With one more student adding my class (so far at least -- they just did another round of placement testing), my summer course is officially going to be carried.
Unfortunately, one hour after I sent a "welcome to the semester" email, one of the students emailed me back saying her grandmother died two days ago, the service isn't until Sunday (a little late, isn't it?), and she won't be back until "late in the day" on Monday, so she will have to miss the first class (a night class, by the way) of the semester. She hopes that won't be too much of a problem as she can provide documentation.
Well, she obviously hasn't checked things online like she said she was going to or she would have read the syllabus -- no excused absences and on the fourth absence you fail the course.
What a wonderful start to the semester. Oh how I'm looking forward to Monday.
MM
Oh, MM, I hope you have a very large bag of chocolate. I would first consume all of it in one sitting, then stick my head in the bag and breathe. This sounds like a dire summer session already.
ReplyDeleteFWIW...
ReplyDeleteI had a great uncle die a couple years ago. It was expected and all, so when I got the news I started working on my travel plans and work allocation. Then I got the word the day after that the service wasn't going to be for OVER a week. The military cemetery in Dallas has a serious waiting list, it seems. It did make the flight cheaper.
Wow, you don't even make accommodations for actual documented deaths?
ReplyDeleteI feel like you can usually tell early on when a death is being fabricated. But if a student has documentation, you can't (in my mind) penalize someone for losing a grieving over a loved one.
Maybe you got the sense that the grandma was not very close. But in this case, I like to err on the side of generosity mixed with a little punishment by making the student do extra "catch-up" work. Nothing I'll grade, but something that makes the busy-work remind them that they are paying for taking time off.
Payment they will gladly participate in if they are genuinely grateful for being able to attend the funeral of a loved one.
Academic Monkey:
ReplyDeleteMy department has a strict "an absence is an absence, period" policy that I'm not allowed to stray from for any reason whatsoever, no matter if the absence is due to a death or just wanting to catch up on your favorite tv show. If a student wants, they can appeal at the end of the semester to my boss so that he can make a determination on whether they get out of the absence(s), but I have no say in the matter. That said, being able to miss three days of a sixteen day class and only losing out on a letter grade in the process is pretty lenient in my mind. The student in question will lose a few points and have to make up the work we do in class, but otherwise there are no big consequences.
As for whether the death was genuine, I find the timing pretty suspicious. The student didn't bother to get in contact with me until I sent her an email, then she says she won't be able to make a night class the day after a funeral. She could definitely make it to class if she wanted to, especially given that the campus is within 15 minutes of the airport. I've also had quite a few students say they have proof of reason of absence just to see whether I'll let it slide without seeing the documentation. When I ask for it they make excuse after excuse as to why they can't give it to me.