At 18-years-old, few people are ready to make decisions about the rest of their lives. Choosing a major can be daunting, and sometimes people rethink the decisions they made in their first years of adulthood.
Under the current academic system, less-than-impressive grades remain on the transcripts of students who change their majors. But redlining policies offer students the chance to erase non-major classes from their transcripts if they change their majors - giving them a second chance.
For that reason, Ball State University students should have the option of redlining.
Consider a freshman who was gung-ho about teaching in a special education classroom but realized after a year he didn't have the patience or compassion to work with students who have special needs. Not only would he be unsuccessful in the job, he'd be unhappy with his career and his education. But with redlining, he has the opportunity to switch to a major he has more interest in and feels more comfortable with, and he can forget all about the dismal grades he earned in those education classes. He would be on a more appropriate and rewarding career path, and he would have the credentials to get a good job - without his previous decisions haunting his permanent record.
This legislation is not for slackers and undedicated students to abuse. It's for students who know where they're going in life to improve their chances of getting there.
Purdue University has a similar policy but is in the process of revising or eliminating the redlining plan due to student abuse. However, Ball State is in an advantageous position. The university can learn from the Purdue policy to sew up the loopholes before they're formed, and Ball State can request student input from its own students to revise the legislation so the policy cannot be abused.
Ball State's Admissions and Credits Committee now has the opportunity to fine-tune this legislation so the university can initiate a redlining policy that is truly fair to students, the university and future employers. With consideration and solid research, the committee can help craft a policy that encourages success while allowing students' past mistakes to be forgiven.
If Ball State wants to educate students in fields they care about and for jobs they want to have, sometimes it's more practical to let them throw in the towel and start over.
Now's the time for the Admissions and Credits Committee to work out the best redlining policy possible. It will take some work, but it'll be worth it when students begin to see red lines on their transcripts and not just their homework.
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