“Attendance is necessary for understanding the material discussed and taking quizzes…”

“Attendance is mandatory, just as it is in any workplace. If you miss class, your grade will suffer.”

“For the attendance policy, I make no distinction between excused and unexcused absences…poor attendance will severely affect your grade.”

Look familiar?

These were statements taken from the syllabi of professors Mackenzie Osborne, Michele Day and Steven Leigh, respectively.

There are many similar statements printed on the syllabi throughout campus.

But it isn’t fair.

Northern Kentucky University is known as a commuter campus. Roughly 14,000 students are enrolled at the present, and the dorms can hold only 1,400 of those.

NKU Institutional Research Director Gary Graff says that according to the information provided by senior assessments, about 66 percent of the student population works more than 21 hours per week-approximately 9,240 people.

So, we’re busy. With schoolwork, housework, and extracurricular activities-not to mention a social life (if you have time for one), yet we’re expected to make it to every class?

With as many students that work and go to school full time, I don’t think it’s fair that the amount of class missed should in itself cause a student’s grade to be lowered.

A student who’s turning in ‘A’ work should be given an A. It shouldn’t matter if they’ve missed four classes, or 40 classes.

Now, I do realize that in many classes you can miss a great deal of material if you miss one class.

But if the student makes every effort to keep up with the class, despite what is keeping the student from that class, why is he or she punished?

I know that I cannot skip classes with gleeful abandon and expect to get A’s.

That’s not my point here. My point is that school is a huge priority to almost all NKU students, but we also have other priorities-making enough money to live being the chief one.

I don’t believe that attendance should be an issue, period. We’ve paid for our classes, and we’re all adults here.

If a student does just decide to quit coming to class, and doesn’t keep up with the material, then that student is going to fail the class anyway.

Every professor and faculty member at this university, at any university, should only be making rules and regulations that will benefit the students.

I don’t understand how this benefits anyone.

Maybe it’s a rule meant to put the fear of God into students, and scaring them into attending class. I don’t know.

What I do know is this-this policy ends up hurting more students than it helps-if it helps any students at all.