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College professor wants travel papers for my absence today; what are they?

"Thanks for letting me know; Scott is also absent because of a family emergency. I will keep you informed, and could you put the travel papers with signatures in my mailbox early next week? If you don’t have them, I can track a copy to the bulletin board outside my office for you."

Just tell your professor that you don't have any idea what "travel papers" refers to, and have her put them on the bulletin board. Peace.
 
Travel papers? Are you going to school in Soviet Russia?

I agree with the others - you may have been lumped in with "Scott" by accident. I would attempt to obtain clarification.

Also, I found that most of my profs were understanding if there was another academic conflict.

Good luck, op.
 
To me this post started on one topic & has evolved to encompass another based on some of the responses; with regard to the original question ,based on the information given there are 4 personal days allowed where no excuse is needed and Sallie has that covered ; the travel paper stuff is irrelevant .

The other topic is respect - for the teacher and moreover for education - from carefully reading all the content of the original post and from at least one response I don't get the feeling that respect for either the teacher and/or education was primary.
 
I have very little to add, but here are my thoughts.

I think it is great that you provided your instructor with a courtesy e-mail. Having said that, it is your job to find out from other students what you missed, and not your instructors job. Is there someone in class that can update you?

I don't consider it any of your instructor's business what your "emergency" was, so they really shouldn't ask. However, I have found in participation-based classes (debate, writing workshops) participation is essential, and your not being there can put more of a load on other students and possibly cause problems for the instructor. I had an undergrad writing class at UC Davis, and decide to skip one session because I was unprepared--it turns out f our other people had the same issue. We were roundly chastised by the professor (in a polite manner) as she explained that by not showing up, others were unable to receive critiques and assistance with their papers. I never missed the class after that.

Lastly, If I wanted to be taken seriously I would never sign an e-mail with the words "peace"--especially after my name.
 
OK, so I basically skipped class today because I need the extra time to catch up on another class; I have an essay for a literature class due at 10:30 p.m. that has to submitted online. Here is the email I sent her notifying my absence:

"Due to an unexpected occurrence earlier this morning that needs my immediate attention, I have to unfortunately miss class today. Please notify me of all the happenings of today's class. I'll see you next week, Sallie. Peace." She emailed me this response:

"Thanks for letting me know; Scott is also absent because of a family emergency. I will keep you informed, and could you put the travel papers with signatures in my mailbox early next week? If you don’t have them, I can track a copy to the bulletin board outside my office for you."

Travel Papers? I don't have "travel papers," and it was not a "family emergency," nor did I travel! And I never indicated that it was a family emergency requiring me to travel anywhere. I assume they're documents most likely with verification of some sort, probably a signed paper from an authority figure, for instance a doctor. The class I skipped was debate, which meets only on Fridays from 9:30-11:30 a.m.. Since the class has limited instruction time, being that it is only one two-hour a week class, an absence is probably going to be magnified compared to an ordinary college class, judging by her response to my unexcused absence. The school policy is 4 unexcused absences per class every quarter. This is my first absence for her class. I should be OK, right? Dammit, what do I do? A lot of students commonly do this; it's usually not a big deal as long as they don't go over the school's said amount of absences. Peace.





You're asking your professor to do extra work for you. Thus, the request for documentation. It's true, most professors/colleges do not care if you attend class or lectures. As long as you are responsible for the material. You are now making him/her responsible for the material because you were absent.

That's my opinion on why the professor is asking for "da papers". It's like taking a sick day at work and telling your supervisor to report to you when your work is caught up from the missed absence. This isn't middle school where Mom and dad pick up your homework from the teacher so that you can "keep up" with your classmates. This is real life now and if you had to ditch one class to keep up with another, I suggest that you re-visit your time table. Cut out something that you are spending time on that is unrelated to studies.

After all, you are in college to get an education (or indoctrination in some cases).

Frank
 
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Are you sure that the travel papers are for missing class?
Maybe they discussed a field trip in class and you need signed papers to enable you to go.
 
some pretty basic things - personal responsibility, respect, common courtesy - lot of thoughtful responses .
 
I would politely enquire what a travel paper is.

On a side-note if I were to write to a professor like that I probably wouldn't even get a response, and if I did it wouldn't be a very nice one.
 
I have nothing to add to this but this:
$Travel_papers.jpg
Your travel papers
 
I don't know what the travel papers are that your professor wants, but if you told me that you were ditching my class and you wanted me to fill you in on what we did in your absence, I'd have some other questions for you. Hope this works out for you.
 
I should mention that I also read "unexpected occurence" as "family emergency" - I realize that may not have been your intent, but it comes off like that.

I've TAed classes and when this happens I tell my students to review the information we discussed in class and to stop by during office hours if they have questions. I would recommend that in the future you contact others in the class or teaching assistants before your instructor. You are responsible for the material, not them. Preparing classes takes a LOT of work and some professors hate to hear "Sorry, I had this other work that was more important so I just decided not to go." I'm not saying that's what you said, but I know plenty of faculty that would read it like that (yeah, they have high horses).


Telling the truth would save you a lot of headaches down the road. If you get 4 and this is your first, you should be fine.
I cannot agree with this enough. One thing you will learn about college grading (if you haven't already) is that it is highly subjective and you are at the complete mercy of your instructor. Many students end up in grey area grade boundaries and most courses have 10% or so "participation points" which is pretty much a fudge factor for the impression you've left on your teaching staff. Being honest and straightfoward is incredibly important and 9 times of 10 your instructor will value that.

The subjectivity may sound unfair, but that's only the tip of the "unfair acedmic iceberg" :blink:

As a complete side note, since I'm on a teaching rant and discussing honesty, I have caught someone cheating every single semester I've taught. It is far better to be an honest student with moderate-to-low performance than a dishonest one.


Wow... that all came off a lot stronger than I intended. I should mention that I'm trying to help, not judge or rant (though grad school definitely encourages the latter) :001_smile
 
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