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.