news // no. 4

Douglas furthers allowance
of withdrawal notation

» College asks for Request for Exception application if ‘W’ sought

 

 

 

 

COVID-19 cancels convocation

» Douglas plans to look for alternatives to celebrate students

Atiba Nelson
Staff Reporter

 

 

fter the 2020 Summer Olympics,

Burning Man, and the Scripps
National Spelling Bee, Douglas College's
summer 2020 graduation can officially be
added to the list of events upended by the
COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the summer 2020 semester
is scheduled to go ahead as planned, the
college announced its plans to suspend its
summer 2020 graduation ceremonies.

“We understand many of our
graduates have been looking forward to
celebrating this moment with family and
friends; however, the safety of our students,
faculty, and staff is a top priority,” read the
press release posted both to the Douglas
College Student Services website and the
COVID-19 information and resources
webpage on April g.

The move to suspend graduation
may not come as a surprise to graduating
students, as the first step in the Provincial
Health Officer’s recommendation to fight

 

 

against the planet’s newest coronavirus

was cancelling large gatherings. One week
earlier, one of Douglas’ partner institutions,
Simon Fraser University, cancelled their
spring 2020 convocation ceremonies “to
ensure the safety of the SFU community.’

SFU invited spring 2020 graduates
to celebrate with their fall graduates in
October, and also gave the members of
the spring class of 2020 the option of
celebrating online in mid-June, although
no details were provided as to what a
virtual celebration would entail.

Several American post-secondary
students from different institutions have
found new ways to celebrate the major
milestone that college or university
graduation brings. University students have
created replicas of their respective post-
secondary institutions in Minecraft—a
multiplayer video game where players
are able to build a 3D world—and are
holding an “in-game” ceremony for the
class of 2020 from hundreds of different
universities. Currently 706 students from
278 institutions have signed up.

The college of New Caledonia in

Photo by Billy Bui

Atiba Nelson
Staff Reporter

 

A: the end of a turbulent winter 2020
semester draws closer, the college
throws a wrinkle into the provision of final
course grades for students.

“Students who believe their final
grades have been negatively affected by
the changes in [the] mode of instruction
will be able to request to withdraw from
a course with a ‘W’—after final grades
have been assigned,” stated an answer in
the Douglas College COVID-19 Frequency
Asked Questions webpage “by submitting
a Request for Exception to the Office of
the Registrar by May 1, 2020.”

The decision marks the second
change in academic policy for an
institution dealing with providing post-
secondary instruction during a pandemic.
The first change in policy in the context
of mitigating the impact of COVID-19
for students was extending the official
withdrawal date to April 9.

In essence Douglas’ new change
farther extends the withdrawal deadline
until after final grades are issued, giving
students the ability to assess their
academic standing after the end of a
class; however, students must submit an
application to receive the “W” notation—
adding extra work to a stressful time.

Currently, the Request for Exception
process at Douglas College is nested
under the “Appeal of Educational
Decisions Policy.’ Requests for exceptions
are solely for late withdrawals under
certain circumstances including medical,
compassionate, death in the family,

Prince George is hosting a virtual
graduation on June 28, complete
with personalized graduation
messages, videos, or photos for
students. The University of British
Columbia has also taken to hosting
a virtual ceremony for their spring
2020 graduates.

Douglas may provide
graduating students with similar
options, as the college mentioned
that they were seeking alternative
ways to recognize Douglas
grads and would share more
information at a later date.

Students who are eligible
to receive a graduating award
this summer have until April 15
to apply for graduation online
by completing an application
and sending the PDF to grad@
douglascollege.ca.

The college states that they
will mail parchments to students
who meet the requirements of
their programs.

6C

 

theotherpress.ca

personal/family issues, and employment,
as outlined in the policy.

Douglas College did not provide what
circumstance that COVID-19 application
would fall under.

Students desiring to pursue the
request for exception process need to
submit an application and appropriate
supporting documentation. Additionally,
students need to contact the instructor for
each course that they are requesting an
exception to complete the application.

Completed applications are then
forwarded to the Registrar at either main
campus.

Typically, request for exception
applications are reviewed; however, no
other information about the process after
submission was supplied by the college via
their announcement.

British Columbia’s largest public
degree granting institution continues
to lag behind other post-secondary
institutions in terms of providing grading
alternatives for students during a historic
pandemic.

Recently, the senate at Capilano
University vanquished grades for the
spring 2020 semester. Capilano provided
students the option of accepting their
final grade as calculated or receiving no
grade but the associated number of credit
hours towards their degree.

Whereas Langara College has opted
to allow students to receive a “No Grade
(NG)” notation on their academic record
“as a result of the incredible pressure on
students enrolled in Spring Semester
2020,” according to the Lastest Updates
release on the Vancouver college’s website.

Illustration by Morgan Hannah

University students have created
replicas of their respective post-
secondary institutions in Minecraft