Proposal to Change the Drop/Add period
CURRENT POLICY: p76 Governance Manual

    A student may drop a course provided he/she has filed 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. 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 GPA. 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 Summer sessions, the registrar will determine equivalent dates for the no grade, W grade or regular grade period.

PROPOSED POLICY:

• For the Fall and Spring terms, a student may drop or add a course through the end of the first week of classes without a grade being entered on the record.
• Prior to the first day of classes, faculty signatures are not required to drop or add a course.
• During the first week of classes, the signature of the course instructor (or their designee) is required to drop or add a course.
• Beginning with the second week and up to the end of the ninth week, students dropping a class will receive a grade of W. A withdraw grade of W does not cant' any quality points and will not be calculated in the student's GPA.

    After the ninth week the course must be completed and a non-W grade will be awarded at the end of the semester according to the instructor's records. It is the student's responsibility to make official changes to his/her class schedule. There is no automatic drop policy for non-attendance. During the Summer and Winter sessions, the registrar will determine equivalent dates for the no grade, W grade and regular grade periods.
Rationale: The current policy allows students to enter a course after missing the first two weeks, or 15% of the course. The new policy reduces that time to one week, which makes more sense for academic reasons. The new policy also brings the drop deadline in line with the add deadline, requiring students to have their schedule of classes resolved by the end of the first week of the semester. Exceptions to this policy will be granted for special circumstances. (e.g., extra drop/add time for audition based courses).

    Students may adjust their schedules freely using either the phone or the web beginning with the start of registration and continuing until classes start. Students and faculty no longer have to be physically present to make schedule adjustments but can take advantage of more efficient automated methods. Faculty will still be able to authorize additions to dosed classes or give permission to enroll in a courses on a case by case basis.
Many faculty/departments already provide course syllabi and grading policies on their web pages, bulletin boards, handbooks, etc., well in advance of the beginning of classes. Since this information is helpful to students in determining whether to take a class, departments should encourage all faculty to post their course syllabi on the web. The availability of this information will help students make decisions in advance of registration about dropping and adding courses within the shorter time frame, and reduce the need to withdraw later in the semester.

The following information on the duration of drop-add at other SSHE schools supports the one-week drop/add model:
Bloomsburg -1 week
California - add: 2 days, drop: first 6 weeks
Cheyney - 9 class days
Clarion - 3 class days
East Stroudsburg - add: 10 class days, drop: 1 week
Edinboro - add: 1 week, drop: 2 weeks
Indiana -1 week
Kutztown - 2 days (unclear)
Lock Haven - 4 days to drop/add without fee; 7 class days total to add,
Mansfield - drop: 6 class days, add: 7 class days
Shippensburg -1 week
Slippery Rock -1 week
West Chester -1 week