Academic Standards Committee Minutes
February 28, 1997
Present: Betsy Kirkpatrick, Judith Kay, Sarah Moore, Martins Linauts, Melissa Wiens, Gianna Piccardo,
Mary Morgan, Tanya Stambuk, Perry Fizzano, Jack Roundy, John Finney, Ken Clark, Peter Greenfield,
GUESTS; Maggie Smith, Ann Willcockson
1. Approval of Minutes: The Minutes of the 2/14/97 meeting were approved as submitted.
2. Announcements:
Kirkpatrick announced that Ken Clark, Geology Department, has joined the committee to fill the vacancy
created by David Droge's resignation.
Kay announced that results of Part I (Residential Life) of the Residential Life Services survey will be
presented on Thursday, March 6, 1997 at 3:30 PM in the Rotunda.
Part II (Campus Diversity) results will be presented March 31, 1997 - location to be announced.
3. Report of the Petitions Committee:
additional discussion;
2/12
11 total
10 approved
2/19
22 total
20 approved
2/26
6 total
1 approved
YTD
184 total
151 approved
Morgan presented the reports from 3 meetings, with no
1 denied
2 denied
3 denied
0 no action
0 no action
2 no action
28 denied
5 no action
4. Medical Withdrawal Policy - continued discussion;
Maggie Smith, from the Controller's Office, presented information (including hard copy) regarding
proposed changes to the tuition refund policy as a whole, not just as it applies to medical withdrawals, with
the stated goal of simplifying the entire process. Proposal is to pro-rate refunds in all withdrawal
categories, including medical withdrawals, within constraints imposed by federal regulations. As far as
medical withdrawals are concerned, this might encourage students to consider withdrawal earlier, and
remove the financial incentive. Finney added his support, stating that there is no rationale for UPS to
support 100% refund for medical reasons, especially when students wait until the last day of class to
withdraw - the student has, after all, received much in terms of education and support services up to the
time of withdrawal.
For the sake of the record, Kirkpatrick clarified a point from the Minutes of 2/14/97 ("...medical policy
was instituted for illness/hospitalization, however, most of the petitions seem to be of
emotional/psychological nature.") , by pointing out that The Logger (page 23) states that "...a statement
from a recognized health care professional (physician, psychologist, psychiatrist)..." implies
emotional/psychological conditions for medical withdrawal as well. Finney agreed, stating that it was the
balance of illness vs. emotional/psychological reasons that was not anticipated.
Kay informed the committee that the Dean of Students Office is developing an "administrative withdrawal"
policy to deal with cases where the student does not want to withdraw, but needs to (e.g. disruptive
behaviors).
Finney continued that there seem to be 2 issues to address that would solve 90% of problems;
1.) retroactive medical withdrawals
2.) under what conditions can a student with medical condition return
Kay added a 3rd issue;
3.) re-examine use of forms for withdrawals - UPS (Health & Counseling) forms vs. "outside" forms.
Kay stated that there may be cases of legitimate retro-active refunds, for which the ASC can consider
waivers on an individual basis.
Discussion then turned to the "murky issue" (Kay) of students who go through the Controller's Office
without petitioning the ASC for medical withdrawal. Smith clarified that students can get medical
withdrawal prior to the "last day with automatic W period" without petitioning the ASC - after that period,
they must petition the ASC for medical withdrawal. What this creates is the situation where a student
withdraws within the given " W" time period, then gets a medical withdrawal without petitioning the ASC
and thereby receives 100% refund instead of the pro-rated schedule amount.
A central problem of the issue concerns procedure for returning after medical withdrawal. If a student
withdraws with a W, then wants a full refund under medical withdrawal policy, shouldn't the Controller's
Office have some role in approval to return? Kay suggested that a student be allowed only one medical
withdrawal for the same condition. There needs to be one procedure, one claim, all pro-rated - i.e. "W",
medical withdrawal and Controller's Office all together. Morgan and Willcockson presented a draft
document (from Counseling, Health and Wellness Center) regarding re-enrollment following medical
withdrawal. Finney would want to have the option to impose additional conditions to individual cases
beyond the draft, and Kay supported that idea. Moore commented on the dilemma that the university
must evaluate "expert" information provided by professionals outside the campus. She suggested, and
Roundy concurred, that there should be a "central office" to assess the assessment - perhaps the
CHWC. Kay questioned paragraph 3 of the draft as intrusive to the confidentiality of the student's medical
record, suggesting that the CHWC perhaps prepare a summary of the information to present to the ASC
for decision making purposes. Willcockson suggested that exit and re-entry interviews be recommended
for continuity. Kay further suggested that any new policy should include the specific date from which prorating will occur - date of initiation or decision date? Smith added that currently the policy follows
government regulations - i.e. "last day in class."
Finney suggested that someone should re-draft the medical withdrawal policy in the Logger so that the
ASC can have something to work from. Several committee members looked at Finney as though he might
be the re-drafter. Finney did not object, so got the job by silent vote.
The topic will be continued at the next meeting on 3/14/ 97.
The meeting adjourned at 8:55.
Respectfully submitted,
Martins Linauts