It's the Excuse that counts

Students looking to drop classes should learn from the mistakes of those who came before

By Rory Sa

Dave Grubbs has seen a lot of class withdrawal cards cross his desk through his years as associate dean in the College of Science and Mathmatics.

Some of the reasons defy logic. Grubbs compiled a small list of the more “memorable” drop requests, a testament to… well, they’re compelling, but far from serious.

“ I won on the dating game and have to go to Acupulco.”

“ I feel this class should be teached in a lecture form as opposed to online.”

“ Religious reasons. My parents don’t approve of psychology.”

“ I was advised to wait and attend another section by my coach/teacher.”

Grubbs said Fresno State has acquired a reputation for allowing withdrawals if a student does not have an adequate grade. Grubbs said he’s seen hundreds of drop slips cross his desk last year alone.

“ It hurts more responsible students,” Grubbs said.

On the back of each class withdrawal card, students are required to provide a serious or compelling reason for dropping the class.

Mary Niteo, administrative assistant for social science Dean Luz Gonzales, said common reasons for withdrawal include work schedule changes, medical reasons, family emergencies and increased expenses.

Another common reason she cited were students who discover they’ve already satisfied the requirement the class they’re enrolled in would have filled.

One withdrawal Grubbs received said the student had been attending the wrong class. He’d been enrolled in geology 1.

The student thought it was political science.

“ He wondered when they’d stop talking about rocks,” Grubbs said.

Dr. Paul Crosbie, an associate biology professor, had a student enrolled simultaneously in his class and another class at Fresno City College. The student asked if she could not attend class, and just do the tests.

“ Conflicts with work hours” is not an acceptable reason for Craig School of Business Dean Karen Bowerman.

“ That’s the kind of thing the student should have planned for in the beginning,” she said.

One of the more common reasons Grubbs sees is summed up in one word: stress. And Grubbs will not accept one-word answers.

“ Many are legitimate problems,” Grubbs said. “But if we accept simply the word ‘stress’ or ‘family problems,’ we have problems.”

One such problem happens to be the last entry on his list, which he described as “Not funny. Tragic testimony to the shallow thing of the self-righteous.”

“ I came out of the closet to my parents and they have disowned me.”

“ Some of them [withdrawal reasons] are actually very tragic situations that students face themselves. You look at the reason given and your heart goes out to the student,” Bowerman said.

Another common reason for withdrawing, and one that is rejected constantly, is failing classes.

Crosbie put part of the withdrawal policy in his syllabus. “The University policy is reiterated in bold. It clearly says what a serious, compelling reason is. Failing class is not one of them.”

Niteo said many students who turn in withdrawal cards don’t read the fine print on the back. “I’ll say ‘did you read this in the back, that failing this course does not constitute a reason to withdraw?’”

Grubbs has a message for students who think they’ll withdraw from a class later in the semester: “Get the hell out right now.”

“ Give room to those who want to take [the course],” he said.

“Students occasionally signed up for extra classes beyond those that they’re able to remain in, just to have the right smorgasbord on their plate” she said.

“ They drop one, or two or more classes, and at that point in time it’s too late to get another student in.”

“If it didn’t sometimes hurt another student’s chance of getting into the class it wouldn’t be a problem,” Bowerman said.