 Hello prospective students and families. I'm Jim Dalton, executive vice president and provost of the University of Alabama. Since I came to UA in August, I've been working with the deans of our 13 schools and colleges to oversee the dynamic and diverse undergraduate and graduate degree programs we have here on campus. In my office, we provide the support needed to help our deans, esteemed faculty, and dedicated students achieve their goals in the classroom, in their research and creative endeavors, and in community outreach and engaged scholarship. You may have heard that the University of Alabama has made standardized test scores optional for admission in 2021. We understand limited access to standardized tests around the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic has made it a challenge for some students and families. Students applying for admission in any semester of 2021 will not be required to submit an ACT or an SAT score, but we do encourage you to submit these test scores when available to provide additional context to an application. However, the presence of a score will not create an unfair advantage or disadvantage to students applying for admission. You are still required to submit official high school transcripts and meet minimum unit requirements to be considered for admission. Admitted students with a test score on or before February 2021 will be eligible for automatic merit-scale scholarships through May 1. Additionally, students admitted before January 15th have the opportunity to receive priority consideration for competitive academic-scale scholarships. We strongly encourage all admitted students with or without a standardized test score to complete the scholarship application. I hope you will choose to join our campus community in 2021. We are here to serve and support the Academy of Scholars that is the University of Alabama. Roll Tide.