Physics Professor James Heath Jr., Ph.D., helps students during lab time. The Learning Lab also offers free tutoring and other assistance.
Student alert: A new law puts a brake on dropping classes at Texas state colleges and universities.
Starting this fall, students attending Texas public colleges can withdraw from no more than six courses during their undergraduate career. The withdrawal limit applies to first-time college students and follows them until they graduate. Current and returning students are not affected.
Austin Community College is among institutions affected.
Dr. Kathleen Christensen, vice president of student support and success systems, said the withdrawal cap has the potential to particularly impact community college students, who often have limited knowledge of the college process.
“We are especially concerned about the impact on first-generation college students and students in developmental education,” Christensen said.
Transfer students should pay particular attention to the withdrawal rule, Christensen said. “Regardless of how many colleges students attend, how many classes they take, or how many years they enroll as undergraduates, the law limits them to six class withdrawals.”
The new law’s intent is to minimize the state’s cost of funding higher education and to emphasize to students the importance of making realistic course load decisions, staying focused, and completing courses.
Advisors and counselors will alert students to the law even as college administrators at ACC and across the state create policies that conform to the new limit. Updates will be posted on the ACC homepage.
Christensen reminds students they have one opportunity to drop a class without it counting toward the limit after the semester starts.
“Students can still drop classes without penalty during the schedule change (add/drop) period at the start of the semester,” Christensen said. Schedule change deadlines are published in the academic calendar.
Dr. Donetta Goodall, vice president of academic transfer, general, and developmental education, had some advice for new students: “Be very, very careful in the classes you register for.”
Goodall offered suggestions to help students select classes:
- Talk with advisors and counselors;
- Identify a major or career choice early;
- Check course descriptions and prerequisites;
- Contact the professor to make sure courses selected are required for your major;
- Search for the syllabus online; and
- Balance course load, realistically, with workload and other commitments.
In addition, Goodall said, “All students should visit the campus Learning Lab early in the semester for a variety of assistance.”
Find out about free tutoring and other Learning Lab services at www.austincc.edu/tutor.
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By Charles Dunn August 16, 2007 - 5:58 pm
This policy is not fair to students who have to work. I have worked throughout my academic career, and have often had to drop courses because of a change in my work schedule. Single parents will be particularly affected as well as students from economically challenged circumstances.
By Tobin Quereau August 17, 2007 - 3:02 pm
As I understand the new law, there are some allowances for unusual circumstances such as unavoidable work changes, caring for family members and extensive illness. Those situations may not count against a student if they have to withdraw, but all of the policies and procedures for this new requirement have not yet been established, so caution is warrented in any case.
By Ted Kyle August 25, 2007 - 10:19 am
This is a really bad piece of legislation, in my mind it is wrong for any politician to have be allowed to vote on this legislation who earned any degree from a private or out of state university.
I earned a BSEE at UT-Austin, with honors, but still had 7 dropped classes during my stay there. I would never have been able to earn a degree in under this law, who can afford private college? Five of those dropped classes were in my Junior year, these were my third through seventh dropped classes. I got in a situation where one of my engineering theory classes raced well ahead of the vector analysis math co-requisite class which I was “advised” to take concurrently. (The engineering college had a 12 hour minimum at that time, so I was not allowed to drop the two classes I was in trouble with) Poor and risky advising was common practice at the college of engineering, in fact in my freshman year I was advised to take molecular biology, bypassing it’s two pre-requisites.
I hope “advisors” and their colleges at all levels get sued for poor advising practices. I hope this will bring to a head the problem many students, like myself, have had in taking pre-requisite courses with one “teach my class my way” professor, and then taking the follow on course from a different professor who teaches “in their own way.” And now they blame (and will punish) the students for poor planning!
I think the state university system should fix their own problems before going after the students who abuse the current system.
By Lukas Alewine September 6, 2007 - 3:13 pm
I am just curious where I can find more information and details on this law.
By Laura Derrick October 20, 2007 - 1:57 am
You can find out more about the rule at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s website: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/
Look under Laws and Rules link for Chapter 4, Subchapter A, Sections 4.3 and 4.10
There are provisions for allowing students to drop courses without counting them toward their total for various reasons, such as serious illness, death in the family, military service, unavoidable work schedule changes, and ***other good cause as determined by the institution of higher learning.***
This means that ACC gets to decide what other types of situations, if any, would warrant not penalizing a student for dropping a course.
By Stephanie March 17, 2008 - 1:19 pm
I am glad that I was already enrolled in school when this law was passed. I too have to drop classes that are work related, and I’m a single mother of twins, so balancing everything is hard. I’ve already dropped 6 classes, and will probably have to drop more in the future. I really feel for the new students, most especially if their situation is similar to mine.
By Joseph March 27, 2008 - 10:46 pm
Does this apply to Early College Start students doing dual credit courses during high school?
By Albert Autin April 21, 2008 - 4:38 pm
Charles Dun, I agree that this new rule is not fair, but in your particular argument it is allowed.
http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/Rules/Tac3.cfm?Chapter_ID=4&Subchapter=A&Print=1
4.10 2 E
(2)
the student shows good cause for dropping more than that number, including but not limited to a showing of:
—
(E) the change of the student’s work schedule that is beyond the control of the student, and that affects
the student’s ability to satisfactorily complete the course;
By Verena Edwards August 7, 2008 - 12:15 pm
The answer nobody has been able to give me, but which students ask for, is: what exactly happens to a student who does drop more than six classes after Fall 07?
Any answers?
By Anne Strohm August 28, 2008 - 7:43 am
Verena,
I have heard two different rumors. The first is that the student would have to refund to the state the difference in the amount of tuition they paid versus the actual cost of the class, AND/OR secondly, that the college would physically prevent a grade of W and require a letter grade instead.
I have no legitimate source for either rumor.