Attributes That Matter: Beyond the Usual in College Admission and Success

January 16-18, 2013

Westin Bonaventure, 404 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA

For the Conference blog and photos, click on the dates below.

Registration
Lodging
Agenda
Presentations
Speakers
Schedule at a Glance
Available Presentations
Reading Materials
Media Inquiries

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The research is clear. The attributes of a successful college student go well beyond measures of the defined components of standardized tests and high school grades. The abilities to adapt, persist, interpret, lead, be creative, handle disappointment, and negotiate complex systems often make the difference between a student who is a good choice or a poor one in admission and a student who is engaged and successful on campus or one who is not.

How can these attributes be identified and cultivated? Which explain success and for whom? How are they considered in college admission policies and how can they be given their due? How might high school preparation change if these attributes were more widely understood to be critical in college admission and success?                                                  

We would like to gratefully acknowledge all of our sponsors for contributing to the excellence of the conference: College Board, Hobsons, and International Baccaulaureate (IB). We would also like to thank the USC Rossier School of Education for its support of Rossier faculty, staff and graduate students to attend our conference.

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Registration

Register is closed.

Dwnload a PDF of the conference participants.

If you are paying by check, we must receive the check before January 16, 2013. Our Federal Tax ID # is 95-1642394. The check should be mailed to:

University of Southern California
Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice
3470 Trousdale Pkwy, WPH 302C
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4033

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Lodging

Reserve a room at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles at the special conference rate of $149/night. Rates are good up to three days before and after the conference dates. The special rate is only guaranteed through December 17, so please book early!

Westin Bonaventure Hotel
404 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA

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Agenda

Download the PDF here.

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Presentations and Sessions

• Neuroscience, Inspiration, and Purposeful Lives
• Assessing Noncognitive Variables: Issues and Applications
• Non-cognitive Variables in Action: DePaul and Oregon State
• Understanding What Makes Good Students and Good Professionals
• The Fisher Amicus Brief: Legal and Educational Implications of Considerations of Race and other Options in College Admission
• The Fisher Case Study: Reactions, Opposing Views, Implications for practice
• The College Board: Moving from Here
• Putting it Together Independently: Rewarding Character and Achievement with Scholarships
• Attributes for Successful Community College Transfer Students
  

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Speakers

Keynote Speakers

• Art Coleman, Managing Partner, Education Counsel
• David Coleman, President, The College Board
• Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Assistant Professor, USC, Rossier School of Education and Brain and Creativity Institute
• William Sedlacek, Professor Emeritus of Education, University of Maryland, College Park

Panelists

• Sheldon Zedeck, Professor of the Graduate School, University of California, Berkeley
• Patrick Kyllonen, Sr. Research Director, Center for Academic and Workforce Readiness and Success, Educational Testing Service (ETS)
• Steve Kappler, Assistant Vice President and Head of Postsecondary Strategy, ACT
• Larry Griffith, Vice President, Gates Millennium Scholars
• Carrie Besnette Hauser, Senior Fellow, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
• Charles Lovelace, Executive Director, Morehead-Cain Scholars Program, University of North Carolina
• Jon Boeckenstedt, Associate VP for Enrollment Management and Marketing, DePaul University
• Noah Buckley, Director of Admission, Oregon State University
• Kedra Ishop, Vice Provost and Director of Admissions, University of Texas at Austin
• Theodore Spencer, Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director, Undergraduate Admissions, University of Michigan
• Richard Sander, Professor of Law, University of California, Los Angeles
• Stephen Handel, Executive Director, National Office of Community College Initiatives, The College Board
• Nancy Shulock, Executive Director, Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy, and Professor of Public Policy & Administration, California State University, Sacramento
• Lawrence Nespoli, President, New Jersey Council of Community Colleges
• Frank Ashley, Vice Chancellor for Recruitment and Diversity, Texas A&M University System
• Pamela Horne, Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions, Purdue University
• Andrea Brownstein, Director of College Counseling, Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School
• Gil Villanueva, Assistant Vice President & Dean, Office of Admission, University of Richmond
• Eric Hoover, Senior Writer, Chronicle of Higher Education
• Scott Jaschik, Editor, Inside Higher Ed                                          

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Schedule at a Glance

Westin Bonaventure (404 S. Figueroa St)

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

5:00 pm Registration and Cocktail Reception
6:00 pm Opening Address
7:00 pm Adjourn

Thursday, January 17, 2013

7:30 am Continental Breakfast
8:30 am Begin Conference Program
12:15 pm Lunch
4:00 pm Adjourn Conference Program 

6:00 pm Cocktail Reception (Hollywood Ballroom)
7:00 pm Dinner & Keynote Address (Hollywood Ballroom)
9:00 pm Evening concludes

Friday, January 18, 2013

7:00 am Continental Breakfast
8:00 am Begin Conference Program 
12:30 pm Boxed Lunch & Conference concludes

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Available Presentations (PDF)

William Sedlacek-Assessing Noncognitive Variables: Issues and Applications
Noah Buckley & Jon Boeckenstedt-Noncognitive Variables in Action: DePaul and Oregon State
Patrick Kyllonen-Attributes of Good Students and Good Professionals
Steve Kappler-What ACT Research tells Us about Readiness and Persistence
Sheldon Zedeck-Predicting Lawyer Effectiveness with Noncognitive Measures: Use in Law School Admission Decisions
Art Coleman-Beyond the Cases…Legal and Policy Implications Associated with Race in Admissions
Richard Sander-Background data
Carrie Besnette Hauser-Overview of Scholarship Programs
Larry Griffith-The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program and the Application of Noncognitive Variables
Nancy Shulock-Background data

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Reading Materials

Neuroscience, Creativity and Human Development 
-Musings on the Neurobiological and Evolutionary Origins of Creativity via a Developmental Analysis of One Child’s Poetry (Immordino-Yang, 2011)
-Rest Is Not Idleness: Implications of the Brain’s Default Mode for Human Development and Education (Immordino-Yang, Christodoulou, & Singh, 2012)

Assessing Noncognitive Variables
-Mentoring in Academia: Considerations for Diverse Populations (Sedlacek, Benjamin, Schlosser, & Sheu, 2007)
-Using Noncognitive Variables in Assessing Readiness for Higher Education (Sedlacek, 2011)

Student Learning and Persistence
-Increasing Persistence: Research-Based Strategies for College Student Success (Habley, Bloom, & Robbins, 2012) 
-The Importance of Higher Education and the Role of Noncognitive Attributes in College Success (Kyllonen, 2012)
-Measurement of 21st Century Skills Within the Common Core State Standards (Kyllonen, 2012)

Scholarships
-Private Scholarships Count: Access to Higher Education and the Critical Role of the Private Sector (Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2005)
-Factors Associated with College and Career Success among Horatio Alger Association Scholarship Recipients (NORC, 2012)
-Morehead-Cain Scholars Program introduction

Lawyer Effectiveness
-Predicting Lawyer Effectiveness: Broadening the Basis for Law School Admission Decisions (Shultz & Zedeck, 2011)
-26 Effectiveness Factors

Affirmative Action
-Fisher v. University of Texas Amicus Curiae Brief (The College Board and The National School Boards Association et al.)
-Why Strict Scrutiny Requires Transparency: The Practical Effects of Bakke, Gratz, and Grutter (Sander, 2011)

Transfer Students
-The Promise of the Transfer Pathway: Opportunity and Challenge for Community College
Students Seeking the Baccalaureate Degree [Executive Summary] (Handel & Williams, 2012) [Full Report available here]
-Improving Transfer from Community Colleges to Four-Year Institutions: The Perspective of Leaders from Baccalaureate-Granting Institutions (The College Board, 2011)

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Media Inquiries

For members of the press, we may have complimentary registration available. Please contact Emily Chung, Program Director, by email or call 213.740.7401.