--------------------------------
Thank you for your patience, understanding and support so far in our negotiations with the University on the S/U policy.
After the submission of our policy recommendations, we presented our case again to the University Committee of Educational Policy (UCEP). I am pleased to announce the outcome of our meeting.
UCEP has agreed to accept the essence of NUSSU EXCO’s recommendations. Subject to the final approval of the NUS Senate, both freshmen and seniors will now come under a new S/U policy. This policy will allow for:
- All undergraduates, regardless of cohort, to exercise S/U options after the release of results. This includes those in their graduating semester
- A one-off exercise where seniors will be able to see the grades of their previously exercised SU options under the old policy and retract them for use for modules you are currently pursuing or intend to pursue under the new policy
However, all prizes and awards already decided will not be changed even if the CAP may change as a result of this exercise. Modules that are graded on a compulsory pass/fail (or what is now called “CS/CU”) basis do not come under this policy, of course. If a student has repeated a module on an SU basis, understandably only the second attempt may come under this policy.
Let me elaborate on the rationale behind this new policy.
The objective of the SU options is to encourage you to pursue courses of your interest, which may not be your forte, without the worry that it may adversely affect your CAP score.
The new policy of allowing you to S/U after viewing of results is aimed at further reducing your risk and reassuring you that pursuing your interests will not compromise your results.
Taking into consideration that many of you may have already expended some or all of your S/U options in the previous system (S/U before release of results), the one-off retraction of exercised S/U options will give you the opportunity to benefit from the new S/U system (S/U after release of results). We hope this will level the playing field for everyone.
S/U-ing of previously not-S/Ued modules cannot be allowed as seniors will be able to take into account a greater number of modules when reconsidering their S/U options and hence putting the freshmen at a disadvantage. Most importantly, the University wishes to emphasize that the S/U option is designed for an educational purpose and not as a way to erase a poor grade. We should be responsible for the choices we make.
The administrative process for the University to arrange for this one-off exercise, if Senate approves, is very complex and time-consuming. They will need time to come up with the system. Therefore specific details will only be released at a later date.
Finally, I wish to stress that the Union exists to uphold and protect the interests of all undergraduates we represent. This incident has shown that the University does value our input. However, we will need your help to better our roles as your representatives for this is a task we cannot do alone. The Union will only be as strong as you wish for it to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment