EPC clarifies study abroad policy

I am writing in response to the article entitled “EPC debates study abroad GPA policy,” which appeared in the April 29 issue of the Argus (Volume CXLIII, Number 44), in order to clarify a few points made in that article.

The EPC (Educational Policy Committee) has voted to propose a set of academic regulations governing international study to the faculty for its approval at its meeting on May 6. One section of these regulations sets forth a grading policy for courses taken abroad during the regular academic year. If this policy is approved by the faculty, then, starting with students going abroad during the fall semester 2009, all courses taken abroad will have to be taken for a grade and that grade will normally be reported on a student’s transcript, but will not be taken into account in the calculation of his or her Wesleyan GPA.

This policy does not apply to all grades earned off-campus, but only to those grades earned on Wesleyan-administered or Wesleyan-approved programs abroad during the regular academic year.

Courses taken abroad on Wesleyan-administered or Wesleyan-approved programs for which a student has received a passing grade have been, and will continue to be, counted towards the 32 course credits required for graduation. The proposed regulations do not change that in any way.

The EPC is a standing committee of the faculty. It consists of six faculty members, two from each division, elected by the faculty; two undergraduate students, who are members of the WSA EPC; and a graduate student elected by the WSA. Its general charge is to “be responsible for conducting investigations of and making recommendations about all matters of graduate and undergraduate educational policy within the University. It shall regularly review the curriculum and course offerings; consider and recommend major changes in the calendar and curriculum and in the requirements for graduation; and coordinate its work with other committees. . . . It shall be responsible for academic review, implementing academic regulations, and recommending to the faculty degree candidates for the B.A., MALS, and CAS degrees.”

The Committee on International Studies (CIS) was created, and its first members appointed, by the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) 14 years ago in order to advise the VPAA and the Director of International Studies (DIS) with respect to issues pertaining to international study. Over the years, the CIS began to perform some tasks (like reviewing student petitions to study abroad on programs that are not on the list of approved programs) that could, from the point of view of the EPC, have important curricular and educational implications and, since the members of the CIS are appointed by the VPAA rather than elected by the faculty, its authority to perform those tasks was not clear. The EPC thus voted this spring to delegate formally to the CIS the authority to perform those tasks so that it would in the future be clear that the authority to do so had been granted to it by the faculty. The fact that the EPC voted to delegate this authority to the CIS could and should be interpreted as a sign that the EPC finds that the DIS and the CIS have interpreted and applied academic policies governing foreign study in a careful and conscientious fashion and that the EPC has full confidence in their ability to interpret and apply the new academic regulations in a similar fashion in the future.

The CIS did not urge the EPC to rescind any proposed policy. In the course of its discussion of the proposed regulations, the EPC met with both the DIS and the chair of the CIS in order to hear their thoughts on these matters. The DIS also served on the EPC subcommittee that came up with a first draft of the new regulations.

Alex Levy ’08 is the vice-chair of the WSA EPC, not of the EPC. He is an undergraduate member of the EPC.

Speaking only for myself, but as a member of the EPC, I would not say that I was under the impression that there was relatively pervasive student discontent with the way the DIS or the CIS had interpreted and applied policies concerning foreign study.

The EPC did not vote to submit a suggestion to the VPAA that he appoint both a student representative and an EPC member to the CIS. This suggestion did come up in the EPC’s discussion of the relation between the EPC and the CIS and has been taken under consideration by the VPAA.