Seven months ago, an elite group of colleges and universities created a new application system intended to help disadvantaged students find their way to higher education. Now, the group has hired its first executive director. And she faces a pile of unanswered questions and deepening criticism about the system from the college-advising community.
The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success announced April 25 that it has chosen Annie Reznik as its first executive director. She began May 1.
Reznik has been on both sides of the college-admissions table: She鈥檚 been a high school counselor, most recently at a private Quaker school in Providence, R.I., and an admissions officer at the University of Maryland.
Until now, the coalition鈥檚 work has been led by a governing board of representatives of its 90-plus member institutions. But college counselors have become increasingly critical of the group as they struggle to get clear information about how the system will work. Their frustration has spilled onto listservs for the profession and into conferences where they鈥檝e had to move to bigger rooms to accommodate all the people who wanted to pepper coalition representatives with questions.
In an interview with Education Week, Reznik said she will do everything she can to make sure the coalition helps counselors get the information they need.
鈥淚 certainly feel like counselors need more information, and I鈥檓 excited to help them get it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel so confident that the intentions and goals of the coalition are important, and ultimately, counselors are student-centered. So I鈥檓 hopeful they鈥檒l start to feel more confident in the organization when we bridge those information gaps.鈥�
Education Week tried to reach three university-based leaders of the coalition to discuss its new leadership and counselors鈥� complaints about the group鈥檚 transparency. One declined to be interviewed, and two didn鈥檛 return calls.
Bumps in the Road
Recently, counselors learned that dozens of coalition members have decided to delay using the application system for a year. But counselors are still struggling to get a full picture of what鈥檚 going on. Earlier, the coalition delayed by three months the release of a key piece of its application system.
Rafael Figueroa, the dean of college guidance at Albuquerque Academy, a private school of 1,100 students, said he learned at a counselors鈥� conference in Tucson, Ariz., recently that Colorado College had opted not to use the coalition system for a year. The coalition didn鈥檛 schedule a presentation for the Tucson meeting as it had for other regional gatherings, Figueroa said. He heard the news from a Colorado College official who 鈥渢ook it upon himself鈥� to discuss the issue at the conference.
鈥淚 was quite stunned, honestly, because I thought, well, this is a critical piece of information,鈥� Figueroa said. 鈥淗ow long a list is it? 40? 50 schools? When would we in the West have heard about it?鈥�
Figueroa said he was also dismayed to learn that the coalition posted new essay prompts on its website, but sent no email notification to the counseling community.
At the Tucson meeting, Figueroa said he also pressed for clarification on how much financial aid coalition schools are required to provide. That鈥檚 a key idea, since the organization requires participating institutions to show that they will meet the 鈥渇ull demonstrated financial need鈥� of students.
Again, Figueroa was frustrated that he couldn鈥檛 get a clear answer. 鈥淭hey are just really dropping the ball with communication time and time again,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hy should we have to dig to find these things? It feels like they have a lot to hide, that they鈥檙e unsure, that this whole platform is very unstable.鈥�
When the coalition launched last September, it portrayed itself as a new method of connecting promising but often overlooked students with top-notch colleges. Part of its system features an online 鈥渓ocker鈥� that students can use to assemble videos, essays, projects, and other work into a multifaceted portrait of themselves, starting in 9th grade.
The digital-locker feature was originally to be released in January, but was moved to April. The application part of the coalition system is due out this summer.
An Equity-Minded Vision
From the beginning, the coalition hasn鈥檛 emphasized its role as an alternative to the Common Application, even though that was part of the idea behind its launch. Instead, the coalition has emphasized its mission: to reach underserved students in new ways and help them connect with institutions that will offer them good financial-aid packages and a very good chance of graduating. (To belong to the group, colleges and universities must demonstrate those and other criteria.)
But some counselors and college officials have worried that starting to build an online-application locker as early as 9th grade could make students nervous about college admissions two years earlier than the notorious junior year.
Others have argued that the system could perpetuate inequity by allowing students with the resources to build fancy portfolios to outdo those with less access to expensive tools and guidance.
Still others have raised questions about the privacy safeguards on those lockers, wondering who would have access to students鈥� information.
Phillip Trout, the president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, whose listserv has buzzed with debates about the coalition, said all that uncertainty and debate make it a good thing that the organization has hired a new executive director. And it鈥檚 鈥渇antastic鈥� that Reznik is someone who has 鈥渂een on both sides of the desk,鈥� he said.
But 鈥淕od bless her, Annie Reznik is going to be one busy woman,鈥� said Trout, a college counselor at Minnetonka High School in Minnesota.
He acknowledged that some members of NACAC have been 鈥渧ery unforgiving鈥� about allowing the coalition to find its way through its startup phase.
But David Hawkins, NACAC鈥檚 executive director for educational content and policy, said there鈥檚 a reason for counselors鈥� impatience: It鈥檚 because they work with students and families for up to two years as they approach the fall application season.
鈥淎ccordingly, the profession is accustomed to a significant amount of lead time when there are changes, whether large or small, to the application process,鈥� he wrote in an email.
He added that getting timely information to counselors and college advisers who work with underrepresented students is particularly important.
