By Jon Parton
Student Theresa Campbell believes the school needs to revise its attendance policy in order to better serve students with extenuating circumstances.
Earlier during the semester, Campbell was forced to have her gall bladder removed. Although the surgery was originally going to be scheduled, she said her health rapidly deteriorated.
“I got to the point where I couldn’t even keep water down,” Campbell said. “And then one morning I called my doctor and said I couldn’t do it anymore.”
She went to the emergency room that morning in order to have emergency surgery. Campbell said that she was worried about missing so much school. At the beginning of her Reading class, Campbell signed a contract that stated she would regularly attend class and complete assigned homework.
“I had tried speaking to my reading teacher before the scheduled surgery they were going to do,” Campbell said. “She told me that I needed to make a decision.”
The surgery and recovery process caused her to miss six of her Reading classes. Campbell said her instructor, Suzanne Franklin, professor, Reading Department, had decided to drop her from the course.
“Supposedly she did not know what was going on,” Campbell said. “She had no contact with me, so she initiated a withdrawal.”
Although Franklin is legally unable to comment on any particular student, she did state that her classes use the attendance policy mandated by the Reading Department.
Campbell said that she had to talk to numerous administrators before being allowed to take the course as pass/fail.
“If I got dropped from my reading class, I would have to drop all my other classes too,” Campbell said.
Laurie Enneking-Conner, student, agrees with Campbell that something must be done to help address students with emergency situations.
“There needs to be a student liaison person that is in-between the students and the faculty,” she said.
Lynn Richards, professor, Business Administration, said that the new policy that allows professors to drop students is voluntary.
“Now I don’t know whether there are departments around the college that have a policy that say ‘all of us are going to do that’ or ‘none of us are going to do that,’” Richards said. “I know that in our division, we have individual discretion.”
Richards said that he does not use the policy because he believes the natural consequences of missing classes are enough of a deterrent.
“I believe that by the time people get to college, they’re adult human beings,” he said. “If you choose to go to class, that’s your business.”
Contact Jon Parton, news editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.