Presidential Task Force on Undergraduate Admissions 2022-2023

The Presidential Task Force on Undergraduate Admissions was convened by President Martha E. Pollack in November 2022 to develop and recommend university-wide undergraduate admissions policies and specific principles of practice to support our eight undergraduate admitting colleges in recruiting and enrolling academically excellent classes in ways that support and advance Cornell’s unique ethos and mission.

The work of the task force was designed to broadly explore, and then recommend, the mission-directed admission policies and best practices that would most effectively and appropriately build undergraduate classes at Cornell.

The task force comprised Cornell faculty members and senior administrators with expertise in education and related fields, who met weekly over the course of six months. The task force studied the relevant literature, including the university’s previous reports on admissions, consulted with national experts and actively sought feedback from the community on various aspects of admissions.

Final Report

The task force issued its final report (PDF) in September 2023 outlining a cooperative, flexible and analytical approach designed to enable Cornell to respond in a confident, timely and effective manner to developing trends in higher education, and position itself as a model American university for the 21st century: with the depth and breadth of understanding and expertise to address the complex technological and social challenges to come.

Task Force Members

Avery August, co-chair
Professor of microbiology and immunology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, deputy provost and presidential adviser on diversity and equity
Kelly Cunningham, co-chair
Chief of staff and special counsel to the president
Patrizia McBride, co-chair
Professor of German Studies and senior associate dean for social sciences and interdisciplinary programs in the College of Arts and Sciences
Professor of applied economics and policy and Geller Family Faculty Fellow in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
Scott Campbell
Executive director of admissions and recruitment in the College of Engineering
Professor and chair of the Department of Communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Professor of computer science and information science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
Assistant professor of information science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
The Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Engineering and director of the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering in the College of Engineering
Professor of economics in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy
Professor of human resource studies in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, vice provost for undergraduate education and interim vice provost for enrollment
Professor of mathematics and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences
The Jan Rock Zubrow ’77 Professor of the Social Sciences and director of the Center for the Study of Inequality in the College of Arts and Sciences

Announcements