Students attending the Sugar Bowl might be short participation points Winter Quarter.
Wayne Carlson, the vice provost of undergraduate studies and dean of undergraduate education, sent an e-mail Dec. 10 to address the forgiveness of class absences for students going to the bowl game.
“It is up to individual instructors to determine whether they will excuse absences and/or permit make-up work by students who miss class to attend the bowl game,” Carlson said in his e-mail.
He said it is the student’s responsibility to “make arrangements with faculty to miss class.”
“The intent of the letter was to remind students of the need to check with their instructors before the absence, so that accommodations can be made,” Carlson said. “This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, whether it is a football game, a family situation, an illness, or any other reason that class will be missed.”
Some students said their teachers were understanding of the situation.
“My professors were all pretty OK with it. One gave me an assignment to do and the others said to get the notes from someone else in the class,” said Lindsey Ossim, a third-year in hospitality management.
Wait-listed students could encounter other problems. If they don’t attend the first class of the quarter, they could lose their spot in line, which could put them out of a class. Student Information System controls the list, therefore, students cannot communicate with professors to gain a spot in the class.
“SIS handles enrollment automatically, so I don’t have direct control over who gains or loses spots due to the game,” said John Acker, a graduate teaching assistant in English.
Acker treats his policy toward students missing class for the game as he would any other absence from class, he said.
“I can appreciate other students’ desire to go to a big game like the Sugar Bowl, but ultimately that’s their choice to make, just like they might choose to skip class to study for an exam or to hang out with friends,” Acker said.
While some professors might not allow students to make up missed work, not all will penalize students for attending the game.
Students attending the game made arrangements with their instructors before leaving for the game and said the instructors were mostly supportive and would allow them to make up their assignments.
“My professors were pretty lenient and gave me options on the assignments I am missing,” said Sara Rye, a third-year in middle childhood development and education.
Rye will be missing nine classes while at the bowl game. She said her instructors were fine with students going to the game, but she did have a warning from one instructor.
“He warned our class as a whole about missing the first few days of classes, since he would be starting off right away,” Rye said. “In the end he was fine with it, but wanted students to know that they would be missing things and think before making the decision.”
Rye said she would go to the bowl game regardless of the circumstances with missing classes.
“I would drop the class if I had tickets and a professor said I would be missing too much work,” Rye said. “I would just take the class next quarter.”
