Here's a new excuse. If I'd only known when I lived in NYC.
Here's a new excuse. If I'd only known when I lived in NYC.
throaty, arkiedukie, rthomas: Do you find that December and May are the two months of the year with the highest death rate in grandmothers of college students?
A couple of year's ago, I had a tearful student come see me on the day of the exam. She was so distraught, she had just learned that her favorite uncle had died and she couldn't study for my exam. She wanted to leave WVU immediately to go to his funeral in New Jersey which was happening that day. So, being the compassionate person I am, I said sure, she could take a incomplete and take the exam when she returned from NJ.
She was very thankful. Then she said that she had never been to funeral, what were they like? I told her that it depended on what religion it was for, for example, a person of the Jewish faith was supposed to be buried within 24 hours of death.
I asked her, What religion was your uncle? She then paused and thought carefully about it and said, "Well, since he's being buried within 24 hours of his death, I think he must be Jewish, yea, he must be Jewish."
I just laughed to myself, let her go, gave her an "i" and never saw her again. Except, I went golfing last summer at a nice resort in WV and she was the golf cart girl; she recognized me and told me that two years later, she wanted to make up that exam. The 'i' is now an 'f".
True story.
~rthomas
My grandmother did actually pass away in December of my Freshman year, during the final week of classes before Exams. My engineering profs were remarkably decent about letting me postpone a couple projects until the new year. My UWC grad student teacher was a total a-hole; I was expecting him to ask for the original copy of the death certificate at one point.
A buddy of mine in law school was so distracted by the passing of his grandmother that he neglected to flip an exam over and see that there was a second page of questions. I believe he was able to work something out with his professor to take a special version upon his return at the beginning of the next semester.
I think most experienced faculty can make this assessment (or the one that DA mentioned) without much difficulty, particularly if the rules for notification are clear and spelled out for students and faculty. At the last place I taught, the verification process was done by an office within the college. It made things MUCH easier for the faculty and the students. More difficulties arise when the rules aren't spelled out clearly, or when an instructor or student isn't aware of the rules and requirements. It may also be more difficult when teaching a large, impersonal class. In contrast, if you're in a small seminar, it's easier for faculty to make an assessment on your performance and to comprehend what's going on.
On the other hand, I've now gotten to where I keep notes about excuses throughout the semester. I know one faculty friend who verified an excuse by going onto facebook (or was it myspace) to see that a student was at a party when she said she was grieving.
Cheers,
Lavabe
The best I've heard was a puzzler on Car Talk on NPR from several years ago:
Two undergraduate chemistry students at a Duke University go to a party, get a little drunk, meet some girls, and have such a good time, they don't make it to their final exam. They agree to tell the professor that they had a flat tire and this prevented their returning in time to take the exam. They pleaded with him, "Let us take the exam, please. This could ruin us. We promise nothing like this will ever happen again." The professor agrees and tells them to return the next morning. The two return the following morning, and the professor gives them their exam, but decides he isn't going to hang around. He has them leave their books and backpacks in the office and sends them to different rooms to take their exams. The test consists of one five-point question, some molarity problem, and each, smiling confidently, answers the question. Then they turn the page, and the next question is a 95-point question.
What is the question? What is the question that the professor puts on the makeup exam?
~rthomas