Minutes of Undergraduate Council meeting of January 30, 2017.

Present: Leo Bachmair, Diane Bello, Jennifer Dellaposta, Arlene Feldman, Norm Goodman, Dana Haugh, Kane Gillespie, Rob Kukta, Roy Lacey, Hanna Nekvasil, Charlies Robbins, Deb Serling, Alan Tucker (chair).

1. The meeting started at 4:00 pm in the University Senate Conference Room. The minutes of the November 28, 2017 meeting was approved without change.

2. Discussion of a proposal from Rick Gatteau about the policy for Retaking Courses took up the rest of the meeting. The proposal is attached at the bottom of the minutes. The heart of the proposal was to allow students retaking a course the first time to be able to preregister late: August 15th for fall semester classes and Jan 15th for spring semester classes. The current policy requires a student to get permission from an academic advisor in a college-wide advising office to repeat a course. Students would continue to need to talk to an academic advisor to take a course more than two times.

There were voices in support of the change—that the current requirement is largely an artificial burden on students, since the advising is largely pro forma and almost all permissions are granted, and that it is a burden on academic advisors who are flooded at the start of the semester with more substantial advising problems; and voices wary of the change—that the need to repeat a course can be an early warning of deeper problems that are best addressed early.

There was interest in data about C-,D,F,W’s: their frequency (especially in High Demand Controlled Access courses), how often repeaters passed on a second try, and the impact of the current policy requiring an academic advisor’s approval, that was enacted in 2014. Requests would be made of Braden Hosch.

The following issue was discussed, should retake advising occur with an academic advisor with broader counseling expertise or in a department where the specific reasons for the poor performance might be assessed. The discussion then turned to High-Demand, Controlled-Access courses that were one motivation for the current policy, that is, to make sure that seats for entering freshmen to critical high-demand courses were not taken by repeaters who preregistered in the spring. Different Council members commented on how effect the efforts were to improve the quantity and quality of instruction in these courses.

There were also some technical concerns about the new language: a.) it dropped mention of High Demand Controlled Access courses; and) it misstated that when a course is retaken as an equivalent cross-listed course the second grade does not appear on the transcript.

The meeting adjourned at 5 pm.

Multiple Registrations for the Same Course

Definitions:
Repeat: to take a course again that IS marked as “may be repeated.” Examples include topics courses, teaching seminars or internships.

Retake: to take a course again that is NOT marked as “may be repeated.”

Repeatable Courses
1. Certain courses note in their descriptions that they “may be repeated once” or “may be repeated as the topic changes.” Students may repeat such courses within those restrictions and receive credit each time.

2. Each grade for such repeated courses is computed in the student’s grade point average; a repeat grade does not replace the original grade.

3. Only courses stating in the description that they may be repeated may be taken more than once for credit.

4. If a student has scored a grade on a test or examination that awards equivalency for a specific Stony Brook course, the Stony Brook course may not be taken without permission as the university repeat rules apply. Students may not receive credit for an exam or test that awards a course equivalency in addition to receiving credit for the Stony Brook course.

Retaking Courses

1. Students who wish to retake a course (second attempt) may begin retake registration on August 15 for fall classes and January 15 for spring classes, allowing first time takers priority in registration. The second attempts for winter and summer classes are permitted during the open enrollment date noted on the Registrar’s Office academic calendar.

2. Some seats in high demand fall and spring classes are reserved for new students; therefore, there is no guarantee of a seat in the case of a second or more attempt. Students wishing to retake courses should consider doing so in the summer and winter sessions, if possible.

3. Students are considered to have taken a course if they remain in the course past the add/drop deadline, regardless of the grade received in the course.

4. Credits for retaken courses will count once toward cumulative credits, but will count each time toward semester load. Each grade received in the course will be averaged into the cumulative grade point average. A retake grade does not replace the original grade.

5. Students who receive permission to retake a course may not exercise the G/P/NC option for that course.

6. Students wishing to take a course more than twice must submit a petition to the appropriate committee on academic standing and appeals. In support of this petition form, students must include written approval from the undergraduate program director of the department offering the course.

7. Students seeking to take courses at other institutions should review course equivalencies at www.stonybrook.edu/transfer. If a course is not already included on this list, students should seek pre-approval from the relevant department at Stony Brook and file a Transfer Course Evaluation Form with Academic and Transfer Advising Services.

Mutually Exclusive Courses

Mutually exclusive courses are courses whose content is so similar that students who have taken one will be repeating the material if they take the other. Such courses are identified in their Under-graduate Bulletin descriptions with the notation “not for credit in addition to ABC ###.” Students risk losing both credits and grade in the second of two courses that are designated mutually exclusive.

Crosslisted Courses

Crosslisted courses are courses offered under the auspices of two or more departments and are identified by the notation “This course is offered as both ABC ### and XYZ ###” in the Undergraduate Bulletin and the course catalog in the SOLAR System, and by the notation “Crosslisted with ABC ###” in the Class Schedule. Crosslisted courses may also be indicated with a slash, such as AFH/PHI 379 or HIS 334/WST 336. The title, course description, prerequisite(s), and credit hours for crosslisted courses are identical. A crosslisted course is taught by the same instructor and meets in the same location and at the same time as the course with which it is crosslisted. Students may register under either designator but may not repeat the course by enrolling a second time under the other designator.

Coscheduled Courses

Coscheduled courses are upper-division undergraduate courses that are taught at the same time and in the same location as graduate courses. The undergraduate and graduate versions of the course must have separate requirements as described in the syllabi for the courses and separate grading policies for undergraduate and graduate students.