<p>Yeah it’s a big surprise for us that all teachers are pretty much tracking attendance through clickers & other methods.
S was legitimately sick a couple of days last semester didn’t get documentation & got into hot water. He missed half of a 100 point lab(2 days) & 2 out of 12 labs and got an F in lab despite getting an A on the lab final & attending 9 out of 12. Which bought his B+ in the lecture portion down to a C-. He met with the prof twice to no avail.
I think it’s a pretty crazy policy for students who they say are adults on one hand. He could have taken the 2 different shuttles to get to the health center, but that was the last thing he wanted to do at the time.
That’s why you have tests & papers. 2 of his classes have 20% of the grade based upon attendance. Before you flame me I don’t like that he misses any classes. He missed 2 days of school in 4 years of hs. But reality is lots of kids = lots of germs & stuff happens.
My iPhone alarm didn’t go off this morning & i woke up an hour late because it hasn’t been working right since I downloaded the new software, stuff happens.</p>
<p>And the punitive absence policy is not real life. Real life is that you go to work if you can, stay home and get well if you are ill, but you are responsible for the missed work when you return. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>Couple years ago, PSU had (like so many other schools) a H1N1 season that was taking out a lot of students. Their solution was to have sick students stay in their dorms, call the health office and speak to a nurse (there were extras on call). That nurse would document the call, send an official email documenting the student’s condition and requesting that they stay in bed, in their room, until such-and-such a date or condition. Nurses made follow-up calls and (amazingly enough) dining halls started allowing people to call in for pick-up meals (to keep sick students eating, but also keep them out of the dining halls!) That email was fw’d by the student to professors, who excused the absence and made make-up work available for pick up once the student recovered. So it was still on the student to get that excuse and send it on, and do the work, but it really helped keep more people healthy.</p>
<p>Greenbutton, Pitt did the same type of thing two years ago. H1N1 went through my daughter’s eight-woman suite her first two weeks of college. I am not sure how DD avoided it, but she did.</p>