Mesa Legend - ARCHIVES - Vol. 39, Issue 8


Volume 39, Issue 8. Today is .

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Volume 39, Issue 8
January 15, 2002

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Students question fairness of three absence policy

By Courtney Kimball
For the Mesa Legend

Class attendance policies have always been a two-sided issue between students and faculty members.

The question of why attendance policies were put into effect at the college level is a question that many students have asked.

Johnice Wilkins, director of student leadership at MCC, helped explain faculty members’ views of class attendance policies.

"Any organization, such as a community college, has to have a certain rules and regulations that have to be approved bya governing board," Wilkins said.

She believes that rules, such as attendance policies, need to be enforced because they instill order for the college and for the students.

When asked why students should be penalized for missing classes, Wilkins said, "How are you going to learn?"

Wilkins said that if you are excessively missing class, then you are not getting the full benefit of that class.

"You need to have that training and development that you get from attending the class to be able to move on to the next level," Wilkins said.

Katie Schmalz, a 23-year-old MCC student, believes that attendance policies are "absolutely ridiculous."

In disagreement with Wilkins’ statement, Schmalz said, "If we are still making good grades even though we are not in class every day, how is it that we are not getting the training and development that we need?"

Schmalz also thinks that attendance policies are not fair.

"We are adults, and if we keep up with our work, they should not be able to tell us that we can’t have more than three absences," Schmalz said.

The MCC student handbook states that the course instructor determines the attendance policies for their class.

Students who do not meet the attendance requirement as determined by the instructor may be withdrawn.

Even though some teachers state in their syllabus that they will allow no more than three unexcused absences, Schmalz said, "Thankfully most teachers don’t go by that policy anyway."

Teachers can also get into trouble if they don’t abide by their attendance policies.

"Students can go to the department chair or the dean of instruction if they feel that the teacher is ‘playing favorites’ with another student as far as attendance goes, and the teacher can be subject for evaluation," Wilkins said.

Even though most students, including Schmalz, think that attendance policies are absurd, Schmalz said, "It is a good idea to be in class a sufficient amount of the semester to be able to keep up on homework and assignments."