Academic Standards and Calendar
Committee
Report#2000-01-1
Sections 8.33.13, 8:22.20 and
8.51.20 of the
UNIVERSITY MANUAL
The Academic Standards and Calendar Committee met on 2 November
2000 and took the following actions which are now presented to the
Faculty Senate for confirmation:
A. Amend section 8.33.13 to read as follows (change is in green):
8.33.13 Students not
attending courses in which they enrolled have the obligation to drop
those courses before the drop deadline. Names of students who
are absent from the first and second class meetings of a course and
who do not notify the course instructor of their intention to attend
future class meetings may be submitted by the
course instructor and/or the department chairperson to the Registrar
for deletion from the class roster. If the instructor does not
exercise this option, the student remains enrolled in the course
unless s/he drops it through regular procedures.
Background: In May 1999 the Faculty
Senate approved, and the President subsequently signed, legislation
making students entirely responsible for officially dropping courses
where they were enrolled but never attended.
In spring 2000, a request was made to revert to the earlier
process by which course instructors could submit to the Registrar for
deletion from the class list the names of students who had not
attended the first and second class meetings.
In April 2000, the proposed section of the manual was sent back
to the Academic Standards and Calendar Committee for reconsideration.
In May 2000, the Enrollment Services Advisory Committee
recommended changing 8.33.13 to reflect the "old" language.
The committee's rationale was that "elimination of the faculty's
ability to drop students from classes has proved to be too
problematic for some faculty."
In considering the "old" language, the Academic Calendar and
Standards Committee thought it was important to make it clear that
responsibility for dropping classes remains with the student, even as
it endorsed reinstatement of the "old" provision.
B. Amend section 8.22.22 to read as follows (change is in green):
8.22.22 Students who have completed degree
requirements for a major and have graduated shall be readmitted to
the University to pursue a second major subject
to current catalog requirements.
Background: This proposal, from the
Enrollment Services Advisory Committee, eliminates the
two-years-after-graduation restriction on readmission to pursue
another degree. The Academic Standards and Calendar Committee could
not identify any reason not to support this change. It added the
"subject to . . . " phrase for clarity.
C. Amend section 8.51.20 to read as follows (change is in green):
8.51.20 Scheduling Final Examinations. The
final examination in any course shall be scheduled by the Scheduling
Officer only. The time allowed for completion of a final examination
shall be no less than two hours nor more than three hours, as decided
by the individual faculty member. In short
courses and summer session courses (see 8.32.12) the final exam shall
be administered during the last regularly scheduled class session
unless otherwise approved by the scheduling office. The amount of
time allocated to the final exam shall be no less than one
hour.
Background: The proposal for the
additional language to cover short courses and summer session courses
came from University Ombudsperson Vincent Rose. It was developed in
consultation with Ed Ferszt (CCE), Midge McMahon (associate
registrar) and Sheila Grubman. This language brings procedures into
conformity with the Manual.
In addition, the Academic Standards and Calendar Committee took
the following actions that are presented to the Faculty Senate for
information at this time:
*A proposal from the
Enrollment Services Advisory Committee to support efforts to amend
section 8.22.20 by removing the additional 30-credit
requirement for a second bachelor's degree was approved unanimously:
This proposal is currently under consideration by the Curricular
Affairs Committee.
* It was agreed that the committee
would draft possible legislation governing "emergency" changes to the
University calendar, such as occurred this fall regarding the
deadline for adding courses. This will be drafted for recommendation
to the Faculty Senate later in the year.
*A faculty member's concern that the
Dec. 21st 3-6 p.m. exam period overlaps with the beginning of Hanukah
was discussed. The Registrar was asked to review future exam
calendars for conflicts with religious holidays and report at the
next committee meeting.
*The committee discussed the
possibility of surveying faculty about final exam scheduling and
actual practices, which might lead to recommendations regarding the
calendar.
*The committee agreed to revisit the
issue of "early drops."