Dive Brief:

• The University of Illinois has been keeping a log of when any outside parties try to involve themselves in an admissions decision.
• The move comes after a 2009 Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that students with political connections were being admitted over more qualified applicants.
• Most of the roughly two dozen incidents on the system's log seem inconsequential, but each is automatically emailed to a handful of university officials to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Dive Insight:

Before the Tribune's investigation, lobbyists would sometimes meet with the former chancellor in secret to review the cases of applicants with political connections. An example of an event logged in the new system is an applicant calling about an admissions appeal and a woman screaming in the background that she is a judge and is going to write a letter — not exactly a sophisticated ploy to exercise clout.