Since NC State and its faculty want students to experience academic growth, NC State expects “full participation in classes, laboratory period and examinations” according to NC State’s Attendance Regulations. This expectation is logical since students who attend class perform statistically better than students who miss class.
Sage Journals discovered that class attendance was “a better predictor of college grades than any other known predictor of academic performance.” All 100-level and 200-level courses are required to have mandatory attendance, but higher level courses are given the freedom of defining how attendance will be regulated.
Theoretically, having a defined, university-wide attendance policy should encourage students to attend their classes and make better grades; however, NC State’s policy is too limiting. Although NC State’s policy on attendance regulations is a great foundation for professors to base their own personal attendance policies on, these regulations do not account for many reasons why students are absent from class.
Attendance is vital to performing well in college, and I am appreciative that many NC State professors encourage their students to attend classes. However, I am even more appreciative of professors who are more flexible with their attendance policies and understand the difficulty in balancing academics, health and relationships.
This semester, I had to schedule a job interview during one of my classes. I already had to reschedule the interview once before so I agreed to any time the company suggested to maintain a good first impression. With a week in advance, I told two different professors in person that I had a job interview during class and sent a reminder email.
My first professor wished me good luck and told me to catch up on notes with a classmate when I returned. However, when I told the second professor about my upcoming absence he frowned and insinuated that it was irresponsible to schedule an interview during class. I tried to explain my situation, but my reasoning was brushed off as a simple excuse to miss class.
Not only was there a contrast in attitude between the two professors, but there was a contrast in their attendance policies. The first professor allows two unexcused absences with no email or reminder required; the second professor only cited the NC State attendance policy in his syllabus.
It is not a requirement for professors to follow every aspect of the university’s attendance regulations. A professor can use NC State’s Attendance Regulations as guidelines to determine how attendance will affect his or her class. It is the professor’s responsibility to create an “attendance policy, including procedures for submitting excuses and for scheduling makeup work when the excuses are accepted” which should be defined in the syllabus.
This gives professors the necessary freedom to run their classroom in the way they see most appropriate. Citing only the university’s policy is limiting students who have special or unforeseen circumstances.
NC State’s attendance policy lists very few “unanticipated absences” and does not account for many situations that students could experience like family celebrations, employment obligations or interviews. Students may have a legitimate excuse to be absent but are restricted by the professor’s lack of a custom attendance policy.
It is not the professor’s responsibility to make sure a student attends class. If a student decides to miss class, they will have to face the consequences — positive or negative. Students have the right to prioritize their time in the way they see appropriate even if that means they miss a class for a seemingly unwise reason.
Keeping students accountable for their attendance is a good way to encourage their learning, but stringently following NC State’s attendance policy with no flexibility is not the proper way to run a classroom. Professors should be open to their students’ circumstances and allow an occasional absence when applicable. Only referring to the university’s policy completely disregards special circumstances that students can and will experience.
