Attendance and Your Grade



Attendance and Your Grade

Why should attendance be included as part of my grade?

This could be a long response, but the short answer is: for the same reason that tests and papers are part of your grade. A philosophy class teaches both written and oral consideration of concepts and issues. Discussion is a core part of philosophical inquiry, and the success of the class depends on it. You cannot learn how to listen and contribute to a discussion without attending classes. Furthermore, as a practical matter, in the “real world” (e.g., most careers), the ability to engage in focused, clear, and rational oral discussion is just as important as written communication. A university teaches both.

Isn’t this More Suited to High School?

Not at all. The University Faculty Senate (the University’s highest legislative body) takes attendance. The ethics committees on which I serve at the University of Michigan Health System take attendance. In most important bodies and committees, absences are recorded, and those frequently absent are asked to consider resigning. Attendance is an essential part of meeting responsibilities to which one has chosen to commit oneself. In a university course where the quality of your work is graded, to attend class is a matter of meeting your most basic responsibility.

The Standard Attendance Policy

Your course grade is calculated by changing letters to numbers with A+ a 12, A 11, A- 10 down to 0 for an E. When each grade is weighed as indicated in the syllabus (e.g., a certain percentage of your course grade for test 1, test 2, etc.) you need .5 or better for the next grade. So for an A, which is 11, you need 10.5 or better. (Only exception is you need 1.0 for a D-, not just 0.5.) You will eventually be able calculate all this yourself in a resource provided on the course web page.

After your grade is calculated, attendance is considered. For every absence after 3, your course grade will be reduced by 0.3 (almost 1/3) Every three absences (after the first 3) lowers your grade by almost one full course grade. (Of course if you just made an A with 10.5 or 10.6, then even one absence would lower your course grade to an A-.)

For every absence fewer than 3, your course grade will be raised by .3. This means that if you have perfect attendance, your course grade will be raised by almost a full grade from what it would have been (.9, which is 9/10 of a full grade).

A few understood ground rules:

1. If you want credit for class attendance, you must be attentive to the class. This means not leaving and returning in the middle, not surfing the web, and keeping cell phones off and out of sight. I reserve the right to consider you absent if I see your cell phone in class. (Use it outside the classroom during the break.) If you have a special, urgent need to leave class while it is in session (e.g., child in the hospital, a medical condition of your own, an urgent business matter on one particular day) speak to me about it, and I can make an exception. (You should sit near the door and, if necessary, put your phone on vibrate. The reason will remain confidential.)

2. The allowed 3 absences are meant to take care of circumstances like minor illness, car problems, traffic jams, funerals, court dates, family problems, early vacation trips, flights delayed by security checks, job interviews, extracurricular activities, alarms not going off, etc., so please do not offer these with the aim of getting credit for attending when you were absent. However, I do want to hear about major problems (hospitalization, death of close family member) that cause you to miss class for an extended period of time. Every rule has its fair exceptions, and we will work something out.

3. This all starts after the first week so no one adding late is hurt.

4. Attending a class session means attending all of it. Coming late (other than a very few minutes) or leaving early does not count as attending.

5. If I take attendance and you come after I’ve done so, let me know after class and you will get half the credit of full attendance. (Trust my reasonableness: if your last name is AAAArons and you come 30 seconds late, I won’t mark you late.) You must let me know on the same day. If you leave early after I’ve taken attendance and you didn’t notify me beforehand, you should email me to avoid “cheating.” (On your honor, but see the syllabus about cheating.)

What if you don’t like the above policy? You can choose the Alternative Attendance Policy

6. You may opt for an alternative attendance policy, but you must email me (bioethics@; subject: Alternate Attendance) before midnight on Monday, September 21. With the alternative attendance policy, your grade will not be lowered until you miss more than 7 classes instead of 3, but you also will have no chance to have your grade raised for fewer than 3 absences. This is designed for students who know in advance they will need to miss many classes but still wish to take the course. I think anyone who knows in advance that she or he will miss more than 7 classes should not take the course. (This would be missing about a third of the class sessions after the first week.) Also keep in mind that the quality of your participation is important, and it will be harder to do well in this area if you miss more than a few classes.

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