Mississippi State University’s Student Association is seeking the support of the Faculty Senate regarding a proposal to institute a policy of academic forgiveness.
Such a policy would enable students to replace a low course grade with a better one by retaking the class and having the new grade calculated into their grade-point average, replacing the old one.
“The main purpose of this policy is to help students that failed their classes because they weren’t able to perform to their full potential due to special circumstances, such as medical reasons,” said Richard Heard, SA Director of Academic Affairs.
Presented March 21, last semester the Faculty Senate voted 20-9 not to accept the original proposal, which proposed that once the class is repeated, an “R” would take the place of the original grade, and the transcript would show only the new grade.
“A transcript should be an accurate record. The idea of a grade disappearing would not make the transcript a factual document,” said Faculty Senate President Dr. Walter J. Diehl III.
The proposal is based on the fact that seven out of 12 southeastern universities, along with schools across the United States, have a form of academic forgiveness policy. Mississippi State does not have any form of academic forgiveness; however, it has experimented with some policies in the past.
One policy that failed a few years ago, called the “Super Drop,” allowed students to drop a maximum of five courses during their academic careers up to 10 days before the semester ended, an MSU Web site said. This plan proved beneficial to students, but created burdens for professors and the university. Those drops cost the university about $1 million per year.
However, SA President Josh Blades said, “The Student Association has been working for a year and a half, revising the policy in hopes that it will be approved and affect the students in the most positive light, and the new proposal will be brought up before the end of semester.”
SA Vice President Juan McCullum said: “If approved by the Faculty Senate, the plan would move on to MSU’s administration, whose vote would determine the final decision on the life of the proposal. The Student Association can skip presenting the proposal to the Faculty Senate and attempt to show it to the administration, but the approval of Faculty Senate gives it more support and backing for the final decision.