TO:  Medical School Faculty

FROM:  Clive R. Taylor, M.D., Ph.D.
  Senior Associate Dean for Educational Affairs

SUBJECT:   Year I Medical Student Class Size
 

Dear Colleagues:

The Keck School of Medicine at USC matriculated 174 students into the first year class on August the 16th, as opposed to the traditional number of 150. As a result, there is an increased opportunity for faculty to be actively involved in the teaching program this year!

The purpose of this letter is to inform you as to how we reached an increased class size, and also to broadcast the commitment of the Administration to channel resources to the faculty who are directly impacted by increased teaching, such that we provide the highest quality experience for all of our students.

First, the admissions process has changed this year.  We initiated a program of active recruitment of those applicants whom we wanted at our Medical School.  This process involved multiple follow-up contacts with chosen applicants who had received offers of admissions.  In addition, we held an "On-Campus" recruitment day that well over 100 of our top priority applicants attended.

By mid-April, we had made approximately 360 offers to our top applicants, a number identical to that in the previous year.  On May 15th, the AMCAS admissions process requires that a student holding multiple offers reduce to a single acceptance.  Thus, from May through July, we normally see  a number of withdrawals from the students to whom we have made offers.  In the 1997-98 admissions season, of the 360 offers, approximately 2/3 withdrew such that we went to the waitlist in July and made 60 more offers to fill the class at 150.  By contrast, in the current year (1998-1999), we saw only a very slow rate of withdrawal such that by July 1st, our group of 360 September 3, 1999 TO: Medical School Faculty Page 2 of 2

offers had declined to only 204.  Consequently, we did not go to the waitlist at all this year!  Withdrawals continued at a very slow rate to reach a final class size of 174.  It should also be noted that this number of 174 was only reached after we offered all accepted applicants the opportunity to "defer for one year" with guaranteed acceptance for the year 2000, an offer which 13 students accepted.  Therefore, our matriculation rate out of an offering pool of approximately 360 was 52% this year, as opposed to approximately 30% the previous year.  It appears that the recruitment effort made the difference, a much bigger difference than we anticipated and one that is very revealing with regard to how highly our school is regarded by applicants across the country.

Second, we now have the challenge and opportunity of providing a high quality experience to a class of 174 as opposed to 150.  In meeting with departmental faculty, and with the Year I/Year II Curriculum Committee, I have made a commitment on behalf of the Administration that the additional tuition resources engendered by the increased student numbers will be directed towards producing a quality experience for these students.  This means that funds will first be directed to additional equipment, facilities and supplies, for the increased student number.  The remaining funds will be channeled to those faculty who are impacted by the increased teaching load and who respond positively to the challenge that presents.  In this context, we are working to develop a proposal that allocates these tuition overload funds to the teaching faculty in year I, in proportion to teaching, responsibility and performance.  This proposal will be presented to the Year I/Year II Curriculum Committee and then will be brought back by the course coordinators for discussion with faculty members.  The goal is to develop a simple process that rewards faculty for effort and excellence and to distribute those funds directly to the faculty during the course of the academic year.

Your input into this process is invited through the mechanisms described or directly to me.  Meanwhile, I am confident that you will all rise to the challenge that is presented by this one class.  It is not only the largest we have ever had, but also the highest in terms of academic quality.  This truly is a unique opportunity for our faculty at the Medical School to show our mettle.  I have confidence that we will meet the challenge.
 

CRT/lm