Leafing through the various syllabi provided by my professors for the start of this semester, certain features remained consistent no matter the course subject- one of those being the “attendance policy”. Indeed, even in college, we still have to be told to show up to class.
Every professor’s system for missed classes and subsequent point deductions varies, but I found myself ruminating on why we still have such rigid rules in a university setting. Surely, by now, we know to attend class and learn the material or face the consequences for our grade. So why can we only miss, say, three classes, or else our final grade starts to decrease? I do believe that certain regulations regarding missed work should remain in place. However, lowering a student’s final grade after a set number of absences is not necessary; it fosters high levels of stress and undermines our personal motivation and work ethic.
As expected, the Fairfield University website states under their “Academic Policies” that “[a]ll students are expected to attend every scheduled class session.” We are paying for higher education, so we have the responsibility to attend all our classes and lectures if we aim to make the most of our experience here. The University website further explains that “Attendance requirements, as well as the impact of attendance on grading, are determined by the faculty member and specified in the syllabus for each course.” This means that professors have the ability to implement grade deductions for missing a certain number of classes.
I spoke with Communication Professor Kandice Green, who is in her second year of teaching at Fairfield, about her attendance policy. “Students are able to have up to two unexcused absences. They do not need to tell me what they are,” she shares about her guidelines. “After those two unexcused absences, then it’s two points off of their grade.” When asked about her rationale behind this particular number, she explained that it was a combination of her personal experience as a student and what others in her department were implementing. “Other professors in my department are also following either a two-unexcused-absence rule or three unexcused absences,” she notes. Attendance policies are going to vary depending on the subject. For instance, a turbo course where students are frequently leaving campus or performing highly detailed work may not allow for any unexcused absences.
I consider myself, and would consider most of Fairfield’s student population, incredibly dedicated. I care deeply about my grades, always put my best effort forward and would never intentionally miss one of my classes. However, things come up. What about a week-long vacation planned years in advance? A family emergency? Other personal inconveniences that cause you to miss class for a prolonged period of time? I’ve found myself stressing over this when reading my course syllabi. Our final course grades should not suffer from missing one more class than expected if we are actively working to keep up with the content and hand in all assignments in a timely manner. Of course, student experience with this matter also highly depends on the professor – some are more lenient than others when it comes to unforeseen circumstances and are willing to offer extensions.
To make things clear, I don’t think students should be able to miss an extreme amount of classes and turn in work late for no penalty. I believe that having set deadlines for assignments aids in students’ time management and organizational skills, which are immensely important in a workplace environment.
It’s unfair for those who actively attend class and complete assignments if others can get away with submitting work late for full marks after missing classes. With that being said, I think if students are willing to keep up with any assignments and material they may have to miss in-class for one reason or another, they should not get points off their grade in the course simply for having one too many absences. My personal advice would be to always attend your classes and be communicative with your professors if something does come up. Attendance policies are rules that I think can certainly be bent.
