Life in college is very hectic. Every semester I get either very sick or have some sort of family emergency. Whether it’s food poisoning or a religious holiday, I can’t always make it to class. I make sure to email my professors as soon as I possibly can when I know I won’t make it, but sometimes, life throws me giant curveball.
I recently had a friend suddenly pass away. I can still remember my mom calling me in between my classes that Thursday and telling me about what happened. After taking a minute to collect myself during lunch, I emailed my professors to let them know of the situation. I was hoping to go home, but I couldn’t afford the flight. To make myself feel “at home,” I spent time with my brother and a couple of other friends who were feeling the same way I was.
After taking a couple days to take care of myself and mourn, I focused on getting back into my schoolwork. It was easy for me to catch up, since I prefer to stay ahead of my classes. I then started to look into how I get the absences excused. I didn’t think it would be as complicated as it is.
I originally thought I had to let my professors know about the situation to get an excused absence and then send them some sort of proof of evidence. For example, if I was sick and went to the student medical center, I would hand my professors a copy of the doctor’s note. That seems to make the most sense to me. After looking into NSU’s student handbook, I got quite confused.
In order to get an excused absence, I had to tell Disability Services and provide the proper documentation if necessary. Then, Disability Services would tell my academic advisor who would then tell my professors. The policy does not make sense to me.
I understand that there are some students who would make up something to not go to class, but I don’t understand why the absence has to go through a bunch of different people when I could just tell my professors everything. I can’t even hand my professors a doctors note. They would have to get the note by going through the giant process.
NSU always likes to promote how students and professors have strong relationships with the small class sizes. Why would I need to jump through hoops when I can just drop into my professor’s office hours? In the professional world, I would just hand the proper documentation to my supervisor. Wouldn’t it make more sense to do that at a university who prides themselves on giving students professional experiences?
