Admissions officers have decided not to take a position in the need-blind discussion, saying they will continue to search for the best students according to the priorities and policies laid out by the college.

“I don’t want the Admissions Office to get caught in the middle…our role is just to bring in the best class,” Assistant Dean of Admissions Nancy Mackenzie said. “We will do the best we can for Macalester, regardless of the need-blind admissions decision. Our job is to implement whatever the decision may be.”

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Lorne Robinson also chose to withhold his position on the issue. “I think this is a decision that requires broad community discussion,” he said. “Although I am happy to do what I can to help inform the community, I do not believe that it would be appropriate for me to share my personal opinion.”

Mackenzie did say that generally, admissions officers have expressed ambivalent feelings about the debate. While officers are dismayed by the idea of taking prospective students’ finances into account, they also sympathize with the Resource Planning Committee (RPC) claim that certain changes in the admissions policy are necessary in order to uphold a high quality of education and life at Macalester.

“Given unlimited funding, I'm sure that all of us on the admissions staff would prefer to remain need-blind, but Macalester's funds aren't unlimited,” Robinson said.

If the Board of Trustees votes in January to change to need-aware, the new policy would be implemented for the Fall 2006 incoming class, but would not affect those admitted for Fall 2005.

According to the Admissions Office, its involvement in the debate has not extended past the data it supplied to former RPC Chair and Math Professor Danny Kaplan, who compiled the research on which the RPC report is based.

Robinson said that admissions officers have begun to think about how they would change their selection process in order to implement a need-aware policy. “In the past, admission decisions were made first, then the financial aid analysis was performed for those students being admitted,” he said. “In a need-aware system, financial analysis would be done first so that the amount of an applicant's financial need can be factored into the admission decision.”

Mackenzie said she does not think that a change in admissions policy will be as noticeable as some opponents of the switch may think. “In general, two years from now, this wouldn’t be a very different place if there was a need-aware policy,” she said. “We would still have the role of finding talented students. We want them, though, to have access to studying abroad and great faculty. All of that should be expected.”