Provost's Task Force on the Academic Progress of Undergraduates

Task Force Sub-Group, Development of Guiding Principles

Jan D Carline, Professor, Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics
Judi Clark, Director of Academic Advising and Student Services, School of Art
Virjean H Edwards, Assistant Registrar, Registrar's Office
Mona Pitre-Collins, Director, Undergraduate Scholarship Office

Guiding Principles' Statement for the Provost's Task Force on the Academic Progress of Undergraduates

The Washington State Legislature has charged us to "develop policies that ensure undergraduate students enrolled in degree or certificate programs complete their programs in a timely manner to make the most efficient use of instructional resources and provide capacity within the institution for additional students ". The principles that guide us to solutions to this charge are:

• We are committed to the clear articulation of expectations for students pursing a major.
• We are committed to providing the courses necessary to allow students entering as freshman to complete a bachelor's degree in four years and to assisting transfer students in entering majors and efficiently completing degree requirements.
• We expect that policies developed by departments be consistent with university wide policies and procedures.
• We are committed to providing students with guidance at critical points in their academic career, beginning at the point of admission.
• We are committed to addressing the needs of those students who are attending the university but not making substantial progress towards an academic goal or degree, or who are having difficulty in declaring and pursuing a major.
• We are committed to the development of a fair and equitable procedure for handling exceptions to requirements across all departments and majors.