Are there any college professors on the Escapist who might lend their opinion on this situation?

[Eggsnham]

Today, one of my professors dropped me from the course due to my lack of attendance. My local community college has an unusually strict attendance policy; if you miss more than 3 classes, the professor teaching the course is allowed to drop you from the class. If you miss more than 10 classes and your professor hasn't dropped you, you'll be dropped automatically by the school.

On the second day of classes, my professor kicked me out of class for not having the textbook. The next week, he kicked me out again for not having my homework fully completed. This would have been an understandable punishment if he'd done the same thing to another student missing her work in the last class, but he didn't.

Then, in a run of bad luck, I caught a nasty cold and was out of class for 3 days. Obviously this put me well beyond the maximum allotment of unexcused absences and my professor is well within his rights to drop me; I just can't help but feel like he's making an example of me or just looking for reasons to get rid of me.

In the days where I've been in attendance and he hasn't kicked me out, I hadn't seen him deal with any other student in the same way he dealt with me.

And that's it. There's literally nothing more to the story. I'm mostly to blame for this, I know, but it still doesn't feel like he's made any attempt to give me a proper chance.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

As a recent graduate (though not a professor),I'd say the teacher was in his rights (if a bit of a dick) for kicking you out after three absences. I went to two different schools (community college for my AA, University for my Bachelor's), and they both had that three day rule, it was just up to the professor to enforce, and it was a rare professor that did it. The only problem is the way this one kicked you out for not having the text book on the second day of class. Unless you had it on the first day, that's a bit out of line, because in my experience the bookstores /always/ underestimate how many text books they need to order, and if you don't get them early, often you don't get them at all until the second week or so of classes.

You might want to try talking to the professor about it, but otherwise I'd say just to be more careful in picking your professors in the future. The real dicks get a reputation pretty quickly, and the other students will tell you if you ask. Also, be on top of your assignments. This isn't highschool, the professors don't have as much incentive to work with you if you screw up. They might do it if you communicate with them (hint: that syllabus has an e-mail address on it for a reason), but they don't have to.

 

[Hero of Lime]

A professor of mine has a policy where if you are absent for three classes straight she will drop you. Unless you have a good reason, or you contact her about your absences beforehand. It seems like a common enough rule among professors as Owyn_Merrilin says.

I would say your professor has every right to kick you out, however, you have a case to be made. If he told you he would be strict about having the textbook and completed homework, he has the right as I just said. Talk to him or administrative personnel about your situation, just because a professor is strict doesn't mean they can't be reasoned with.

captcha: coffee ran, maybe he wants to not be slurped out of a cup captcha, be a little more sensitive about these kind of things!

 

[Ryotknife]

....what community college kicks people out?

(looks at OP profile)

MONROE COMMUNITY COLLEGE? I took a few classes there and they didn't give two craps if people were absent at all, I don't even think they took attendance. So long as they get their money my professors couldn't care less if people showed up or not.

Granted this was ten years ago, but still. I missed quite a few classes simply because I had to work late a few days and couldn't make it to my late afternoon classes (well, not without a cloud of drywall dust accompanying me wherever I went in the school, but I think they would appreciate that even less than me missing the class).

 

[thiosk]

I'm not a professor (yet) but I generally don't worry about attendance. You pay to go to school, and if you don't want to be bothered to go to class who am I to complain? I do track it internally, though, and when students come to me for help, thats the experience I draw on most heavily when deciding how much assistance to provide.

When you miss a bunch of classes, and then can't be bothered to turn in the work, though... Had a student who missed 4 classes (once a week class, so about 25% of the class overall), then turned in less than half the work, and flunked the final, and still had the gall to complain about the passing D grade I invented for him out of thin air.

Future deadbeats will receive much less from me because of that poor experience.

 

[dfphetteplace]

While I'm not a college professor, I am an instructor for EMS and fire education. I have a pretty strict policy on attendance for my classes, as well as having classwork done when it should be done. While I think he was being a dick for not doing across the board punishment, I have to say it was within his right to do so. Would I have kicked you for being sick? No. Make sure you talk to him though, you may be able to get him to let you back in the program if you promise to shape up and not miss another class and to actually do your work. Hope this helped.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

What is this, High School? If I'm paying THOUSANDS of dollars, I should be able to do WHAT I WANT in terms of attendance. Period. College is there to help you prepare for your career and if you don't want to put in the work, that's your problem and your waste of money. That's all there is to it.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Jeah.. i don't really get the attendance thing either. We can basically sign up for the courses, learn everything by ourself with the documents each prof. puts online for his course and show up once for the test.
Nobody cares and if you fail, you fail. That's your own damn fault then.

Of course there are special courses you can do or projects and whatnot and those certainly require you to be there. But the normal programm?
I doubt the professor notices if 1 out of the +500 economics students of our semester is missing <.< Or 10.. or 50.

 

[Fappy]

What is this, High School? If I'm paying THOUSANDS of dollars, I should be able to do WHAT I WANT in terms of attendance. Period. College is there to help you prepare for your career and if you don't want to put in the work, that's your problem and your waste of money. That's all there is to it.

My thoughts exactly. High Education is flawed in thinking that it expects you to act like an adult but treats you like a child. Despite having some great professors during my undergrad I came to despise how schools in the US function. I could understand attendance policies regarding the first day of class. If you don't show up the first day you get automatically dropped so another student in-line can get in. That makes sense.

Screwing you out of something you paid for is just poor business.

 

[Worgen]

What is this, High School? If I'm paying THOUSANDS of dollars, I should be able to do WHAT I WANT in terms of attendance. Period. College is there to help you prepare for your career and if you don't want to put in the work, that's your problem and your waste of money. That's all there is to it.

My thoughts exactly. High Education is flawed in thinking that it expects you to act like an adult but treats you like a child. Despite having some great professors during my undergrad I came to despise how schools in the US function. I could understand attendance policies regarding the first day of class. If you don't show up the first day you get automatically dropped so another student in-line can get in. That makes sense.

Screwing you out of something you paid for is just poor business.

Attendance has to do with the school rating or something. Its pretty much standard that you miss 3 classes and the prof can drop you, but I haven't had one who cared. My main issue is him kicking someone out of class, I would say that is on the bullshit scale, you payed for the damn class, you get to sit in the damn class, he can't kick you out for something like that. It probably goes against school rules.

 

[redknightalex]

What is this, High School? If I'm paying THOUSANDS of dollars, I should be able to do WHAT I WANT in terms of attendance. Period. College is there to help you prepare for your career and if you don't want to put in the work, that's your problem and your waste of money. That's all there is to it.

Actually, it's also the school's problem as many of their rankings, accreditation, and ability to charge a higher tuition comes from being a "good" college/university and typically going to class means you're going to get a good grade. Not always the case, granted, but there's a decent correlation between being in class and getting a good grade. That's why school's will put you on suspension for not averaging at a certain grade or kick you out entirely. You may be paying for the tuition (or your parents, the government, private loans; most likely not you though) but they are just as invested in you passing and doing well as you are. What college doesn't want to look good?

Also, if you're paying to just be absent from class, why are you even going to school?

OT: Three classes is generous. When I went to school -- and the supplemental Community College credits I'm taking now after graduation -- most professor's had a two class rule. If you talked to them about it they were usually ok if you were sick or had other complications. If there's a serious problem, go to the dean. No, really, Dean of Students or someone like that. They will at least listen.

Attendance has to do with the school rating or something. Its pretty much standard that you miss 3 classes and the prof can drop you, but I haven't had one who cared. My main issue is him kicking someone out of class, I would say that is on the bullshit scale, you payed for the damn class, you get to sit in the damn class, he can't kick you out for something like that. It probably goes against school rules.

Yup, this. Wrote everything out and found this right above me. Heh.

(As a reference to where I'm coming from, I work at a university and although I don't know too many specifics, I know a lot more than I did when I graduated. Or the general public.)

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I do have some classes that give you bonus points for attendance at my Uni, but to go as far as kicking student for missing a class?! Hell, just how small is your college that prof can actually count every single student?!

 

[michael87cn]

Of course it's not High School. It's "Look, I can throw thousands of dollars down the drain to get a piece of paper that says I can do jobs!" school. It's all about being Upper Class, and looking it. If you don't show up, like a 'lowly' middle class citizen, you don't deserve a decent job, slave! I mean, jeez, they're PROFESSORS, they're almost Kings of Men. You gotta do what they want. Or else.

Yes I am being slightly sarcastic. Just slightly though. Get back to work earning that piece of paper that means jack all! (most jobs can be taught to anyone willing to learn, and you do NOT need to throw so much money at a 'school' to do them).

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Today, one of my professors dropped me from the course due to my lack of attendance. My local community college has an unusually strict attendance policy; if you miss more than 3 classes, the professor teaching the course is allowed to drop you from the class. If you miss more than 10 classes and your professor hasn't dropped you, you'll be dropped automatically by the school.

On the second day of classes, my professor kicked me out of class for not having the textbook. The next week, he kicked me out again for not having my homework fully completed. This would have been an understandable punishment if he'd done the same thing to another student missing her work in the last class, but he didn't.

Then, in a run of bad luck, I caught a nasty cold and was out of class for 3 days. Obviously this put me well beyond the maximum allotment of unexcused absences and my professor is well within his rights to drop me; I just can't help but feel like he's making an example of me or just looking for reasons to get rid of me.

In the days where I've been in attendance and he hasn't kicked me out, I hadn't seen him deal with any other student in the same way he dealt with me.

And that's it. There's literally nothing more to the story. I'm mostly to blame for this, I know, but it still doesn't feel like he's made any attempt to give me a proper chance.

I'd fight it. When you show up to the class but the Professor kicks you out, that is not 'being absent'. Being absent is when you don't show up at all. Likewise, they cannot hold it against you for being sick. The only situation where they could do something like that is if you were extraordinarily sick and it was clear you were going to miss all or most of the semester, and in that case they'd likely just have you 'withdraw while passing' (and I'm pretty sure they'd have to refund your money too).

Of course it's not High School. It's "Look, I can throw thousands of dollars down the drain to get a piece of paper that says I can do jobs!" school. It's all about being Upper Class, and looking it. If you don't show up, like a 'lowly' middle class citizen, you don't deserve a decent job, slave! I mean, jeez, they're PROFESSORS, they're almost Kings of Men. You gotta do what they want. Or else.

Yes I am being slightly sarcastic. Just slightly though. Get back to work earning that piece of paper that means jack all! (most jobs can be taught to anyone willing to learn, and you do NOT need to throw so much money at a 'school' to do them).

Uh, it's a community college, they aren't very expensive, that's sort of the point.

 

[zerragonoss]

Well that just sucks. The book and homework things seem like complete crap and may be against you school policies especially if not made clear and enforced uniformly. For the three absence I am with the other people that its within his right but have not ran into a teacher who cared (except in the ems classes I took but those were very different form the standard academic fare). Though how crazy it is mostly depends on how often you class meets. Honestly missed class session are rather a useless indicator in collage where some classes meet once for four hours once a week and some meet for 45 minutes 5 times a week, its missed class time that matters.

 

[DrOswald]

I honestly find this a bit weird. I guess it might just be the area of focus I have, but I have not had a single class where anyone cared if I was there or not (except for lab classes, and that was only because the point was to do lab work.) I have never seen anyone take attendance. In fact, I once had a class that I never showed up for except on exam days and no one even noticed and they certainly didn't care.

 

[jetriot]

For professors like that, when you are absent with a good reason you should always get an excused absence form from the dean of students or academic affairs or whomever your school designates to handle those. There is always a way to make the system work for your benefit if you are serious about your education and take charge of it(and can talk comfortably with 'superiors'). Otherwise, if you don't like the attendance policies of a particular school you can always take your money elsewhere. They balance creating a competitive atmosphere where only high quality students exist and an inviting one where everyone feels welcome no matter motivation or intelligence. Each college is in a different place on this spectrum and you need to find the right one for you.

 

[sextus the crazy]

snip

....what community college kicks people out?

(looks at OP profile)

MONROE COMMUNITY COLLEGE? I took a few classes there and they didn't give two craps if people were absent at all, I don't even think they took attendance. So long as they get their money my professors couldn't care less if people showed up or not.

Granted this was ten years ago, but still. I missed quite a few classes simply because I had to work late a few days and couldn't make it to my late afternoon classes (well, not without a cloud of drywall dust accompanying me wherever I went in the school, but I think they would appreciate that even less than me missing the class).

Fuck me, MCC? I didn't know there were some other Rochesterians (is that our proper demonym?) 'round here.

OT: I've taken one class at MCC and the teacher was pretty strict about attendance. Although granted, the course was a condensed summer course that was writing intensive, so missing one class would make you lose a lot. My other college courses have been less strict about attendance(except maybe self-taught arabic, but that's due to the nature of the course).