Drop/add changes could be limited

The controversial changes to the shortened drop/add period might not hit current students.

At least that’s what UNC-CH Student Body President Christy Lambden is saying after talking with University administration. He believes current students will be grandfathered in and allowed the full eight weeks to drop a class, whereas the new policy of 10 days to drop classes without penalty will only impact incoming students.

The policy was set by the UNC-system Board of Governors in April and is meant to be implemented next fall.

Students who drop classes after the maximum of 10 days will receive a withdrawal. Students will be limited to four withdrawals during their college career.

At last week’s Board of Trustees meeting, UNC-CH Faculty Chairwoman Jan Boxill said the educational policy committee is working on how best to implement the policy. She said the committee still has concerns about the policy, but is committed to making it work.

Lambden said he plans to invite UNC-system President Tom Ross to campus next semester to present him the petition against the shortened drop/add period — which gathered thousands of signatures from students, faculty and alumni — and to discuss the policy. He said he’s currently working on proposals, such as modifications to the pass/fail policy.

But Lambden said he is still concerned that the add/drop policy will impact students’ applications to graduate school, internships and scholarships by increasing the number of course withdrawals on student transcripts.

“Anytime an admissions official sees a W on a transcript, they are going to hold it against a student or make him or her explain the reason behind the mark,” he said.

Michael States, assistant dean for admissions at UNC School of Law, said course withdrawals have a negligible impact on an application — as long as they are not excessive.

“One withdrawal is unlikely to hurt. It all depends on how many withdrawals there are and why,” States said. “We allow students to explain the reason if there are multiple withdrawals or a whole semester of withdrawals. Extenuating circumstances will not hurt an applicant.”

Leslie Lerea, assistant dean of student affairs at the UNC-CH Graduate School, said applications are judged as a whole, and no one component will sink a student’s chances of being accepted.

Joan Lorden, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNC-Charlotte and chairwoman of the group that created the new policy, said she thinks withdrawals will not have a major impact on students’ transcripts.

“There are a lot of reasons why students withdraw from classes, and four Ws during the course of a college career are unlikely to influence postgraduate competitiveness,” Lorden said. “A long string of Ws or semesters in which students don’t take full class loads might.”

But Lambden said fear of withdrawals might impact students’ course selection.

“I certainly think that the fear of taking a W or staying with the class and receiving a bad grade may cause students to reconsider taking certain classes,” he said.

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