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It's the first day of class. The syllabi are dispersed. Each semi cognizant student automatically skips over the academic dishonesty policy to scrutinize, with all the concentration his blurry mind can muster, the points breakdown. As with most class overviews, each student will rejoice in small victories, such as an early final, and will lament necessary evils, like an eight-page paper.
However, a common villain students fiercely reject is the strict mandatory attendance policy. It is unjust, outdated and simply a burden on many students. Any attendance policy, mandatory or sporadic, hurts both the loyal classroom dweller and the gifted test-taker.
If attending a lecture and copying notes is so vital to a student's academic survival, then why should a professor have to take random class attendance? A teacher should never feel the need to implement an attendance policy because it should come naturally. To receive a high grade in a class, attendance should be imperative; it should be unspoken, but still demanded. Most teachers claim that attendance is critical to success in their class, yet in dozens of courses that simply isn't the case.
From a student's perspective, one of the most aggravating situations occurs when a significant portion of the grade is based on attendance, but the professor offers only a SparkNotes version of the course material during the lecture.
This leads to a much more troubling problem with academia: the manifestation of the "failing factories." According to The New York Times, fewer than 50 percent of those enrolled in public universities as freshmen will receive a bachelor's degree. This is an alarming statistic. The emphasis seems to be on enrolling the students, not cultivating their intellect.
Moreover, an attendance policy will not solve this quagmire. It is debilitating to both types of student personalities. To those who consistently attend and genuinely enjoy class, it's very distracting. An attendance policy is sure to bring in the semi dedicated student who wants to sign the attendance sheet and go back to his Snuggie.
Personally, I get exasperated (and truthfully somewhat sickly entertained) sitting behind the guy who probably closed down Tubby's the night before, has 22 tally-marks on his wrist and is mindlessly on his laptop checking his fantasy football team.
On Saturday night I might want to carouse with this character, but not at 8:30 on a Wednesday morning. Also, does this bar monkey deserve the same credit as the one furiously taking notes?
More than ever, students are consumed with a seemingly endless array of activities. Students are constantly pressed for time — making a wasted class that much more infuriating. If a class is structured so as to allow a rather bright student the opportunity to succeed without attending class, then so be it.
The onus lies on the lazy teacher, not the all-star student.
Most assuredly, some professors will rage against this idea. They will categorize lack of attendance as an incarnation of Generation Y's narcissism and laziness. Numerous real-life examples will be cited as well as statistics, and the policy might even be bolded and italicized in next semester's syllabus.
Still, the faculty, more than any demographic, realizes the decline in curriculum. They understand the dire need for improvement, especially in the general education classes. Usually, these lackluster and over-enrolled classes are not solely the teacher's fault.
Rather, it's a host of factors: substandard high schools, student apathy, etc. Nonetheless, the solution to the failing factories does not lie in an attendance policy. Rudimentary habits shouldn't have to be taught in college.
Most people with common sense realize this. I just wish more would act on it.
-Mitchell J. Widener is a sophomore in English. Please send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu
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