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

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.




 
Sorry that I don't have any better advice, but I would go to your student aid I think it's called? Perhaps explain to them the situation, or pick up the papers first to see what they are?
 
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.
 
This is college? When I went to college the professors didn't care if you went to class or not. You paid for it and if you want to miss that's on you. I even had a teacher on the first day say this is the date of the midterm and this is the date of the final. Those are required. If you wanted to only come to those that was fine. Obviously that's an extreme but in 4 years of undergraduate and 2 years of graduate school I never had a teacher that strict on attendance.

I would just explain it was a personal emergency and you couldn't make it and leave it as one unexcused absence.
 
This is college? When I went to college the professors didn't care if you went to class or not. You paid for it and if you want to miss that's on you. I even had a teacher on the first day say this is the date of the midterm and this is the date of the final. Those are required. If you wanted to only come to those that was fine. Obviously that's an extreme but in 4 years of undergraduate and 2 years of graduate school in ever had a etcher that strict on attendance.

I would just just drop it and leave it as one I excused absence.

This.

If a professor takes attendance, he/she is already demonstrating his/her inability to teach. If a professor is correctly teaching, one should want to attend class (or even have to because of the difficulty of the class). If a student can skip class and still get an "A", that student should be allowed to since the professor is not adding any value.
 
if unexcused absence is synonymous with "personal" day per the school handbook , then just tell the teacher that it was a personal day and you weren't traveling.
 
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Some schools have mandatory attendance because funding can be tied to class size/attendance. If a class is poorly attended it could face the chopping block. So it could be something other than the quality of the professor.

That said, I would try to explain to the professor what had happened. Frame it as a learning experience and try to not find yourself in a similar situation in the future.
 
Are you sure her email was to you? Is your name Scott? Sounds like she needs travel papers signed by somebody else.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
This.

If a professor takes attendance, he/she is already demonstrating his/her inability to teach. If a professor is correctly teaching, one should want to attend class (or even have to because of the difficulty of the class). If a student can skip class and still get an "A", that student should be allowed to since the professor is not adding any value.

I still remember my first college class: Earth Science 101 :laugh:
The very first class the teacher took roll and said "now that's the last time I'm going to do that" then short and sweet said we paid for the class so he didn't care if we showed up or not and to refer to our syllabus for important dates. He was a cool teacher but man that class was boring!
 
sounds to me like the email was to Sallie ; another student , Scott was also out due to a family emergency and the teacher put Sallie in the same category .
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
E-mail your prof asking if she sent you an e-mail meant for that Scott chap by mistake, since you have no idea what "travel papers" are and likely have been accidentally dropped into her conversation with Scott.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
E-mail your prof asking if she sent you an e-mail meant for that Scott chap by mistake, since you have no idea what "travel papers" are and likely have been accidentally dropped into her conversation with Scott.

Agreed- it sounds like a misunderstanding. Just explain that you don't understand what she is requiring and ask for clarification.
 
Some schools have mandatory attendance because funding can be tied to class size/attendance. If a class is poorly attended it could face the chopping block. So it could be something other than the quality of the professor.

That said, I would try to explain to the professor what had happened. Frame it as a learning experience and try to not find yourself in a similar situation in the future.

Most school's tuition is hours based, and if its a lecture style course, regardless of the attendance, the tuition is the same. Most of the professors that Ive encountered, who count attendance towards a grade or towards removal from the course, are simply trying to ensure that their students are their to receive the instruction. When a non-tenured professor has low scoring students, the university can use such results as a reason to remove the professor. Forcing their students to attend can cause their results to rise. I've been in mandatory attendance courses in which I was told after the first 2 weeks that I didn't have to attend if I didn't want to because I had shown proficiency during those 2 weeks. Maybe that was just the experience from the universities I attended.
 
I say cut to the chase (and truth) per my earlier post - make it short & sweet and again , Sallie's actions are fully supported by the handbook assuming that absent for any reason is "unexcused" & a personal day .
 
It sounds like your prof got two emails about not being able to attend class today. It sounds like Scott was travelling and you were not, but she probably took a quick look and thought you both were. Just email her back and let her know that your situation did not require travel so travel papers (whatever they may be) will not be available. After all, you did not tell her you were travelling.

What I don't get is why she wants them. It's your choice whether you go to class or not. Normally, you only need to prove an emergency situation when you miss a deadline for a paper or an exam and need special consideration.
 
I would hassle you too if you were my student and signed your emails "Peace". Did you start your email with "Yo, teach!"?
 
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What's so "unexpected" about having something due in another class? That right there sounds like you lied to her. Also, why are you asking her to tell you what you missed when that's your problem to solve? Besides, you only missed once out of four excused absences, so really there is no issue here.
 
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