Athletes No-Drop Policy Canceled

[PonyKai]

Well...that was fast after learning about it.

http://www.smudailycampus.com/news/athl ... -1.1743034

For the past two years student athletes at SMU have been forced to play by a different set of rules than the rest of the student body. Unlike other students, athletes have been unable to drop a course.

But after The Daily Campus began asking questions about it, the Athletic Department abruptly canceled its no-drop policy. Athletic officials said they took this action after Provost Paul W. Ludden issued a memorandum last week to faculty and staff that made it clear that all students, including athletes, must be allowed to drop classes at will.

Provost Ludden issued the memo on Thursday, Oct. 28 a few hours after The Daily Campus spoke with Brad Sutton, the assistant athletic director for media relations. In that interview, Sutton said the Athletic Department had a no-drop policy.

But on Tuesday, Nov. 2 Sutton called the interview with The Daily Campus "out of date."

"Let me be clear on this," Sutton wrote in Tuesday's email interview. "Athletics will follow the provost's directive."

Many student athletes felt the no-drop policy, which was adopted in the summer of 2009, was unfair because it forced them to remain in classes they were failing, and ultimately ended up hurting their GPAs.

Former SMU football player Ben Goldthorpe was notified via email on the last day of the drop deadline last semester that he would be unable to drop a class. Dropping the class would have had no affect on his student athlete NCAA eligibility or financial aid status, but he was still forced to remain enrolled in the class, even though it was clear he would have trouble passing the class.

"There was no verbal communication" about the drop process, Goldthorpe said.

The no-drop policy was enacted for many reasons, according to Sutton, including trying to decrease the number of classes student athletes drop to avoid the tuition expense incurred if he or she must take additional semesters to graduate. Sutton called the policy "extremely positive" in his Oct. 28 email.

"The number of class drops has plummeted. In round numbers, student-athletes had 140 drops in the spring of 2009 and just 20 in the spring of 2010," he wrote in the Oct. 28 interview.

In a Faculty Senate report dated Nov. 3, 2009, Athletic Policies Committee Chair Dan Orlovsky said that there was "controversy" among faculty members about the drop policy adopted by the Athletic Department. "On the one hand the new policy reinforces our desire to see fewer drops in the university.

On the other it treats student athletes differently than we treat the larger student body - a situation that we oppose," Orlovsky said.

The provost made a point to single out student athletes in his memo:

"All students are encouraged to seek the advice of an academic counselor before dropping a course, but it is the students' choice whether or not to drop a course.

"The Drop Policy defined in the Undergraduate Catalog also applies to student athletes... Student athletes who are considering dropping a course should consult with the Athletic Department because their eligibility for participation in intercollegiate athletics, as defined by the NCAA, may be affected by their choice to drop or add a course.

"Student athletes who are concerned about losing scholarship support should consult with their academic advisor or the Office of the Provost."

The provost's office declined to comment on the Athletic Department's policy or the memo, saying that Ludden was not accepting any interview requests this week.

At SMU there are 439 student athletes, 260 of whom are on scholarship.

[mustangxc]

I hate this stupid policy. Thanks to this policy my overall GPA suffered from a 3.6 to 3.55. My first semester in college I had a meet in El Paso w/in the first 2 weeks of school and missed class. I had an exam and wasn't properly prepared for the section I missed and failed miserably. Not borderline fail, I mean 26. I wanted to drop, but had to get 3 signatures from the athletic department and did not get clearance since it was early in the semester. The professor did not drop any exams and was unwilling to work with me. He insisted that I drop the course. I told him that I could not get clearance. As you can see neither the professor nor the athletic department offered any help. (the course was calculus) I was doing well in all my other courses, but as a result of this incident had to focus all my attention on this class. I did not have time to prepare daily for chemistry and flunked all the quizzes. Despite nearly acing the exams, my average in chemistry dropped from a B+/A- to a C+. I did end up with a B- in calculus and a 3.25 overall gpa that semester, but moral of the story is that this policy may hinder more than help the student athletes. I understand that this policy is in place to help idiot athletes stay eligible, but SMU by and large does not recruit idiot athletes. Even so, in my opinion your time is better spent focusing on the classes you are doing well in and devoting good time to a failed experiment. I say that as someone who has never dropped a class period.

[High Horse]

The irony of all this is while athletes have not been able to drop a professor can drop a student. Sometimes this is because they know athletes are in a bad position and are trying to help them out. Athletes can help that situation along by not going to class but that also earns them a strike. Glad to see the policy is back to what it should have been all along.

[Mestengo]

When my son attended college at UCF I thought that “Dropped Class” was actually curriculum.

[smupony94]

When my son attended college at UCF I thought that “Dropped Class” was actually curriculum.

my parents started charging me for each dropped class

[SMU 86]

Good decision as this would have not been good for recruiting.

[Cadillac]

So... how many of our academic casualties this year could have been avoided if we hadn't enacted this rule? I have to think that established students like TWilk and Josh LeRibus would have managed to stay eligible.

Though obviously that's just speculation.

-CoS

[Stallion]

yeah in fact if it's not closely watched this Rule change may actually result in more academic casualties. All across the country those Academic Progress Toward Degree requirements are kicking a bunch of Sophomores thru Seniors to the curb. You simply don't have much room for error anymore if you flunk a class and/or drop a class. Here's a summary:

Once in college, student-athletes must make steady progress toward degrees.

•Student-athletes must complete 40 percent of the coursework required for a degree by the end of their second year, 60 percent by the end of their third year and 80 percent by the end of their fourth year. Student-athletes are allowed five years to graduate while receiving athletically related financial aid.
•All student-athletes must earn a minimum of six hours each term to be eligible the next semester.

[mrydel]

That was my point yesterday. Making it too easy to drop will give us ineligible kids. There needs to be the ability to drop but only after all other recourse has been exhausted. They need to pass their classes and maintain the required hours.

[Stallion]

What is the general course load toward a degree these days? Still around 120 hours? That means

by end of 2nd year: 48 hours
by end of 3rd year: 72 hours
by end of 4th year: 96 hours

[The PonyGrad]

And I thought this was about receivers.

[Cadillac]

yeah in fact if it's not closely watched this Rule change may actually result in more academic casualties. All across the country those Academic Progress Toward Degree requirements are kicking a bunch of Sophomores thru Seniors to the curb. You simply don't have much room for error anymore if you flunk a class and/or drop a class. Here's a summary:

That was my point yesterday. Making it too easy to drop will give us ineligible kids. There needs to be the ability to drop but only after all other recourse has been exhausted. They need to pass their classes and maintain the required hours.

What is the general course load toward a degree these days? Still around 120 hours? That means

by end of 2nd year: 48 hours
by end of 3rd year: 72 hours
by end of 4th year: 96 hours

Once in college, student-athletes must make steady progress toward degrees.

•Student-athletes must complete 40 percent of the coursework required for a degree by the end of their second year, 60 percent by the end of their third year and 80 percent by the end of their fourth year. Student-athletes are allowed five years to graduate while receiving athletically related financial aid.
•All student-athletes must earn a minimum of six hours each term to be eligible the next semester.

The "No drop" policy was effectively cutting off any relief a kid may have found when their grades became an issue. You know better than I do, but we're looking at two factors here right? GPA and (now) progress toward a degree.

If the above numbers held true, that has them passing 12 units per semester on average. With a "No Drop" policy in place, a kid in jeopardy of failing a class, has no option but to take the hit to his GPA AND try to make up the units in the Summer. Without the policy in place, they will still have to make up the units in the Summer, but wont suffer the hit on their GPA.

Does this sound about right? Or are there additional considerations for Summer School that I'm missing?

-CoS