Opinion

College’s attendance policy needs attention

Kirkwood Community College’s policy regarding class attendance has room for improvement. The general policy leaves attendance up to instructor discretion with few exceptions for college sponsored activities, jury duty, and military duty or veteran status related appointments. 

There are many reasons a student may require a day off that aren’t covered by these exceptions, including work, illness and childcare. Kirkwood’s current policy fails to ensure students are protected in the event of these issues and may not facilitate desired learning outcomes for all students. 

The U.S. Bureau of Statistics reported in 2022 that students of a traditional-student age range enrolled in a two- year college were more likely than those attending a four-year college to be in the labor force. The same report found that 81% of part-time students and 42.4% of full-time students were in the labor force. 

If a student is compelled by their employers to work or cover a shift that conflicts with their class schedule, a student may be forced to work to prioritize their ability to afford critical life expenses. Students may also have to pick up extra shifts if they experience unexpected expenses such as medical bills or car repair costs. In an ideal world, students wouldn’t have to worry about living costs and other expenses. However, many students don’t qualify for financial aid, or at least not enough for students to live on without income or financial help.  

Students may be asked by some professors to stay home if sick, but the lack of a comprehensive policy by Kirkwood means that many will choose to show up to avoid a grade reduction or expending scarcely allotted absences. This puts the health of the community as well as the health of immunocompromised individuals at risk. 

 A student who asked to remain anonymous described how they felt unable to take time off from class due to illness. They described, “Most of my teachers are fine, but I have one teacher that requests proof that you are sick. I am unclear on what that means, if that’s a doctor’s note or something, I don’t think that’s entirely fair. I can’t afford to visit the doctor every time I’m sick.”  

Kirkwood does not provide health insurance or have any kind of on-campus student health services. Students who need care that would otherwise prevent them from attending a class may lack transportation, time or ability to get to the MercyCare Prairie Creek clinic. The clinic is located nearly a mile away from campus and according to the Kirkwood website, only initial appointments are free.  

Another commonly overlooked need for increased flexibility in attendance policies is for students with children. According to the American Council for Education, as of 2023, “Eighteen percent of the current undergraduate student population are student-parents.” This means that a not insignificant proportion of Kirkwood’s student body may have to abruptly leave class or arrive after attendance is taken to meet any surprise need that often comes with raising a child.  

Overall, the hands-off nature of Kirkwood’s current attendance policy passes off the responsibility of ensuring that student needs are taken into account onto individuals and not the organization as a whole. It begs the question: Who do these policies serve?  

The nature of rewarding attendance and penalizing absences is reflected in many professors’ grading policies. However, this means that being able to pass a class may not fully be indicative of skills or knowledge imparted. 

Additionally, professors may be strict with attendance as a lesson in how detrimental absences in a professional setting can be or to encourage better learning outcomes. Students need to be present to learn, but over prioritizing attendance doesn’t fully reflect the realities of students’ needs and what policies would best serve them.  

A study published in 2020 by the Department of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Utah School of Medicine, concluded that, “Instituting required attendance was a faculty-centered, costly, and reactionary decision with unfavorable consequences that impacted the overall culture of our medical school. Owning this mistake has been a growth opportunity for the UUSOM.”   

Kirkwood Community College markets itself as an affordable and flexible alternative to a four-year institution for recent and older high school graduates. Surely, a degree of allowance for life’s circumstances can be ensured for its students. 

An overarching policy on an institutional level should allow for more circumstances to qualify as excused absences or allot a reasonable number of excused absences for any reason. A policy change of this nature at Kirkwood Community College would establish a level of uniformity that removes the gray area that currently exists with every professor having their own unique attendance policy.