The application of Augustana’s new attendance policy takes away freedom from students and professors alike. Some may believe it is too lenient, while others may believe it is too strict. The reality is that it sacrifices student-professor relationships while increasing the stress levels of already stressed-out students.
Missing excessive amounts of class has a negative impact on both professors and other students. Because of this, having mandatory attendance days for things such as tests, group projects and field trips makes sense. However, not allowing for the ability to make up these assignments in case of an emergency is detrimental to students’ well-being and has the potential to be interpreted as ableism.
Junior Phoebe Fuller experienced this reality after having a medical concern during class time that needed to be taken care of immediately. After reaching out to professors to make up work that they missed, Fuller said each professor was unable to accommodate her needs “because of the new attendance policy.”
“I don’t blame the professors at all, because I know that they’re just doing their job,” Fuller said. “It’s an Augie issue, a system issue, but it was just really disappointing.”
In the past, professors have made attendance policies clear on their syllabi at the beginning of each semester. While many abided by Augustana’s official policy, they often allowed for exceptions to the written policy to accommodate students’ needs. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, some professors went so far as not to count attendance as part of the final grade.
With the new policy, absences are no longer differentiated between excused and unexcused. One student could skip class to go to Disney World while another may be at home sick with a fever. Both students would receive the same penalty, and both students would be unable to make up the work that they missed if it was a mandatory attendance day.
“In some situations, maybe [the attendance policy] is easier for students who want to skip class,” Fuller said. “But for students who have to miss class for reasons that aren’t expected or that are expected but are just not avoidable, it’s not much freedom if you can’t make up that work or if you don’t get grace against penalties.”
For students who are active participants in the classroom environment, whether that be through completing homework on time or sharing their thoughts in class, missing a mandatory class period for an emergency is likely already stressful. In such an instance, these students may feel the need to sacrifice their own well-being in order to avoid receiving an academic penalty. This, in turn, hurts the student, the professor and the rest of the class.
Augustana’s community allows students and professors to develop close professional relationships during their time on campus. Students often have one or two professors many times throughout their undergraduate life, leading to both the student and the professor knowing what to expect from each other after a few semesters.
When a policy such as this year’s attendance policy comes into play, the dynamic of this relationship has the potential to change drastically. Students who previously felt comfortable speaking to a professor about academic or personal issues that impact their attendance may no longer feel comfortable doing so. A professor who was previously known as understanding and accommodating may lose that label due to the inflexibility of the policy.
“My fear is that because of this new system, that it harms students, but it also harms student-professor relationships,” Fuller said.
Despite the rigidity of the new policy, exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis, such as if a student contracts COVID-19. However, many of these exceptions now need to go through the Dean of Students, adding an extra layer to students’ already busy lives.
Students with documented chronic disabilities that impact their attendance are able to submit that documentation to the Office of Disability Services in order to be granted reasonable accommodations.
That being said, not everyone has the privilege of a diagnosis. For students who have a condition that impacts their attendance in one way or another but are unable to get or submit a diagnosis to the college, the necessity of receiving accommodations to be granted an exception for additional absences may be impossible.
In this instance and many others, having the ability to work alongside a professor to determine the best course of action would be beneficial for both parties.
“I think that our previous system, where professors had the ability to work with individual students and find out what works best between a professor and a student without the system getting involved, I feel like that was a lot better,” Fuller said.
Even for students who do not have undiagnosed chronic disabilities, “accidents happen, and anyone can become disabled at any time,” Fuller said.
The current, new attendance policy needs to be reworked to accommodate emergencies and extenuating circumstances. The need for students to be held accountable is understandable, and the necessity of a full classroom is indisputable. However, when students do not feel comfortable putting their own well-being first, education suffers.
It is impossible to learn when you are constantly worried about things outside of your academics. When you are then unable to attend to those in an emergency without potentially sacrificing your grades, even more issues arise. There needs to be a way for students to be held accountable without sacrificing their well-being and relationships with professors, and this new attendance policy is not it.
“It’s going to cause students harm to their grades and their GPAs are going to be harmed because of things that are out of their control, which in turn looks bad on the college,” Fuller said. “I feel like it would be in everyone’s best interest to return to the old attendance policy.”