Withdrawing from classes may impact students’ futures

Approaching the 70 percent completion mark of the fall semester, students have the option to withdraw from classes for reasons which commonly sum up to a defense of receiving a poor grade.

In accordance with the South Dakota Board of Regents policy number 2:6, all institutions must offer an add and drop period within 10 percent of the semester and the option to withdraw from a class with a student receiving a ‘W’ on their transcript. The University of South Dakota’s withdrawal deadline is Nov. 7.

“‘W’s do not affect the cumlative completed credit on the students transcript or does not go in the cumulative GPA,” said Registrar Jennifer Thompson. “So if the student feels that they’re doing poorly, the best action is probably speak to the instructor and academic adviser if this is the best process or situation for them.”

The withdrawal process may be executed in two different ways, Thompson said.

“Students are able to drop on Webadvisor provided that they don’t have any holds that would prevent registration,” Thompson said, which would appear on their Webadvisor account. “If they do have a hold, then they would need to fill out the Add/Drop Form, and they can turn that in here, and we would be able to help them with the drop at that point.”

Although the opportunity to take a ‘W’ in a class is available, Steve Ward, director of the Academic and Career Planning Center, directs students away from the action.

“The first ramification of getting ‘W’s, especially multiple ‘W’s, is that students are less likely to graduate from college,” Ward said. “There is a correlation to the number of ‘W’s you incur over your time in college and your inability to graduate. Withdrawing from a course delays that four-year process which we want all of our students to complete.”

While finishing classes also furthers a student’s progress toward graduation, Ward also attributed saving money as a reason to not tack a ‘W’ on a transcript.

Beneath the decision, Ward said lack of planning is a common difficulty students who go in the withdrawal action experience.

“With the bulk of students, especially younger students, the main problem is time management,” Ward said.

Ward assigned a negative connotation to ‘W’s on transcripts when it comes time to apply for graduate school or a job.

“What ‘W’s say to employers and graduate schools is that your time management needs some work, if you have a lot of them — that you’re really not planning well and that you’re getting in over your head,” Ward said. “You want to minimize that perception, and so withdrawing from classes, if it can be avoided, should be.”

Although Ward said employers don’t often ask for transcripts upon applying for a job, graduate programs always look at the student’s collection of grades.

“For a graduate program, the harm of ‘W’s comes in to play when there is a consistent pattern of withdrawal,” Ward said. “A student who withdraws from a class every semester is going to be suspect from a graduate school program.”

Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board, based in the Rapid City area, is in the process of building a relationship with USD to actively recruit students, said Kristine Watts, director of human resources and communications.

When current or graduated students apply to the organization, Watts said GPTCHB and other organizations they work with do typically ask for a transcript.

“It’s not uncommon to be asked of those transcripts and for proof of a degree,” Watts said. “It should be something that they expect to be asked, because it’s pretty common.”

Upon reviewing a transcript, Watts looks for a number of aspects, and even though one or two withdrawals more than likely won’t affect the hiring process, the ‘W’s are still taken into consideration.

“I want to see whether or not they were a good student, (and) I want to see if there are gaps when they were going to school, just like you do for employment — you look for gaps and you look for longevity,” Watts said. “One or two may not hurt a student, but when you start getting into three, four or more withdrawals, that reliability comes into play.
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The most common classes students retreat from are generals, Thompson said. Although a definite number is not available, Thompson said the number of students withdrawing from classes has been consistent for the last four terms.

Yamini Reddy, a senior, took a ‘W’ in her second semester of her first year. Already bilingual, Reddy, who is from India, wanted to learn Spanish because of the language’s popularity in the United States.

“I took (Spanish) for a while, and I took two tests but they didn’t fare well,” Reddy said. “Then I realized the Bachelor of Arts route wasn’t for me, and maybe the Bachelor of Science was.”

After withdrawing from the class, Reddy said she was worried about how it would affect her throughout the next few years.

“Looking at it now where I’m standing five credits from graduating, I don’t think it’s going to cause any sort of problem in the future,” Reddy said. “Every class is not meant for everyone.”

Ward said it is widely understood that the transition from high school to college is difficult. Being overwhelmed and withdrawing from a class in the first few steps within a student’s college career doesn’t have as bad as a message as when it occurs later on, Ward said.

“If it’s a class or two that you have withdrawn from in your first year and a half, that’s probably not going to raise any red flags, especially if you have gotten A’s and B’s after that point,” Ward said.

On the occasion a student is worried about passing a class, Ward said he or she should talk to the professor, their academic adviser or a professional adviser through ACPC. There are also different resources available to students to take advantage of.

Outside of communicating with university faculty, Supplemental Information sessions should be utilized when offered with classes, Ward said.

“Supplemental instruction is really the first line of defense for most difficult courses,” Ward said. “Students who attend supplemental information offerings earn on average an entire grade higher, so the SI sessions work.”

Tutoring, a learning specialist and student counseling are additional opportunities accessible to students through the university.

Even though the entire situation may be embarrassing or intimidating, Ward said students need to remember what advisers and faculty members are at the university for.

“I still want to reassure students that faculty members understand that students get behind in class, and they’re not there to judge you, they’re there to help you,” Ward said.