Student-athletes and international students may have some new hoops to jump through to be accepted into the UW starting next year.

At the ASUW Board of Directors meeting late last month, ASUW Director of Faculty, Administration and Academic Affairs Phuong Nguyen announced changes will be made to the international student and student-athlete admission processes next year.

“The Admission and Graduation Subcommittee is in the process of changing the English language proficiency requirement for UW admission and graduation,” Nguyen wrote in an e-mail.

International students must currently take an English proficiency test before coming to the University of Washington. Students can choose from a list of assessments to take to demonstrate proficiency for their admission applications, which formerly included the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP) that measured a studen’ts English as a second language.

The Admission and Graduation Subcommittee for the UW has eliminated the MTELP from the list of possible choices, Nguyen said.

The English Language Proficiency Working Group believes the test is now outdated, having been created in 1979. Additionally, the developer of the MTELP no longer recommends its use.

The subcommittee is also considering redesigning the school’s diagnostic test to better reflect the University’s curriculum. This test determines how many English courses international students must take once they are admitted to the school.

Furthermore, Nguyen said the Academic English Program for international students may be modified to include more academic skill courses for students who need extra help with language development. The subcommittee is also discussing the coordination of support services through the Odegaard Writing and Research Center. These services would provide opportunities such as tutoring for students.

The subcommittee may grant graduation credits for students’ mandatory English language learning courses in the future.

As for student-athletes, student athletic admissions are divided into three categories at UW.

Student-athletes who have higher GPAs are admitted through a general admission process, similar to the application process for incoming freshmen. Students who have an 80 percent chance of having at least a 2.0 GPA after their first year of college are admitted under a “priority admissions” category. Finally, student-athletes who are projected to have less than an 80 percent chance of maintaining a 2.0 GPA during their first year at the UW are admitted through a “special admissions” category. These students usually come to the UW with at least a 2.0 GPA from high school.

But Nguyen stressed GPA is not the determining factor in admission to the UW.

“The admission process for all students, including student athletics, take in the holistic review of each applicant, and is not limited to their incoming GPA,” she wrote.

The subcommittee has decided to increase oversight of those students who were admitted to UW in the “special admissions” category, Nguyen said. The subcommittee will monitor these students through academic year-end progress and retention reports.

Laura Dally, a member of the women’s crew team, said, “I think that’s a good thing to do. If people come in and they’re just slacking, they’re wasting other people’s scholarship money.”

Dally said she wasn’t sure the proposal would actually work, but thinks the subcommittee is moving in the right direction.

The Faculty Council on Academic Standards discussed these proposals Oct. 24, and council members say they are working to ensure students have a successful experience at the UW and believe these changes are a step toward achieving that goal.

“The ongoing issue for the council is working towards ensuring the students are successful at the University,” said Nguyen. “ ... these changes are just steps towards making that possible.”

Reach reporter Katie McVicker at news@dailyuw.com.