W is for 'Wrong'

And now for something completely different. Last week, I wrote about an international issue (as I am wont to do) concerning the threat to freedom of speech in the international community. This week, I will focus on something a little closer to home to coincide with IUSA elections.\nI happened to peruse my transcript online at OneStart the other day to look for an old course number, when I came across what was probably my best academic performance in a single semester. But upon closer inspection, I rediscovered a detail I had forgotten until now: I have a W.\nTo be sure, one single W (for withdrawal) on an otherwise excellent record is not the black mark of death for a student when examined by any potential employers or graduate school admissions committees. Nevertheless, the withdrawal policy at IU-Bloomington should be changed immediately.\nThe current rule at IUB is that a W stays on the transcript if a student drops a course more than one week into the semester. The alternative is the WX, which appears when a student drops within the first week. The WX does not appear on a student's released transcript.\nIn my case, I was not doing poorly in the course, nor did I find the number of credit hours that semester too intense. I withdrew in the second week of the semester because I realized that I no longer wanted a major in the department that offered the course. More importantly, I also realized that the course was a useless recapitulation of the same topics I had already learned in high school.\nIs one week fair? Many classes only meet twice (or even once) per week, leaving students little experience to decide whether a course is right for them. Plus, some students don't even get into a crowded course until after the first couple class meetings anyway. Other students, like me, have various other justifiable reasons.\nIt makes sense that if a student takes a course for several weeks, doesn't turn in homework, bombs the first midterm, and then (rightly) tries to drop the course, a W should serve as some sort of punishment for the performance. And if I were an employer and saw several Ws for the same course over different semesters, that would be a red flag to me. But as long as we acknowledge that the W is not a desirable symbol on any transcript, we should admit that it is fair to double the length of the current grace period and allow a WX up through the end of the second week of class. Few classes have any significant exams or papers by that point, so such a change will hardly allow students to escape a W they deserve.\nOf course, this topic is not as sexy as promising a wet campus, but unlike such impossible nonsense, this is a feasible change that IUSA could support. The Hoosier ticket should push for the adoption of this new policy.