Over the weekend students were notified of a new incentive that was passed by the Tennessee Board of Regents that stated, beginning in the summer 2015 grades earned in courses transferred to the University of Memphis will not be used in calculating your cumulative overall GPA or your Cumulative Overall Combined GPA. This means that students can take a course at another institution and they will receive that credit hour, but it will not count towards their overall GPA.
Depending on grades from other institutions this could be good or bad news for some summer school students. Students who decide to take "GPA booster classes" which are fairly easy classes you take during the summer to increase your GPA faster are out of luck.
"I was planning on taking a few classes at Southwest during the summer because it's easier to pass and I could get my GPA up higher in less than a month instead of taking a full semester course at U of M," said education major Devin Robinson. "It sucks for people who pass their classes with flying colors, but I guess its good news to people who fail or don't get the grade they wanted."
Students will be able to visit the Registrar Office, where all student academic records, attendance reporting, and registration records are held if they have any questions or concerns about the new incentive.
“I would imagine that it’s because universities are losing money because students decide to take classes like physics and math at places like Southwest or other community colleges,” said former student government association president Ricky Kirby. “Of course we want students to take classes here at the University as well as progress and graduate here. It also probably began to be too much paperwork and labor for the community colleges because students are paying fees here and there and it gets to be too hectic.”
Some students will find that this new policy will be very helpful for them. If a student was to take a summer class at another institution and didn’t get the grade they desired such as a C- or D, they would still receive the passing credit but it their GPA would not be affected.
“I actually like the fact that the grades we get from other schools won’t make our GPA go down,” said psychology major Jeffrey Daniels. “Sometimes you have to go to another institution to take courses at a college that is harder than U of M because it’s only offered there during the summer. For that reason, I may not do as well as I would in a U of M class, but I still get that credit as long as I pass but it doesn’t affect my overall GPA. I’m not sure why they did it but I’m glad they did.”
