Guidelines for Graduate Student Participation in Admissions Committees

There are different practices across campus with respect to how graduate students participate in graduate admissions processes. In consultation with Enrollment Management, Administrative Legal Services, and the Office of the Secretary of the Faculty, we provide the following guidelines:

If students participate, they must receive guidance regarding the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and their votes are advisory only.

There are two questions that arose when considering allowing graduate students to participate in graduate admissions processes. First, what issues are there if graduate students are given access to the admissions records of others? Second, are graduate students allowed to formally vote in program admissions committee? The answer to these questions are:

1. FERPA policy covers records of those currently enrolled for classes at UW-Madison as well as those who have ever been enrolled at UW-Madison. According to Enrollment Management and Legal Services counsel, students may participate in admissions committees and may have access to other student documents. However, as with anyone else doing so, they must receive prior guidance on FERPA and the obligations and responsibilities that go with using student data. Refer to the Office of the Registrar's page on FERPA training and resources.
2. According to Faculty Polices and Procedures 5.10, the department executive committee can extend the right to vote to members of academic staff. Since it does not explicitly allow the extension of the right to vote to students, students may participate in program committees, including admissions, but their vote should be viewed as advisory and cannot count in the official tally

Here is the memo sent in 2011 about student membership on graduate program admission committees.