Iowa State students can now be added to a waitlist to join a fully occupied course and every student who has maintained a 4.0 GPA for two consecutive semesters will be recognized on the President’s List, Iowa State Faculty Senate ruled Tuesday.
Votes
Students interested in registering for a class already at capacity now have the opportunity to join a waitlist.
The waitlist is on a first-come, first-serve basis, provided the student is eligible to take the course. If a seat becomes available in the course, the first student on the waitlist will be notified and given a 24-hour period to register should the student wish to register, the registration waitlist policy proposal states. Students who fail to register within the 24-hour period will be moved to the bottom of the waitlist.
Once a student joins a waitlist, they must accept or decline the seat within the first five business days of the fall or spring semester.
The policy was passed with a vote, although at least one senator did not favor the waitlist policy.
“This override with open seats seems impractical compared to what we already do, so I guess I am not in favor,” said Carolyn Cutrona, a distinguished professor in the department of psychology.
The Faculty Senate voted in favor of a new scholastic recognition policy, which will alter guidelines for academic achievement recognitions, as well as how they are referred to.
Instead of recognizing the top 2% of students each spring semester as “honoraries,” the university will now recognize the President’s List, which will be comprised of students who earn a 4.0 grade-point average over their two previous semesters, with a minimum of 24 credits completed in those semesters.
Jennifer Schieltz, assistant teaching professor of natural resource ecology and management, said the President’s List allows students who may have struggled early on in their academic career to still get recognition.
“Some students may have had a bad early semester who could never get back to that top 2%, whereas the President’s [List] will look at those who have had essentially 4.0 GPAs for their two most recent semesters. So, it allows students to work hard, get back on track and still get this recognition,” Schieltz said.
First read
The Senate heard the first read of four bills, including a proposed name change for the department of geological and atmospheric sciences.
The proposed name change to the department of earth, atmosphere and climate “better reflects the work of the department and updates the name in ways consistent with national trends in the earth sciences,” according to the proposal for department name change.
Name changes have also been proposed for the following bachelor’s degrees in the College of Design: integrated studio arts; art and design art and culture option – studio art focused and art and design visual culture studies option – art history focused.
The names are proposed to be changed to the following: BFA in art, BA in art and BA in art history.
“The proposed degree-name changes are meant to clarify the general direction of our majors for incoming undergraduate students less well-versed in disciplinary terminology, including terms such as Integrated and Visual Culture,” the College of Design name change proposal document states. “It is our hope that this change will help to increase enrollment by making our program easier for potential students to find.”
The meeting concluded with the Senior Vice President and Provost, Student Government and Graduate and Professional Student Senate providing overviews of their operations to the Faculty Senate.
