The final decision on whether a student can retake a course now belongs to the department offering the course.

According to an e-mail from the College of Arts & Sciences, “the student must pick up a Retake Form in the College Office, obtain the first instructor’s signature, follow the instructions on the form and file the form before retaking the course.”

When senior Jim Wolfe read the e-mail, he became frustrated.

“I first thought to myself, if Wash. U.’s aim is to make its students’ lives more difficult for their own fantasies of endless paperwork to show off their authority, then they have succeeded admirably,” Wolfe said.

After rethinking the policy change, Wolfe became more understanding, but he still remains skeptical about the change.

“After a while, I realized there was a valid case to be made on behalf of this policy change,” Wolfe said. “But the lack of explanation in the e-mail still makes me wonder about the official justification. Is creating potential barriers for those students who want to take advantage of the retake option really the best way to serve everyone’s needs?”

If permission is granted to the student to retake a course, a permanent “R” will appear next to the grade earned in the retaken class.

The new policy says, “Both registrations will show on the transcript. The symbol R will appear next to the grade, not over the grade, for the first enrollment, but only the grade and units of the second enrollment will be used to calculate the GPA.”

“The [main] difference between the new policy and the old one is that the first grade remains visible,” said Warren Davis, assistant dean in the College of Arts & Sciences. “Arts & Sciences has for many years been the only [University] undergraduate school that did not show the first grade.”

According to Davis, several factors went into the decision.

“Bringing [The College of Arts & Sciences] in line with other [University] schools and providing graduate schools with missing information were two of the inspirations behind the change,” Davis said. “Medical schools and other professional [programs] typically ask to see the first grade [and] Student Records was having to receive the replaced grades.”

In addition, Davis said that the former system could have caused graduate programs to interpret certain grades on students’ transcripts as failing grades. With the new notation, Davis says, schools will have a better understanding as to what the “R” signifies.

“The new policy just adds more transparency to the transcript,” Davis said. “Now, instead of interpreting the ‘R’ as a failing grade, the transcript reviewer sees all grades. Nothing is hidden.”

Tarbouni has been named director of college counseling at John Burroughs School, effective July 1. Tarbouni will succeed Andy Abbott, who will become the next headmaster of Burroughs.

Associate Vice Chancellor John Berg, who worked with Tarbouni, learned of her decision on Jan. 1. Although he did not expect the move, he said he appreciates Tarbouni’s contribution to campus.

“I was surprised,” he said. “She’s such a great person. The name ‘Nanette’ has been synonymous with Washington University admissions for a long time. We’re very sad, and we’re happy for Nanette.”

Taurboni plans to use her experience at the University to lead a team of four other college counselors guiding juniors and seniors in their college preparation and search.

“I am looking forward to working with students as they prepare to go to college and to learn about the college application process from that side of the desk,” Tarbouni wrote in an e-mail to Student Life.

Julie Shimabukuro, a University graduate and the current director of international recruitment, will succeed Tarbouni as director of admissions. Shimabukuro is excited to fill Tarbouni’s position.

“I think it’s a great opportunity and a big role to fill,” she said. “I’m a Wash. U. alum so this is my school as well. I care about the future of the University. We have such a fantastic community of people.”

Berg is confident that Shimabukuro, who has 15 years of experience working in college admissions, will be able to continue Tarbouni’s success.

“She’ll be a great leader,” Berg said. “Like Nanette, she’s very well versed in the admissions field. She and Nanette have worked together for a long time. She is very well respected among her colleagues at Washington University, around the country and the world.”

At the University, Tarbouni has worked with many Burroughs students. She plans to bring those experiences to her new job and looks forward to continuing her relationship with the Burroughs community.

“John Burroughs is a community filled with wonderful faculty, staff and students,” she wrote. “I have been fortunate to be the Washington University admissions officer for Burroughs for the last 10 years or so. We have quite a few Wash. U. students who came from Burroughs, and I hope that will continue.”

Berg noted Tarbouni’s positivity as one of her assets in the field of admissions.

“Nanette has a wonderful way with people,” he said. “She sets students, their parents and their high school counselors at ease. She’s been a wonderful spokesperson and leader for Washington U. for a long time.”

Sophomore Kevin Cleland, a member of the Student Admissions Committee and Campus Interview Team who worked with Tarbouni as an admissions intern last summer, agreed that Tarbouni’s best asset was the positive atmosphere she created.

“It’s astounding how much she remembers about every student,” Cleland said. “She has a knack for pulling out of people really positive things. She was always ecstatic to be around students, always a happy person.”

Although Tarbouni is excited about the position at Burroughs, she will miss her time at the University.

“Twenty-five years at the same admissions office is quite rare,” she said. “The students, faculty and staff have made this an extraordinary place and one that will be tough to leave.”

Despite the loss of Tarbouni, Berg said that the admissions office would stay strong because of the students it attracts.

“The student recruitment effort relies on the work of our students and the way that they feel about Washington University,” he said. “That’s where the core recruitment effort for Washington University resides.”

Tarbouni attended Tulane University in New Orleans for her undergraduate degree. Following her graduation, she served as an academic counselor at Tulane and later as an academic advisor at University of Missouri-St. Louis. She joined the Washington University admissions team in 1983 and became its head in 1985.

Tarbouni said that though she looks forward to her new job, the transition will be strange.

“It’s hard to imagine that after June, I won’t be coming to work here, walking up the Brookings steps,” she said. “I think my car will just be on auto-pilot to still drive here.”

With additional reporting by Ben Sales

Since September, students, faculty and other members of the community have put in long hours to choreograph the performance. According to Alicia Graf, market coordinator for the Performing Arts Department (PAD), the audition process was highly competitive.

“More than 100 students auditioned at the beginning of the semester and only several dozen made the cut,” Graf noted.

The PAD named the showcase after the final work, in which audience members will be invited to stand and join the stage to participate with the dancers.

“We blur the boundary between those who watch and those who dance,” David Merchant, senior lecturer in dance and choreographer of “Common Ground,” said. “In the end, we all come together, to dance on ‘common ground.’”

This year, dancers will perform two distinguished works set by visiting artists James Jordan and Liz Lerman. Jordan is ballet master for the Kansas City Ballet and restaged Anthony Tudor’s classic modern ballet “Dark Elegies.” Lerman is the artistic director for the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, and the parent of a University student.

Lerman staged “Still Crossing,” a work that originally premiered at the centennial celebration for the Statue of Liberty.

“[‘Still Crossing’] addresses the immigrant experience through community art dance,” Merchant said. “It not only casts Wash. U. student dancers, but also 30 members of the University and St. Louis community.”

Cecil Slaughter, senior lecturer in dance and director of Washington University Dance Theatre points out that “Dark Elegies” and “Still Crossing” mark very important occasions: The former celebrates the 100th anniversary of Tudor’s birth, while the latter, the Statue of Liberty.

Slaughter also noted that both works revolve around the idea of strong community.

“That sense of community extends to works choreographed by the PAD dance faculty,” he said.

Other works in the showcase include “Manic Music II,” choreographed by Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Dance Program Mary-Jean Cowell; “Falling Petals,” choreographed by PAD post-doctoral fellow Ting-Ting Chang; “Ganesha Sharanam,” choreographed by adjunct professor Asha Prem; “Overdrive,” choreographed by Slaughter; and “Passion,” choreographed by adjunct lecturer in dance Keith Tyrone Williams.

Merchant said he is especially excited about the show’s display of diverse performers and choreographers.

“There are dances from different artistic genres and different cultures,” he said. “People dancing are young students and older adults, people well-trained in dance and people new to dance.”

“Common Ground” will run from tonight to Sunday afternoon in Edison Theatre. Shows will be at 8 p.m. tonight and tomorrow night, and 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Tickets can be purchased at the show, at all MetroTix outlets or by calling the Edison Theatre Box Office at 935-6543. Ticket prices are $10 for University students, faculty, staff and seniors and $15 for the general public.

When British businessman Cecil Rhodes passed away in 1902, his fortune went to establishing the Rhodes Scholarship. An Oxford alum, Rhodes naturally chose his alma mater for the honor, as he believed that the residential colleges provided an ideal environment for both personal and intellectual development. Since 1904, more than 7,000 Rhodes Scholars have completed Masters programs at Oxford.

Among that prestigious group are several Washington University students. According to Joy Kiefer, dean in Arts & Sciences and an institutional representative for the Rhodes Scholarship, the University’s students have done well in the admissions process compared to applicants from other colleges in the nation.

“We have a good track record,” Kiefer said. “Last year we had two finalists, which is very impressive.”

According to Kiefer, the application process is extremely rigorous and selective. Around 600 students apply each year and only 12 to 16 are eventually awarded scholarships.

Applicants must submit five to eight letters of recommendations as well as a personal statement. If chosen as finalists, students must then interview with Oxford faculty.

Kiefer stresses the importance of every piece of the application.

“Applicants must be able to tell a story about how they excelled and how they will contribute to Oxford and ultimately the world,” she said.

The scholarship judges the applicants by four standards: literary and scholastic attainments; energy to use one’s talents to the fullest; sympathy, kindliness and fellowship; and the moral force of character and instincts to lead.

“Applicants must have significant leadership experience, display academic excellence and contribute not only to the University community but also the larger community in a considerable way,” Kiefer said.

Although participation in sports is no longer a requirement, candidates still must show physical rigor.

“You have to show that you have persistence to see something through,” Kiefer said. “They want to see that candidates are devoted to their goals and are passionate.”

For the scholarship to attract the most qualified candidates, all applicants must first apply internally within one’s own college.

“Sometimes professors recommend students, but mostly students research the program themselves,” Kiefer said. “We have a primary vetting process mainly because we do not want to encourage those who are not qualified to spend so much time and energy on the huge application if they obviously will not make it.”

Although the scholarship is not heavily advertised on campus, Kiefer said it is important for interested students to attend the spring information session in their junior year. In order to make the University’s early September deadline, students must complete their application and obtain letters of recommendations during the summer.

“Applicants send me their materials about a month before the application deadline,” Kiefer said. “I then sit down with faculty members and discuss the applications. We endorse however many candidates we see fit.”

This year, the University endorsed three candidates.

The applicants’ letters of recommendations are accompanied by a letter of endorsement from Chancellor Mark Wrighton. According to Kiefer, most colleges have a similar internal vetting process.

If students are named finalists, the University encourages them to interview in the district of their permanent residence.

“We advise candidates to go back to their home districts, so they are not competing against one another,” Kiefer said. “In the end, however, it is the students’ choice.”

The interview is a two-day process. On the first night, the 16 finalists join the selection committee for cocktails and dinner, where the atmosphere is intended to be casual. The committee regards the evening as a chance to learn about the candidates and judge how they think and answer questions.

Often, topics that arise will come up in the official 20-minute interview on the following day.

Due to its familiarity with the program, the University even provides mock interviews for finalists. The interviewers are comprised of faculty and Rhodes alumni.

“Students must be well-prepared on a wide range of topics and current events related to their field of interests,” Kiefer said. “They have to be able to speak about what they specifically want to study and why it is necessary that they go to Oxford.”

Despite the highly-selective nature of the program, Kiefer believes the intense application process is extremely valuable to students.

“The process is really an exercise to focus on what you want to do, figure out what’s important to you and how to talk about yourself,” she said. “Even if you do not make it, you have the bare bones for other applications and other interviews.”

Applicants who do not make the cut often reapply after they graduate. When 2008 University alum and Rhodes Scholar finalist Reynolds Whalen found out he did not make it, he admitted feeling discouraged.

“I feel that once the pool has been narrowed to the 16 finalists, there is no concrete method for choosing a winner,” Whalen said. “At first, this realization made me not want to reapply, but then I decided that rolling the dice was worth the possibility of getting the scholarship even if the selection process is completely arbitrary, which I feel it is at the finalist stage.”

Whalen said his desire to go to Oxford for graduate school has intensified over the past year. He plans to get a Master of Science in African studies and to travel to Rwanda at the end of November for six months to make a film for a development program.

“I would like to help facilitate the integration of theater into existing education and development programs in East Africa, as well as create new drama groups that will change the way we think about performing arts and further revealing their unique quality to inspire positive social change,” he said.