Faculty senate to vote on extending drop deadline to early January

By Talha Arif     11/10/20 8:24pm

The Faculty Senate will vote on Nov. 18 on whether to extend the drop deadline for the fall semester to early January after final grades are posted, according to Speaker of the Faculty Senate Christopher Johns-Krull.

“[Dean of Undergraduates Bridget] Gorman came to the Senate Executive Committee and really wanted us to think seriously about adopting something for this semester,” Johns-Krull said at the Student Association meeting on Nov. 9. 

If a class is dropped by that deadline, it will appear on student transcripts as “NG” or “no grade” similar to the spring semester.

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Johns-Krull said for continuing students, the deadline will likely be around Jan. 13 to drop a class, but for December degree candidates, the deadline will likely be a week earlier since December degrees are awarded on the first Friday of January. 

Johns-Krull said international students will need to get prior approval from the Office of International Students and Scholars.

“We saw some situations in the spring where students were trying to use the late drop accommodation that we provided, that would put them and Rice at odds with the Department of State and various federal rules about visas and visa compliance,” Johns-Krull said.

Johns-Krull said there is no current plan to implement a modified pass-fail system. SA Senators are pushing for more accommodations for both this semester and next, and are circulating a form for students to provide insight into what accommodations they would like.

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