New policy drops common sense, adds on headaches

The administration is considering moving late registration dates back and making the add/drop week end before classes even start. Under the new schedule, students who register late would not be able to change their schedule after the semester starts in order to get the classes they need. Also, students who register on time and then arrive at the class only to find that it is not the right fit for them, will not be able to replace that class with one that works better. It's hard to see any way that this policy would actually promote student success.

A small handful of studies have made correlations between students who register later for class and student success. However, it is silly to think that late registration is the reason these students might be less successful. Let's assume that missing the first day of class has less to do with students failing than the fact that many of them have kids, and jobs, and the bills that they are trying to juggle.

Studies have also shown that men aren't performing well in college these days, and it's easy to find studies that prove that black and hispanic students are not having such an easy time.  Perhaps in the name of success, we can barricade these "at risk students" so they don't drag down the rest of us.

Those who support this change also say that it will help professors minimize the shuffling around of classes during the first week of school. With technology like Blackboard which allows teachers to post their syllabus online where students who miss the first day or two can look it up, and the office hours and work e-mails that professors use to communicate with students to answer questions about what they have missed, it would seem like a small price to deal with three days of add/drops to insure that students are not kept out of classes they need to be in, or forced to stay in classes that wont work for them. 

Whether a student has responsibilities or conflicts that make switching schedules around necessary, or they simply attend the class and realize that it won't be a good fit for them, this policy is not going to help.  Being stuck with a schedule that isn't right won't make anyone more successful.

An obvious side effects of this policy would be the inevitable scenarios in which students either have to drop classes and not replace them, thereby dragging out the time it takes them to get a degree, or they will stick it out in these classes they don't want and not do as well as they would in the right class, dragging down their GPA, or lead to an unnecessary withdrawal that, due to the six drop rule, could create massive problems in the future.

The bottom line is that we have students that are drowning. They are sinking in an ocean of bills that can't be paid, a job market that has no room for them, mouths they need to feed, and a college that is passing by them, unwilling to save them, because they might weigh down the boat.

This policy is not a life line; it is a brutal dismissal of the students who, in the past, have found hope, a second chance, and often redemption from a darker past at this school. Students come here to escape the mediocrity of the lives they would have been forced to lead without an education or job training.

It is time that as a community we demand that this college, which is wholly ours, provide students with resources instead of restraints, and that policies to increase student success actually foster successful students instead of slamming the door in the face of those who most need the opportunities that this institution could be providing.