More time to drop courses and get refund

Effective this spring, Mercer's new refund policy extends most of the deadlines by which students may withdraw from classes and still get a full refund.

Students taking 15-week classes now have 72 hours after the first class meeting to withdraw and have their full course fee refunded. Ten-week classes now have a 48 hour window, while seven- and five-week classes remain unchanged with just 24 hours to withdraw for a full refund. Under the old policy students had only 24 hours after the first class meeting to withdraw from any class, regardless of the length of the term, if they wanted a full refund.

The new policy comes after nearly a year of conversation by Mercer's executive team. "Everything we do is quite cyclical. So, at the beginning of the registration period [last spring] it would come up, and we finally decided to just make the change," said Vice President of Student and Academic Affairs Dr. Guy Generals.

"We felt it was a bit extreme. We wanted to do something more student-friendly," said Dr. Generals. Generals added, "even though students needed to know that the costs that they incurr includes the run up to the first day of class...And if they weren't going to stay in the class we had the possiblity of filling that seat with a student who wanted to stay. There needed to be some remuneration for them holding that seat and deciding not to come. We just felt that going from the one day to the three day was more student friendly and enabled students to make a clearer decision about what they wanted to do."

The decision was also influenced by concerns raised by students and their parents. Students with extenuating circumstances, illnesses or otherise compelling reasons, were consistantly having to contact Dr. Generals or the Executive Dean of Students, Dr. Diane Campbell, to obtain refunds after the 24 hour deadline.

"We're listening to students and parents all the time," says Dr. Campbell. "We have to begin to justify, well, why is that happening? If I hear a reason, that I believe is significant then on my side I'm going to try to get the support for students," she said. Dr. Campbell continued, "to that then [the other members of the Executive Cabinet] said, 'well maybe, you know, it is a little bit too rigid, let's think about how we can lengthen it a little bit' but that was the consensus of the executive team."

Theresa Caruso, a Biology major, withdrew from an Ethics class a day and a half after the class's first meeting. She chose to withdraw because it "didn't fit into [her] schedule." When asked if she'd have been able to make that decision in 24 hours, Ms. Caruso said, "No! Thank god they changed the policy. I needed the extra time to figure out if I really wanted to take the class. Under the old policy I'd be stuck taking or paying for the class."

The Bursar's Office repays students by mail, sending a check to their homes. This process takes roughly three weeks, with Ms. Caruso reporting reciept of her refund check on February 13, adding that her online transcript did not reflect her short enrollment in PHI-204.

The revenue retained by the school for students that have dropped classes after the refund date becomes part of Mercer's tuition revenue stream. Vice President of Administration and Chief Business Officer Jacob Eapen says, "[the money] is part of the revenue to run the college."

Mr. Eapen echoed Dr. Generals' statements about the reason for a refund policy, adding that when a student enrolls in a class and drops it, a financial burden is placed on Mercer. "There is a commitment on the part of [that] student to take that seat...then maybe students who were ready to enroll in that class, that seat is unavailable to them."

For some students, however, three days is still simply not enough time. Melissa Wingo, a Liberal Arts major, reports having trouble with her schedule and not being able to resolve the issue until the fourth day. "I had to go to an advisor to work everything out. They were so booked up...that by the time I got in and sorted everything out, it had been four days, so I couldn't drop the class," she says. The one class that Ms. Wingo had to drop a day late cost her $367.00.

In the November 2009 issue of the College Voice, staffer Peter Cosma wrote an opinion article titled "Mercer's refund policy is broken, but could be fixed." In that article Cosma advocated for a longer refund period similar to the one now being instated. However, no Mercer administrator involved in the newly updated refund policy cited Cosma's opinion as having influenced or informed their decision.