Like many students at Georgia State, I commute to school every day. Sometimes it can be a hassle to make it to class on time because I use three modes of transportation. First, I drive to MARTA. Then, I take the train to Five Points and walk from there. This results in roughly a one-hour trip to and from campus. I don’t complain because I enjoy being in the city and, for the most part, find the commute enjoyable, convenient and sometimes interesting.
However, sometimes my one-hour commute turns into two hours. Mostly, it is due to circumstances that were out of my control. Whether it’s a wreck on 400, resulting in a traffic jam, or inconsistent train service, this means that I’m sometimes late for class. On many occasions, I’ve missed class altogether.
When this happens, I have to take an unexcused absence. Often, this has reduced my grade at the end of the semester, but I understand there is a policy and professors can’t make exceptions for individual students.
That being said, many times I’ve made it to school in plenty of time, just to see a note on the classroom door announcing that class has been cancelled. This happens to me several times a semester and I cannot come up with a justifiable excuse.
While I understand the attendance policy, I don’t necessarily agree with it. This argument has been beaten to death by many jilted students but I’m going to go there once again.
I’m an adult who pays a hefty sum to attend Georgia State. I feel that if I made an A in my class, it should be an A regardless of how many days I was present. I didn’t let my absences hinder my performance, so why do I have points that I earned fair-and-square taken away? However, if I did poorly in a class, that should be my punishment and a lesson learned.
I’ve had professors cancel more than three days of class in one semester and am sure that their hard-earned pay isn’t deducted, so why is my hard-earned grade lowered?
There have even been a few times when there isn’t a note and the professor just doesn’t show up. This once happened on the day of a scheduled exam. I feel like the most unimportant person when this happens, and from the reaction of other students, I sense they feel the same way.
How is it easier to tape a note on the door than to send an e-mail to notify students of a cancelled class? I understand that professors are having their assistants do this, but with today’s technology, they can just as easily send out a mass message. With the click of a mouse you can let everyone know not to bother making the trip to campus.
If this happened every once in a while, I’d be annoyed but understanding. However, it’s happened pretty often over the years, making it apparent that some professors give little regard to their students and how they are inconvenienced.
I could never get away with posting a note on the door letting my professor know that I won’t make it to class. Most policies are very clear that I am expected to e-mail a professor if I’m going to be absent. If they demand that kind of respect from students, they why isn’t it a two way street?
The worse is when I’ve trudged into the city for my one class of the day just to find out it’s cancelled when I arrive. I could have had an entire day to study, run errands or just relax but instead I wasted two hours for no good reason. My time is valuable and I get the idea that some of my professors don’t agree.
All I ask, and I think many other students agree, is that I’m notified about a class cancellation before I reach the classroom door.
Attendence policies need improvement
Published: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Updated: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
 "Photo: N/A")
Professors need to have more respect for students’ time.
1 comments