INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / MARCH 27, 1990

 

 

 

55 SPE BATH Si SSAA, WARD ak ATOR DR AEE EE SRO OR RE SN

Registration Review Proposal continued from page 11

 

RATIONALE:

This particular priority system
was chosen because it appeared to
address some of the concerns ex-
pressed in the College, and appears
to have achieved results in other
academic settings. It rewards stu-
dents who do well and encourages a
better performance for those who do
not. It stops the practice of in-
definitely extending registration
priority to returning students (for ex-
ample, a student who attended the
College in 1976 and elects to return
in 1989). Returning students who
do not attend the College for a con-
tinuous two year period, will not
maintain first priority. New stu-
dents will experience an enhanced
opportunity to access courses.

Students in closed enrollment
programs, where registration in
courses is closed to students not ad-
mitted to the program, are not im-
pacted by the priority system. Since
this group is not competing for seats
in courses, no benefit would be
achieved in applying the system to
them. However, students in closed
enrollment programs who require
courses which are open for enroll-
ment, must compete for seats
through the priority system. For ex-
ample, elective courses taken by
nursing students.

The Committee considered the
feasibility of implementation of the
proposed system, and recognized
the difficulty of calculating a grade
point average based on the previous
semester’s achievement. The prob-
lem is particularly difficult between
Fall and Spring Semester. It
wrestled with a number of con-
siderations to achieve the desired
outcome and finally concluded that
the only way to resolve the difficulty
was to propose a decrease in the
reporting time for submission of
grades. The Registrar was asked to
review other Lower Mainland
College’s practices and discovered

that Kwantlen and Douglas College

had the most generous time lines.
Capilano and VCC (Langara) allows
72 hours for grade submission.
These two Colleges use the grade
point average in calculation for
priority times. The Committee con-
sidered the use of a cumulative
average, and the use of the average
from the semester prior to the last,
but discarded both concepts. In
part, these approaches were con-
sidered unfair in light of a two-year
College. The Committee realized
that the short grading timeline
would cause some instructors great
difficulty. The Registrar was asked
if some relief could be achieved by
placing the examination date of
courses with heavy marking require-
ments near the beginning of the
exam schedule. Every effort will be
made to accommodate this sugges-
tion.

Finally, the Committee reviewed
the submission of each special
group. One concept became ap-
parent in all submissions. Each in-
dividual wanted to assure access to
the courses within their program in
order to guarantee that their stu-
dents would complete their pro-
gram in the designated time (ie. one
year or 4 semesters, etc). We strug-
gled with this idea until one mem-
ber of the Committee so clearly
pointed out that this goal was every
student’s desire. With this in mind,
the Committee discarded the idea of
advance registration for any group
of students except the visually or
hearing impaired. The Committee
believed that there were outside in-
fluences brought to bear on these
two groups of students which neces-
sitated advance registration. For ex-
ample, the hiring of interpreters.

CONCLUSION:

The Committee respectfully sub-
mits this report to Senior Manage-
ment and the College, as a whole,
for discussion and consideration.

This issue is not an easy one to
resolve, but the Committee did ar-
rive at a consensus on all the
proposals. As Chairperson, I would
like to thank the Committee for its
efforts on behalf of the College, and
trust that the College believes that
all issues were examined in a fair
and equitable manner. We also
believe that this system is the next
logical step in the College’s evolu-
tion. &

P.H. Angus

 

Trumpet, Oboe,
and Strings - Free
College Concert

The Douglas College Music
Department extends a warm in-
vitation to all for a free noontime
concert at the New Westminster
campus.

Called Music for Trumpet, Oboe and
Strings, the program includes
music from the following pieces:
Telemann’s Tafelmusik II,
Copeland’s The Quiet City, and
Cope’s Bright Angel.

The concert will be performed by
Douglas College Music Depart-
ment faculty and students.
Featured will be Blair Fisher on
trumpet, Vicky Gray on oboe and
English horn, Angela Cavadas
and Evelyn-Creaser-Rumley on
violin, and a string orchestra.

The concert takes place Thursday,
March 29, 1990 at 12:30 p.m. in the
Douglas College Performing Arts
Theatre (4th floor, north building).
Admission is free.

 

 

 

 

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