Student Government passed a resolution Wednesday showing support of Faculty Senate’s amendments to LSU policy statement 22 about student absences and leniency toward make-up coursework.
The University’s Faculty Senate and the Office of Academic Affairs is in the process of reviewing the student absence policy and must seek input from SG before amendments can be approved.
SG is in favor of most amendments such as keeping the policy without a definitions to what constitutes appropriate documentation for an excused absence, said Speaker pro tempore Trey Schwartzenburg.
“Multiple scenarios can happen when a student misses class,” Schwartzenbug said. “When you start listing definitions, it limits things.”
There was support for the addition of attending professional and graduate school tours to the list of valid excused absences. SG presented the idea of adding limitations to that amendment, however. SG is hoping to see is a stipulation to the maximum amount of professional or graduate visits made instead of limiting the amount of days a visit lasts.
While the policy primarily addresses absences, it also addresses make-up work.
Faculty Senate is adding an amendment to the policy that the student and professor must have a mutually established timeframe of when make-up coursework must be completed to ensure make-up coursework will not affect students’ transcripts, scholarships and enrollment status. SG is support of this change.
Along with the stipulation of a timeframe, SG supported that the value of other assignments can not be increased to accomodate the missed assignment. According to the resolution, increasing the value of another assignment does not adequtely assess the student’s performance in a course as a whole, as some assignments are more challenging than others and can adversely affect the student’s grade.
SG will present the resolution to Academic Affairs in November but changes to this policy will not be made until mid-spring 2014.