EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE The second regular meeting of the Faculty Senate for the academic year 1985/86 will be held on Tuesday, October 15, 1985, at 2:10 p.m. in Mendenhall Student Center, Room 244, AGENDA Call to Order Approval of Minutes of September 17, 1985 Special Order of the Day A. Announcements B. Dr. David Stevens, University Attorney Discussion of Liability Insurance C. Discussion of Chancellor Search Committee D. Faculty Assembly Report, Larry Hough Unfinished Business A. Governance Committee (Consideration of the nomination of fixed term faculty to Faculty Senate Committee) Report of Committees: A. Curriculum Committee 1. Minutes of September 12, 1985 a. Change in B. S. Geology (Major and Minor) 2. Minutes of September 26, 1985 Credits Committee 1. Counseling Withdrawal Policy (See attachment) 2. Revision of Foreign Language Placement Credit (See attachment) C. Research/Creative Activity New Business Attachment REVISION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE PLACEMENT CREDIT The Credits Committee has approved the following statement submitted by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures: "A student exercising his/her option to take the foreign language placement test may place himself/herself in a lower level course without Departmental approval. After successful completion of the course, the student will, upon request, receive bypass credit for the course(s) sequentially preceding the one he/she completed. This policy is to be applied to all students regardless of the date of their entry to the University." If approved the statement would be placed on page 39 of the Undergraduate Catalogue as the second paragraph under the heading "Foreign Language." PROPOSED COUNSELING WITHDRAWAL POLICY The following proposal establishes a structure for Counseling Center recommendations for students' withdrawal from school which is parallel to the existing structure for medical recommendations for withdrawal. The purpose of the proposal is to provide a more consistent withdrawal policy; to reducé present confusion; and to assist those students in need of such services. At present there is no provision or policy which permits students to withdraw from the University for emotional/psychological disturbance. There is a policy for medical/psychiatric withdrawals. This has functioned well over the years because certain safeguards are built into the medical/, psychiatric withdrawal policy. For example, before recommendations for medical/psychiatric withdrawals are forwarded to the Associate Dean and Director of Student Services, each case is evaluated and certain criteria are met. Certain cases warrant medical/psychiatric withdrawal; others do not. A parallel structure for counseling sit thiitibate would also follow a procedure of evaluation and recommendation. A provision for counseling withdrawals is not proposed as a means of allowing the undeserving or manipulative student off the hook, but is proposed instead as a means of serving those students who need emotional assistance. Reasons for counseling withdrawals include, for example, emotional crisis, family crisis, situational depression, and/or other stressors which prevent the & student from functioning in a normal manner. Counseling issues are often related to medical issues; however some are very different. It often secomes confusing for faculty, staff, and administration to know where, ‘hen, and how to get assistance for troubled students. A more consistent and well-defined withdrawal policy would help allev:.ate part of this confusion. It should be understood that institutional standards and safeguards would be built into the policy establish:.ng procedures for ‘ounseling withdrawals. For example, it would be ascertained that the tudent's behavior and ability to function have beer impaired, that ufficient criteria for such a request have been met:, and that University tandards have been upheld before a recommendation f'or counseling ithdrawal would be forwarded to the Associate Dean and Director of Student ervices. COUNSELING WITHDRAWAL POLICY When students are unable to effectively pursue their academic work due > apparent emotional or psychological disturbance, it is appropriate for 1e student to consider a counseling withdrawal fron. the University. Student requests to withdraw from the University for emotional or ychological reasons are received and evaluated on the basis of unforeseen d uncontrollable circumstances which significantly interfere with the udent's performance and progress toward academic goals. OCEDURE: 1. The student who requests a counseling withdrawal is referred to or makes direct contact with the Counseling Center for an evaluation. Permanent staff counselors make an initial assessment in order to determine the nature and extent of the circumstances and of the impairment being exhibited by the student. In addition to the initia] evaluation, pertinent data regarding the case are collected to Support or deny such a request. This may require further evaluations and consultations with other staff counselors, the Director of Student Health Services, faculty, Staff, residence directors, et al. _ 3. Recommendations for withdrawals from the University for emotional or psychological reasons are only made when substantial evidence is collected which indicates that the student has or is experiencing impairment due to circumstances beyond his/her control. 4. All recommendations for counseling withdrawals are reviewed by the Director cf the Counseling Center. After reviewing the case and consulting with the staff counselor, the Director will forward the recommendation and appropriate documents to the Associate Dean and Director of Student Services for final approval. Any contin- gencies for readmission will be stated in the recommendation and the student's registration record will be "tagged" in accordance with University procedure.