Every so often, a student bites off more than he or she can chew in terms of course loads, has a strained relation with a certain professor, or is simply in too much danger of receiving a failing grade long after the deadline for dropping and adding classes has passed. For these extenuating circumstances, students have the option of resigning a course, or "taking an R," as it's more commonly known.
Professor William Baumer, chairperson of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee's grading subcommittee, feels students are getting carried away with this privilege. At the last FSEC meeting, Baumer noted that the average student has 2.5 resignations on his or her record, though some take R's "by the bucketful."
His subcommittee wants to limit the total number of resignations a student can take to five on the grounds that resignation-happy students waste seats in classes that could be filled by students willing to complete the courses. While the proposal may be aimed at promoting academic responsibility and preservation of resources, the student is wasting his or her own money and making their own mistake.
Current university policy states that in order to remain in good academic standing, a student must complete, with passing grades, "at least 75 percent of all credit hours for which the student was registered in all semesters at UB." If more than 25 percent of a student's course load results in failures, incompletes or resignations, he or she is at risk of being placed on academic probation. This policy is more than adequate for penalizing students who meander through their college experience. In addition, students have to pay for the courses from which they resign and will have to pay for them again, should they seek to replace the R.
Ultimately, an excessive amount of resignations on a student's transcript will reveal a negative trend to prospective graduate schools or employers, regardless of UB's penalization. That on its own should be incentive enough for students to avoid taking R's whenever possible; if not, it may not be frivolity, but a lack of understanding about what an R actually is.
Students are essentially consumers paying for the product of UB, and whether they wish to waste their own, or their parents' money, as well as mar their own academic record, is their decision to make. Rather than enforce a set number of resignations a student is allowed to take, the university would be wise to educate students as to how a high number of R's would adversely affect the appeal of their college transcripts, as well as their academic standing.
This issue should be addressed by academic advisors, in UB 101 classes, or during summer orientations when students are learning how to develop their class schedule and fulfill their requirements in a timely and efficient manner.
Once students have reached this level in their academic careers, such a manner of policing is ineffectual. Resignations are necessary for a variety of circumstances, but if some students see fit to abuse this privilege, they must do so at their own risk and be able to deal with the financial, academic and professional consequences.
