Please consider the following rationale in relation to the proposed
changes in the withdrawal policy as recorded on page 85 of the Governance
Manual.
Withdrawal from a Course
[Governance Manual, P. 85]
Current Policy
A student may drop a course provided he/she has field a drop card with
the Registrar's Office by the published deadline. This card requires the
signature of the course instructor or his/her designee.
Up to and including the end of the third week, a student may drop a
course without a grade being entered on the record. Beginnin the fourth
week and up to the end of the ninth week a "WP (withdrew passint) or a
"WF" (withdrew failing) grade shall be issued by the instructor. The WP
grade shall not be calculated in the student's QPA; the WF grade,
however, will be calculated in the student's QPA. The tenth week and
thereafter a student must receive a regular grade.
Students should be aware that there is no automatic drop policy, and
withdrawal from a course in accordance with the above procedure is the
responsibility of the student.
During the summer session, the registrar will determine equivalent dates
for the no grade, WP or WF grade or regular grade period. Proposed Changes
--1st Paragraph--No Change;
--2nd Paragraph--Change to:
Up to and including the end of the third week, a student may drop a
course without a grade being entered on the record. Beginning the fourth
week and up to the end of the ninth week a "W" grade shall be issued by
the instructor. The W grade shall not be calculated in the student's QPA.
The tenth week and thereafter a student must receive a regular grade.
--3rd Paragraph--No Change; and
--4th Paragraph--Change to:
During the summer session, the Registrar will determine equivalent
dates for the no grade, W grade or regular grade period.
Rationale
There seems to be no need for the WP/WF grades. A simple "W" will fulfill
the purpose of withdrawing from a course without over penalizing the
student. We must assume that the student is in the posiition to make a
withdrawal decision without us imposing an additional penalty.
The Registrar's records indicte that the practice at the University over
the past few years has been to award WP grades. For example, during Fall
1995, compared with 479 WP grades, only 31 WF grades were assigned
throughout the University.
I will be happy to further explore the rationale for the above proposal
in the Senate. Thank you for your consideration.