Administrators at EC proposed to change the “W” drop date to two weeks earlier in the semester to help students, Dean of Enrollment Services William Garcia said.

“One reason is to align the course withdrawal drop deadline with the federal financial deadline for the semester,” Garcia said. “There is no firm date or deadline we’re working with. It’s only been proposed.”

He added the earliest the change could be implemented is fall 2015.

The administrators that proposed this change want to move back the “W” drop date deadline from where it is now – after 75 percent of the semester is over – to just 60 percent of classes being over for full-term courses.

“According to the U.S. Department of Education, after a student has completed 60 percent of his or her coursework, they are eligible for 100 percent of the financial aid that they received,” Garcia said.

In addition, if a student doesn’t complete at least 60 percent of the course, the student has to repay part or all of the financial aid they received dependent upon when they stopped attending their courses, Garcia said.

“Because over 50 percent of our students of this campus are on financial aid, we should align our missions and records policies,” Garcia said.

EC is following other colleges’ examples by doing this, Garcia said.

“This gives us almost three weeks where (students) can seek academic counseling to determine how that withdrawal would affect them and how to plan the next semester,” Garcia said.

Another benefit from this proposal is that the students can get their financial aid checks sooner and not almost at the end of the semester, Garcia said.

Associated Students Organization (ASO) Vice President Sharda Jones brought up the topic at the Oct. 30 ASO meeting.

“It might be (helpful for students) because it gives them a jump to know what their schedule will be next semester so they can plan accordingly,” Jones said.

Students like Tyler Bowers, 18, undecided major, likes the idea.

“It could be helpful since the kids have a better opportunity to get a class they actually want it,” Bowers said. “They don’t feel stuck in a class and I think that would be a positive change.”

Also, this proposal would not greatly affect faculty. If a professor wants to drop a student from the class they have the same amount of time to do it, Garcia said.

“At this point, again, it’s just a proposal,” Garcia said. “There is not a time line or a deadline to implement this.”