THE
FACULTY
SENATE
Senate
Document Number 1205F
Date
of Senate Approval
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Statement
of Faculty Senate Action:
Addition
of Policy on Grade Replacement for LSIC 179/379
Effective Date: Fall 2006
Add:
On
pg. 41, add the following policy statement to the end of the description for
the Liberal Studies Introductory Colloquium:
Students must successfully complete the
Liberal Studies Introductory Colloquium, LS 179 or 379 within their first two
semesters at UNC Asheville. Students who fail to successfully complete the
course in their first semester will be limited to 14 or fewer credit hours,
which must include the LSIC, in their second semester. Students who do not
successfully complete the LSIC requirement in their first two semesters of
enrollment will not be allowed to continue in a full-time status at the
University until this requirement has been satisfied. If the LSIC requirement
is not satisfied in the first two semesters of enrollment, the student will be
allowed to register only for the LSIC course until the requirement is
successfully completed. All other courses for which the student has registered
will be administratively dropped. Less than full-time status may impact the
student’s eligibility for financial aid, housing, veteran’s benefits, intercollegiate
athletics, and progress toward graduation.
Students may receive credit for only
one section of LS 179/379. If a student
does not receive a grade of C or better in LS 179 or 379, he or she may replace
that grade with a grade earned by taking another section at the same level,
regardless of prefix.
Impact:
This policy will ensure that students are receiving the academic advising
attention they need if they are to succeed at UNC Asheville. By catching students who are having difficulty
in their first semester of enrollment at the University, particularly in this
introductory course, we will be better able both to meet their needs and to
enhance retention at the institution. We
regard this as a critical, positive impact of this proposed policy. Another impact of this policy will be the
need for additional seats in LSIC 179 and 379 to accommodate students who fail
the course. The number of seats required
as a result of this policy is not expected to be great: in the 2004-5 academic year, 37 students out of 707 new freshman failed LSIC 179,
and would thus have to be accommodated under the new policy. We do not expect that the percentage of
failures among transfer students to differ much. A third important impact of this proposed
policy is that a student who fails the course in both their first and second
semesters at UNC Asheville will be limited to taking only this requirement
before proceeding in their academic program. This will impact the student’s
eligibility for financial aid, housing, veteran’s benefits, intercollegiate
athletics, and progress toward graduation. The proposed policy sends the signal
that the course is important to the student’s liberal arts experience at the
University, and that it should be accorded serious attention in their studies.
Rationale:
LSIC 179 and LSIC 379 represent our students’ introduction to the liberal arts
approach to higher education, and to our university’s specific academic
culture. It is important for them to
demonstrate that they can successfully complete an integrative, topical seminar
if they are to proceed through the ILS Program and the major with success. For LSIC to serve as an advising resource for
students and to assist in retention, it is imperative that we provide
assistance immediately to students who are having difficulty with this
introductory liberal studies requirement.