Every student dreads the absence policy portion of the “syllabus talk.” Some teachers are lenient with attendance; others stick to a strict rule concerning grade point deductions after so many absences.
The English department in particular has quite the interesting absence policy. My syllabus states, “Absences without valid reasons, or unexcused absences, are limited to three per term in classes that meet three times a week (e.g., MWF) and two per term in classes that meet two times a week (e.g., TTH or MW). Beyond these limits, each unexcused absence will lower the final course grade by one grade increment: for example, a B+ goes to a B, a B goes to a B- and a B- goes to a C+.”
If we are sick but not sick enough to rush to the doctor, have any kind of unexpected car troubles, attend a funeral for someone that is not immediate family or other unexpected endeavors, our average grade in the class could drop by one grade increment.
I understand it’s important to go to class and teachers want to push students to attend, but what really gets me is that many teachers do not live up to their own rules. They aren’t held at the same standards we are. There are weeks where I don’t feel good but get up anyway, get on a bus and head to class.
Last week, I got all the way to campus only to find out my teacher didn’t want to come to class because she felt “under the weather.” That’s all fine and dandy, but why am I not allowed to feel under the weather and miss class without serious repercussions?
Teachers are always canceling classes, and while I’m not one to complain about no class, they should be held at equal responsibility.
University students are often seen as children with little responsibility, who just want to have fun and scheme their way out of doing work. For some that may be true, but for others, we have lives, jobs and responsibilities. Things happen and we should receive the respect from teachers that we give them when they need to cancel class for any random reason.
Even the excused absences policy rubs me the wrong way. All University athletes are excused for sports events no matter the day, as they should be, but if I get food poisoning and spend my whole day puking my guts up I could be docked a grade increment. This logic doesn’t sit right with many students. We are old enough to know there are consequences for our actions and not showing up for class will do us harm.
Why can’t departments leave us to the responsibility on our own and drop attendance policies? It wouldn’t hurt anyone but the students who abuse it. The attendance policies put in place have the potential to harm good students, with excellent grades. Life is unpredictable and everyone deserves the freedom to take care of their business, both professors and students.
Though it is easy to direct anger concerning attendance policies at professors, many times they have to follow department set regulations. I know the English department professors have to have the same policies, and it makes it hard to fight this with individual professors when something such as a funeral comes up but you cannot afford to drop a grade increment.
We are adults, and we realize how much missing class will affect our overall grades. Leaving the responsibility to students will not create a lower average of class attendance, but instead will create a mutually beneficial learning environment.
Casey Pimentel is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from The Woodlands, Texas.