Attendance is my business

I have always been a person of a rebellious and somewhat militant nature and I have never been very accepting of burdensome rules and policies. Just ask any one of my supervisors at any of my meaningless jobs who told me that if I did not like the policies and procedures, I could leave. I would trip over myself to get out the door.

So, imagine my horror when one of my professors told me he would not accept my homework because I missed the class before and did not have a doctor's note. "It is the department's policy," he said. I felt heat rush to my face, I know I turned several shades of red as I swallowed my anger and attempted to vocalize my displeasure as tactfully as possible. It was not my professor I was angry at, it was the phrase, "it is the department's policy" that was too large for me to swallow.

As an older student, I have difficulty accepting the need to "call off from school." After all, who is paying whom? I decided to check out the attendance policy at Metro.

The information provided in the catalog and on the Metro Website states that attendance is necessary the first week of the new semester to ensure that you are going to be in that class. Since there are students who waitlist classes, it is important that the instructor knows exactly how many students are going to be in that class, so those waitlisted students will be able to get a seat. I get this policy and I agree, but what about attendance for the rest of the semester?

I spoke with Eugene Ackler, assistant registrar with the registrar's office, and he said that it is up to each department, and sometimes the individual instructor, to set their own attendance policy. For instance, my political science professor does not have a set policy because the belief is that if the student does not go to class it is detrimental to his grade not to attend. Participation goes hand-in-hand with the attendance policy. If you are not in class to participate and you miss more than the allotted number of absences, your grade will be reduced by one whole letter.

Ackler also informed me that the department's attendance policy is supposed to be on the syllabus. I checked the syllabi of all of my classes and not one of them states the department's policy. However, each one does provide the attendance policy for class attendance on religious holidays.

So, if you are like me, and you take classes in a variety of departments, what do you do? Ackler's advice is to read the department's notes and know what you are getting into before registering for that class.

I say if I want to show up for tests only, I should be allowed to do just that. After all, it is my money, my education, my grade and my knowledge that will suffer.

And that should be my choice.