Due to a recent change in Title V, Fresno City College students could be facing some academic changes. The State Center Community College District’s rule on withdrawals was revised over summer to limit the number of times a student can retake a class.

The number of withdrawals, or W’s, allowed for any one class now stands at four. What this means is that if a student drops a class by the drop date and receives a W, he / she can attempt the class two more times. If a W is received both those times, then the student must complete a repeat petition for counseling intervention to attempt their final time. The counselor will inform the student of the possible outcomes or consequences should the student take the class a fourth time. If the student receives a W that fourth time, he / she is prohibited from taking that class any more.

There can be exceptions. Substandard grades, classified as either a D or F, deliver an automatic two attempts for retake. A student who receives a D or an F at any time, regardless of how many W’s they have received in the class, get two tries to pass it. If the student fails to pass with an acceptable grade after two tries, he / she is not allowed to take the class again.

Doris Griffin, admissions and records manager at FCC said, “If a student has three Ws but didn’t get a substandard grade, he / she still get two more retakes even if it puts them over the four W count because no matter what, if they get a substandard grade, they get two retakes.”

Also, military withdrawals and extenuating circumstances do not count in a student’s overall W count. Military withdrawals must be documented in order to be approved. For extenuating circumstances, a student must submit a petition to the Academic Standards Committee in order to be approved for withdrawal or to retake a class.

According to the FCC website, extenuating circumstances are defined as “documented cases of accidents, illness, death in the immediate family, military duty, jury duty, family displacement, job displacement, instructor error and/or other circumstances which are justifiable in the judgment of the college president or his designee”.

“[The circumstance] has to be documented, and it really has to be beyond the student’s control. Having a hardship in a relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend might be a hardship to the student, but it’s really not an extenuating circumstance,” said Griffin.

He continued, “Needing a class is not an extenuating circumstance, unfortunately.”