One thing SNHU students will hear during their time as an on-campus student is that they are only allowed three unexcused absences before their grade starts being affected or they are forced to drop the class.
This policy is unnecessary and should be changed.
A student’s performance and grasp of the class’s content is not measured by the amount of days they show up to class.
Yes, it is very important because that is where the student-professor bond can be formed and where they are taught the subject by an experienced individual.
However, this is not something that should determine their final grade or their spot in the class.
Several universities hold the policy that all you have to do is take the tests, pass in the homework, and attend the midterm and final; if you do those four things and pass the class, you’re golden.
This is the way it should be at SNHU.
If a student is capable of missing every class but is following the syllabus and learning the subject as effectively as someone who attends every class, why should they be penalized for their ability to self teach?
Sometimes, this policy is a strain for even the student who tries to attend all their classes.
Sleeping in accidentally for a morning class or being stuck in traffic are counted as unexcused absences, and these do unfortunately happen frequently with some students.
They don’t mean to miss the class, but circumstances got in the way. With each accidental absence, they are one step closer to their grade being demoted, and this is entirely unfair.
We aren’t in high school anymore; we are all responsible young adults and need to learn to budget our time and learn in the most effective ways for ourselves. If this includes skipping all our classes and learning on our own time, maybe that’s just the best way for a certain student to learn.
I have known one person who was forced to leave SNHU on account of him missing all of his classes.
He had major depression, and couldn’t get himself out of bed most mornings, so he very rarely attended classes. He did his homework, though, and this still wasn’t enough to fulfill his requirements for class.
It got to the point where he wasn’t even motivated to go take the tests because he knew he would fail out anyway because of his absences.
SNHU needs to change its attendance policy to better reflect the individual ways each of its students best learns. Attendance does not determine a student’s capabilities in that class.
