Gap Year Research Consortium Membership Form

Institutional Information

Institutional Affiliation *

Primary Admissions Contact

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

Title *

Primary Institutional Research Contact

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

Title *

Would you like to register other institutional representatives? *

Yes

How many additional representatives would you like to register? *

Institutional Representative 1

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

Title *

Institutional Representative 2

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

Title *

Institutional Representative 3

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

Title *

As member(s) of the Gap Year Research Consortium, I/we agree to adhere to the following general principles:

Participation and Engagement - Institutions that join the Gap Year Research Consortium will agree to:
- Participate in at least one meeting of the Research Consortium annually;
- Contribute input and suggestions to ongoing projects and initiatives by responding to surveys or other requests for information from the Consortium;
- Act as an advocate of the Consortium and of gap year research within your own institution, as well as other membership or research associations to which you may belong (e.g., NACAC, COFHE, HERI, College Board, etc.);
- Share resources and connections to advance the goals of the Consortium.
Research and Evaluation - We ask that all members commit to helping to advance the state of knowledge about gap year students and their experiences on campus. More specifically, we ask you to commit to:
- Incorporate some agreed-upon gap year questions on your admitted student survey and/or freshmen survey that will enable this group to learn more about gap year students across the country;
- Share findings and updates from your own institutional research on gap year students with other Consortium members;
- When possible, contribute raw (de-identified) data related to gap year students for further analysis by consortium-affiliated researchers;
- Help the Consortium to brainstorm, conduct, advance, and distribute ongoing and completed research initiatives related to gap year students.
Gap Year-Related Policies - We ask that all members commit to making their own institutions “gap-year friendly” by implementing institutional policies and programs that encourage and facilitate successful gap year experiences. More specifically, we encourage member institutions to:
- Ensure that your deferral policies make it easy for students to defer enrollment to take a gap year (including deferring merit scholarships, etc.);
- Explicitly indicate in application and/or acceptance materials and/or on your institution’s website that gap years are an acceptable (or even encouraged) reason for deferral, and provide links to resources related to gap year programs and to your institution’s deferral policy;
- Provide materials and resources specific to gap year students both during orientation and beyond to help ease these students’ transition into life on campus.

I/we agree

The consortium will prepare an invoice for the annual membership fee and keep in contact regarding next steps in the coming weeks.