The Committee on Instruction recently passed a proposal that would allow students to drop courses without a professor's permission up until the last two weeks of a term.
The Committee on Procedure is currently considering the proposal. If the COP approves it, the proposed changes will be passed on to the Faculty for review.
The COP is a sub-committee of the Committee of Chairs, which is made up of the chairs of departments and academic programs.
"It is fairly likely that the proposals will be approved," Registrar Thomas Bickel said. "The motion was received well by the COI and will put us into circumstances like many other schools.
Bickel did say it is too soon to know whether or not the change will be approved.
Bickel presented the change in course-drop policy to the COI two months ago.
"The current policy seems to be totally out of hand. Very few colleges have a policy like the one at Dartmouth," Bickel said.
Under the current system, a student can only drop a course until the 10th day of classes.
A student wishing to drop a class after the 10th day must petition the Registrar explaining the circumstances necessitating the course change and obtain written permission from the instructor.
Under the new proposal, if a student wishes to drop a course before the last two weeks of the term, they only need to get a signature from the professor. The professor would not be allowed to forbid a student from dropping a class.
Freshmen would also need to get a signature from one of the deans in the Freshman Office.
Students who dropped a course in the middle of the term would have it noted on their transcript. Students still would only be allowed to have a two-course load three times.
COI Chair Gary Johnson said the Registrar's office would sometimes be faced with nearly 100 petitions in the middle of the term.
"Bickel's proposal will ease the logistical burden to the Registrar's office and will modify the program to effectively deal with dropping courses," Johnson said.
Johnson said Bickel's proposal is, "very reasonable. It will allow students to initiate course changes themselves and toss decisions back into the student's lap."
Neither Bickel nor Johnson said they think the proposed changes in course drop policy will cause inflated Grade Point Averages.
"I don't think it will cause inflated GPAs. I doubt there will be many more course changes than under the current policy," Bickel said. "The average student may do it no times or once, which is basically nothing new."
Johnson said the proposal should not change the way students pick courses.
Johnson said Bickel's recommended changes to the course-drop policy are "quite a ways from approval." He predicted approval could occur as soon as the spring.
"The proposals must be reviewed by one more major committee before it goes to the general faculty. Then we will begin to hear from students," Johnson said.
