Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) spent its weekly Wednesday meeting discussing a series of proposals that included changes to grading policy, funding an AIDS fundraiser, and authorizing expenses for Uncommon Hour.
The Academic Affairs Committee presented a more concrete proposal of its changes to the Credit/D/Fail grading policy, initially introduced two weeks ago. The previous version of the proposal featured several options that the committee had devised to “make the Credit/D/Fail policy more effective for students,” according to Inter-House Council Representative Jordan Goldberg ’14.
The initial proposal, included extending the Credit/D/Fail deadline, changing the number of classes one can take with that grading option, and giving students the ability to opt back into a graded system two-thirds of the way through the semester. The proposal discussed on Wednesday would limit the number of Credit/D/Fail courses that students can take to three instead of four, and push back the deadline for changing the grading option to the ninth week of classes, rather than the current deadline of the sixth week.
Vice President for Academic Affairs Leah Greenberg ’13 described the extention to the ninth week of classes as being useful because it offered students enough time to gauge the quality of their graded work in the course. In her view, the current deadline is misplaced because “you will have completed that first exam, but you won’t have gotten it back yet.” The proposal to cut the number of courses that can be taken Credit/D/Fail down from four to three was a gesture to the faculty, to “show them that we’re not just trying to make Bowdoin academics easier,” according to Goldberg.
No further action was taken on the matter this week, and while BSG could possibly approve these proposals in the future, any changes to the policy would have to first be approved by the faculty.
BSG also voted on whether to authorize spending $1,500 on “Grassroots Soccer,” a fundraiser previously hosted by the now defunct Student Global AIDS Campaign. The motion also included a clause adding the event to the BSG budget for next year. At-Large Representative David Levine ’16 motioned to add an unfriendly amendment to the proposal, asking that for next year the event be transferred to the McKeen Center rather than be under BSG auspices.
The motion to add the amendment was a tie, 11-11, and President Dani Chediak ’13 cast the deciding vote in favor of the motion. BSG then passed the revised proposal by a vote of 20 to 2, breaking a long streak of unanimous votes.
However, the break in consensus did not last for long. The body subsequently voted to spend $150 on food and drinks for the semester’s first Uncommon Hour, a lecture series featuring Bowdoin professors. The vote passed unanimously.