The Faculty Senate passed several resolutions this year that will begin affecting students as early as the fall, though students haven’t all embraced those changes.
The Daily Reveille reported in November that the LSU Faculty Senate approved the resolution to move up the start and end times of classes by 10 minutes. For example, an hour-long class beginning at 1 p.m. would actually start at 1:00, rather than 1:10, and end at 1:50 instead of 2:00.
Despite the approval, the plan wasn’t implemented in the spring, but will be in effect next fall.
Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope said in an e-mail in January that the University Registrar’s office needed time to work out the kinks of the new plan.
Fereydoun Aghazadeh, industrial engineering professor and the resolution’s author, said most schools in Louisiana begin their classes on the hour and half-hour, instead of 10 minutes behind.
“This will cut through the confusion and provide the University a system that is uniform with most others,” Aghazadeh said.
As early as fall 2013, students may be able to repeat courses that they’ve previously received lower than a “C” in and have the previous grade excluded from their GPA.
The University’s current policy states a student can repeat a course and have the grades from multiple attempts averaged into his or her GPA.
University Registrar’s Robert Doolos said the resolution was a recommendation from the University’s retention committee.
“[The current policy] basically puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to completion rates compared to our peers,” Doolos said.
Student Government Director of Academics Thomas Rodgers, who read the resolution to the Senate, said students who want to take advantage of the policy will be required to report to their senior colleges to ask permission.
Rodgers said the grade will be excluded from the GPA after the student has completed his or her next attempt.
According to the resolution, students will be allowed to exclude grades for up to a total of three courses, or 12 credit hours.
Still pending approval from the administration is a resolution that would allow professors to take attendance in class rather than grade based on participation.
Mass communication professor Louis Day, who co-sponsored the resolution with political science professor James Stoner and psychology professor Claire Advokat, presented the potential new policy to the senate.
Day said the resolution will give University professors “one more tool” in the classroom.
“It announces to those who look at University policies and read the catalog that we care about what students do,” he said. “This policy lets everyone know we do care about class attendance.”
While teachers currently aren’t allowed to grade students based on attendance, many avoid breaking the rule by grading students on participation instead.
Day said the line between participation and attendance has been blurred, and if teachers grade students on participation, they should require the students to do something in class to earn the grade – not just be present.
The resolution passed with a vote of 27-6, which was preceded by much debate and discussion.
Lane Pace, vice chair of academics for SG, said SG has received numerous complaints from students who are worried about the bill.
“We’ve heard from students saying they don’t want people coming to class for an attendance grade and just playing around on their laptops,” he said. “It’s a distraction to the students who actually care about going to class.”
Cope said he expects the policy to be speedily approved by the administration and implemented as early as the fall.
“The administration is looking for ways to improve retention rates,” he said. “I believe they will accept this as a way to do that.”
A poll on The Daily Reveille’s website showed students’ opinions split 50/50 on the issue.
Just last week, the senate unanimously approved a resolution to keep the campus a “firearm-free zone” despite any changes proposed to the state’s constitution.
A bill regarding gun-carrying laws in Louisiana made its way through the House of Representatives’ Criminal Justice Committee early last week and is set to move to the House floor.
Cope said the proposed policy is feasible, and the University has been exempt from state law in the past. Cope said the University Staff Senate is on board with the resolution and the next step will be to present the recommendation to the Office of Academic Affairs.
Come fall, the senate will vote on the much-debated resolution regarding a plus/minus grading system at the University.
When the resolution was first read earlier in the semester, many senators voiced concerns over how much the system would cost to implement and if it would negatively affect students’ GPAs.
Last week, the group recommended the senate approve the resolution, stating in its report that “the use of a suffix grading system is consistent with current standards in the majority of peer universities considered.”
The senate will vote on the issue at its September meeting.  
____
Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]