At our meeting on Tuesday 11/1, I was tasked with writing up an official proposal along the lines
 of what the committee has discussed on now two separate occasions.  The official "write-up" is
 below.  This is not in the same vein as Dana's notes -- just what seemed like the proposal most
 people in attendance could live with.  Those in attendance, please correct any errors you may
 find. :-) Rachel
 

    In preparation for our Sept. 14, 2005 committee meeting, outgoing Director of Academic
 Programs, Jon Berger sent us a memo suggesting a change in the grade point average requirements
 for graduation.  His original memo is below, along with changes suggested by committee members:

     
    Jon's memo --

    Background:

    Each semester, several students do not graduate because they earn a semester GPA of below
 2.0, yet they have successfully passed all other requirements for graduation.  These students
 are forced to take an EXTRA class (any class at all – even a 1 credit ESS) so that they can get
 a semester GPA above 2.0.  This is penalizing the student.

     

    Research:

    Our current catalog states that a student must have a 2.0 or above semester GPA and a 2.0 or
 above cumulative GPA in order to graduate.   My research of ALL other institutions in the
 Pacific region shows that their requirement to graduate is a 2.0 or above cumulative GPA (not
 including a 2.0 or above semester GPA).

      

    Recommendation:
    I recommend that we change the current requirement of a 2.0 or above semester GPA and 2.0
 cumulative GPA.   I recommend that the words “and 2.0 semester GPA” be removed from our
 graduation requirement.
     
    Curriculum Committee discussion --
    Intent: The intent of having students earn at least a 2.0 their last semester is that, most
 likely, students are taking many of the requirements for their major during their last semester.
  If they earn several Ds in their major requirements, that could mean that they haven't been
 able to master some of the major concepts they'll need to be successful working or continuing
 their education in their major field of study.  Most colleges require students to earn a C or
 better in their "required" classes for their major. 
     
    Proposal:   
    Change the current requirement for graduation of 
    "a 2.0 or above semester GPA and a 2.0 cumulative GPA", 
    to
    "an overall cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above, and a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above in the
 courses identified as Major Requirements for degree/certificate earned."
     
    Since we have some time before our next meeting, please feel free to worsmith the proposal
 (so that is grammatically the way you want it before the meeting), so that at the meeting we
 could perhaps just vote on the issue??
     
    :-) Rachel