GROSSMONT COLLEGE- It was Halloween night and I was on my computer looking at my emails and a faculty member was sharing with his class information that Thursday, Nov 10, would be the last chance for students to drop the course with a W to prevent a possible substandard grade like a D or F.
As I read this email I thought to myself that this is wrong. Given that the semester ends in less than a month, shouldn’t the deadline have long passed?
According to Laith Shamaes, supervisor of Admissions and Records, the state sets the standard withdrawal date at the three-quarter mark of the semester. The logic is that by that point, students should know whether they are in danger of receiving a poor grade.
Do students who fail to complete classes in a sense penalize other students who were unable to take those classes because of full enrollments? Perhaps, but it would be even more unfair if students were not permitted to withdraw from classes for personal reasons, Shamaes indicated.
He noted that there is a census date that occurs early in the semester (it was Sept. 6 in the current semester) after which students no longer are discouraged from enrolling in classes. Up to that census date, students may enroll or drop classes according to their own desires.
John Colson, vice president of Student Services, recently sent a campus email announcing that under new state law, students will be restricted from enrolling in a course more than three times if they have received a substandard grade (D, F, NP or NC) or withdrew from the class with a “W.” This change will take effect in summer 2012.
Students who remained in their classes after Nov. 10th will receive letter grades for their course work.
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Burke is a student in Media Communication 132. He may be contacted at [email protected]
