Western University’s Faculty of Engineering Embraces Holistic Admissions with Acuity Insights’ Casper Assessment
May 14 2024 - 9:00AM
Acuity Insights, the leading provider of admissions assessment,
program management, and analytics solutions for higher education,
announces that Western University’s Faculty of Engineering,
Undergraduate Program, will introduce the Casper assessment into
its admissions criteria starting in the Fall of 2024.
The addition of the Casper situational judgment test will
supplement the existing admissions process at Western’s
undergraduate engineering program, which receives approximately
7,500 applicants yearly, to support a more holistic evaluation of
each applicant. By providing insight into the social intelligence
and professional skills of applicants, Casper will enable the
school to gather a more robust and well-rounded picture of each
candidate and help it identify applicants who have the skills to
succeed in their programs and future careers.
Dr. Craig Miller, Assistant Dean, First Year Studies at Western
University’s Faculty of Engineering, Undergraduate Program, says:
“We are excited to introduce the Casper assessment into Western’s
undergraduate engineering admissions process. We made this decision
because we’re looking for individuals who have both strong academic
and key human skills, such as problem-solving, collaboration, and
resilience. We want a deeper understanding of each student’s
accomplishments, skills, and lived experiences, and Casper gives us
that much-needed insight. By adopting Casper into our admissions
process, we are creating opportunities for future engineering
leaders who reflect the communities for whom they will build
solutions.”
Matt Holland, CEO of Acuity Insights, says, “We are delighted to
partner with Western Engineering and support them in their mission
to assess applicants holistically and widen pathways into their
engineering program. Including Casper in their admissions process
will provide opportunities for a broader, more diverse range of
applicants who might otherwise have been missed if traditional
application credentials were the sole consideration for admission
to the program. Western Engineering’s commitment to fostering an
equitable and holistic process for all applicants and their focus
on preparing well-rounded future engineers is both commendable and
pathbreaking in engineering education.”
About Casper
Casper is an open-response situational judgment test (SJT) that
measures social intelligence and professionalism and is backed by
20 years of data. Being socially intelligent and professional, in
and out of the workplace, requires a variety of skills and
behaviors, which we use every time we find ourselves in a new
situation.
Casper presents applicants with scenarios and questions that
allow them to demonstrate these skills and the extent to which they
can respond to challenging scenarios in a professional and socially
intelligent manner, by using their diverse life experiences. Its
open-response format, with both video and text, ensures it cannot
be gamed by humans or AI, unlike most other SJTs, which use a
multiple-choice format.
The Casper assessment tool measures skills such as:
- Adaptability
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Empathy
- Professionalism
- Teamwork
The evidence-based assessment is used by over 500 program
partners worldwide in various fields, including the following
educational programs:
- Medicine
- Health Sciences
- Teaching
- Business
- Engineering
Visit our website to discover how Casper can support your
admissions goals.
About Acuity Insights
Acuity Insights is the leading provider of admissions
assessment, program management, and analytics solutions for higher
education. The company’s solutions help higher education
institutions deliver on their mission holistically, considering the
whole student, widening pathways into higher education, and
ensuring both student and program success. Recognized as one of
Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 companies for 2021 and 2022,
Acuity’s solutions are used by nearly 600 higher education programs
worldwide. Its Casper situational judgment test (SJT), taken by
more than 150,000 applicants every year, is the most widely used
open-response SJT in higher education and is backed by almost 20
years of efficacy research. For more information, visit
acuityinsights.com.
Media contact:Brianna Bell, Content &
Communications Managerbbell@acuityinsights.com