Ranaudo-Project 3

MEMORANDUM
TO:
DR. MIKE MULLEN, VICE CHANCELLOR AND DEAN FOR

ACADEMIC AND STUDENT AFFAIRS
FROM:
ASHLEY RANAUDO, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
SUBJECT: REQUIRING THAT GRADES BE MADE AVAILABLE TO
STUDENTS IN THEIR ENTIRETY PRIOR TO DROP DATE
DATE:
CC:
CHRISTINE CRANFORD
Introduction
Drop date, or more commonly known amongst students, drop
dead date is a very useful and important tool for students in any
academic environment. Drop date is the last date in which a student
can, without permission, drop from a course for one of numerous
reasons. The purpose of this proposal is to supply you, the Dean for
Academic and Student Affairs, with the background information needed
in order to put into action this request for a mandated posting of
grades prior to drop date. Currently there is no regulation that forces
instructors to provide such grades to students prior to this date and
this leads to a common occurrence of students being in the dark about
their current academic standing in the course. This leads to dropping
after the drop date and potential future failures in their courses.
Problem
While in the North Carolina State University Policies, Regulations
and Rules, there is an encouragement for instructors to provide
feedback to students prior to drop date; Currently there is no
regulation, policy, or rule that mandates that instructors have to
provide students with their grades in their entirety prior to drop date,
or commonly known to students as drop dead date. As stated above,
drop date is the date in which students may drop a class without
penalty. Without penalty means that there is no harm done to a
students GPA and the course appears as if it was never taken. There is
an informal way to ask an instructor for a grade, like anything else,
simply by emailing or asking in class for feedback on academic
standing; however, students and teachers can run into problems with
FERPA. FERPA is the Family Education Rights and Privacy Acts that
protects against the release of student information such as grades,
unless otherwise permitted through the filling out of a form. For many
students dealing with multiple courses and instructors, asking for

grades for each course is difficult. Having said this, it is difficult as well
for instructors to deal with the numerous occasions of grade requests
prior to drop date so that a student can make an informed decision
about dropping the course or not. Dropping a course can very much
mean the difference between a GPA that is acceptable to potential
future employers, future success at the institution, and even
graduation. This problem needs to be addressed so as to assist
students in their future success both at this institution as well as in
future endeavors. If this problem is not addressed there will be a
continuation of students being made unawares by their potential failing
academic standing and not being able to utilize the system put in place
to alleviate their concerns and remedy their potential academic failure
by supplying them the drop date.
Background
Drop date is the date in which students may drop a course
without permission , as stated in North Carolina State Universities
(NCSU) Polices, Regulations and Rules 3.2 Except in cases of
withdrawal, courses may be dropped until the census date without
permission3.3 Students are expected to complete all courses for
which they are enrolled as of the census date. Except as noted below,
students may self-drop from a course from census through the first
eight (8) weeks (40 days) of regular fall and spring terms and during
the first thirteen (13) days of summer terms (REG 02.20.02 - Adding
and Dropping Courses, 2014).
Within NCSU Policies, Regulations and Rules there is a clause that
states that 3.5 Faculty are encouraged to provide evaluative feedback
to students in their classes prior to these deadlines (REG 02.20.02 Adding and Dropping Courses, 2014). While this is an encouragement
to provide feedback/grades to students prior to drop date, it is not a
mandate. More often than not, grades are not posted in their entirety
online for students to readily access them prior to drop date. This often
leads to students not knowing what their current academic standing is
in a course and not taking advantage of drop date and become aware
of their poor academic standing in the course too late. While dropping
a class before drop date leads to the course appearing as if it was
never taken, dropping after drop date leads to the following: 3.3.1.
Undergraduate student course drops after census date are considered
to be course withdrawals and will result in a W grade on the transcript
(REG 02.20.02 - Adding and Dropping Courses, 2014). While a W on a
students transcript will not affect GPA, it can have a negative impact
regardless when employers, teachers, schools, etcview the students
academic record and see that they have withdrawn from a class. This
can give off feelings of sloth or lack of responsibility on the students
part to withdraw prior to drop date as opposed to afterwards. When in
reality the student should not be held accountable because they had
not been shown their grades ahead of time. Dropping after the fact
also cannot be done so simply by the students click of a button on the
Universities MyPackPortal, where end of semester grades are seen and
classes selected.
In order to drop a course after the specified drop date, a student
must fill out a form, meet with an advisor, and receive approval from
the department head in order to withdraw from a single course. This is
only done if the reason for withdrawal meets the standards of the
department in which the student is a part of. For example, the
engineering department for graduate students at NCSU allows for
dropping a course after drop date or withdrawal for the following
reasons: Certification by a physician of inability to continue for medical
reasons, Certification by the Counseling Center or by an independent
psychiatrist or psychologist of inability to continue for
psychiatric/psychological reasons, or Documentation of a personal or
family hardship that adversely affected the students academic
performance in a significant way (Procedures for Withdrawal).
Basically, if you are in your right mind and have the ability to make it
to class you are held accountable to dropping prior to drop date, if not
then you are stuck. Despite potential run ins with not knowing your
grades ahead of time.
Another large concern for students is financial aid. If a student
drops before drop date, financial aid can refund them money and allow
them to use it towards other necessities in future terms. However, for
courses dropped after the fact, the student is held liable for the
charges and can be at the mercy of probation for financial aid if they
withdraw from too many classes. As shown by the following: 6
Official Withdrawal means the official university process whereby
students may request to be withdrawn from all coursework for a

semester or term. Students who receive financial aid and officially
withdraw or drop hours after the census date of the semester/term will
be held accountable for hours attempted but not passed during that
semester/term (REG 02.70.02 - Financial Aid Eligibility for Continued
Receipt of Financial Aid, 2013).
In order to better provide you with the information you need, I
have asked several students who prefer to not be mentioned their
insights about drop date and posting grades beforehand. Many
students hit on the same three factors. Factor one: having to email
several times and meet up with teacher to find out grades before the
deadline so as to make a decision. Factor two: believing that they were
doing well in the class and then after drop date grades were updated
and they turned out to not be doing so well. Factor three: there was a
large test right before drop date and afterwards they find out they had
failed and now they can barely pass the course.
Overall, not providing students with an avenue to know their
progress in a course creates a very stressful and very avoidable
environment for which one of the following proposed solutions can
remedy.
Proposed Solution(s)
All of the following solutions will lead to the same outcome they
are simply different means to the same end.
Solution 1: Requiring that instructors post grades in their entirety
online prior to drop date using Moodle, or whichever electronic format
the teacher prefers as long as it is made readily available to the
student.
Solution 2: Require that instructors show students in class their grade
in its entirety prior to drop date.
Solution 3: Require that instructors provide students with an online
request form for grades to be submitted to the teacher and response
be given prior to drop date.
Costs
The implementations for the above proposed solutions do not

have any monetary costs; however, they may have some timely costs
on the part of the instructor. Being that grades will need to be made
available to students prior to this drop date, teachers will have to be
able to compile the grades and post them in a timely fashion to
accommodate for these changes.
Advantages
The following are the overall advantages for all three solutions; with
the broken down advantages for each solution following separately.
The above proposed solution would lead to the advantages of:
Increased awareness by students of grades that allows for

knowledge of academic standing. This increases the likelihood
of circumventing potential future academic failure by staying
in the course.
Decreased pressure on students who are shrouded in not

knowing their grades.
Allows for affirmation of the students abilities in the course.
Keeps teachers on track and allows for structured

performance by mandating that grades be updated on a more
frequent basis.
Decreases teachers being asked multiple times, by the

number of students in each class, for current grades on the
spot. This can be very time consuming and for a teacher it is
often stated that they are not prepared to provide students
with this information on the spot.
Less after-the-fact drops which lead to:

o Less paperwork for administrative services
o Decreased appointments with student services
o Decreased debate with instructors

student.
Accessible despite possible absence from class
A uniform system that all students use
Accessible from any location
Eliminates students asking for grades in class

Personally get to see grades in class

If instructors are squeezed for time, instead of compiling grades

for all of their students, they would only have to compile them
for those who submit the electronic request
Accessible to from any location
Uniform system that all students can use
Accessible despite absence from class
Disadvantages
The following are the overall disadvantages for all three solutions; with
the broken down disadvantages for each solution following separately.
The minor drawbacks of the proposed solutions are:
Possible increased pressure on instructors to post grades in a

timely fashion
Having to make an addition to the Policies, Regulations & Rules

student.
Possible conflicts with FERPA, Family Education Rights and

Privacy Act which protects against the release of students
information.
Students may be absent during this day
Not accessible anywhere/anytime
Takes time away from class

Require the creation of a form
Recommendation
I recommend that Solution 1, requiring that instructors post
grades in their entirety online prior to drop date using Moodle, or
whichever electronic format the teacher prefers as long as it is made
readily available to the student, be implemented immediately. This
Solution provides the lease amount of change to both instructor and
student alike. This solution also provides limited run-ins with students
complaining that they did not receive their grades ahead of time and
thus there can be no room for excuses because grades are posted for
everyone at the same time. This also allows for a check and balance
system to be had with instructors to make sure they are doing their job
of posting grades by allowing for the online program to alert the
department head that grades have indeed been posted prior to
deadline if a problem arises. Overall, Solution 1 provides the least
amount of flaws and the most advantages. The predominant changes
that need to be made to enact Solution 1 will be to place it in writing
and have instructors meet a deadline of posting grades at the end of
the eight week period at the beginning of a course that details the drop
date.
Sources
Procedures for Withdrawal. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2014, from
Engineering:
http://engineeringonline.ncsu.edu/online_courses/withdraw.html
REG 02.20.02 - Adding and Dropping Courses. (2014, April 1).
Retrieved June 10, 2010, from Policies, Regulations & Rules:
http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-02
REG 02.70.02 - Financial Aid Eligibility for Continued Receipt of
Financial Aid. (2013, January 8). Retrieved June 10, 2014, from Policies,
Regulations & Rules: http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-70-02

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MEMORANDUM

DR. MIKE MULLEN, VICE CHANCELLOR AND DEAN FOR

students dealing with multiple courses and instructors, asking for

students may request to be withdrawn from all coursework for a

The implementations for the above proposed solutions do not

Increased awareness by students of grades that allows for

Decreased pressure on students who are shrouded in not

Allows for affirmation of the students abilities in the course.

Keeps teachers on track and allows for structured

Decreases teachers being asked multiple times, by the

Less after-the-fact drops which lead to:

o Decreased debate with instructors

Accessible despite possible absence from class

A uniform system that all students use

Accessible from any location

Eliminates students asking for grades in class

Solution 2: Require that instructors show students in class their grade

Personally get to see grades in class

Solution 3: Require that instructors provide students with an online

If instructors are squeezed for time, instead of compiling grades

Accessible to from any location

Uniform system that all students can use

Accessible despite absence from class

The minor drawbacks of the proposed solutions are:

Possible increased pressure on instructors to post grades in a

Having to make an addition to the Policies, Regulations & Rules

Solution 1: Requiring that instructors post grades in their entirety

Possible conflicts with FERPA, Family Education Rights and

Students may be absent during this day

Not accessible anywhere/anytime

Takes time away from class

Solution 3: Require that instructors provide students with an online

Require the creation of a form

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