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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Talking Turkey About Faculty Initiated Withdrawals #6



Withdrawal forms are due today so there can’t be many more questions. Go ahead.
 

Q: I pulled an all nighter filling out Faculty Initiated Withdrawals. I bubbled in all the bubbles and I wrote in all the information above the bubbles. These FIWs are a work of art. I hate to even turn them into R&R and let them out of my sight. 

A: Yeah. I feel the same way when I clean my linen closet. I leave the door open for about a week which means that I can’t get into my bedroom, but it seems worth it to be able to stare at the linen closet every time I go upstairs. 

Q: I feel really sorry for your husband.  

A: Yeah, who doesn’t? So your forms are all done and you are ready for a pristine grade roster!  

Q: Well, not quite. What do I do about students who I MIGHT want to withdraw but I’m not sure about now?  

A: This situation will always exist, which is why we have deadlines. It is also why we have reinstatements. If you have a student who will most likely need to be withdrawn then DO IT TODAY. If the situation changes, and usually these situations deteriorate rather than improve, you can reinstate the student by sending me an email.  

Q: Then you just have a bunch of late reinstatements instead of a bunch of late withdrawals. What’s the difference?  

A: I can’t imagine that the number of reinstatements will surpass the number of late withdrawals we usually have. Remember, I have to explain to the auditors why we are withdrawing people after the November 23 deadline. A reinstatement is much better received. And it’s easy to do. Just send me an email. Remember these lines from the famous Billy Collins poem, “Withdrawals”. 

It’s better to withdraw and reinstate

Than it is to withdraw late.  

Q: Cathy Smith will be so ashamed of you!

Deborah Benjamin
Registration and Records
11/23/2005