UMW’s attendance policies in courses infantilize students rather than hold them accountable

by KY HUYNH

Executive Editor

During senior year of high school, my mom would always push me to go to school to build a habit of having good attendance, but there were times when I wasn’t sure if I could learn anything or be productive in the classroom because I was so mentally exhausted. I remember looking forward to college because I would be responsible for myself and have the ability to decide whether or not I wanted to go to class when I was not physically or mentally well. However, when my freshman year at UMW began, I noticed that every syllabus I read included a strict attendance policy. 

What surprised me the most was that there was an attendance policy at all. I assumed that because we were all adults, we would be responsible for our own attendance without a policy that penalized absences. What also shocked me was that missing a specific number of classes could result in a drop in your grade; in some cases, it could even lead to dropping an entire letter grade. 

This policy felt counterintuitive to the independence I thought I would have in college. It became apparent to me that I would be more anxious about my attendance grade than the actual curriculum, which is why the university should remove professors’ graded attendance policies from their syllabi. 

When students attend class, professors want them to be fully engaged. Students also want to be engaged, which is difficult when they’re sick or feeling mentally unwell. During the winter, a number of students tend to struggle with seasonal depression, which affects how they perform in school. Personally, I have really good days and other days where I’m unproductive, mentally exhausted and unable to do my best work. On these days, there’s no point in attending my classes because I’m not able to get anything out of them. If there were no attendance policies, students would be able to take necessary mental health days. 

Allen Queen, a senior international affairs major, believes that shifting attendance policies to be more accommodating leaves more room for mental health awareness.

“By acknowledging how important mental health is, or even other emergencies in a student’s life, a student can feel more comfortable and hopefully more confident,” he said. “Not having to worry as much about an attendance grade may not seem like much, but it does more than affect someone’s grade, it affects their life outside of the classroom.” 

I’ve had experiences where I’ve been in emergencies that have interfered with my ability to attend class. For example, during my sophomore year, I was involved in a car accident before class. I was worried about not only my car, but also my attendance. 

I remember being so distraught about being in my first car accident before class that I didn’t want to tell anyone except my family. I emailed my professor about the situation because of the attendance policy, as it required an excused reason, even though I personally didn’t want to share. Wanting to miss class is reason enough; professors shouldn’t be the judge on whether a reason is valid or not, and therefore, there is no reason to share those private personal details. 

Students can still have basic communication skills with their professors when they’re unable to make it to class without an attendance policy. However, there are some instances where students should be able to keep their reasoning for not attending class private without having to explain the details to the professor. 

“I’m all for a no attendance policy,” said Blake Bauer, a senior historic preservation major. “It’ll definitely help ease pressure off of students who are facing crises.”

Some may say that if we have no attendance policy, students can abuse that system and not attend any classes. However, we are adults paying for college and students should hold themselves accountable for making up classwork if they miss class. Students should be responsible for getting their tuition’s worth and attending classes, not only to get the best grade, but to learn the curriculum.

“If someone doesn’t show up to class simply because they don’t want to, they’re wasting their own money and their grades will suffer as a natural consequence,” said Bauer. “The way I see it is that not having an attendance policy puts the ball in our court as students—it’s up to us how we play it.”

Chris Foss, professor of English, generally does not have an attendance policy for upper-level classes. 

“I assume the majority of those students are English majors and that’s what they want to do,” he said. “They’re in their wheelhouse, so they want to be there to talk about what they’ve been reading.”

There is also a separate grading category, “class participation,” that is already similar to attendance. There’s no point in having both a grade for attendance and a grade for participation because one measures whether or not someone shows up, and the other measures engagement in class, which is more important. Having just a participation grade will allow students to focus on being more involved when they are in class.  

“I think class participation is 100% valid and has a place in every syllabus. It justifiably supersedes any attendance policy in my opinion,” said Bauer. “What’s the point in physically showing up if you’re not going to mentally attend.”

Attending class is important, but the individual students should be responsible for making that decision. If someone is feeling mentally exhausted, they should be able to implement mental health days for themselves. Also, we shouldn’t need to always justify why we aren’t able to show up, even if it’s because of a sickness or emergencies, we should be allowed to keep those reasons personal. How we engage and participate in class is how we should be graded, not whether or not we’re about to attend a class.