Draft of revised policy would allow students to withdraw at any time prior to 75% course completion
According to a policy consultation posted on the UFV website on May 19, UFV is considering changes to its withdrawal policy that would grant students a longer period to withdraw without penalty.
The proposed changes to university policy 81, which outlines UFV’s rules and expectations around course withdrawals, would permit students to withdraw from courses without penalty at any time prior to 75 per cent course completion. UFV’s current policy allows withdrawals up until a student has completed 60 per cent of a course, after which point all withdrawals are considered “late” and require committee approval.
The current policy also states that late withdrawals may be accepted on “medical or compassionate grounds” when “extenuating circumstances” prevent course completion. The draft of the new policy expands on the definition of “extenuating circumstances,” and specifically rules out “short-term illnesses, pre-existing unmanaged conditions, [and] acceptance of employment” as acceptable reasons to permit late withdrawals.
According to a policy request form submitted by Alisa Webb, UFV’s vice president students, the rationale behind the proposed change is that under the current policy, students do not yet have a sufficient sense of their academic standing in a course when the 60 per cent withdrawal date arrives.
The rationale section of the request form also mentions that other institutions across the country have become more flexible around their assessments, and that in many courses, the bulk of assessment now occurs later in the term. Additionally, the form suggests that the current withdrawal period leads to a “cumbersome and time consuming” late withdrawal process that affects both students and the committee who have to deal with requests.
According to the policy request form, work on these policy revisions “began pre-COVID,” although given the “current context,” the university hopes to implement the new policy beginning in the Fall 2020 semester.
