The topic of attendance has been brought up, especially because we are college students and we like to call ourselves adults. Some say that if we want to be viewed as adults, that we should act like adults.

One student brought up the fact that in the workplace, if we decided not to show up because we didn’t “feel like it,” we would get written up and possibly fired if it continued over time. Fortunately, there are sick days and vacation days for work.  However, the big difference between work and school is that a job pays us, but we are paying to go to college. Some students believe that because we are paying for so many credits and if we decide to miss a class, it is our decision.

Fair point, right?

Well then, another topic is brought up: scholarships. Some students are being “paid” to go to school if they receive a scholarship, but some consider that money as a form of pay to do their job, which is their sport or activity.  If the student was not participating in a sport, band, etc., then they would not be receiving a scholarship at all.  However, there are academic scholarships, which are completely different.  On the other hand, there are some students who don’t pay for college themselves. Some parents/guardians pay for their student(s) to go to college. Since the student isn’t paying, should it be their decision to skip class, or just as long as they get through college, it’s fine?

There are a handful of teachers who lecture in class and put their lectures/Powerpoints online. There have been students who say, “If they are going to put the Powerpoints online, then I’m not going to class.”

Unfortunately, putting these notes online may encourage students to skip classes because they believe they aren’t going to be missing anything. But if teachers took this information away, it would not be fair to those students who actually show up and use the notes for studying, or if they did not get to write down all the notes. Some students may get annoyed if a classmate misses class a lot and always goes to them to see what they missed. One student said, “Just go to class.  Don’t come to me and ask me what you missed when you decided to skip.”

Because Siena Heights University is so small, many classes are offered at a specific time and usually that is the only class offered, so unfortunately students do not get to pick their own schedules compared to the work force where they might be able to search for a job that is flexible, or fits their schedule.  Compared to bigger schools that have giant lecture halls in which a teacher would probably never know if a student missed but I heard through the grapevine that some schools are having their students sign in with their cell phones.  A fair percentage of many grading policies include class participation as a part of the grade, or even just showing up.  I know the education classes base some of the grade on the students just simply showing up to class.

Most teachers have attendance policies, and after so many misses, students will be deducted a whole letter grade.  Some teachers count any miss: sports, sick, or waking up late, as an absence, while other teachers have unexcused and excused absences but still have some sort of policy. Other teachers don’t have a specific amount of days a student can miss, but on their syllabus they may indicate that tests and quizzes cannot be made up for an unexcused absence. The attendance policy differentiates between classes, so students, make sure to read your syllabi to see what they are.  With a new semester coming up, this might be important to some student-athletes.

Overall, currently many teachers at Siena have attendance policies, but some are flexible with student-athletes. Some teachers may be too flexible, letting their students skip assignments because of a sport. Our general consensus is if we pay to go to school, we should make our decisions. But if you miss class, don’t expect your peers to fill you in with everything you missed.

If we didn’t have any attendance policies, would many students really even go to class?  If the Powerpoints are online and the syllabi have calendars of all test dates, it would be very easy to slip into a routine of skipping. So maybe it is a good idea to have some sort of attendance policy.

Would not having an attendance policy teach students to be more on top of things and teach them self-discipline?

Many things to think about. Good luck on those finals!

SPECTRA