Fall semester is quickly coming to an end and the new grade mark “FW” will make its statement soon.

The grade mark “FW” (fail-withdrawal) is intended to differentiate students who failed from poor grades and those who stopped attending class after the date to withdraw. Receiving an “FW” allows City College to have more of accurate accounting for financial aid. Before, students still received financial assistance even if they earned an “F” and never attended class.

There has been a great deal of support from faculty and students on the new grade mark.

“I think it’s a good thing because it allows us to delineate the students at the end of the semester who either were present and made the effort and still didn’t pass versus the student who was not present and didn’t make an effort and didn’t pass,” said Kenley Neufeld, president of the academic senate and library director.

Those who receive an “FW” at the end of a semester will have to repay their financial aid money.

Some students on campus said they had noticed their classroom size reduce as the semester progressed.

It is entirely up to the instructor to define participation requirements in a course and its impact on a student’s grade.

The grade mark cannot just be measured on attendance. Other factors such as communication with the instructor, missed assignments and tests are contributed to the decision of giving an “FW.”

“It’s great that they added [the “FW” grade] because it’s not fair that some get financial aid to not attend class,” said psychology major Manpreet Toor, 19.

After the semester comes to an end and instructors submit students’ grades, City College will have more of an insight on how the “FW” grade mark will serve for future references.

“What we may see in a few years is if we have a large number of students dropping out and getting ‘FW,’ then maybe we can create methods or programs that can help turn that around,” said Neufeld. “We can help students get to the end of the semester.”