The Council of Commonwealth Student Governments will discuss proposed changes and reform to Penn State’s current drop/add policy for classes during its January council weekend today and Saturday.
In addition to the drop/add policy, the council will also discuss the role of World Campus for Commonwealth Campus students and approval of the 2013-14 council dates for the next school year.
CCSG President Ben Clark said there has been extensive discussion regarding the current length of the drop/add period. Commonwealth representatives will be able to further talk about the policy and how they hope to change it.
Currently, the drop/add policy states that students can drop a course without penalty during the first 10 days of the semester, ending on Wednesday evening of the second week of classes. Students can add a new course anytime between the first day of classes and Thursday morning of the second week of classes.
Clark said students who are enrolled in a class that only meets once a week are at a disadvantage because of the current drop/add policy.
“Some classes don’t start until Thursday or Friday, and we even have some Saturday classes,” Clark (senior - accounting) said. “These students only have one day to go to class, which isn’t adequate time to get a feel of the class and the professor.”
Clark said he and CCSG are trying to push back the date on which students can drop a class without penalty to better help all students, especially those with classes offered only once a week.
Commonwealth representatives will also discuss problems with World Campus that students have been experiencing. Clark said there has been a lot of confusion with students and World Campus.
CCSG Vice President Chandra Ulinfun also said this weekend will allow CCSG to get some background information on the problem from representatives and to brainstorm ways to fix it.
“Currently, there are classes that Commonwealth students are having a hard time getting into, so we will be finding ways to make World Campus more accessible,” Ulinfun (senior-management) said.
The weekend will also feature guest speakers, including Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses Madlyn Hanes and Special Assistant to the President of Governmental Affairs Mike DiRaimo.
Chris Hurley, senior director of Housing and Food Services, will also speak this weekend about any issues representatives have regarding housing and food on their campus. In addition, Will Donahue, director of campus police and security programs, will speak to CCSG representatives about campus safety.
“Especially with everything going on in the nation, being safe in school is important to talk about,” Ulinfun said.
Both Clark and Ulinfun are looking forward to the weekend, and Ulinfun said she hopes CCSG can focus on topics that have already been discussed, like the drop/add policy, as well as prepare for the next CCSG council weekend.
“I really hope we can finish off a lot of what we started and have conversations about next council weekend and generate good ideas,” Ulinfun said.
