Work related! I know, weird, right?
A student was denied his application to graduate, because he didn't complete the Quantitative requirement of the BA framework. In his last semester, he got a C- in an earth science course. He completed Forensic Anth with a B and CHEM 1101 with a B-, but withdrew from Microecon. He took a computer science course (CPSC 1100) that counts as the science requirement for our AA degrees, but not for our BA degrees. He saw many advisors through his time here, both before and after taking the various Q courses. When he saw me before taking any of them, I wrote out suggestions, which did not include the CPSC but did include the ECON. After seeing me, he saw an advisor that deals with the AA degree, who says that she showed him the Q list for BA degrees and pointed out that only the CPSC courses numbered 1103 and higher count towards the BA degrees. In addition to that, he saw two other Arts Degree Advisors in 2013 and 2014 who probably showed him the same list and made suggestions to complete the Q requirement. On the documents we give students, it clearly says you need a C or better in all required courses.
I got an email from our associate dean saying please have this student fill out a policy variance request so we can support him graduating ASAP. My immediate reaction was "why are we supporting him when he is trying to slide under the line? He was told multiple times over the course of his time here that he needed to get this requirement done, and instead he took many semesters without trying to fix it." Now, if he did get the message, or come to think, that CPSC 1100 fulfilled his requirement, then the year of not doing any other Q makes sense. As I was talking to the student, the assoc. dean wrote again saying we would support his appeal but we don't have final approval, we just send it to the registrar's office, which I told the student. I then went to check with the AD on what she wanted. She said that as long as the spirit of the degree is being upheld, we're willing to support his graduation. When I look at his entire degree, he has a higher GPA in his field than in total, but not by a huge amount. He's a pretty solid B student, which is good, fine, better than average perhaps. He's done what is required of him and can go be a productive citizen and probably do well in his field. The AD said that with so many students trying to get through our degrees, why stop this one who tried to do the right thing, and would have to be here an extra semester to fix this mistake?
I don't know what he wants to do with his degree, what kind of work or further schooling he intends to pursue. I don't know if taking 1 course either over the summer or in the fall would screw up his plans, "delay" his "life" or anything like that. I think one thing that worries me about making the compassionate choice is once you start doing that, how far do you let it go, when do you get to the point of undermining the integrity of the degree, of the rules, of the university? Sure, we have graduation requirements, but they're not *actually* the requirements, if you talk about it to the right person in the right way then you can just skip that one thing, or that other thing... I see it as a slippery slope. A "common variance" is an oxymoron, right?
I'm very glad I'm not the one making this decision. I do think that as a one-off, it's a good thing for the student and the university, to let this acceptable student go do his thing. Other situations won't be the same. Hopefully he will remember our willingness to work with him and talk us up well with whomever, generating goodwill towards the university among the community, employers, and people who would like to take courses/get a degree here. I should be easier on myself for my first impulses, as long as I get through them and work through things after, talk situations through with the coworkers, the like.
Bottom line: there are definitely two schools of thought regarding leniency in getting students to graduation, and I know where my first impulse lies, and how to check and double-check on that tendency. Sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's not. I am not the sole decision-maker, and that's good. Done processing, time to move on.
This entry was originally posted at http://avivasedai.dreamwidth.org/643529.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
I got an email from our associate dean saying please have this student fill out a policy variance request so we can support him graduating ASAP. My immediate reaction was "why are we supporting him when he is trying to slide under the line? He was told multiple times over the course of his time here that he needed to get this requirement done, and instead he took many semesters without trying to fix it." Now, if he did get the message, or come to think, that CPSC 1100 fulfilled his requirement, then the year of not doing any other Q makes sense. As I was talking to the student, the assoc. dean wrote again saying we would support his appeal but we don't have final approval, we just send it to the registrar's office, which I told the student. I then went to check with the AD on what she wanted. She said that as long as the spirit of the degree is being upheld, we're willing to support his graduation. When I look at his entire degree, he has a higher GPA in his field than in total, but not by a huge amount. He's a pretty solid B student, which is good, fine, better than average perhaps. He's done what is required of him and can go be a productive citizen and probably do well in his field. The AD said that with so many students trying to get through our degrees, why stop this one who tried to do the right thing, and would have to be here an extra semester to fix this mistake?
I don't know what he wants to do with his degree, what kind of work or further schooling he intends to pursue. I don't know if taking 1 course either over the summer or in the fall would screw up his plans, "delay" his "life" or anything like that. I think one thing that worries me about making the compassionate choice is once you start doing that, how far do you let it go, when do you get to the point of undermining the integrity of the degree, of the rules, of the university? Sure, we have graduation requirements, but they're not *actually* the requirements, if you talk about it to the right person in the right way then you can just skip that one thing, or that other thing... I see it as a slippery slope. A "common variance" is an oxymoron, right?
I'm very glad I'm not the one making this decision. I do think that as a one-off, it's a good thing for the student and the university, to let this acceptable student go do his thing. Other situations won't be the same. Hopefully he will remember our willingness to work with him and talk us up well with whomever, generating goodwill towards the university among the community, employers, and people who would like to take courses/get a degree here. I should be easier on myself for my first impulses, as long as I get through them and work through things after, talk situations through with the coworkers, the like.
Bottom line: there are definitely two schools of thought regarding leniency in getting students to graduation, and I know where my first impulse lies, and how to check and double-check on that tendency. Sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's not. I am not the sole decision-maker, and that's good. Done processing, time to move on.
This entry was originally posted at http://avivasedai.dreamwidth.org/643529.html. Please comment there using OpenID.