Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Next year, students who want to drop a class will see a different mark on their transcripts and won’t have to get their instructor’s permission.
University Senate passed a new withdrawal policy, which will be implemented in the fall. Instead of receiving a “WP,” withdrawn passing, or a “WF,” withdrawn failing, after students drop a class, they will simply receive a “W,” withdrawn. Also, students will no longer be required to obtain a signature to drop a class from their instructor. Instead, they must follow the drop procedures required by the specific school in which they are enrolled.
Joan Hahn, assistant registrar at the Office of the University Registrar, said when a student dropped a class, they automatically received a “W.” She said she thought students would benefit from the new policy because it would provide consistency in marks and because it eliminated the use of discretion by the instructor.
“It provides more opportunity for equity for the students,” Hahn said.
Rick Levy, former president of Faculty Senate, said the Academic Policies and Procedures Committee recommended the change of policy for two reasons. He said instructors had no consistent understanding of what warranted a “WF” or “WP” mark. For example, some instructors would give students a “WF” if they never came to class, even if they meant to drop the class but just forgot to do so.
“The intention was not to penalize students but help students that withdrew,” Levy said.
Another reason for the revision was the hassle of obtaining instructors’ signatures to drop a course. Levy said many times students were waiting until the last minute to drop a course and were unable to get a signature by the deadline.
“Students weren’t necessarily planning far enough in advance,” Levy said. “They didn’t know whether the faculty member was going to be in town or out of town.”
Marianne Berry, University Senate president, said she didn’t have a strong opinion about whether to change the policy, but she thought the new policy would make the withdrawal process more convenient for students because they didn’t have to obtain an instructor’s permission to drop a class.
“It makes it more straightforward,” Berry said. “They could do it more quickly and be in charge of their own destiny.”
Levy said the original proposal had to be reworded to clarify ambiguities. The revisions to the proposal clarified that a mark of “W” would not be included in a student’s grade point average, that neither an instructor nor a school could withhold a student’s withdrawal in the second withdrawal period, and that it was the student’s responsibility to complete the withdrawal procedures of his or her school.
“None of those changes were actual changes to the policy,” Levy said. “Those were all things that were understood but not explicit.”
Geraldo de Sousa, chair of Academic Policies and Procedures, said University Senate showed widespread support for the policy change.
“The new policy greatly simplifies the course withdrawal process,” he said.
The withdrawal policy affects students who drop a class in the second withdrawal period, which is the 16th though the 60th instructional day of the semester.
— Edited by Mandy Earles
Committee requests grade policy change
The current “WP” and “WF” policy may be reversed back to just ...
Senate to consider class drop change
The Academics Policies and Procedures committee will recommend a new way for ...
Student Senate turns away resolution aimed at ...
University drop policy changes
The University has changed its drop policy so students have to decide ...
Hundreds utilize 20th Day enrollment policy
Feb. 11 marked the last day students could enroll in classes for ...
Courses fill up quickly
Registrar decides enrollment dates for students based on hours completed.
Students can now get transcripts online
Registrar’s Office now allows for students to request and obtain their transcripts ...
Proposal aims to shorten the school year ...
For the policy to change, other sate universities will have to support ...
How personal is your personal information?
Documents left behind after construction could leave students' private records vulnerable.
New evaluations will benefit teachers and students
To stop complaints from both students and teachers of current evaluations, a ...
Few professors aware of textbook royalty policy
An obscure University policy reaffirms professors’ practice of donating royalties from textbooks ...
Credit or no credit for graduate students?
Potential policy change would offer graduate students credit or no credit option.
Editorial: Policy infringes on student privacy
Proposed changes to the Department of Student Housing's policies could limit some ...
Freshman elections begin
Student Senate needs five representatives from the freshman class. Campaigning for Student ...
New start date reduces number of class ...
Classes begin on a Monday for the first time since 1995.
StudyBlue changes the ethics of studying
The site allows students to share notes, even when they don’t ask ...
News Briefs: August 23. 2007
Check out more news happening around campus
Possible changes for school calendar underway
If approved, changes would mean more balanced class schedules and later starting ...
Revised GI Bill could help schooling for ...
The bill’s benefits include cost of the most expensive public university and ...
Violations cause candidates removal and fining of ...
Reasons for dismissal include duplicated and photocopied student signatures.
Looking back at United Students’ platform promises
The Kansan reviews the coalition’s accomplishments.
Coalitions withdraw violation complaints
Both complaints issued by United Students and Delta Force coalitions were withdrawn ...
Editorial: Longer refund period needed
The University should give students the chance to receive a full tuition ...
Fact of the Day: November 12, 2007
Interesting Fact of the Day
System seeks to include ‘A+’
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences requests a change in its ...
Senate, HALO boost bill
Changes to senate executive board may be ...
A student senator has asked for an injunction preventing Senate from drafting ...
School’s letting out early?
An effort to help students get into summer internships and even out ...
Editorial: Student Senate votes to protect student ...
Larrabee discusses alcohol-related policy.
Policy serves those who serve
“One-stop withdrawal” allows students in the military to stay enrolled at the ...
University protocol for student deaths
An outline of how different departments handle the tragedy.
Student Senate leader reappointed
Rachel Barnes, Community Affairs Director for Student Senate, was re-elected Wednesday night. ...
New rules could improve elections commission procedures
Past controversies have hurt the commission’s reputation, but a revision of the ...
United Students' platforms reviewed
When Love and Wittlinger take office next fall, they'll begin the process ...
Enrollment overhaul on agenda for candidates
The United Students senate coalition want to make the Enroll and Pay ...
Alcohol related deaths could impact dorm privacy
Change to policy could eliminate need for search warrants in dorms.
Code change affects scholarly misconduct policy
The University Senate Code changes target faculty and staff members who break ...
Editorial: Textbook program shows potential
Faculty and administration should work to implement textbook rental program.
Editorial: Join Senate subcommittee to examine alcohol ...
Students should voice their opinion as members of the University.
Freshmen candidacy declarations due Tuesday
Students interested in running for Student Senate can find forms in the ...
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID