Academic Standards Committee Minutes
December 5, 1997
Present: Barry Bauska, Ken Clark, Greg Elliott, Kate Evans, John Finney, Tom Gething, Susannah
Hannaford, Martins Linauts, Mary Morgan, Rochelle Nguyen, Jack Roundy, Stuart Smithers, Marianne
Taylor
1. Minutes: After the chair’s compliments to the secretary for faithfully reporting multiple adjournments,
the minutes of the November 14 meeting were approved as written.
2. Announcements: There were none.
3. Petitions: Morgan reported that the Petitions Committee had met twice since that last meeting, and
that she has recently processed two medical withdrawals that do not appear in the statistics. Additional
medical withdrawals are likely
Date
11/14/97
11/21/97
YTD
Approved
7
7
101
Denied
1
0
15
No Action
Total
1
0
2
9
7
118
4. Class Attendance Policy: Finney distributed a draft revision of the class attendance policy (attached
to these minutes), and Bauska suggested that the one remaining open question was whether an exit
interview was to be added to it. Roundy also raised the question of whether a student facing
disenrollment should have a hearing before the action is taken. Finney answered by saying that the new
policy defines excessive non-attendance as voluntary withdrawal, and that any conversation a student
might have with instructors or staff after such a withdrawal might have the character of an exit interview,
but could not be a hearing, since reinstatement in unlikely to result.
Bauska and Smithers thought the student might be sent a warning before being disenrolled, but didn’t
feel that such a warning needed to be explicitly mentioned in the policy. Gething concurred, saying that
the warning would be part of the process, not of the policy.
Elliott said he didn’t like the new policy at all, because the issue in our teaching is whether the student is
learning, not whether he or she attends class. Elliott doesn’t mind if a student attends his classes
irregularly, so long as he or she does the work and learns the material. Finney replied that the new policy
simply gives those faculty to whom attendance is critical a tool to act on excessive absenteeism; faculty
who do not wish to make absenteeism an issue are free to insist that their absentee students remain
enrolled. Smithers repeated his earlier argument that grade consequences of absenteeism ought to be
allowed to educate the wayward student, but he made it clear he didn’t oppose putting this new policy on
the books. He wanted to make the point that he thought we were again addressing behavior issues with
academic policy, however.
There being no further discussion, the committee MSP a revised class attendance policy.
5. Advisor Assignment Policy: Roundy requested that the committee consider requiring that all
students have advisors in the departments of their major, once they have declared them. He explained
that our University-wide database now has the capability to store more than one advisor per student, so it
would be possible to allow students to maintain an advising relationship with an advisor outside their major
while seeing to it that they also have a departmental advisor who can keep track of their progress toward
the degree. Roundy said that many faculty have suggested to him over the years that we assign students
who have declared majors departmental advisors. A significant benefit of requiring a second,
departmental advisor would be that the advisor in the major would receive revised academic records for
each student each term, so as to be able to give the student specific advice on how to plan to meet their
major requirements, and to help the student track them.
Smithers felt that introducing such a policy would have the effect of transferring responsibility for tracking
academic progress from the student to the advisor, and opposed it for that reason. His own practice, he
said, was to make it clear to his non-Religion advisees that it was up to them to keep track of their major
requirements, and the issue of keeping proper track of progress had never arisen in his department. He
felt that the proposed policy was unnecessarily cumbersome and complicated, and represented a step
toward “handholding.” Smithers and Gething suggested changes in the language proposed by Roundy
that would make it clear that students could have a second advisor in their major, but weren’t required to.
Elliott moved that we pass the Roundy draft with minor language changes that would accomplish what
Smithers and Gething were suggesting. Finney concurred, pointing out that a change in Registrar’s
Office practice, mailing degree progress reports and transcripts to chairs for all students majoring but not
being advised in their departments might give those departments the opportunity for oversight if they
wished it. Morgan said that the Registrar could and would do this. After brief conversation about
wording, then, Elliott MSP a revised advisor assignment policy (attached).
As we concluded the meeting, Bauska requested that members send him email messages identifying
times when they would be available to meet in the coming term; Allen Bagwell will then develop a grid to
assist us in choosing meeting times for spring. With that, the meeting was adjourned (only once) at 9:50.
Respectfully submitted by the ASC amanuensis,
Jack Roundy
Revised Registration and Attendance/Participation Policy
Approved by ASC 12/5/97
All students regularly attending a course must be admitted by the Office of Admission and registered for
either credit or audit. It is the student’s responsibility to be properly registered. It is the instructor’s
responsibility to restrict attendance and participation in the class to those students properly registered.
Visitors to classes are expected to conform to visitor regulations. Infants and small children may not
attend classes. (See Course Requirements.)
Regular class attendance is expected of all students. Absence from class for any reason does
not excuse the student from completing all course requirements. When non-attendance is in the
instructor’s judgment excessive, the instructor may levy a grade penalty or may direct the registrar to drop
the student from the course.
Moreover, when non-attendance is excessive as described in the above paragraph in all of a
student’s academic courses, the student is considered to have voluntarily withdrawn from school, and the
Registrar will inform the student that he or she is disenrolled under this policy. Once dropped from all
courses, the student is required to leave campus. Students who are so disenrolled will receive “W” or WF”
grades. (See Withdrawal From a Course/From the University, Withdrawal Grades.)*
Disruptive class behavior is unacceptable. Disruptive class behavior is behavior which, in the
judgment of the instructor, impedes other students’ opportunity to learn and which directly and significantly
interferes with class objectives. Should such behavior occur, the instructor will request the student to
leave class and will refer the matter to the director of Academic Advising. Permission to return to class
will be granted only after the student meets with the director of Academic Advising and signs a contract
agreeing to appropriate ameliorative action. If the disruptive behavior continues, the instructor may direct
the registrar to drop the student from the course.
Revised Policy on Declaring a Major
Approved by ASC 12/5/97
A student who has earned 12 or more units is expected to declare a major and be assigned to an
academic advisor in the major department.
A student with fewer than 12 units may declare a major. Consultation with the director of Academic and
Career Advising Services is recommended but not required for such students.
To declare or change a major the student should complete a "Change of Advisor/Major" form in the Office
of Academic and Career Advising Services or the Office of the Registrar. When students select a major,
they are encouraged to choose a new advisor in their discipline of choice, or may request that a new
advisor be assigned for them. A student may have more than one advisor, as in the case of double
majors, for example, but only the student's advisor of record may approve registration for classes.*
*Text of policy revision appears in italics.