The Graduate and Professional Student Council voted Monday to enter discussions on a proposed new regulation of incompletes. The plan suggests adding a "temporary incomplete" option, which--unlike the current policy--does not permanently denote the tardiness on a student's record.
The incoming and outgoing GPSC presidents will present the plan to administrators on behalf of some social science and romance studies students who seem to support the plan, said GPSC President Elayne Heisler. GPSC itself has not taken a stance on the proposal.
The plan would give students, who otherwise qualify for incomplete designation, four weeks to turn in their paper and thus receive a temporary incomplete.
Currently, an incomplete "indicates that some portion of a student's work is lacking, for an acceptable reason, at the time the grades are reported." It gives the student a year to complete the work and permanently attaches an "I" to the final grade on the student's record.
Alix Mazuet, who created the proposal, said the existing policy unfairly punishes students in the humanities who teach as well as take a full course load. The problem is very department-specific, Heisler said.
"The teaching workload and its accompanying responsibilities are quite challenging for students who, in addition to this, must comply with all of their own course requirements, and more specifically for those who must write in-depth term papers," according to the proposal. "[I]t is only normal that students who work as instructors seek incompletes: They want to produce excellent term papers while performing all other duties in the best possible manner."
Mazuet said the current system serves two functions: punitive--as "I"s signal to possible employers how slowly the student works--and preventative, so students will work to finish papers in time. She objected to the first function, which she said delivers too strict a punishment for a normal and acceptable action. The permanent designation hurts these students when they apply for fellowships, internships and jobs.
Other GPSC members objected to this logic. Audrey Beck, a graduate student in sociology, said she worried this might reflect poorly on the University.
"Everyone is entitled to one or two incompletes, but if you are getting five or six, that should be on your transcript," said Tobin Freid, a third-year graduate student in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. "If the majority of students in these departments really are getting multiple incompletes, it should send a message that we shouldn't try to hide that the departments need to change."
IN OTHER BUSINESS: GPSC approved next year's budget, which included a new provision for $2,500 of spending on summer social events. Funds for such events have previously come from the miscellaneous portion of the budget.
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