The absence of clearly written rules for adjusting the lists of those recommended for admission may lead to mass violations during admission. In particular, the following questions remain unclear:
• how will the lists of those recommended for admission be made public? If they are published only on notice boards in admissions committees, it will be difficult for applicants from other cities to monitor their own progress in the ranking. Therefore, it is important that the lists are also published on the official websites of universities. • how often will the lists be updated? To ensure the most transparent admission process possible, it is important that applicants learn about their progress in the ranking as quickly as possible. • how will members of admissions committees contact those recommended for admission? If members of admissions committees simply wait for the applicant to bring the original documents, the ranking will shift only on the last day, when it will already be known for certain how many people have not brought the originals. In such a case, applicants who have moved up in the ranking and received the right to study in their chosen specialty effectively have no time left to bring the original documents, especially if they are applicants from other cities. Therefore, it is important that members of admissions committees themselves contact applicants even before the end of the five-day period allotted for applicants to decide. • how will applicants who have moved up in the ranking be notified of the possibility of admission? Given that the Admission Conditions virtually do not provide for a procedure for refusing an offered place, the most likely situation is one in which admissions committees will know for certain only as of the end of the fifth day allotted for deciding on a specialty, among those recommended for admission, how many persons have decided to study in the given specialty. In such a case, it is critically important to promptly notify the next applicants on the list about vacated places.
It is also extremely important to publish the lists of persons recommended for admission indicating the basis for admission – whether a UPE certificate or admission outside the competition. Given the large number of persons who have submitted applications for admission outside the competition at some universities, in order to restore trust in this year's admission campaign, it is necessary that admissions committees also announce the date of issuance of the document that grants the right to admission outside the competition. The Civil Network OPORA appeals to the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine I. Vakarchuk with a request to take our recommendations into account and, in the near future, to address higher education institutions with a letter detailing the procedure for adjusting the lists of those recommended for admission. This will help increase trust in the admission campaign and reduce opportunities for corrupt actions or simple negligence on the part of members of admissions committees. Experts of the Civil Network OPORA have prepared a draft of such a letter and hope that this will make it possible to introduce clarifications to the procedure for admitting applicants in the near future.
Inna Sovsun, Head of Educational Projects of the Civil Network OPORA
Contact phone number – 8-067-502-5727.