Annette I've had a few like this- truly entitled. I suspect that it's more complex than mere poor parenting by a new generation- but I just remind them what the syllabus says, if necessary what being an adult entails including commitments etc., and then remind them that it's their choice to miss or not but that there are consequences to decisions. I've had students miss a test and 2 classes for exactly the same kind of thing (also, family reunions, birth of a sister's baby, my mom is moving, taking my friends cat to be spayed, etc.). A few are shocked that you don't just cave- one even appealed my decision to my dean who basically told them to grow up (sometimes I really like him!). :) I think my most interesting one was the student who emailed me to let me know her paper, one of six, would not be on time because they were having pledge week in her sorority. I just reminded her that they were allowed to drop one grade and that if she decided to get it in late that she should just use that as her drop- she replied, "But I'm saving that for something unexpected!" Ultimately she got it in on time. Tim
-----Original Message----- From: Annette Taylor [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2015 9:18 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re:[tips] Student excuses I just had an email from a student who cannot take the final exam because she is in her brother's wedding party on the next day. However, she has a solid A+ in the course (which, I will grant, is highly exceptional), and feels that she knows the material and would like to be excused. She feels that this is a sufficiently compelling excuse to satisfy my usual exam policy (I let students miss one exam if they have a documented, compelling excuse). She included a copy of the wedding invitation as her documentation. I am serious here, folks. Being in a wedding? She JUST found out about the wedding? She waited until one week before the scheduled time for the final exam to email me? She failed to note that the usual exam policy excludes the final exam. I responded back by email that that just will not do. I explained that being in the wedding party is not a compelling excuse and listed examples: serious illness (documented); death of an immediate family member (documented); major transportation failure (documented), etc. She has failed to respond back. I wonder if she'll come to class for the exam? I'm still flabbergasted. Have times changed? Am I missing something? Am I getting too old for this profession? Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. Professor, Psychological Sciences University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110-2492 [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13545.bae00fb8b4115786ba5dbbb67b9b177a&n=T&l=tips&o=44722 or send a blank email to leave-44722-13545.bae00fb8b4115786ba5dbbb67b9b1...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=44724 or send a blank email to leave-44724-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
