The senate also will discuss a proposal that would make it easier for students to repeat courses they have not mastered.

Both proposals were presented to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee at its April 29 meeting by the senate's Grading Committee.

Committee Chair Thomas Schroeder, associate professor of learning and instruction, stressed to FSEC members that his committee is asking faculty members only to submit reports on students' progress, not actual mid-semester grades.

Doing so would enhance communication between instructors and students, and thereby "facilitate students monitoring their own progress and taking responsibility," Schroeder said.

He noted that one of the most "economically compelling reasons" for the proposal is that it would provide opportunities for advisors-either those in the central advising office or in the departments-with a "mechanism for checking up on the progress of new students and intervening early if there are any signs of difficulty."

Schroeder acknowledged that providing the progress reports will mean more paperwork for faculty members.

On the other hand, he added, "My feeling is that we certainly owe it to all our students to let them know how they're doing."

Jack Meacham, professor of psychology, noted that many faculty members in his department who teach large courses of 400-450 students say that they post grades after each exam, and therefore all students receive progress reports.

Nicolas Goodman, vice provost for undergraduate education, disputed the idea that posting of grades is adequate notification.

"We have a serious problem in that many of our students don't integrate well into the community. I really think that with beginning students who are doing poorly, someone needs to take them aside and say, 'You have a problem,'" he said, noting that the present system doesn't provide any means for intervention.

Melvyn Churchill, professor of chemistry, pointed out that the university operates a similar intervention program for student athletes, and "it is not unreasonable to do this once a semester" for other students.

H. William Coles, III, associate director of the Educational Opportunity Program and chair of the Professional Staff Senate, told senators EOP has used progress reports for many years and they've "been helpful for us in our interactions with students. The early intervention is crucial," Coles added.

The resolution on grade replacement originally was proposed by Todd Hennessey, associate professor of biological sciences, and referred to the Grading Committee by the FSEC on Feb. 11.

Its purpose, Schroeder said, would be to encourage students to repeat courses that they feel they have not mastered.

Under the proposal, students could repeat courses in which they have received grades of C+ or less. Students could repeat a given course only once, although there would be no limit on the number of different courses that could be repeated. When a course is repeated, the credits earned would count only once for purposes of satisfying degree requirements and calculating the student's grade-point average. When a course is repeated, the grade that would be counted toward the GPA would be the one earned the second time, even if that grade is lower than the one earned the first time.

Dennis Malone, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, questioned a provision in the policy that would allow students who fail courses at UB to retake them at other institutions- "even though we know the course that is being taken somewhere else is perhaps not equivalent"- and transfer a higher grade to UB.

Schroeder acknowledged that although the student would only receive an "S" for the course, rather than the actual letter grade since it would be listed as a transfer course on the transcript, an "S" still would affect calculation of the student's GPA.

Goodman admitted there are "serious problems" with articulation, since UB administrators and faculty feel courses, although they have the same content, are taught at a higher level at UB than at some other institutions.

"But in order for us to be able to attract and appropriately provide instruction for transfer studentsŠwe have to give credit to courses that are taught at other institutions," he said.