Deadline to drop a course is next Tuesday, Oct. 10
October 3, 2017 As we mentioned last week, now is a good time to touch base with your advisees and see how they are doing with their courses this semester. We’re coming up on the Tuesday, Oct. 10 deadline for students to drop a course without receiving a “W” on their transcript. As a result, you may be hearing from students who are struggling with whether or not to drop a course. Students' first thoughts may be to just drop the course, but there are several reasons to consider dropping the last option. Remind them that often the best route is to improve as they progress through the course rather than close the avenues to learning early on. Here are a few suggestions on how to help (thank you to experienced adviser Christian Rojas for some of these): - First, ask students if they have been accessing appropriate resources. Have they sought out (free) tutoring through the Dean of Studies Office? Have they been going to office hours? Are they been seeing the TA and/or the professor on a regular basis?
- Next, ask about their study habits. How do they study for a particular course? Perhaps their study habits aren't conducive to retaining the information - maybe they should study with someone instead of by themselves - or go it alone if they’ve been studying with a group.
Also, what kinds of assessments are they facing: are there several tests, homework assignments, and projects remaining to help them raise their current grade?
- You can also ask students if perhaps they are enrolled in the wrong level within a subject. For example, if the student is currently enrolled in Calculus III and needs to drop down to Calculus I, it’s still possible to switch as long as the professors of both courses approve the change. This needs to be done quickly though – so have your students contact the professors as soon as possible, and pick up the section change form from the Registrar's Office.
- Also, as you talk with your advisees, check that they have at least 12 credits for the semester and if not, make sure they have
taken steps to find another course to get to 12 hours and are writing a petition for late add. Remind them that they must work with their Class Dean on this process. NOTE re: PE and Dance credit. All students who are taking PE or Dance to fulfill their PE requirement this semester should by now have these classes listed on their schedule as 1 credit; if any advisees have 0 credits listed where you/they expect 1 credit, please encourage them to contact the Registrar ASAP to address this.
- Finally, if your students do decide to drop a class, remind them it cannot be done online and that you as their Adviser has to sign the form, available for them to pick up from the Registrar's Office. We know your advisees may just ask if they can drop off a form for your signature, but as you know, the purpose of the form is
to increase the likelihood that the students will have the benefit of your advice in making their decisions. your signature is required for the drop course form; a dean’s signature is not necessary. Once you approve the dropped class and have signed their form, students will then return the form to the Registrar's Office. Again, make certain that dropping the course does not take them below 12 credits.
One final deadline to note – Thursday, Nov. 16 is the deadline for students to withdraw from a course, but the course and a "W" will appear on their transcript.
Email questions and comments to: insights@barnard.edu
Find past INSIGHTS at INSIGHTS Archive
|