The University's incoming class may be more ethnically homogeneous than last year's class if the current trend in minority applications remains steady.
Provost J. Bernard Machen announced yesterday to the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs that the number of minority applications has dropped significantly since last year - a decrease of about 15 percent, according to Ted Spencer, the University's director of admissions.
Although more than 1,000 applications sit unopened in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Machen said there is reason to be worried about the decrease.
"We are concerned that (the lack of minority applications) is too big to recover without extraordinary numbers," Machen said.
Vice Provost for Academic and Multicultural Initiatives Lester Monts said the decrease is something of concern to administrators.
"This is something we had clues about even before Christmas break, that all applications were down, especially minority applications," Monts said.
Spencer said the largest decline has been in the number of African American students applying to LSA - down 16-17 percent.
"I am concerned about the numbers but we're not at the point where we're about to panic because the more information we receive from the applications, the more encouraged we are," Spencer said. "But at the same time, we know that this is a national problem and that tends to be not so encouraging."
Most Ivy League schools, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Texas have received fewer applications from minorities, Spencer and SACUA members said.
Spencer said that while the number of in-state minority applicants has remained somewhat constant, the number of out-of-state minority applicants has decreased substantially.
The only major change in the application process was an additional response to the essay question on this year's application. But University officials said they do not feel the extended question has deterred applicants.
"No matter what, the people that apply to Michigan are pretty competitive, so I can't see how writing another paragraph would impact the competitive students that would apply here," said Louis D'Alecy, SACUA's incoming chair.
In an effort to bring the number of minority applicants up to last year's unusually high rate, Spencer said, the University is contacting all minority students that requested applications and giving them the option of turning in their applications immediately. They may send in their essay questions at a later time.
LSA sophomore Jack Stanton said he "disagrees wholeheartedly" with this effort.
"I'm disappointed that the University is not observing strict guidelines regarding the ethnic status of the people that are applying," Stanton said.
"I think we go to an elite University and it should be a strict process by which people are admitted to our University," Stanton continued.
Through phone calls and personal letters, the University is informing minority applicants about visitation programs the University plans to hold 3-4 times a week. These would allow applicants to tour the campus and meet with minority students.
"In the past, our spring program for minority applicants has yielded an 80-to 85-percent rate of acceptance in those who attend," Monts said. "We think that increased effort will be able to chip away at the deficit (of minority applications)."
Juan Sauceda, an Engineering senior and co-chair of Alianza, said he felt he had to seek out programs that could attract minorities when he transferred to the University before his junior year.
"I think that the University can do a better job of recruiting," Sauceda said. "I'm sure there are students out there, we just have to find a way to attract them."
Spencer said his department will not lower admissions standards for minority applicants.
Machen said he is not concerned that the decrease in minority applicants will negatively affect the University's recent diversity initiatives.
"If, in fact, we end up with a smaller pool of applicants, we're just going to have to double our efforts to make this as diverse a place as possible," Machen said.
D'Alecy said recruitment numbers vary over time.
"I know there's a history and a pattern, but there's also quite a bit of fluctuation," D'Alecy said.