By KATIE LACKEY
Student Writer
She woke up to a text from Northwestern, notifying her she was one absence away from failing her college algebra class.
Sara Bynum is not only a sophomore at Northwestern, but also an active competitor on the rodeo team and a Type 1 diabetic. Bynum said there are plenty of reasons a person should flunk out of college, but attendance should not be one of those reasons.
Bynum is gone traveling to rodeos throughout the semester and is constantly battling illness brought on by her diabetes. She said if a teacher thinks 75 percent of attendance is required to pass class, they are extremely wrong. She is one absence away from failing in her algebra class, but is still maintaining a passing grade.
Does an attendance policy help her prepare for a real job?
“No,” she said, ”because at this point they don’t need to be holding your students’ hands.” She said, “The difference between a job and school is for one you are getting paid to go to your job. If you don’t show up they will fire you instead of holding your hand and telling you not to miss any more work. School is different. If you can attend minimally and still pass, then do it.“
Dr. Bo Hannaford, dean of professional studies at Northwestern, explained the attendance policy as being the responsibility of the student to attend at least 75 percent of a course, which is set by the university, but faculty members have the ability to raise that attendance requirement to 90 percent.
Regional University Systems of Oklahoma, also known as RUSO, established the policy of 75 percent minimum attendance for students to earn credit from a course. Colleges under RUSO are then able to set their own policy as long as it is not contrary to RUSO’s requirements. Dr. James Bell, dean of arts and sciences, explains how Northwestern allows different departments to set different attendance policies and Northwestern will support that. For example, the English department has set an attendance policy at 80 percent.
Bell said, “I like the fact that departments have a say in the attendance policy and that the university sets a minimum, but it doesn’t dictate that you can’t have a more rigorous policy.”
Hannaford said he believes this attendance policy is an effective one. He said, “It is part of our mission to produce effective and responsible citizens. People need to show up for jobs, so I believe we are helping by providing a culture of being responsible with our attendance policy at Northwestern.”
In response to how Northwestern’s attendance policy stacks up against other schools, Hannaford said, “ Since there are demands for higher graduation and retention rates, many schools are raising standards in regards to attendance policies, so I believe we are fairly liberal with ours at 75 percent.”
Bell said: “At the most basic level, a student can’t learn if they are not there. When a department requires a more rigid attendance standard, it may be because certain contents and activities may build on each other.”
Bell said he wouldn’t want to see the standard lowered. It goes back to the effectiveness of each department being able to make its own attendance policy since faculty members know what is best for their department.
“You can look at a powerpoint and maybe pick that up” Bell said. “But there is something magical about conversations or activities that is hard to recreate. If the professor has structured the course to be a face-to-face course that is high in engagement, it would hard to be successful [without attending].”
Bell does warn about a policy becoming too restrictive. He said in reality, students are involved outside of class. If faculty members start to set a standard that is too high, such as 95 percent and no excused absences, that is not realistic since students at Northwestern work and are involved in many activities.
Could a better type of attendance policy be created? Bell said: “We have our minimum. Departments have freedom. I don’t know that I could name a better policy across the board.”
Derrick Thompson, a football player at Northwestern, can think of a better attendance policy. His main complaint comes from Northwestern counting the days they spend traveling to games as absences.
“I think that is a bit much,” he said, “because some of us are traveling trying to pursue a career.” He explained how other students choose to chase careers by not playing sports and going to class. As a student athlete, he is expected to attend class, play sports and find time to study.
“There has been plenty of times where I have had to skip class in order to study,” he said.
Thompson recommends that absences for traveling should be monitored by teachers according to an athlete’s schedule, excuse game days and travel days, and the student is responsible for recovering work that he or she missed. If absences exceed the required attendance after excused days have been factored in then the student should be dropped one letter grade, but not fail.
If a regular student falls short of the minimum attendance policy, then he or she should also receive a reduction of one letter grade, not fail the class.
Dr. Steve Lohmann, executive vice president at Northwestern, said, “ Our goal is to turn out a responsible citizen, so when they get out into the workforce they know how to show up to work, be there on a daily basis and be on time. That is part of the college process.”
Lohmann said the campus has focus groups, especially for business, that come in to talk about what they expect from graduates. “One of the top three inevitably, can you give me someone accountable for their actions that they will come every day to work and they will be on time and can they write a letter using appropriate grammar,” he said.
That is what the business world wants. Any type of industry is going to want employees there on a daily basis.
“We are here to prepare you for the next step because now mom and dad are gone,” Lohmann said, “but here is a policy just like you are going to face in the work world.”
Northwestern has an early alert system that is geared to making students successful. The early alert system in a reporting mechanism where faculty members can report a certain student has not been in class or unresponsive to emails they can send in a report to student affairs, a retention coordinator will get the report and call to check on students.
“Even with all your athletic absences there is no reason for you to miss another class because that is your job.” Lohmann said, “You need to be in class. If that attendance policy is stricter, lets say 90 percent, then you are operating in a different type of framework. That faculty member will be more likely to work with those students.”
Finally, Lohmann said, “There is a lot better chance of students being engaged if they are there than if they are not there.”
Bynum admitted her teachers are willing to work with her on absences, whether it is a truck that broke down coming home from a rodeo or a rough morning caused by her diabetes. Most of the time, it is as simple as sending her teachers a quick e-mail.