After seventeen years of laboring in an atmosphere surrounded by perfection, my colleagues have convinced me that, outside R&R, there dwell both students and faculty who make mistakes. Who knew such a world existed? I took another self financed grant to study this conundrum to better understand the real world that is fraught with error and mishap. Scary. Apparently there have been some really bad mistakes made—people wearing name tags to rob a bank, job applicants asking their interviewers to leave the office while they take an important call, boarding the Titanic, and the 1997 NFL first round draft picks of Jon Harris, Jim Druckenmiller and Rae Carruth. And this isn’t even all of the mistakes in the world! I swear. There are lots more. It’s crazy.
After this research was completed I began to understand that the withdrawal deadline, which should be black and white, can sometimes turn a murky gray. Or sort of an algae-like green. Or that kind of weird color of stuff on the bottom of your shoe that you aren’t sure exactly what it is… Anyway, mistakes and oversights can occur, even among the best of us. Luckily, in R&R, mistakes are usually not fatal.
Q: If I miss the withdrawal deadline what other options do I have?
A: This is the same question the students ask us and then they won’t leave our window until we tell them something. In your case, giving the student an “I” may be appropriate assuming he was there for most of the course and can complete it without taking the entire course over again. If you give a student an incomplete you need to fill out the Incomplete Contract form available in your department.
An option which we will be giving to the students is to repeat the course next semester. When you repeat a course the most recent grade goes into your GPA and the previous grade is excluded. Students should never be advised to re-register for a course in which they do not receive a grade or receive an “I”. You can only repeat a course for a better grade when you have been graded in the original course (and not with a “W”, “I” or “AU”).
Q: Can I leave the student’s grade blank?
A: Not unless you are so desperate for attention that you welcome repeated emails from us and your Chair to get that blank grade converted to a letter grade. A blank grade can mess up graduation certification, suspension/probation status and financial aid. Always a bad choice.
Q: I know Banner will allow me to input a “W” after the 4/18 deadline. What’s to stop me?
A: Nothing technically stops you from inputting the late “W” grade but you won’t be doing it secretly. It’s like robbing the bank wearing your name tag. We will be running a report every day that will list all the withdrawals that went into the system after the deadline. These are reported in the college audit report as potential errors/problems. We need to avoid sending up these red error flags in our audit.
Even more Q and A’s to come.
Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
Deborah Benjamin
Registration and Records
04/08/2009 |