Academic Policies Committee Statement on the Course Repeat Policy:

F08-248

Amendment (September 23, 2008) Rationale:

In the spring of 2008, the Academic Senate passed a new Repeat of Courses Policy (S08-248) with the knowledge that there were ongoing statewide efforts to address some of the same concerns that we faced on our campus. This policy takes effect in Fall, 2008, and should be announced to the student body through email notification and posting in the electronic bulletin upon being signed into policy. The result of the statewide efforts have resulted in a new CSU Executive Order, that our policy must comply with in order to be fully implemented. Our policy can be more restrictive than the limits provided in the Executive Order, but it may not be more lenient. The only part of our policy that is not in compliance with the CSU Executive Order is section saying that students can repeat a course only if they earn a grade less than a “B”. In order to comply with the Executive Order, our policy must be revised to change “B” to “C”.

The impact of this change is minimal to non-existent as CSU Executive Orders trump the authority of local senate policy. However, this would eliminate confusion that might result from having erroneous language in our policy.

http://www.calstate.edu/EO/EO-1037.pdf

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Initial (April 1, 2008) Rationale:

SF State’s current policies allow students to withdraw from a course two times and to repeat a course as many times as desired. This results in students pursuing inappropriate academic schedules and limits enrollment opportunities for other qualified students. According to Clifford Adelman’s 2006 report, “The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion from High School through College,” students who accumulated excessive withdrawals and repeats cut in half their chances of earning a degree. Furthermore, every withdrawal and no-credit repeat means that a seat in a course is not available to another qualified student.

APC’s discussions of a new course repeat policy raised the same issues as a CSU Task Force:

Academic policies that involve course credits pose true dilemmas for university faculty and administrators. On the one hand, we want students to succeed, and we want them to have the freedom to choose majors and the initiative to be ambitious and over-achieving in their course-taking. Therefore, if the students do overextend themselves, the punishment for these lapses in judgment is fairly gentle; the penalty for drops and withdrawals is no course credit awarded—a statement of “no harm done.” On the other hand, we have to be good stewards of faculty time and university facilities. When faculty teaching a course see the same faces reappear term after term, year after year, because these students have dropped or withdrawn or are repeating to get better grades, these professors are increasing their workload and circumscribing their freedom to teach other classes. In addition, a student who sits in a course until midterm only and then withdraws effectively prevents another student from sitting in that same seat for the entire term and earning credit. The balance between “no harm done” and the stress on faculty and physical resources must be considered. (Lucas, et. al. “Proposed Revision of CSU Academic Policies on Course Credits: Incompletes, Withdrawals, and Repeats.” 30 August 2007 http://www.calstate.edu/acadaff/docs/DWIR_Rpt-070830-v3-acc.pdf.)

The new course repeat policy is intended to balance unfettered and equitable access to SF State resources. It will also promote careful planning of academic schedules, facilitate student advising at pivotal academic points, and increase enrollment opportunities for all students.

Policies and resolutions that were reviewed during the development of this new policy:

SF State Academic Senate Policy S87-148, Academic Renewal

SF State Academic Senate Policy S98-196, Withdrawal from Courses (revised)

SF State Academic Senate Policy S96-197, Retroactive Withdrawal (revised)

SF State Academic Senate Policy F95-195, Incomplete Grade

SF State Academic Senate Policy S06-191, Policy on Undergraduate Academic Advising

C.S.U. Executive Order 213, Academic Renewal (1974)

C.S.U. Executive Order 792, Grading Symbols (2001)

C.S.U. Academic Senate Resolution AS-2817-07/AA, Drops, Withdrawals, Incompletes, and Repeats (2008)

COURSE REPEAT POLICY

Academic Senate Policy

#F08-248

1) In this policy, “repeat” means to enroll in a course for which a grade has already been assigned. “Grade” refers to all grading symbols defined in CSU Executive Order 792 (effective September 1, 2002). These include administrative grading symbols (AU, I, IC, RD, RP, W, and WU), traditional grades (A, B, C, D, and F, and their plus and minus designations), and non-traditional grades (CR and NC).

2) Unless otherwise stated in the course descriptions in the current SF State Bulletin, courses may not be repeated for additional units of credit.

3) When an undergraduate student chooses to repeat a course in which the grade was F, WU, or IC, all units attempted and all grade points will be included in the student's cumulative totals. When a student chooses to repeat a course in which the grade was passing, all units attempted and all grade points earned will be used in the calculation of the student's grade point average (GPA), but the units earned will be applied to the calculation of total units earned only once. Exceptions to this method of GPA calculation are available, as described in Academic Senate Policy S87-148, “Academic Renewal Policy”; the provisions of S87-148 are not superseded by this course repeat policy.

4) Once a bachelor's degree has been granted, repeating courses for any reason (e.g., as a visitor, post-baccalaureate, or College of Extended Learning student) will not affect the GPA or content of the degree already granted.

5) A student cannot repeat a course for which he or she received an “I,” until the “I” is converted to a grade. This restriction does not apply to enrollment in a variable-topic course, if the repeat will be for a different topic.

6) An undergraduate student who has received a grade of C or higher may not repeat a course unless the course is described in the current SF State Bulletin as repeatable for credit.

7) A student who has enrolled in a course and received a grade may repeat the course only once more, unless the course is described in the current SF State Bulletin as repeatable for credit.

8) An undergraduate student cannot repeat any course once the student has repeated 24 units at SF State, unless the course is described in the current SF State Bulletin as repeatable for credit.

9) Repeat enrollments in courses described in SF State Bulletins as repeatable for credit shall not count at all toward the total repeat units.

10) Courses repeated as the result of a student withdrawing from a full semester of coursework shall not count at all toward either the individual-course repeat limit or the 24-unit cumulative limit on course repeats.

11) Only grades assigned for matriculated students’ enrollment in regular University courses in Fall 2008 and subsequent semesters shall be used to determine repeat enrollment eligibility.

12) Requests for exceptions to this policy shall require the consent of the department chair in which the course is offered and the college dean of that college.

13) Students whose disability or military reserve status might necessitate more repeat enrollments are encouraged to request such exceptions.

***Approved by the Academic Senate at its meeting on September 23, 2008***