Strong first-year focus

UI Faculty Senate votes unanimously on stricter academic standards for first-year students

Balancing a full load of classes, course work, athletic clubs, extracurricular activities, a social life and just being an adult creates a tough balancing act for college freshmen. If pending Faculty Senate legislation passes, University of Idaho first-year students will need to invest more energy into the academic portion of their lives to stay enrolled at UI.

The Faculty Senate voted unanimously to disqualify first-year students who earn below a 1.0 GPA in their first semester from the university. If legislation passes during the faculty meeting April 30, the policy will start during the Fall 2013 semester.

A policy already exists that puts students who earn below a 2.0 GPA on academic probation. The proposed legislation will introduce “academic disqualification,” which is a stricter layer to the current regulation.

When a student is academically disqualified after earning below a 1.0 GPA in their first term, their registration for the following semester is cancelled but the student has ways to stay enrolled at the university, including petitioning their college for immediate reinstatement.

College isn’t easy, but neither is earning a 1.0 GPA.

Tradition suggests students need to spend two hours studying for every credit hour of classes. Following this rule, for an average three-credit course you should be hitting the books for at least six hours throughout the week.

The Washington Post reported in a recent study that the average time students are spending studying has decreased by nearly 40 percent during the past 50 years. Distractions such as Facebook also contribute to low academic success.

But the number of hours spent studying each week isn’t the only factor at play.

Some students might not receive quality advising their first year, or don’t enroll in classes they need or are interested in. Others don’t have a clear focus or career goals in mind. Attending college might not be a personal choice, but instead is the result of pressure from family and friends.

College requires commitment. Seek advice from professors and advisers in planning your future. Don’t waste your time and money in pursuing an education you aren’t invested in.

Putting time into your classes is putting time into your future. You’re only going to benefit from college if you put a good amount of elbow grease into it.

— CR

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