Course drop deadline to move back as part of JED proposal

The JED committee’s proposal to move the course drop deadline for students back by two weeks will go into effect the coming semester.

Jonathan Vieker, chair of the JED policies and protocols committee, said in the fall, the committee identified the add/drop policy as possibly contributing to student stress. The current deadline to drop a course is the 10th week of the semester. The new policy moves it to the 12th week.

He said there were 28 appeals for late drop appeals in the two weeks following the current deadline in the past semester. The committee will assess the success of the new policy by looking at the number of drops in the two weeks after the new deadline is implemented and comparing it to prior semesters. He said he hopes there are fewer appeals.

Vieker said the idea was discussed in committee before being brought to the registrar and the financial aid offices for consultation. The JED policies and protocols committee then made a recommendation to the provost’s office.

Registrar Nancy Asher said there is typically an increase in course drops close to the major deadlines. She said this new deadline will help students who are unsure about whether or not to drop a course.

“Maybe they have a test the next week, but it’s after that 10th week,” Asher said. “If they did well on the test, they’d be okay to continue, but if they don’t do well on the test, they should have dropped. So, by giving them a couple more weeks, it gives them a little more flexibility to try to succeed in the course.”

Asher said to implement the new policy, she just has to change the dates of the parts of term in the student information system. She said it is the same process her office is already handling.