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[anon99]

Heh.

I had a student with five absences come in to find out what dates she had been absent 'for her records'.  She came in the next day with five excuse notes photocopied.  Each was dated for one of the five absences we had noted in the prior meeting.  I was particularly impressed that on five seemingly unrelated dates, she had not only managed to experience stomach cramps and diarrhea, but against all odds, her blood pressure had remained stable throughout the semester.  In fact, it appears that it never changes. 

To quote Ron White, "You can't fix stupid."

Were all the words and signatures also in the exact same spot???

[gennimom]

At my U, the SHC also does not give doctor's excuses. The premise is, the only person that can excuse the student from class is the professor. The doctor's note is too easy to fake, and they will not be responsible for telling the professors what to do.

[mended_drum]

At my U, the SHC also does not give doctor's excuses. The premise is, the only person that can excuse the student from class is the professor. The doctor's note is too easy to fake, and they will not be responsible for telling the professors what to do.

Unfortunately, that leaves the professor trying to find out how sick is actually sick.  I've found that I can no longer handle the constant barrage of excuses, so I'm no longer distinguishing between excused and unexcused absences without a note from the dean.

[gennimom]

Our professors generally don't take excuses for illness. I know one that was going to count the absences against the student, but the father called and said his son was in hospital with appendicitis. The prof waited for the student to come back and accepted the excuse. The kid was still pale and washed out looking, so no reason not to believe.

Mine all took my word for it when I had pneumonia. Might have had something to do with my never being absent. Too many students are absent all the time and want to be excused for "illness." I guess it depends on the student and the situation whether the prof gives them an excuse or not.

[kaysixteen]

Surely most schools have some dean or administrative authority person who can grant excuses, whether snobbish professors like it or not.  Reality is reality, and sometimes kids get sick.

[octoprof]

I don't pay attention to excuses. I just don't care about trying to fathom who is legitimately absent and who isn't. I don't give makeups, but I do allow students to miss one exam, no questions asked (don't miss two though...).  I do not want to be the arbiter of excuses. I will not, in fact, serve in that position. I'm just not interested.

If a student is sick enough to miss loads of class, then the university has a systen for them to get a medical withdrawal (there are also some other hardship options, too.  Like kaysixteen says, that stuff is administered by the powers-that-be, not me (thankfully).

Any student misses weeks of class, needs to go that route, and I point them politely in that direction.  There's just no way to pass an accounting course when missing weeks of class.

[gennimom]

Kay, it was made clear when I started that the only people with the legitimate authority to give students excused absences were the professors. Many use it to say there are NO excused absences and students can miss only a certain number of classes before it affects their grades. As a matter of fact, when I took the TA workshop, this was mentioned to us, and we were told to put certain language in all syllabi that explained this. The prof I worked for only allowed makeups in certain circumstances, which meant he usually had to be notified in advance of the absence. The only exception I know of was the kid with the appendicitis. I know the last prof I worked for had something in her syllabi that took care of absences too. And it was mentioned that the SHC did NOT give out excuses. This is a university-wide policy.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

At my U, the SHC also does not give doctor's excuses. The premise is, the only person that can excuse the student from class is the professor. The doctor's note is too easy to fake, and they will not be responsible for telling the professors what to do.

That's a cop out.  It is better for the professor to make such a decision with a note than without one.  A SHS is part of the university community, and has a responsibility to cooperate in the smooth running of that community.  If I ask a student for a note, and the student asks her health care provider for the note, it is unprofessional for the provider to refuse, and - in the case of the SHS - uncollegial as well.  - DvF

[yemaya]

At my U, the SHC also does not give doctor's excuses. The premise is, the only person that can excuse the student from class is the professor. The doctor's note is too easy to fake, and they will not be responsible for telling the professors what to do.

That's a cop out.  It is better for the professor to make such a decision with a note than without one.  A SHS is part of the university community, and has a responsibility to cooperate in the smooth running of that community.  If I ask a student for a note, and the student asks her health care provider for the note, it is unprofessional for the provider to refuse, and - in the case of the SHS - uncollegial as well.  - DvF

My university SHS refuses to give students notes.  They have a number of nurses who are also fond of telling students that professors have no right to set policies governing excuses, absences, etc.  There's very little that's professional, collegial or even medically competent about the place.  I don't take attendance and I usually give take-home exams, so absences aren't really an issue for me.  For extensions on major assignments, students need to go get a note from the dean.  I also have a one-time 1 day grace period built into my late paper policy.  The students with a legitimate reason for late assignments can get documentation this way and I don't have to deal with excuses and whining about something being late because someone's roommate's dog died or grandma died for the third time this semester.

[gennimom]

I get the impression that something happened before I came to school and that led to the clinic here refusing to sign excuses.

Unlike Yemaya's, our SHC is professional, collegial, and very competent. We have several MDs on staff, and our own fully staffed pharmacy. There is also a fully staffed physical therapy room. They can even run certain tests and X-rays. After I broke my foot, and had the ER doc tell me that it was just sprained, the SHC doc ran more X-rays. Even knowing what the break was called (the radiologist from the ER caught the misdiagnosis), the doc still had trouble finding it. He told us he's seen many breaks like mine, but none in that exact position. Before I left I had an appointment with an orthopedist. We didn't get to the SHC until 4 pm.

I've had many regular doctors that don't work with the patient as well as this place does. It is run sort of like a cross between an ER and a regular doctor's office. Service is fast and efficient. We could go and find a family doctor out in the community now, but we like the people at the SHC.

We're a school of 17,000 students. I knew professors who wouldn't take doctor's excuses before the ban. If a professor needs proof you've been to the doctor, you always leave there with the pink copy of your visit report. You can always show that to prove that yes, you have been to the doctor. Up to the professor then.

[kaysixteen]

So if some professor, for whatever reason, refuses to excuse a student who obviously  was sick/ injured, etc., there is no appeal for the kid?  No checks and balances?

[gennimom]

I know of no professor here that wouldn't see reason, if the student were ill or injured enough. One professor mentioned (in a class of graduate students looking to become professors) that although her syllabus mentions a policy of NO makeups, she can and will make exceptions in extreme circumstances, such as in the case of the student who lost a leg in a car accident. The professors are allowed the discretion in making the decision to allow the student to be excused. The SHC does not make the decision for the profs.

I don't know what would happen if a student had a valid excuse but the professor wouldn't allow it. I've never heard of such a thing at this campus. I did have a professor during my undergraduate (at another U) that would not allow makeups even when I had the flu. Didn't matter if I had a doctor's excuse or not. I struggled to class to fail the test. That was the only class I have ever dropped. I retook it the next semester (under another prof) and made an A.

I did take a 0 in a lab the day after I fell off a horse in another class. Most falls just involve moaning and groaning for a couple of days, but this one had me so stove up, I could barely move. Usually getting up and moving around loosens things up, but not this time. I tried to make my first class and knew I wouldn't survive it. I rode the elevator (a big no-no) up to the lab TA's office to tell him I wouldn't be in there before going back to the dorm. He said he would not allow a makeup, because after all, he finished an entire semester from a hospital bed. A little fall from a horse wasn't a good enough excuse. It didn't matter that I couldn't climb on a lab stool, much less sit on it for 2 hours, or even less likely, stand on my feet for the same length of time. I ended up with a D in that course because the TA and I didn't see eye to eye about that and other things. The A in the lecture leavened the disappointment.

[yemaya]

I don't know what would happen if a student had a valid excuse but the professor wouldn't allow it. I've never heard of such a thing at this campus.

I don't know of any student who had a valid excuse not being excused on my campus either. But our SHS will only give notes saying that the student was at the health center.  There were a lot of students abusing the system and going down to the SHS because they'd been drunk/didn't feel like doing the assignment, etc.  To cut down on these bulls**t excuses, the students now have to go to the dean and plead their case.  It's enough that students who have a valid reason for needing an extension can get the excuse and it discourages those who were just too lazy to do the work.  But this requires having a dean who is willing to do this.

[kaysixteen]

The idea is that there should always be checks and balances, an avenue of appeal from arbitrary or potentially biased professorial judgment.   In essence, and contrary to the views occasionally expressed by some academics, professors are not little gods.

[grasshopper]

The idea is that there should always be checks and balances, an avenue of appeal from arbitrary or potentially biased professorial judgment.   In essence, and contrary to the views occasionally expressed by some academics, professors are not little gods.

Well, clearly you haven't met me.

Of course students can appeal, and they do it all the time. They go to the chair, then to the dean...