Academic Initiatives
Proficiency Admissions
The Director of Academic Initiatives works primarily with high schools and colleges to improve the transition of students from the K-12 system into higher education. Admissions standards serve as a basic link between high school and college, communicating academic expectations to students, teachers, and counselors.
To enter one of Montana’s four-year campuses, students must take the Regents’ College Preparatory Program. By taking the Rigorous Core, students can qualify for Honor Scholarships and satisfy the Mathematics Proficiency Standard without a test score. Students should take full advantage of the courses offered to them in high school, avoiding remedial courses at the college level, or even better, taking Advanced Placement, Tech Prep, get a jump start on college.
In addition to college preparatory curriculum, students must have either a minimum 2.5 GPA, rank in the upper half of their class, and earn minimum composite scores on the ACT or SAT. See Admission Standards.
The newest academic requirements for students hoping to attend four-year degree programs involve Mathematics and Writing Proficiency. One of the major responsibilities of the Director of Academic Initiatives is to oversee the development, administration, scoring, and reporting of the Montana University System Writing Assessment.
The Director of Academic Initiatives also works to develop more systematic approaches to policies related to Provisional Admissions, Placement, Remediation, and Transfer.
Title II: Improving Teacher Quality provides grants targeted to K-12 teachers who will benefit from strengthening their knowledge and skills in the content areas. The Director of Academic Initiatives encourages applications from Partnerships of Schools of Education, Colleges of Arts and Science, and high-need school districts at any time.
