Absent policy could change to include school interviews
The USU absence policy is in the process of being improved. ASUSU is working on an addition to the policy allowing students who miss class to pursue a higher education to make up what they missed in class.
Lance Pflieger, science senator, said the reason for this addition to the policy came up when a student came to him after missing class for a medical school interview. He missed a test and the teacher would not excuse his absence and allow him to make up that test.
Currently the absence policy only excuses athletics, ASUSU, student government and clubs. However, this does not cover students who have interviews with gradate schools, Pflieger said.
“The student is in an upper-level chemistry class. When he first talked to me he had missed a test and the teacher gave him a zero. The teacher thought this was fair because in the class the students get to drop their lowest test score,” Pflieger said.
The student felt like he was being penalized, Pflieger said. He has more interviews scheduled and is starting to worry about his grade, he said.
“After the student brought this to my attention, I talked to the college of science dean, who supports the addition to the absence policy,” Pflieger said.
The dean sent out an e-mail to the department heads that filtered down to faculty, he said. Unfortunately, the student is still receiving zeros on quizzes, Pflieger said.
This has been a problem for years, he said. When students have to miss class to interview at graduate schools, they are on their own as far as missing tests and quizzes.
Jeremy Jennings, ASUSU Academic Senate president, said the current process of appealing an absence is to talk to the department’s head, then to the dean, then to the provost. However, if a student pulls rank on a professor, they will be treated differently the rest of the semester.
The new process would entitle a student to meet with their academic adviser to get their reason for missing class approved, he said. This way the students would have to prove a legitimate reason to miss class, Pflieger said.
After meeting with the faculty, Pflieger said they felt they accepted our new idea very well.
The change will be presented to USU President Stan Albrecht, Jennings said. Then, if he is interested in pursuing it, he will dictate which bodies it needs to be approved by, Jennings said.
Pflieger said the senate wants to know about concerns that the students have because otherwise nothing can be changed.
“It’s what we are here for,” Pflieger said.
–tazya.williams@aggiemail.usu.edu