The Council of Commonwealth Student Governments will discuss proposed changes to the university-wide drop/add policy, among other legislation, during its meeting this weekend.
The current drop/add policy allows students to drop a course without penalty during the first 10 days of the semester, up until the Wednesday evening of the second week of classes. Students can add a new course between the first day of classes and Thursday morning of the second week of classes.
CCSG wants to extend the date that students can drop a class without penalty, so those who may have classes offered only once a week have more time to try out the class.
CCSG President Ben Clark said he expects council members to be tired by the end of council weekend on Saturday, citing a “packed” agenda. Because the previous council weekend in January was canceled due to inclement weather, CCSG has not met since December.
CCSG has six pieces of new legislation to be passed, including the drop/add policy, as well as its diversity summit event and guest speaker Wayne Smutz, executive director of World Campus .
Clark (senior-accounting) said Smutz was chosen as the guest speaker this weekend because Commonwealth members have expressed issues they and other students have had with World Campus. Some of these issues include how to register for classes and what classes are available for them to register for.
“The campuses have a lot of questions about World Campus and how it functions,” Clark said. “I think students are really looking forward to having this guest speaker. It will definitely be one of the best we’ve had.”
Smutz said he was asked by CCSG to speak about the issues, as well as how World Campus operates, and he expects a lot of questions from students.
“[The weekend] is a chance to provide information and clarification and clarity, and explain the role of World Campus in the context of Penn State and its students,” Smutz said.
Smutz said World Campus has been growing in student enrollment about 20 percent each year for the past five years, and about 55,000 students are enrolled this year.
Also this weekend, there are six pieces of legislation to be passed in new business. Some pieces of legislation were scheduled to pass at CCSG’s previous council weekend in January. As a result of the cancellation, Clark said there is more legislation prepared in advance compared to other times.
One of those is the approval of 2013-14 council dates for the next school year, and resolutions to World Campus and its role to students.
A resolution to legislative bylaws, the election code and approval of constitutional changes will also be discussed, CCSG Vice President Chandra Ulinfun said.
“[The elections code] is a document that is governing the behaviors and what is actually going to happen, during the election weekend,” Ulinfun (senior-management) said.
CCSG election weekend will be April 12 and 13, Ulinfun said, and also at this weekend’s council, the candidates will be announced for president, vice president and campus chairs. Ulinfun said she is looking forward to finding out who those candidates will be.
Ulinfun said she is also looking forward to having a successful diversity summit. Various Commonwealth student organizations have signed up to do different performances, like dances and a play. The diversity summit will also feature student speakers, including one who will talk about feminism, Ulinfun said, adding that hopefully some graduate students would be speaking as well.
“The whole point of [the diversity summit] is to show different student perspectives, so we are able to understand something different other than race,” Ulinfun said. “We will be having a busy, busy weekend.”
