Several faculty members voiced their support of a Committee on Instruction proposal that would allow students to drop a course without permission up until the last two weeks of a term.
"I'm favorable to it," Mathematics Department Chair Kenneth Bogart said.
Bogart said such a policy would not affect Grade Point Averages or be abused by students because the College already has guidelines restricting how often students can have terms with two courses.
Registrar Thomas Bickel suggested the proposal to the COI last term. Currently, about 100 students a term petition the Registrar's office asking to drop a course.
"It seems to be absolutely acceptable," said David Wykes, vice chair of the English department and COI member.
"We obviously can't have a rule and have 100 students ask to have it waived it every term," Wykes said. He said most colleges have more liberal policies regarding course dropping.
He said the proposal wouldn't change how students take courses or the number of students who drop courses because of the high financial cost of taking a class.
Acting Dean of the Faculty Karen Wetterhahn said the Registrar "had to handle an inordinate amount of requests. The proposal would make it automatic."
She praised the proposal and said the Faculty would likely approve it.
"They learned everything in the subject, why bother staying until the end?" joked Nelson Kasfir, government department chair. He said he would prefer a different way to reduce the burden on the registrar.
Bickel said he did not make the proposal simply to ease the burden on his office. Instead, he said he also wanted to save time and make things easier and fairer for students.
Although students may rush the Registrar's Office just before the two-week deadline, Bickel said the burden would be less because it would only be students simply handing in a card.
The Committee on Procedure is currently considering the proposal. The COP is a subcommittee of the Committee of Chairs, which is made up of the chairs of departments and academic programs. If the COP approves the proposal, the entire faculty will vote on it. If the faculty approves it, it will go into effect.
Geography Department Chair Richard Barff said he would try to dissuade a student intent on dropping a course late in the term, but added he would not stand in the student's way.
Barff said his department has no problem with the proposal, and said few students currently try to drop courses.
