valerie_h

Yes and he did it in the second semester of my 3rd year of studies. The original reason for the meeting was that a student complained about being told he had exceeded the number of absences and his attendance was no longer required since he would automatically fail the course. I had used this policy at two other schools with no problems from administrators and the number of absences is generous. Plus, I told this student in the beginning, after he missed the first exam, that perhaps this was not the right time for him to take my course. So, I was asking for an official attendance policy for our department and he said there wasn't one. But, of course, my policy was not student-centered, retention based enough. I explained to him that the students were old enough to suffer the consequences of their actions and we should treat them like adults and prepare them for the workplace and 8 absences without explanation would not fly in the word place. Also, I told him that I did not believe in coddling students who disappear for weeks and then want private sessions to catch up. Then he turned all of this around on me and finally asked me, "I don't understand what you are doing here?" Now, I need to mention that I am a seriously visually impaired student. I have had professors tell me not to take their courses. Anyway, since he is African American, I felt like responding, "They could of asked you the same question fifty years ago". I just told him I had to catch my handicapped bus to catch the train back into the city. He made me so mad that he made more determined to finish. I just passed my oral exams this past December and, because I bombed the third list (I have terrible chronic pain and none of the books on that list was available on professional audio)., I have to write a small paper on gaze theory. And of course I'm procrastinating. As my dad puts it so eloquently, I put it off and then compose in my head and then vomit all over the page.