LSU students taking 12 hours of coursework will be eligible for the dean’s list starting in fall 2022.
Interim Vice President and Provost Matt Lee signed Student Government Resolution No. 3 in September, lowering the requirement from 15 hours to 12 for students who earn a 3.5 to 3.9 GPA in a given semester. The president’s list, which requires a 4.0, still requires students to be taking 15 hours.
“We might try to do president’s list next,” said Miles McLendon, an author of Resolution No. 3 and SG vice chair of Academic Affairs. “We are just testing the waters with the dean’s list.”
Student Government Resolution No. 3 was authored by Sam Staggs, Jamie Bridges, Jace Canafax, Miles McLendon and Clint Parr. It passed the Student Senate with heavy support.
Prior to the passage of the bill, LSU and Texas A&M were the only SEC schools that required 15 hours of coursework for acceptance on the dean’s list.
It wasn’t always this way. LSU Faculty Senate in 2004 passed a resolution that changed the requirement from 12 to 15 hours. It went into effect in fall 2004.
Although students taking 12 hours are full-time students, Faculty Senate thought raising the requirement for the dean’s list would motivate students to take more classes and graduate on time.
McLendon said the SG resolution makes LSU more consistent on TOPS, as students taking 12 hours are still eligible to receive TOPS funding.
He said SG members agreed it was unfair and irrational that some full-time students can get a 4.0 GPA, yet not make the dean’s list nor the president’s list if their hours fall below 15.
“We think 12 hours and 15 hours—we don’t think that’s always a good benchmark on how good you’re really doing,” McLendon said.
Leadership and human resource development freshman Maddi Boshra didn’t realize the requirement was 12 hours. When she decided to drop a class early in the semester, Boshra was no longer eligible for the dean’s list despite having a GPA above a 3.5.
“People always say for TOPS and for full-time students that the requirement is 12 hours,” Boshra said. “I figured I’d be fine.”
Boshra wished it had been brought to her attention when her counselor allowed her to drop below the hour requirement. With the new requirement, she believes the system is more consistent and doesn’t see why anyone would be against it.
Kinesiology freshman Madeline Costa feared her classes would drop below 15; however, she still made the dean’s list this past semester.
Although Costa is in favor of the resolution, she sees that it may be a “detriment” if students take 12 hours and have to drop a class, then losing TOPS and dean’s list requirements. Students may have to take an additional semester to compensate, she said.
Because of this risk, Costa still plans to schedule 15 hours every semester.
“If it was still 15 and those students were very high achieving and those students are working extremely hard and extremely long hours, they’re not going to want to take just ‘fluff’ grades,’” Costa said.
Costa defines ‘fluff’ classes as general education requirements students have already fulfilled, and continue to take a related class to fulfill credit hours. Yet, credit hours should not reflect a student’s effort, she said.
“Juggling work-life balance, and if you throw in a job and schoolwork, is going to get stressful,” Costa said.
