According to a resolution proposed by the Faculty Senate Admissions, University students will only be able to drop one class per academic year starting in fall 2006.
There goes the days of resignation from a hopeless class you plan to drop and here comes even longer nights of studying.
Let’s look at the positive aspects first. Students will have more motivation to stay in harder classes and do well. They really won’t have much of a choice, it seems, but it’s a good way to keep students on their feet from the beginning. Administrators hope this will separate the slackers from those willing to stay in a class and stick it out.
Our counselors have already fed us the idea that a “W” is something you don’t want. It isn’t very appealing on your transcript and sticks out like a sore thumb.
But it is sometimes considered a necessary evil students just have to do.
The previous policy has also been seen as a fall back for students who think, “Oh well, if I fail this next test I can always just drop the class.” Still, there are some courses and some professors that hit you like a hammer, slamming you with assignments from hell and more work than you can shake a stick at.
I’ve heard many of my friends say to each other “I warned you about that professor” or “If you had listened to me you wouldn’t have to drop that class.”
There is no way around calculus if you’re a mathematics major, just like there is no way around chemistry if you’re a biological sciences major. Eventually, you will have to take the course and pass it.
Then there is the negative side of not being able to drop a class when you need to. I am sure we can all agree that sometimes life just happens, and you never know what curve ball you will be thrown. This semester would be a perfect example.
Just because you have to drop a class doesn’t necessarily mean you have been slacking off in the class like many suggest. No one likes going half way through a semester and then having to drop a class for whatever reasons.
The week before drop date we can all be witnesses to our classes shrinking in size. Two classes I am enrolled in now, which were once filled to capacity, now hold half of their initial count of students.
Professors know that some students will drop their class. I have had professors and instructors go out of their way to give students a midterm grade specifically because they may have to drop the class.
However, in case of a previous “W” that academic year, students who need to drop a class will be able to plead their case to the dean of their college. Let’s be honest here for a moment and simply say this is trouble in the making. Can you imagine how the dean’s office of each college will look the week before the final drop date. I’d imagine it would be much like the line of students before the gates open at a home football game, only fewer drunks and more weeping.
Another problem may be if a student is unable to drop the class and does receive an “F” in the class they will still have to take the class again anyway.
So not only will this lower their GPA, but they will still have to retake the class next semester anyway. I know students in my Mass Communication 2010 class who have dropped because they knew they would not be able to get the required “B” in the class, which made sense to me.
Only time will tell if this new resolution will help or hinder students at the University. At present, I believe it best for students to adopt a wait and see approach to this program. It could very well be a boon to strengthening our work ethics, as well as improving our academic records.
As time goes on, and more of the Flagship Agenda is unveiled, perhaps we will look back on these days, taking young freshmen to the side and tell them how easy it used to be.