Academic Standards Committee Policy Subcommittee
Minutes from March 23, 2015
Present: Drew Anderson, Ken Clark, Kelli Delaney, Kristin Johnson, Sunil Kukreja, Jan
Leuchtenberger, Gary McCall, Lori Ricigliano, Don Share, Brad Tomhave.
Chair Leuchtenberger convened the meeting at 1:02.
MSP to accept the minutes of March 2, 2015 with minor corrections.
Brad Tomhave presented the Petitions Committee report (it appears at the end of these
minutes).
Leuchtenberger reported that the Curriculum Committee approved new wording
regarding the transfer of foreign language credit to Puget Sound. She has advised the
ASC Faculty Senate liaison about our agreement with this new language.
The committee then worked on the amended policy on incomplete grades.
Leuchtenberger will draft a revised Academic handbook wording and will circulate it for
the next meeting.
The committee also considered the Faculty Senate charge to consider a possible policy
governing when it is appropriate for instructors to give incompletes. Tomhave noted
that existing policy states that incompletes should be given only if students are doing
passing work, if the work to be completed is of limited nature, if students request an
incomplete, and if there are mitigating or extenuating circumstances. The committee
decided that faculty should retain the discretion to give incompletes to students, and
that our proposed new deadlines for completion of work should limit the amount of
incompletes given by instructors. The committee decided against a new policy on the
appropriateness of giving incompletes.
Johnson asked how the ASC can publicize the deadlines for submission of incomplete
work. Tomhave agreed to have the Registrar’s office advertise the changes to
instructors next fall, and to add a reminder that the Academic Handbook limits the
conditions under which faculty should agree to give incompletes.
Leuchtenberger then asked the committee to consider its remaining Faculty Senate
charges for 2014-15, which include

A need to review a forthcoming statement from the Admission Office and
Registrar's Office on how Puget Sound handles Running Start credit. The
committee will need to wait for those offices to draft such a statement.

Address the issue of how Puget Sound should treat the Cambridge Advanced
International Certificate of Education. Tomhave suggested, and the committee
agreed, that it would be best to wait a year to take up this issue since other
Baccalaureate institutions are working to develop a common policy on this issue.

Develop a policy regarding how students who take a medical withdrawal at other
institutions (in the US or abroad) can be readmitted to Puget Sound.
The committee turned to the issue of medical withdrawal of Puget Sound students
studying at other universities. The issue came up when a Puget Sound student
withdrew from a study abroad program early in the semester and then sought to return
to campus and resume classes at Puget Sound that same semester. There is no
current policy governing this situation. In that case the Petitions Committee asked for
some minimal medical documentation so as to ascertain that the student was fit to
resume classes at Puget Sound, but since the student hadn’t withdrawn according to
our on-campus protocol, there was no process or policy relating to reinstatement.
After some discussion the committee decided that it would be wise to amend the
existing medical withdrawal policy to state that students taking a medical withdrawal
from another institution must go through the University’s process governing
reinstatement after a medical withdrawal. This will provide the Petitions Subcommittee
with the type of documentation that will allow it to better assure that the student is
healthy enough to return to classes. Tomhave will draft language for the next meeting
on this issue.
The committee further decided that if it amends the policy on medical withdrawal it
should also add a notation in the study abroad section of the Handbook referring
students back to the amended withdrawal policy.
The next meeting will be on April 20th, 2015.
MSP to adjourn, at 1:55
Submitted by Don Share
Petitions Report for the Period 2/27/2015 – 3/19/2015
During the dates covered by this report, the following actions were taken on petitions
submitted to the Academic Standards Committee:
1 Approved Late Registration
1 Approved Registration Change from Audit to Credit
3 Approved Medical Withdrawals
1 Approved Waiver of the “Last 8 Units Rule”
1 Approved Waiver of Minimum GPA for Independent Study
7 Total Petitions
Registrar Approved:
Preview Team Approved:
Sub-Committee Approved:
Total Approved:
0
7
0
7
Sub-Committee Denied:
Total Petitions:
0
7
The late registration was for a student on the Pacific Rim program to add the Senior
Thesis in Asian Studies in place of an Asian Studies Independent Study.
The petition involving a change in registration from audit to credit compensates for a
misunderstanding of a student’s academic progress to facilitate that student’s
graduation in Spring 2015.
For the year to date, 180 petitions have been approved and 19 have been
denied. Among the 199 petitions considered, there are 29 late registrations, 50
schedule conflict registrations, and 31 medical withdrawals. For comparison, by March
19, 2014, 174 petitions were approved and 17 denied. Among the 191 petitions
considered by this time last year, there were 69 late registrations, 20 schedule conflict
registrations, and 23 medical withdrawals.