On Nov. 18, Oakland University Student Congress (OUSC) held its weekly General Body Meeting. Several topics were covered, including updates from the Student Organic Farm and a discussion involving student withdrawal policies from courses. 

Student Organic Farm

Fay Hansen, associate professor of biological sciences and director of the Campus Student Organic Farm (CSOF), shared a report about the farm, its background and various benefits the operation provides for students. 

CSOF, founded in 2010, applied for and received a grant, which majorly impacted the growth of the farm. The purpose of the original grant was to offer an emphasis on high-impact learning for lifelong skills concerning healthy living and practical environmental sustainability.

“We got this grant that converted the farm from simply a volunteer student-initiated project to an academic unit, which, in my opinion, is the only reason it’s still standing,” Hansen said.

Additionally, the CSOF offers educational aspects, including five academic classes as an extension of the biological sciences department, as well as a new urban agriculture and agroecology minor introduced in 2018. Hansen described CSOF as “a classroom without walls.” 

“They’re all active learning classes, and, I would say, largely transformational for most students,” Hansen said. “It’s a different way of learning, STEM and problem solving… It’s been really valuable for student experiences in terms of academia, but also in terms of social activities.”

CSOF offers student employment, leadership training and interdisciplinary volunteering opportunities. Students can sell fresh produce at a fall-exclusive farm stand on campus or be involved with the student organization Growing Grizzlies. Hansen emphasized the sustainable life skills, hands-on learning and real-world problem solving for students involved with the farm.

Additional opportunities for collaboration extend from the farm into the heart of campus with the Farm Stand. Originating as a single table in 2012, the stand now consists of a large tent operated by students, club members and volunteers on central campus through the majority of the Fall semester. Through the grant-supported program Grizz Greens, the student organization further amplifies community outreach by sharing produce with the Golden Grizzlies Pantry.

“We’re able to donate quite a bit, up to 182 pounds so far this fall,” Hansen said. “We try to have very student-friendly produce that students can use, whether they have a stove or not, fresh food, salads, fruits, finger food, that kind of thing. We are still able to provide some now, possibly through the rest of the term.”

Hansen indicated a hope for further support from OUSC in such forms as a prospective degree and certificate in horticultural therapy, as well as conducting additional uses for the space in a student stress relief capacity.

“So it’s not just being in a classroom,” Hansen said. “You develop this relationship where you have an investment of your time and learning. You don’t often do classwork in a hammock.”

Student enrollment

Guest speaker Neil Baumgartner, associate vice president of student success and advising, came to share a potential new change in enrollment policy presented by the Committee for Academic Recovery and Success (CARS).

“The proposal is going to forward what we view as something that is very student focused and very much at the heart of it came out of the Committee for Academic Recovery and Success which is a newer committee on campus that is really focused on how we look at our policies, our practices, our processes, our way of doing things, to make sure that we are really putting the students at the center of everything and to try to help more students be successful,” Baumgartner said.

Baumgartner discussed a proposal to extend the withdrawal deadline from the end of the ninth week to the final day of classes before the start of the exam period – essentially extending the class withdrawal window through the entire length of the semester.

Baumgartner explained this new policy would create an increased chance of success for students with a better grasp and initial concepts, prompting further exposure to class material and the opportunity to demonstrate deeper understanding, recover from early struggles and withdraw from a course without consequence.

“We know not all struggles are academic in nature,” Baumgartner said. “In fact, I would say the majority are not. It’s not about ability. It’s about a lot of other things going on in life. And so it’s recognizing that and giving people an opportunity to accommodate.”

Several other universities across Michigan offer similar extensions up to final exams. The proposed policy addresses priorities of the current landscape and aligns with other institutions’ policies.

“I met with the dean of our med[ical] school earlier this week, and they don’t have a concern about this policy … there are other universities that already have this policy, pretty much in our state – Eastern Michigan and North[ern] Michigan already have this,” Baumgartner said. 

Changes to financial aid rules and regulations were a prominent talking point in the conversation. These changes may have effects on students’ courses and their ability to retake courses. 

Students must maintain satisfactory academic progress (SAP) to receive any aid. Graduate and professional studies students will have to explain patterns of repeated courses regardless of grade. Financial aid cannot pay for classes not in a student’s program, so retakes of classes no longer needed for their degree are no longer eligible for funding. 

“There are changes coming in the financial aid rules where financial aid won’t even pay for that class for you to repeat it if it’s not in your program of study. You’d be stuck in this cycle where you take a class, fail it, it having negative implications on your GPA or financial aid, and then financial aid won’t pay for you to repeat it,” Baumgartner said.  

This new policy would, in theory, decrease C-DFWI rates – the percentage of enrolled students who withdrew, had an incomplete, or received a final grade of C-, D, or F for a course. Baumgartner emphasized the need for student support to continue to improve passing rates. 

C.R. 68-13 

C.R. 68-13, proposed by Marion Brumer, is a resolution that supports this new university withdrawal policy. 

“The current OU withdrawal policy dictates that courses may be withdrawn without academic penalty through the 9th week in a full semester and the 5th week of a half semester,” the resolution said. “Within the coming weeks, the OU Senate will be considering reforms to the current withdrawal policy. The reforms would dictate that students may withdraw from courses and receive a “W” grade on their transcript through the last day of classes for each respective course length.” 

This withdrawal policy was originally brought to the University Senate in the winter semester of 2025, in which “faculty members voiced concerns and advocates for the policy have worked with campus faculty members and stakeholders to address concerns since.”

This resolution emphasizes the advocacy of student mental health and how this proposal will be in support of helping students maintain their mental health through withdrawal decisions. 

“Nationally speaking, mental health challenges are ranked as one of the top three most commonly cited reasons that students drop out and do not complete their degree. An extension of the withdrawal deadline through the proposed reforms would supplement current efforts to improve campus mental health by providing students with more time to make an informed decision about their potential to pass a class in spite of mental health challenges,” the resolution said. 

The resolution is in support of the new withdrawal policy, noting that it will help students retain financial aid and their academic standing.

“An F grade is more harmful to maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress than a W grade because an F negatively impacts GPA and completion percentage, whereas a W impacts only the completion percentage,” the resolution explained. 

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