Changes proposed for drop deadline

By Dixita Viswanath     3/13/13 7:00pm

 

On March 11, 2013, undergraduate representatives to the University Committee on the Undergraduate Curriculum proposed a resolution to add a $50 fee for students who drop a class between the second and seventh weeks of classes. According to Student Association President Yoonjin Min, this proposition is in response to discussions held by the CUC, a faculty group dedicated to improving academics at Rice. 

Min said the current system penalized other students who wanted to take an otherwise full course. 

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"The idea is that some students are unable to add classes because other students who do not really intend to take the [classes], don't drop them in time," Min said. "This is coming from [Registrar David Tenney] and [Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson], not directly from students. However, the idea that students should be able to take the courses they want to take is not new and [is] one that has been advocated continuously." 

According to the proposed legislation published by the SA, students will be allowed to drop a course without penalty until 5 p.m. on the Friday of the second week of classes. Between week two and week seven, students will be allowed to drop a course but must pay a $50 fine to the Office of the Registrar. Students will not be allowed to drop a course after the seventh week of classes without petitioning for extenuating circumstances. 

At the CUC meetings, the faculty and administration were leaning toward a harsher enforcement by adding some sort of signage on students' transcripts in the form of a Q for Quit or W for Withdraw, Min said. 

 Fee waivers will be supported for students who drop between the two deadlines if they do so to add another class in the same time period or due to any medical, family or similar emergency. 

Min said she urges the student community to help make a change that will benefit students rather than affect students' future transcripts. 

"It is up to student voice to help make a change that is not detrimental to the academic culture that we value," Min said. 

The resolution was introduced Monday, March 11 and will be voted on at the SA meeting on March 25. 

Min said the SA advises against a Q or a W on a transcript because it may be too strong of a disincentive to students in courses they would otherwise drop. 

Baker College sophomore Alex Kumar said he believes changing the week two drop deadline 

does not give students enough time to really reflect on their classes and manage their schedule effectively. 

"Speaking from [personal] experience, I don't really see what a class is like until after a few weeks into the semester," Kumar said. "Having the initial drop deadline at week two does not give students enough time to see how hard a class really is and how they can do in the class." 

Will Rice College junior Amol Utrankar said he believes the $50 fee is a reasonable amount and would be preferable to a change to a student's transcript. 

"A $50 fee is inconvenient, but I could see it being a reasonable deterrent," Utrankar said. "I'd be more concerned about a Q or W because it could be interpreted that the student dropped the class due to poor performance. I can also imagine why that's fair to professors since it can't be easy to try [to] manage a curriculum with uncertainty about how many students your class will have at a certain part of the semester." 

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