The arrival of the 2024-2025 School Year has brought a handful of policy changes, some being more accepted by students than others. Two include entry and exit doors for Grace Hall and adjustments to the add-drop period.
The policy regarding Grace Hall prevents students from using the main door of the building to enter, which enforces the idea of students using the door by the MakeHERSpace as an entrance instead. This, however, is not a new policy. It is a reinstated policy from prior to COVID-19 where students had no access to the main doors of Grace. Now, we are allowed to exit the building through those main doors.
Students have voiced their discontent with the new policy because of the clogged hallways in Lower Grace and the excess time required to make it to classes on the top floor. A particular student even described how she was late to one of her classes because she spent too long trying to get past the clogged hallway near the vending machine. Although the amended policy is more generous than the original, many students still struggle to see how this policy benefits anyone.
This year, the add-drop period was also adjusted to create a two-week period in which students can decide to add or drop courses. There is also a one-week interval following the add/drop period for teachers to communicate with students whether they should stay in the course. However, this discussion does not force the student to drop any courses, it simply provides the teacher’s input into each student’s situation. This system replaced an add-drop period of three weeks where students could decide to take additional courses or leave courses.
This policy allows students to realize the difficulty of their classes while additionally allowing teacher-student communication concerning the state of said student’s course load. Some students have discovered that they are able to decide what classes are best for them to take, while others leave it to the teacher to choose the best course of action. This change gives students the opportunity to control their course load with the option to have teachers share their thoughts, which puts the students first and is overall beneficial to student’s well-being.
The new policies of creating entry and exit doors for Grace Hall and the added adjustments to the add-drop period have their benefits and limitations. As Oak Knoll is reaching its 100th year, policies are bound to change and the community should be able to both learn from and critique each adjustment.