If a college does not have an attendance policy but the proffessor does, should he be allowed to fail a student who has a solid A in the class because the student has six absences? When your Catholic and private it appears you can do anything you wish with no liability whatsoever.

@1 -- of course. In every college and university I know of, the course instructor sets the attendance policy. On the other hand, this can produce the unfortunate outcome of grades on a transcript reflecting attendance (or lack thereof) rather than performance on exams, terms paper, quizzes, etc. If the policy is stated in the course syllabus, you have little recourse in the case of unexcused absences.

BTW, it's "you're" in your second sentence -- was that one of the classes you missed?

Nope - definitely not. My fingers were just faster than my mind could edit - clicked the send too early. Besides it wasn't me who failed, since I graduated summa cum laude.

BTW - The student who failed was absent for health reasons and thought they were excused.

@3 -- at my university we have an established policy for appealing grades in a case such as you describe. Department chairs try to negotiate an outcome acceptable to the instructor and the student; failing that, the dean can convene a committee to consider the case; ultimately the apropriate vice president (for undergraduate education or graduate education, as needed) can rule on the matter, and change a grade if justified. We had a case in May in which a grade was changed from F to B for a student who saw given a failing grade for a late final paper, when it was the instructor who simply picked it up late.

I assume that most colleges have some kind of appeal mechanism for student complaints. I will also add that, from an instructor's point of view, treating the course syllabus as a kind of contract has a lot of benefits; but it also requires that a syllabus be a fairly comprehensive and explicit statement of policies, standards, etc.

Not that we need to give litigious-minded students any more ideas . . . but I have been issuing a heads up with respect to the scientific status of higher education's grading practices, which are not appreciably better than astrology. The provable within and between inconsistencies and invalidities of current practices, combined with the high stakes associated to grades, may give rise to a new kind of lawsuit. It is relatively easy to prove that unreliable and invalid grading practices are responsible for one person getting into graduate school, securing a high performance job, etc. when another student actually performed better on the selection criteria. It is even easier to prove that many members of the professoriate is failing to perform at a professional level that is arguably incumbent upon them when they evaluate student performance (cf. awareness of and adherence to conventional best practice for physicians).

I suppose it would help to have in place some kind of signed disclaimer to the effect that grades issues by an instructor represent that person's judgment and nothing more and that no claims are made to the assessment being scientifically valid. What a statement for a university to have to make. More desirable would be to teach our professors how to evaluate performance at 1980's scientific levels.

This student was already enrolled in graduate school and loves to learn, never dreamed of not graduating in May with classmates. He overcame anxiety, and cancer still maintaining a 3. something GPA - even had a testicle removed on Saturday and back in class on Monday. The only thing it taught his young mind (if he didn't already know it) was life is not fair and made him cynical at a young age.

I agree with intered, it is time that we in higher education evaluate performance at 1980 scientific levels. If we truly are educators, we need to give grades that reflect knowledge.

Intered, you SHOULD be stimulating litigation against grading practices. The situation is, and has long been, untenable. Some professors grade on "effort"; others on results. Some use grades as a weapon to insure conformity (while the institution makes the hollow boast of promoting independent thought). Some departments brazenly use highly inflated grades in order to increase enrollments (the chair of the arts department in the college where I taught artlessly admitted this in a faculty meeting. Grading abuses are fostered by tying student evaluations to tenure decisions, salary determinations, and promotions. And I remember a colleague stating that, because it was so hard to discriminate the performance of one student against another, he just gave A's to girls with big tits.

It is all so corrupt and corrupting, yet our colleges and universities very rarely even acknowledge that there is a problem.

@ conservative

Why the crack against Catholic schools?

Conservative, another class missed? "Nope, it wasn't I who failed." Moving on, grades are a toss-up as to their accuracy, A student must read a professor's syllabus carefully to determine exactly the basis by which grades will be issued, efforts, results, or both. It is absolutely correct that a grade is the personal evaluation by a professor. Be prepared!

@ conservative:

A student completing their bachelor degree, admitted/enrolled in graduate school, thought they were excused, but did not make the effort to follow-up to be sure they were excused?

I work at a state university where it is the choice of the professor to set an attendance policy. As long as the policy is communicated and is part of the syllabus, a student is responsible for informing the professor and following up with the professor on absences.

Don't even try the "he had cancer" thing with me. 19 years ago tomorrow I was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer (required three operations and 3 months of chemo). I was in school and had a full-time job. The first thing I did after losing my mind for a couple of hours and telling my family was to call my employer to arrange sick time and then contacting/following up with my professors on excused absences.

The responsibility in this case is on the student. It is tragic to be diagnosed and then begin treatments, but that does not absolve a person from meeting responsibilities. At no time did I have a professor question, nor not provide an excused absence, when I made the effort to communicate my needs in a timely manner.

Again, it is tragic this young man went through something I am fairly familiar with, but he was responsible. However, only an extremely disturbed professor would not take into account the emotional and physical burdens placed upon a person being treated for cancer when making their grade decisions.

@ jc1968:

The student "thought he was excused" because the professor was informed. You are correct that he was responsible for making sure the absence was excused in writing. I never stated he was not at fault. My statement was students should be graded on knowledge - not attendance, attempt, etc.

Wasn't using the cancer card either. The cancer fact was just brought into this post to show the student wasn't someone who blew off class, but a very responsible student. He thought he was being responsible. Unfortunately or fortunately, he learned everything needs to be in writing, signed, and dated.

@ softshellcrab:

The crack about Catholic schools was because it was a Catholic school and the professor is a brother. It was appealed and the president didn't want to overturn the decision of a member of the order that founded the school.

@ conservative:

What the school president did, in my opinion, is unexcusable and akin to organizations that cover for the bad acts of their members. That type of decision by the president illustrates that the institution cares more for protecting their interests than for the education of their students.

@jc1968:

I couldn't agree more. He is a fighter and finishing his degree this summer so he can attend graduate school beginning in late August. He will be ok, it is just sad that one professor can do so much damage. I've said enough so I'm not posting anymore, but thanks for your thoughts. I'm really glad you are a fighter too and didn't let cancer destroy your life. Kudos to you!