MCC Daily Tribune

Update on Recommendations about Student Withdrawals

To follow up on the recent "Need to Know" article and Provost's Spring Update, there have been some questions about the recommendations addressing the practice of faculty-initiated student withdrawals.

As you may recall, in April 2017, I made a presentation to the Faculty Senate that included data that clearly showed some significant academic, financial, and personal implications of FIWs for students. These data also brought to light issues of inequity, as the practice was shown to be disproportionately detrimental to certain student populations. My presentation concluded with a request that Faculty Senate conduct a review of the FIW process relative to these data and forward a recommendation that addressed the issues it uncovered. In fall 2017, the FIW practice was suspended in anticipation of a recommendation to revise the practice in ways that addressed these challenges. Upon request of the Faculty Senate and agreement by the Provost, an ad hoc FIW Committee was convened to consider the data, engage constituents, and develop recommendations on the process for consideration by the Provost. That committee presented three models for consideration by the Faculty Senate. The results of voting on the proposed models were forwarded to me. The Faculty Senate President and Executive Committee had communicated that the Senate concluded its role with the recommendations provided in June and would not be participating in the implementation. I then charged a committee that included faculty, students, and staff from relevant college departments to provide a recommendation regarding implementation of a model.

Attached to this Trib article is the full report from this Faculty Initiated Withdrawal Implementation Committee. The report was submitted to me on March 20, 2019, and included a draft Policy and Protocol. The draft Policy and Protocol are not included in the posted document and will be submitted through MCC's established process and interested parties will have the opportunity to review and comment on both during that process. In good faith and under tight time frames, the committee reviewed the options proposed by the Faculty Senate and recommended an implementation plan that incorporated requiring attendance-taking as a fair and equitable solution to address issues associated with the deferment of the Faculty Initiated Withdraw option. The report addresses many of the concerns circulating about the proposed process and highlights the attendance-taking benefits to students. Also attached is a list of questions, with answers, that were asked of committee members in the last week. We have set up an email mailbox for any additional questions about the proposal, benefits to students, or other concerns about taking attendance. Please feel free to send your questions and comments here: withdrawal@monroecc.edu.

Attached Files:
Faculty Initiated Withdrawal Implementation Committee Final Report 3.20.19.pdf
Questions and Answers regarding Recommendations about Student Withdrawals 04052019.pdf

Andrea Wade
Academic Services
04/08/2019