requirement;
• Among these 20 full-year academic courses, no grade may be below a B- (or the equivalent of a B- according to your school's grading scale) and your overall cumulative grade point average in these academic courses must be at least a B+ or higher;
• You must have a record of good conduct in your school and in your community. Students who have been expelled from school, have received suspensions or serious infractions, or have been convicted or adjudicated by the courts of crimes are not eligible;
• You must be a resident of the state of Delaware and quality for in-state tuition at UD to be eligible. Your application must be complete by our application deadline, and you must enter UD as a freshman for the fall or spring semester immediately after your high school graduation; and
• You must graduate with a high school diploma from a regionally accredited high school, and UD will gladly consider home-schooled students on a case-by-case basis.

The 20 full year academic courses must include the following:

• Four years of English, at a level of at least college preparatory;
• Four years of mathematics, at least college prep, and drawn only from algebra I, algebra II, geometry, trigonometry, statistics, probability, pre-calculus and calculus, or an equivalent integrated math sequence that incorporates those courses;
• Four years of science, at least college prep, with at least three of the four years drawn only from chemistry, biology and physics and all three must include a laboratory. Alternatively, three years of an approved integrated science curriculum;
• Three years of the same foreign language, with all three years completed in grades 9-12;
• Two years of history, at least college prep level, including one course in world history;
• Two years of social studies, at least college prep level and drawn from psychology, political science, government, geography, economics or sociology. A year of college prep science can be substituted for one of the social studies courses; and
• One year of an elective, at least college prep level.

  Jean W. Allen, president of the State Board of Education, at an afternoon news conference in Stanton

Brochures on the Commitment to Delawareans are being distributed throughout the state, and a Spanish language version is available. Information also is available at the web sites [www.udel.edu/commitment] and [www.udel.edu/compromiso].

The Commitment to Delawareans complements several statewide educational initiatives, including Vision 2015 and the P-20 Council's Graduation Requirements Committee. Vision 2015 is a public, private and civic effort dedicated to developing a world-class education system in the state. The Graduation Requirements Committee, with representation by the Delaware Department of Education, the State Board of Education, district superintendents, high school principals, community and business representatives and higher education representatives, developed recommendations for core coursework to better prepare students for the university and work environments.

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