student x got mad

(in this post, names have not been used and gender has not been specified, to protect the innocent.)

a student, who will be referred to as 'student x,' texted me (on saturday, while i was vacationing). the student expressed displeasure, since 20 points (2% of her grade) were deducted for missing class on friday. student x's text stated that he/she was "going to reach out to the dean." (he/she spelled it "deen")

student x did not return my immediate phone call, so i texted and informed him/her that he/she would need to begin his/her complaint with the program director, and then follow the chain of command prior to "reaching out" to the dean.

student x is of a race, a gender and a religion that are considered "minority." understandably, any person of any minority group that has been treated unfairly would want fair treatment.

student x is taking two of my classes, MTH 120 (intermediate bodywork) and  MTH 210 (kinesiology).  he/she often confuses the two. in his/her defense, the numbers are similar.

student x has missed three classes recently: one was due to a court-custody case involving a grandchild, and the other two because of a "car breakdown" when "there were no cars in charlotte" (whatever that means).

student x is under stress, partly because he/she has taken his/her curriculum out of order. he/she has five classes, and her peers have already covered ten out of the eighteen chapters in the better bodywork manual. they covered the material in a class called "basic bodywork," a course which student x decided not to enroll-into last semester. he/she states that he/she "was misadvised" by an advisor. the "mis-advising" would be rather hard to fathom, since advisors press a button and print out a curriculum that shows exactly which courses a student needs to take (in which semesters) -- and in the appropriate order.

student x met with me, and i stated that i had to treat everyone fairly, and that one person's absence (for whatever reason) cannot be interpreted as more worthy than another person's absence. in essence, student x wanted to be treated differently from other students since his/her excuse was family-related, and since he/she has soooooo much work to do, and since he/she is working sooooooo hard.

student x does not (really) want me to treat him/her fairly; he/she wants preferential treatment. he/she was shocked to see points deducted, even though he/she claims to have read-and-understood the syllabus, which states the exact system that i followed.

student x cried, and then (behind my back) bitched to all of his/her classmates ...so i walked into a hornet's nest of students who stated that i "need to have compassion." one even said "have a heart" at least four times.

mind you, student x didn't "lose" the points. i am fully prepared to re-ward those points if the student completes extra-credit in alignment with the work that was missed.  as it turns-out, the student thought that he/she lost points for a class that was cancelled (which actually benefitted her from potentially losing twenty more points for [what would have been] court-related tardiness)!

i've bent-over backwards for this student, all semester. i've been kind and compassionate, even though he/she cannot participate in most activities due to morbid obesity. i've made sure that he/she felt included, worthy of love, and accepted. he/she is the one who professes to be a wellness expert and a vegan, yet is clearly consuming more calories than he/she is expending. she has trouble walking, due to excessive size.

his/her fellow insurrectionists don't know that he/she (before complaining to them), threw them under the bus, stating: "other students have come in late, and they haven't had points deducted."

after our sprited in-class discussion, i wrote the following addendum to the syllabus, and sent it up the chain of command:

Addendum to the Syllabus Attendance & Participation Policy:

1. In special cases, the instructor will work with the student to determine appropriate make-up work for certain (documented) absences, as follows:

   a. The absence was unavoidable (examples below), and communicated either (a) in advance, or (b) on the day of the absence.

   b. Unavoidable absences include:

       1) Death of a family member, with certificate provided to the instructor.

       2) Jury duty and/or court cases , with appropriate certificates provided.

       3) Automobile incidents (accidents, flat tires, etc.) documented on appropriate certificates.

       4) Military issues (physicals, deployments, etc.) with appropriate documentation.

       5) Covid-19 or other illness (documented by the appropriate certificate).

2. Note: it is the student's responsibility to (1) communicate the instructor, (2) provide documentation, (3) initiate the process of make-up by scheduling a meeting with the instructor.

3. Since make-up work can never substitute for in-class activity, the student should expect that make-up activity will take at least as much time as the in-class activity that was missed. 

now, the students involved in the insurrection appear to be happy. they believe that they've "won one."

truth be told, the "new" policy will be exactly the same thing that i was doing, except that i used to simply trust that they were telling the truth. now, they'll need to produce documentation. they've actually made life harder on themselves (and on their classmates).

the result, for me, is that the situation has forced me to rethink the syllabus, and to communicate better, in writing. the (above) statements will now be included on the course orientation quiz, and all students will sign a letter of understanding at the beginning of each class. 

all of this, because student x got mad.