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MU implements grade forgiveness

Kaler Hazen, Staff Writer

Many students have a class they wish could be wiped from their transcript, an academic stain from their first year they wish would cease to weigh down an otherwise healthy grade point average.

A change in university policy makes that wish a possibility, allowing students to retake up to eight credit hours within their first 64 attempted at Miami University.

The new policy states for classes in which a student received a grade of C- or lower, the class can be retaken and the new grade will be factored into the grade point average (GPA), while the old grade is voided from GPA calculation. A student's official transcript will still show both grades however, so the class will not be entirely cleaned from official record.

If students receive an incomplete in a class or withdraw from a class, they cannot retake that class and reattempted classes cannot be taken as credit/no credit.

The university's old retake policy allowed students to retake only one class and the grades from both attempts would be averaged together and then reported on the transcript. Students who have passed the 64 credit hour mark can retake a single class using the old retake policy.

According to Nick Miller, secretary to Associated Student Government's (ASG) executive cabinet and undergraduate member of the Academic Policy Committee, the policy was created by the University's Retention Steering Committee, which aims to retain more students who otherwise would have transferred schools.

The Academic Policy Committee also provided input for the legislation and the measure was ultimately approved in the Miami University Senate. Miller said President David Hodge created the Retention Committee in 2010 after research showed academics play a role in a student's decision to leave Miami.

"[The proposal] will allow students who are new to the rigor of a college education a period of adjustment," Miller said. "This policy will serve as a safety net for students to recover from a course that they might not have been prepared for."

University Registrar David Sauter said a new course retake policy has been discussed at Miami for several years.

"It's certainly been on the review for many years," Sauter said. "It's nothing new. I think there's broad support for it."

Sauter also said while there was a previous course retake policy, the new policy is a true replacement since the old grade will not be calculated into a student's GPA. Sauter said he hoped students would use the policy wisely.

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"I really hope students pay attention to the language [of the policy]," Sauter said.

Betsy Burch, another ASG senator involved in the formation of the new policy, said the alteration of the rule on course retakes will help publicize options available to students looking to recover from a class but who were previously unaware any options existed for doing so.

"It will help everyone in general just by knowing about it," Burch said.

Sophomore Chelsea Vaccariello said the policy would serve as welcome assistance to students who may have made an academic mistake while learning to handle the rigors of college life.

"I think this new policy could benefit students because they need time to adjust to what professors expect at the collegiate level," Vaccariello said. "It gives us the second chance we all hope for."

In 1999, The Miami Student reported the city of Oxford would limit uptown parking for the maximum two-hour time limit through strict enforcement from the Oxford Police Department. Prior to this, The Student reported "meter-feeding" was prevalent, where individuals would deposit additional money to prolong the use of a parking space.

the tournament, it's about more of a fearless attitude. We need to play smart and play to our strengths. It doesn't mean playing reckless, but we need to pick a shot and fully commit to it; to stay in the moment and be fearless."

Playing a fearless game is already resonating with the team. Peacock and Tomfohrde are refocusing their game and putting in quality work at practice to help put this weekend behind them.

"It was obviously a little difficult to not finish the way you hoped for," Peacock said. "We've got to do a better job of being fearless ... just trusting our ability and not holding back. You can let some thoughts sneak into your mind about what could go wrong and that's not the way to play."

Tomfohrde spoke in a similar manner to his teammate and coach, citing cautious play as the biggest downfall to the RedHawks at the Hawkeye Invitational.

"The weekend didn't really go as planned, and I just think we all played a little tentative," Tomfohrde said. "We didn't play as fearless as we should have."

When asked about what it means to play fearless, Tomfohrde described it as, "kind of getting out of your own way and letting yourself play."

The junior also looks to regain his composure heading into the upcoming tournament.

"I'm going to work on ball striking and getting my confidence back," Tomfohrde said. "I'm going to work on trusting my own abilities. Mentally I'm just going to have more fun."

Though the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships are a little less than three weeks away, Zedrick is making sure his team is focusing on this weekend first.

"You've got to just take care of what's in front of you," Zedrick said. "The MAC is something we'll talk about, but we've got to focus on today first. From there, we'll focus on playing hard at Purdue [University] and after that we'll focus on the MAC."

Miami will travel to West Lafayette, Ind. Friday, and are set to play 36 holes Saturday before finishing the Boilermaker Invitational with a closing 18 holes Sunday.