Unintended Consequences of Delayed Dropping

Note the item below with some commentary thereafter:

From the Bruin: Faculty and student leaders expressed optimism after UCLA announced that students can drop classes until week nine without fee or transcript notation. The new policy in place for the winter quarter allows students to drop both impacted and nonimpacted classes much later into the quarter than previously allowed.

The policy was previously in effect for the spring 2020 quarter. Impacted classes are courses that do not have enough seats available to meet student demand. In the past, students were unable to drop an impacted class after Friday of week two unless there were extenuating circumstances, according to the UCLA registrar. Corey Hollis, the assistant dean of undergraduate academic support, said in an emailed statement that the change in the deadline to drop a class is temporary to accommodate extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances...

Full article at https://dailybruin.com/2022/02/15/ucla-extends-class-drop-deadline-to-week-nine-for-winter-quarter.

Editorial Comment: Things that were done as temporary accommodations to the pandemic have a habit of sticking around thereafter. Consider, for example, the "temporary" dropping of the SAT/ACT that is now permanent. Students may be registered for courses that they have ceased to attend. They can even be registered for courses that they never attend. Scholarships, probation requirements, etc., may involve taking a minimum course load. If there is no need to drop, the date at which someone in authority notices that a problem has occurred is postponed - in this case until very late in the quarter. No intervention will occur in such circumstances to deal with whatever the problem is until it may be too late. In short, the temptation to postpone the inevitable can lead to adverse consequences for the student.