Admission and Appeals

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Admissions and Appeals Process, Educational Leadership Program

Before a student can be admitted to an Educational Leadership program, he or she must first be admitted to the VSU Graduate School. Graduate admission information may be found online at www.valdosta.edu/gradschool.. Master’s students may be admitted as “Regular,” “Irregular,” “Probationary,” “Transient,” or “Non-Degree.” Specialist and Doctoral students may only be admitted as “Regular” status. Information regarding these designations is found in the Graduate Catalog.

Occasionally a student applying for admission to a leadership program does not qualify for admission into the Graduate School. The reason is most commonly a low qualifying MAT or GRE test score or, perhaps, a low undergraduate grade point average (UGGPA). In that event, the student is notified by letter from the Graduate Dean and is generally given the option of appealing to the department. Please note that for the Masters' or Specialist degree the Graduate School requires appropriate scores on either the MAT or GRE.

The Department of Curriculum, Leadership and Technology maintains an Admissions/Retentions Committee that makes admission recommendations to the Department Head who weighs the recommendation and confers with faculty and the Graduate Dean. The committee will examine the application using a multi-dimensional approach. To initiate an appeal to the department, the student must complete the following information in a letter to the Department Head:

1. Student’s name and university ID number (if available)
2. Student’s active e-mail address and phone number (daytime and evening).
3. Identification of the admission standard(s) the student failed to meet.
4. An explanation describing why the student failed to meet the admission standard(s).
5. A description of actions the student has taken to resolve the admission problem (example – took a test refresher course, but failed the MAT/GRE a second time).
6. A rationale describing why the student feels the appeal is warranted:

	What leadership and professional experiences will the applicant bring to the program?
	How will the program benefit the applicant professionally?

7. Other information the student believes would bear positively on their admission.

Please remember this appeal letter will be used as a writing sample. This letter may be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to the Department Head.

Department of Curriculum, Leadership, and Technology
            College of Education
            Valdosta State University
            1500 N. Patterson St.
            Valdosta, GA 31698-0090
            Fax: (229) 259-5094
            E-mail: dwleech@valdosta.edu

The student should also request the Graduate School to forward a copy of the Admissions Evaluation Form, a copy of the Application for Graduate Admission, and copies of the student’s transcripts to the department.

Please note that the Admissions/Retentions Committee does not meet on a regular basis. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure the above information is available to the committee in a timely manner, so that if the student is accepted, he or she can be advised and enroll for the next available term.

Please do not hesitate to contact us during this process..