It’s the end of the semester. Your head is spinning. You have more work than you could possibly handle. The grade you were hoping to receive in a few of your classes may not be in the cards. Any opportunity of graduating at the top of your class and transferring with a scholarship is a distant memory.
What do you do?
A) Throw yourself at the mercy of the professor.
B) Slip out quietly as if you never set
foot in the class altogether.
C) Preserve your GPA.
D) All of the above.
The DCCC Student Handbook’s attendance policy states: “Students can drop a class and receive a “W” (a no-penalty grade) until approximately the 10th week of classes . . . Also, students who initially attend class and fail to meet attendance requirements may be recommended for withdrawal at any time up to the 14th week of classes. They will also receive a grade of “W” or failing grade at the teacher’s discretion.”
I don’t know why DCCC is giving no-grade penalties to students after the 10th week. It’s not fair because students and faculty are taking advantage of the instructor–initiated withdrawal grade and abusing it.
The instructor-initiated “W” grade is sometimes used mistakenly by professors because they give in to students “sob stories.” Professors, at times, may let their guard down when students visit them near the end of a semester and ask to be withdrawn because they may fail. Since professors have until a week before classes end to withdraw a student from classes, a student can be let off the hook by a professor and receive a “W” instead of the grade they would have earned.
Even though professors don’t want to see students fail based on any reason such as personal problems, it’s not right to bail them out of receiving a D or possible F because they feel sympathetic to the students’ situation.
Some students take advantage of the college policy for instructor–initiated withdrawal by suddenly not coming to class after the deadline for withdrawing themselves. In doing so, the opportunity increases for any students who are struggling or blatantly failing to preserve their GPA because there is a strong likelihood that professors will withdraw them for lack of attendance.
Students know that when they’re withdrawn from a course, their GPA won’t be affected. As a result of not finishing the semester, students get a clean slate going into the course the second time around, enabling them to possibly receive a higher grade than they would have received before, therefore improving their GPA.
When students have to retake a course, they have to shell out more money to retake them. That’s a win - win for the school.
But this policy isn’t fair to other students taking the class.
Take, for instance, the student who comes to class every day, puts in hours of studying, works hard, gets tutored and still receives a C or D in the class. That student’s GPA takes a hit, while the other student who has been withdrawn can take the course again next semester with no penalty.
That sounds like cheating to me.
Whatever happened to showing up, working tirelessly, putting forth your best effort, getting help if necessary, and being responsible for the actions that have placed you in this predicament.
Some people may argue that eliminating the instructor–initiated “W” may not be a good idea because they feel that teachers should be able to withdraw students once they have exceeded the maximum number of cuts. For example, professors may have disruptive, negligent students who bring down the morale in the classroom, so professors find it easier to eliminate what they might call the “cancer in the classroom.”
However, an instructor-initiated “W” doesn’t just eliminate students that shouldn’t be in the classroom. Sometimes, it eliminates students who have taken classes with all the intentions of attending, working hard and being a responsible student. When these students are withdrawn because they went over their cuts they lose money and possibly financial aid support, and might even have to retake a class they were passing with a high grade, despite their absences.
This is unfortunate, but it happens.
Two local community colleges, Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) and Montgomery County Community College (MCCC), follow some of the same procedures as DCCC by allowing their students to withdraw from a class or classes, but students must do so by the published deadline for each term.
However, at CCP, after the initial deadline, students are no longer able to withdraw with a “W” and are assigned the grade they have earned.
Students who attend Temple University and West Chester University have until the ninth week to withdraw from classes, which is similar to DCCC’s policy.
After the ninth week deadline, students cannot withdraw from only specific courses and must withdraw from the university altogether, thereby earning a “W” for all courses in which they are registered.
Students who do not withdraw and stop attending can expect to receive an “F” grade for the courses and are still financially obligated to pay for all classes.
Temple students are given more flexibility because they can withdraw from specific courses. But despite being able to withdraw, there is a limitation to the number of courses from which they can withdraw. Once students surpass that limit of five classes, they won’t be able to earn a bachelor’s degree.
I propose that DCCC adopt a new withdrawal plan, similar to CCP’s policy. Withdrawing students from classes shouldn’t be a choice for professors to make because students should have control over whether they stay in a class.
Students should be obligated to finish out classes and be penalized, not rewarded, for failing to put forth a continuous effort all semester.
Furthermore, having students take responsibility for withdrawing themselves from class takes the burden off professors having to monitor every student in their classes for attendance.
Above all, D’s and F’s exist for a reason, so if that is the grade a student earned, that is what a student receives, no questions asked.
On the other hand, the college should still be allowed to withdraw students for unique situations, such as a serious illness, a death in the family, a severe injury or other extenuating circumstances. But students who are working to their potential and have exceeded the number of absences permitted should have an opportunity to finish with a good grade.
So what does it really mean to bring home a “W?”
Seriously, if an A means outstanding, a B means above standard, a C means average, a D means below normal and a F means failing, perhaps the “W” stands for WIGGLING out or WASHING one’s hands in defeat or how about being WEAK or WASTING time or maybe the inevitable WTF look that comes before they decide to WIMP out.
All in all, it’s better to hold students accountable for their actions.
