President changes DQ requirements after complaints at first Town Hall meeting

By Chelsey Jaipersaud | Published by December 14, 2020

The university has established clearer guidelines on discussion questions, extended the pass/fail deadline and updated the resources and contact information in the Cougar Restart Plan in response to concerns voiced at the first town hall meeting held by President Lamont Repollet. 

In response to the meeting held earlier this month, the university has updated its controversial Discussion Question policy in remote courses. 

In the upcoming semester, discussion questions are not required, but may be included at the discretion of the instructor, to meet the weekly time required for virtual or in person classroom interaction. 

The town hall web page explains, if the DQs are used, the requirement will consist of one initial discussion post a week and no more than three student responses within a timeframe determined by the instructor.

The university also has decided to extend its pass/fail grading for up to two courses per student and all students will have from the end of the semester to February 1, 2021 to request this option. 

Students can access services by visiting the resource for current and prospective students section located on Kean’s restart website. There is a range of contact options available for anyone who may need further assistance. 

At Dr. Repollet’s Town Hall, students registered in advance to either speak at the event or simply attend and listen to each other. Students of any year were encouraged to speak up in order to acknowledge prevalent issues that occurred throughout the semester and ultimately make adjustments for the future.

“This is going to be realistic, I am going to make sure that things that I say or deliver will be based on our policies, regulations, on the law and what we normally do as a university,” Dr. Repollet said. 

To remain transparent with the students’, context of what was discussed, some possible solutions and some rationale about why something can or can not be done is now posted on the university website by the Vice President of University Relations. 

Dr. Repollet promised to take students’ concerns seriously and asked them to partner with the university as a collaborative approach. 

Desirae Diaz, a sophomore at Kean University, spoke on the required discussion questions, explaining how they take up too much time and being treated like extra papers rather than the intended goal. 

“Discussion questions should have all the same requirements, not have one class only require three replies and one class require six all over multiple days, have it be more of a group chat feel where you’re actually discussing things,” Diaz said. 

Diaz suggested that discussion questions should have all the same requirements to avoid confusion and an overwhelming workload. She further suggested having two or three discussion questions throughout the semester and worth more than participation points since a decent amount is written for each post. 

“I want to let you know that I am listening to you,” Dr. Repollet said in the meeting held earlier this month..

Natalie Hernandez, a senior at Kean brought up a concern with the pass/fail deadline and questioned why students weren’t notified about this earlier.

“September 22nd was the date that us students were supposed to declare if we needed that type of accommodation.” Hernandez said, “How would we decide in the beginning of the semester which courses we would need to use that pass/fail option for?”

Kean’s restart plan lists contact information for students to reach the university one stop center, admissions, health and wellness support, financial aid, housing, clubs and organizations, digital divide and even dining.

The Kean University administration and staff will be continuing to work on issues that were raised all while maintaining student and faculty safety and in hopes of a successful Spring semester. 

“I hope that next time we have more people come in and listen because I think it’s important to not only be listening to your students, but you have to get to hear the administration’s voice on some things as well” Dr. Repollet said.

The university intends to hold a Town Hall every semester. 

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