Freshman Brittany Williams visited Kansas while her hometown was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina last fall. 1B
KANE WANI
Graduating in four, five, six? Jayplay brings you one hundred and one things to do before you graduate.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOL.117, ISSUE 2
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Inside
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 1A
ENROLLMENT
University changes drop policy
BY DANNY LUPPINO
Students will no longer be able to drop a class on the last day of the semester because of a new drop policy signed by Provost Richard Lariviere on Aug. 14.
The new policy, created by University Governance, will be implemented for the fall semester for all schools except the School of Law. By the terms of the policy, a class can no longer be dropped after the 60th day that classes are in session. Previously, a class could be dropped any time before final exams.
"That made it just too easy to bail out of a class," Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett, senior vice provost for academic affairs, said. "If you slept through a test or blew something, you could really escape the consequences."
The new policy also changes what will go on a student's transcript during the second drop period, which begins after the 15th day of classes. Students will receive either a "WP" if they are passing the class at the time of the drop or a "WF" if they are failing. Neither grade will count toward the student's grade point average.
"It's pretty much a common nomenclature across universities," Marla Herron, associate registrar, said of the new grades.
Administrators hope that the change will encourage students to decide earlier if a class is right for them and possibly open up spaces for students who weren't able to initially enroll in those classes.
Under the previous policy, a grade of "W" would appear on the transcript regardless of the student's grade at the time of the drop.
"They need to really try to plan ahead and get in the right classes and stay in those classes," Herron said.
The policy change is one result of a report from the graduate in four task force in September 2005. The report examined ways in which the University could increase the number of students graduating in four years.
SEE POLICY ON PAGE 8
index
Classifieds...7B
Crossword...6R
Horoscopes...6B
Opinion...5B
Sports...1B
Sudoku...6B
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2006
The University Dally Kanash
Far above the golden valley...
Ryan MrGeenav/XANSAN
KU students practice "waving the wheat" during Traditions Night at Memorial Stadium on Monday. The event was a chance for new KU students to learn songs and cheers associated with KU sporting events.
》 TECHNOLOGY
Tuition traffic crashes KU software
BY BEN SMITH
Students could not pay tuition for part of Tuesday because of a temporary glitch with the new software that monitors financial information for the University of Kansas.
The glitch has been attributed to problems with the newest version of PeopleSoft, which powers many of the online services for the University, that was implemented during the summer. According to the Bursar's Office, students will not be charged late fees for tuition payments until Friday.
Marlesa Roney, vice provost of student success, said that the system was slow because of a taxing amount of activity.
"PeopleSoft is used not only by students but by faculty and staff as well," she said. "It was an issue of capacity that caused the problem, not the product itself."
The system has been functioning since 6 p.m. Tuesday, but administrators and tech support personnel are monitoring it to make sure more problems do not arise.
This PeopleSoft/Oracle upgrade of the Enroll and Pay system cost the University $70,000. The new
version has been operational on the KU campuses since early July.
The new software underwent fine-tuning throughout the summer. This first week of the fall semester, with the number of students, faculty and staff suddenly spiking from the comparatively low usage during the summer, overly stressed the new system.
"It was frustrating," he said. "I know the University is a bureaucracy, but they knew that this day
Jeff Stocker, Leawood senior, spent the afternoon trying to complete the required registration for a replacement KUID.
was coming and a server overload should have been planned for."
Stocker spent two hours in lines at the Bursar's office and the KU Card Center.
"We are really disappointed that we could not provide people with the proper service," Roney said.
Kansan staff writer Ben Smith can be contacted at bsmith@ kansan.com. Danny Luppino contributed to this story.
The University plans to upgrade PeopleSoft again later this year.
Edited by Natalie Johnson
>> LAWRENCE
Post office slow to process change-of-address forms
Moving causes mail delay
Andy Garner, Liberal senior, understood that it would take some time before he started getting mail at his new house, but was surprised it took so long.
BY JACK WEINSTEIN
He ordered a memory card for his Playstation 2, but the card did not arrive until Monday. It was postmarked July 31.
Many students moving to Lawrence or just into a different house or apartment are wondering why their mail is taking so long to arrive.
"The only thing I really need is my credit card bill, and I can get that online if I need to," he said.
A
But he's not very concerned. He hasn't even asked the post office why his mail was taking so long to be delivered.
Lawrence postmaster Judy Raney said that the office had received a lot of calls asking why it was taking so long to receive mail, but no serious complaints. She said the delay was not the local post office's fault. An internal problem occurred within the national system that scans and enters change of address requests, she said.
Terry Penland, customer relations manager with the U.S. Postal Service, confirmed that there was a small glitch within the national system that added to the delays. The glitch has since been corrected.
Raney said students not knowing how to file a change of address form was one of the post office's biggest problems.
Raney said that this was especially problematic now, with the influx of students moving and coming back to Lawrence.
"There is no doubt that this is the busiest time of year," Raney said.
SEE MAIL ON PAGE 10A
HAWK WEEK
BY COURTNEY HAGEN
HAWK Link eases student transitions
on Wednesday,
a gospel choir
and a step-
dancing exhibition
from members
of the National
Panhellenic
Council
brought out
members of
A disc jockey blasted tunes Tuesday on Wescoe Beach while students handed out free drinks and prizes. Then
party on Tuesday and Take Over The Beach on Wednesday, which were provided by the HAWK Link program and coordinated by the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
HAWK Link is an academic retention program geared toward assisting new multicultural students during their first year.
the University of Kansas multicultural community, which was in full force.
The events were
About 300 students showed up each day for the HAWK Link block
designed to welcome incoming freshman to the University during Hawk Week.
HAWK Link is an academic retention program geared
toward assisting new multicultural students during their first year at the University.
SEE HAWKLINK ON PAGE 10A
Whitney Kimball/KANSAN
From left: Jackie Love Olathe senior, Gina Gay, Leawood Junior and Cydney Gaines, Bellevue, Neb., Junior dance to the tunes at "Take Over the Beach," Wednesday night on Wescoe Beach. The annual event put on by HAWK Link Included booths from clubs and organizations, games, prizes and live entertainment.
光