University of South Carolina Libraries
Facult USC students can skip 25 percent of their classes this year instead of a 14 percent limit proposed this summer by the Faculty Senate's Scholastic Standards and Petitions Committee. The committee suffered a setback May 6 when the senate barely defeated the mandatory class attendance proposal after more than an hour of heated discussion, countless proposed amendments and major disagreement. The proposal was defeated by an unofficial hand vote of 35-24, taken after senate Chairman Charles Coolidge was unable to decide the proposal's fate based on a voice vote. Committee member tf i *t!ii 11 evui iwwaru-nui maae the proposal, describing the policy under consideration as one "to make the determination of the penalty of any amount largely the decision of the specific inTodd anc Huge Shoe Sail i Forthi j j coiumDias LC 11 are even [ I Dutch 620 1 : Square Huge C met Mi: V( 4a#ii Ol Io; T[ b< $' I 7! I 1 0 I ' YOU CAN I MUG WITH ( IB OF C vSenal structor." The amendment read, in part, that if a faculty member chose to take roll, any siuaeni missing more than twice the number of scheduled classes per week would be assigned a grade of "F". Faculty members also would be required to announce their personal attendance policies at the beginning of the semester. THE PROPOSAL initially was criticized by Ted Simpson of the engineering department, simpson, also a committee member, opposed the amendment because, he said, it wouldn't change or solve the problem of having a permanent attendance policy. "When I came here in 1958, I was never told there was going to be a class roll," Simpson said. "To not have some class attendance rule to protect the faculty and consistently help students is J Moore e in Progress! ssale )WEST Prices LOWER! Columbia [ ] ?r Mall ! rVt 7 1A gsi B tt ^ MJP DHVIV rder a 1 > <press arid 7 r^rnSin^i vm a v/l II 1U lese are si e used fo 1.50 retail \ 1.50 Off any largi >r more item pizz 3UY YOUR PERSONA ZOKE OR GET RECULA :OKE. FAST, FREE DELI )NECOUPON PER PIZZ EXPIRES 9-6-81 BHH e Defei Trevor Howard-Hill not going to move us forward." The first "amendment to the amendment" was offered by Jerry Curry of the | music department. Curry V TO tlXINOTON fj I PIATT S> ||f,yiti uu^K.-// I cv>^The^Jeweli 1 2909 Piatt Spr 9 til b 'It's More Than fust Mllilfllli?IftniMM?m EVE BY POPUU or more i for only s RD\/cririQ v v> i turdv, well r hot or ( /alue. B1 I :a I L CAROLINA R FREE CUPS VERY :a I I its At ft suggested that the proposal be changed so that the instructor does not necessarily have to apply "F's" to students who miss too many classes. Peter Sederberc. of the department of government and international studies, supported Curry's objections to the proposal. "When I read this proposal, I was reminded of one of the convict's comments in the movie 'Escape From Alcatraz,'" Seaerberg said. "To paraphrase: the nf ! n rail I** ^ OIUUCUIO Will UC UUUIIUIlg lilt days in classes, the professors will be counting the students and i presume the Committee on Scholastic Standards and Petitions will be counting the count. This policy would lead to an increased adversarial relationship between professors and students." After Curry's amendment passed, Howard-Hill continued to defend his com"bp. ~~~ // ro wist ^ lex / / columbia ^ square / / ry Warehouse ings Rd. W Cola. Mon.-Sat. Another lowclr\ Store.' m DEMAEM tem Pizza Oc extra y< Mug fillet l made mi :old drink .75 Off ar pizza YOU CAN Bl MUG WITH C< OF COKE. or E5E5U&5m endainet mittee's proposal. He said that when students miss class they miss all the rolof & viattu vvuiiv. "OUR THEORY was that attendance in class provides something that the student cannot get in any other way," Howard-Hil' said. "So if it was not the case, then we could teach by corresponHan/>o " VkVAIVV* Howard-Hill stressed that the policy would not make it mandatory for faculty members to take roll. "We want to have leverage over bad students" and to reward students who regularly attend class, he said. The new policy would have am ?^ ?? -1 ? ?a viiaiigcu an CAiauug I UIC Uim a student must attend 75 percent of all of his classes. The minimum attendance would have been changed to 86 percent of the scheduled class meetings. Morris Blachman of the GINT department j CAROLINA CLI Free Pregnancy Testing Abortion Counseling and Servi Pregnancy can be detected be Birth Control Counseling and F Pap Test and other Female Pre j 2009 Hampton S Call Collect ? ? mill inn mil r * I ID!! V from Piz; du'II get a 1 with cok ^ a _ ? a - jgs tnat c< s. A regul iy small 1 or mc UY YOUR PERSONAL DKE OR GET REGULAR :AST, FREE DELIVERY \IE COUPON PER PIZZA EXPIRES 9-6-81 b Plan questioned the relationship between the university's grading manual and the proposed policy change. According to the manual, grades should be based upon a student's knowledge of the subject matter. Mastery of the subject does not depend Q on the student's class attendance, Blachman said. "I consider that (the proposal) to be a potential infringement on academic freedom . . . Learning doesn't occur simply in the context of that classroom," Blachman said. "I think we nf*?H tn lcA**n that in minri " Agreeing that a student shouldn't be graded on attendance alone, chemistry ? Professor Oscar Bonner said, "Whether a students gets credit for a course or fails and does not get credit should depend on how much hp lrnnw? ahnnt (ho onhWt ? ? *and not whether he is physically present in a certain number of classes." WOMEN'S NIC ? ices I fore missing period 'ills 1 iblems I t.. f!r*liimhifl .Q P. {03-256-0128 j I za 14 # e. m I ar I 1#