Returning to class
CT Staff
April 20 2007
As students, faculty, staff and members of a community we have started the healing process with resolve. Hokies are spending time with family and friends, remembering the victims, and slowly but surely coming to terms with these events.
The Provost has issued a letter stating that classes will resume on Monday, but the way students will finish the semester is up to them.
Students have three options to determine their semester grade. The first option is getting a grade based on materials that have already been submitted prior to April 16. The second is already submitted material plus any other material a student wishes to submit for a grade. The last option is to turn in the material that would have been submitted for grade upon regular completion of the course.
The Provost's letter asks for discussion of these events from various perspectives, and also mentions the choices students will have for completion of the semester.
Professor Benfield of the Biology department states, "we want to be flexible, and do what the students want to do."
Faculty members will meet Friday to discuss further details, but the general consensus is geared towards allowing students to have flexibility.
Members of the faculty have also expressed a wish to see less of the media around campus, hoping that students and faculty have more peace in the coming days. Professor Benfield asserts that the healing process will be strengthened if there is less media coverage when students return to classes.
The Provost states, "Flexibility and attention to the needs of the students is a high priority ... In support of their emotional well-being, it is recommended that students continue to participate in class activities as part of the Virginia Tech community."
The letter goes on to state that the course withdrawal option will be extended until the last day of classes, and each student will also have that time to choose their course completion method.
Faculty members agree this sounds like the most reasonable option. It allows for students to leave campus without any grade penalties. Benfield states that he and other faculty members and counselors have made themselves available if students need to talk.
The letter encourages students to return to class, and many people on campus hope that next week, normalcy will return to the campus. The Provost concluded his letter stating that the students whose lives were taken will be awarded degrees posthumously for which they were enrolled this semester.