Now that classes have been moved from online back to in-person, students are once again coming face-to-face with attendance policies. While these policies were also present during online courses, they weren’t as difficult to adhere to on Zoom.
On Zoom, students could log on from the comfort of their home to watch lectures and participate in discussions. Due to this, it was easier for students to attend class on a daily basis. For example, a student could still safely attend a Zoom meeting if they were sick.
However, now that we are back in person – that safety net is gone. Many teachers have attendance policies that are needlessly strict, and place a lot of stress on students to come to class under any circumstances.
Throughout my years as a college student, I have encountered many different types of attendance policies from lax to severe.
Some professors don’t allow any absences from students – marking their grade down if the student misses even a single class. This is a terrible guideline for students to follow, especially with Covid-19 still out there.
If students are not given some leeway with absences, they will come to school even when it is obvious that they should have definitely stayed home. Grading attendance makes it so students will come to class sick, which is the last thing the university should want with Covid-19 still spreading.
The campus has posters up in every hall saying to help “stop the spread” of Covid-19 – but how can students do so when being absent means risking a failing grade?
Throughout the entirety of the pandemic up to this point, we have been bombarded with messages about staying healthy during this “trying time.” These messages come across as hypocritical as they preach staying healthy both mentally and physically while a lot of teachers allow little to no excused absences.
In fact, many of the school’s Covid-19 messages come across as oxy-morons.
Take care of your mental health… but we won’t give you any mental health days.
Help stop the spread… but if you miss class then we will drop your grade.
These messages send mixed signals to students during a time when clear communication is needed.
Also with depression and anxiety on the rise, it is unrealistic to not allow absences. Life has been shifted upside-down during the chaos of the last two years. Mental health for a lot of students has never been lower, and sometimes a break is needed.
Now a lot of teachers will say that they will not mark down on attendance in “extenuating circumstances.” The problem with this statement, is that it solely rests upon whether the teacher deems your absence worthy of “emergency” status.
This once again proves the point that students will come to class even when they’re sick to avoid their grade falling.
Many teachers don’t see sickness as an “extenuating circumstance,” as people get colds on a daily basis – especially with flu season approaching. Since getting sick is not considered reason enough to miss class without your grade dropping, students will attend class even when they’re unwell.
The only way to ensure that students don’t come to class sick is to give them some excused absences to fall back on, or even get rid of graded attendance altogether.
While I know that most teachers will never give students unlimited excused absences – I believe that it should be required to give a minimum of five. This allows for students to get some sort of safety net when deciphering when they can miss a class.
If students are penalized for any absence, even their first, it can add a lot of stress onto them. Many students who attend Saint Xavier University have other obligations besides attending classes. Whether it be because they are a parent, have younger siblings, or even work – there are many reasons a student may need to miss a class.
Teachers may assume that having a more “lax” policy will result in more absences. In my experience, this could not be more far from the truth. We, as students, are paying for the education we receive. Missing classes for no apparent reason would do us no good.
In fact, in classes I have taken with no attendance policy at all – students still show up each day. Students want to receive their education and while some may take advantage of a more open policy, it is not reason enough to get rid of excused absences altogether.
By adding the security of five excused absences to SXU’s classes, it will give students more “wiggle-room”. Instead of being afraid to miss class due to being sick or having a bad mental health day – they can take solace knowing their grade will be unaffected.
The only thing that should count towards our grade is the amount of effort we put into our assignments. By allowing attendance to overshadow the work students put into class, it does a disservice not only to the students, but to the education we receive as well.