to: Academic Policies Committee
from: Dean Cassels
re: Attendance Policies in Huxley Courses
I call your attention to a recurrent problem which has caused some consternation among my faculty recently, and which I suspect is an issue for other Huxley deans and department chairs as well.
There is a wide variance in attendance policies from course to course. Some faculty tolerate nothing less than perfect attendance, while others make no demands upon students whatsoever in terms of showing up for class.
I find it troubling to hear students selecting courses at the time of registration in part because of a lenient or non-existent attendance policy. In addition, there is considerable disagreement from faculty member to faculty member about how to handle absences that are caused by things like Huxley athletic events or college sponsored field trips.
Would the committee please discuss this matter to determine if we should promulgate some guidelines that might produce some uniformity in this area? Or is this a matter of academic freedom which is sacrosanct and better left to individual discretion?
Thanks.
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