Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Temple changed its absence policy for the 2020-21 academic school year. Under the new policy, students who missed class for health-related reasons weren’t penalized and didn’t have to submit formal documentation to be excused.
Temple has since put the attendance policy back into the hands of faculty, allowing professors to choose their course guidelines. Following the repeal of the COVID-19-era attendance policy, many professors set rigid guidelines, like multiple absences resulting in dropping grades or even failing the class.
Consistent class attendance is important for a student’s academic success. However, strict attendance can harm students’ academic performance. If students are pressured by mandatory attendance, they may feel powerless over their education and lose interest in learning.
Regular class attendance is a reasonable expectation for professors, but totalitarian approaches can be counterproductive. Stricter policies on absences can negatively impact students and make many choose between their health and grades. Professors should base their attendance policies depending on the number of meeting times a class has and be lenient with students who miss class for reasons out of their control.
Students shouldn’t attend classes while sick because it increases the chances of spreading illnesses to others, some of whom may be immunocompromised. When students are ill, they need extra time to rest and sleep, according to SUNY Upstate Medical University. Coming to class will slow students’ recovery and make it harder for them to perform at their highest potential.
This semester, Natalie Skeba faced a difficult decision: attend her physics course while under the weather, or potentially let her grade suffer.
“So, I have to choose whether or not I should go to class and risk getting people sick, or I shouldn’t go to class and just, like, get my grade lowered,” said Skeba, a freshman mathematics major.
Many professors accommodate illnesses in their guidelines by giving excused absences if students provide documentary proof. However, stringent policies and penal language may pressure students to attend courses, even while ill or struggling with mental health.
Temple’s fall and spring semesters are 14 weeks long, meaning courses that meet three times a week have a minimum of forty classes. If a student is sick for a week, they can run out of excused absences for the entire semester. Professors with restrictive policies that lower grades or result in automatic failure after a few absences give students limited flexibility to take days off for any reason.
David Le wants professors to understand students’ circumstances before imposing strict attendance requirements.
“Understand a student’s situation first before actually saying, like, ‘Show me all this evidence,’” said Le, a first-year grad student in the School of Pharmacy. “Instead, believe the students because we are all adults. And believe mental health always comes first before anything else.”
Consistent attendance is a privilege and many students facing financial hardships may need to work through college or balance other obligations that prevent them from attending consistently. Forty percent of full-time college students have jobs, according to a 2020 study by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Additionally, some students have disabilities that affect their day-to-day functioning. While Disability Resource Services allow students to receive accommodations, these options may not be accessible to disadvantaged students. Some students may be undiagnosed due to socioeconomic or cultural reasons and do not meet the qualifications for these accommodations, according to a Feb. 2024 study in the National Library of Medicine.
Professors can alleviate students’ struggles by offering lecture notes, make-up work and an open line of communication. Creating an engaging classroom environment is crucial, but attendance isn’t the only indicator of student engagement. Participation can instead be measured through assignments such as quizzes, assessments like office hours, or constructive feedback.
Jordan Shapiro, an associate Intellectual Heritage and gender, sexuality and women studies professor, believes faculty must reevaluate their educational approaches for a productive learning environment.
“Sometimes there’s a good reason to maintain control over the class, but make sure it’s really aimed at learning,” Shapiro said. “The goal here is not to have kids in their seats. The goal here is to educate young adults so that they become wonderful, not young adults, old adults, I guess, grown-ups.”
College is a time in which students choose to further their educational pursuits. But draconian, mandatory attendance policies create idyllic yet unrealistic standards, which can create inequitable learning environments. Professors should drop the punitive attendance in favor of policies that empower and motivate students to take charge of their education.
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