It’s very easy to have a love-hate relationship with professors — minus the love part. An average, mediocre student might show up to most classes, only spend about 70 percent of their time paying attention but complete all assignments and complete them well. That’s generally what’s expected of students.
Unfortunately, professors don’t seem to understand — or choose to actively ignore — that we have four to six other classes. According to a study released by Jawbone, the average college student gets seven hours and three minutes of sleep each night. Most students who obtain this many hours either manage their class and work loads well or are resting instead of completing their assignments.
If you’re a student who’s learned the only way to survive college is to budget your time, prioritize it and schedule most of your waking hours, then you’re probably just as frustrated as me and most of the student body.
Professors all give out syllabi, usually just listing the University’s grading scale and plagiarism policy. If you’re one of the lucky ones, your syllabus will contain the semester’s calendar of assignments, but if you’re the typical, unlucky student, it won’t.
Students need as many upcoming assignment due dates as possible. We write them on hard copy planners, dry erase calendars hanging in our bedrooms or into a phone or computer calendar. Regardless, we are marking them down in every possible place to remember to complete the assignment. We need those dates to budget time to complete the assignment without realizing five days before it’s due that we have three other tests the exact same day. Graded surprises in college are detrimental for the student and the professor’s class average.
Teachers should be required to list all major assignment dates at least one month before they are due. Students not only need to prioritize their course work but find ways to balance it with their personal lives as well. Out-of-state students can’t book flights home for holidays or unexpected happenings in their lives if they don’t know whether or not they’ll have an exam in their class that date.
Students need to schedule appointments, arrange their work schedules or need to skip a class for the sake of another. I’m sure professors don’t encourage students to miss any classes, but sometimes as a student you determine that you need to, especially if it won’t negatively affect your grade in the class you’re missing.
Professors miss class unexpectedly when they need to leave town or are feeling ill, and students should receive the same courtesy and ability to miss class when necessary. If a student has to personally email a professor to find out the date of the next exam is, but the professor only replies that she’s narrowed it down to three different dates, the student has to risk missing an exam. No responsible student should have to face that sort of risk if they’re putting in the effort and trying to plan ahead. Skipping one class should not be a punishable offense when the student inquired about the consequences first.
If a student can attend class, they should. However, life happens and not every absence is excused, but a student should know whether or not they’ll be missing an important class or exam.
Jordan Miller is a 20-year-old elementary education junior from New Orleans, Louisiana.