As a commuter, there have been many times where I have been very frustrated getting to school here at Framingham State University. Since this is a university of small classes, attendance is always taken and not hard to miss. However, it makes me nervous at the beginning of every semester when I see my class syllabus commenting that my grade could be jeopardized due to being tardy to class.
Now is this fair? No. Commuters do not have the same advantages as residents. We cannot wake up just a half hour before class and make it on time. Personally, I wake up two hours before class starts in order to have enough time to get ready, drive to campus, and give myself enough time to find parking and walk to class. Especially with the current problem of parking on campus, it only makes it more difficult to be on time. I have spent up to over half an hour looking for parking and being late for class. I know living at campus is always a suggested option, but I do not have the money to live at school so commuting is the most efficient way I can continue my education.
Since this is a school of more than half of the students being commuters, I believe that professors should not take tardiness that seriously. I realize that it is annoying for a class to be interrupted by someone walking in late, but as a commuter there is one thing we cannot control: traffic. There have been many times that I have left on time, but then there will be an accident on the highway that causes me to be up to fifteen minutes late. It becomes very frustrating to me that because of this accident and traffic, my grade will be affected. We do not have the luxury of just walking to class from our dorms and be on time. With driving, many unfortunate situations can occur that can make us late.
Overall, I highly suggest that professors should not penalize students for being late or absent. Everyone has experienced the frustrations of traffic at one moment or another, but we have no control over it. We are adults, and should be graded by our work, not for our punctuality.
I completely agree. Last year when I lived on campus, I would wake up 10 minutes before class started. Now, I have to leave my house at 7:15 in order to get to class on time. Like you said, there is sometimes accidents or weather difficulties that cause me to be late sometimes. Plus, if you don't get on campus early then finding parking can take ab additional 10-15 minutes. It's a pain, and I think that professors need to try to be a little lenient on tardiness.
ReplyDeleteI am a commuter too. I commute about an hour to class and always make it on time. After commuting for a certain amount a years you get used to the traffic and how to manage your time. Interrupting a class because you're five minutes late is unacceptable in my opinion. I don't think teachers should deduct points if your five minutes late to class. However, I think a reexamination on students time management would be an easy solution to this problem.
ReplyDeleteI am also a commuter that lived on campus for two years. I agree with what both you said, it is a hassle sometimes to get to class on time because you never know what is gonna delay you when commuting from 30 minutes to a hour away from the campus. Most of my teachers though give my classes a 15 minute grace period, so I can be thankful i have understanding teaches that don't add on to the burden of commuting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what people have said so far. I do not think that any points should be deducted for being late by about ten minutes a few times. I do think that if this happens every class something should happen because if a student is late every single day than they might need to leave a little bit earlier to take into account things that could happen along the way like traffic, accidents, or parking problems.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what has been said. I would also like to add that the school should care more about its commuters. There have been many times were the weather has made it difficult to travel to FSU and instead of taking this into consideration and canceling classes the dean allows classes to run. It is then up to the individuals professors themselves to cancel classes. I have been in the situation before where due to snow or black ice driving to school becomes dangerous. It is not fair that I have to be penalized for missing class because I am putting my safety before my attendance. Students who live on campus have more accessibility because they can simply walk to class but driving through snow or on ice is a safety hazard. The reason why I believe that this is important is because a large portion of students who attend FSU are, in fact, commuters. The school should take this into consideration and adjust its policies accordingly.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the majority of what has been so far, particularly the above comment about situations when the weather has an effect on the driving conditions. Last year, there was a fairly significant snow storm that hit my area a bit harder than the Framingham area. Because of this, school wasn't cancelled. However, taking one look at the conditions on my own street, I knew there was no way I would take the risk of driving 15 miles in these conditions, yet school wasn't cancelled, and my grade was actually impacted because of my choice to put my safety first.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a commuter who has been frustrated about this. A lot of professors forget to take it into consideration that we aren't at the same advantage as residents. I live all the way in Boston and I have to wake up at 5:00 every morning for my 8:30 classes, because I don't even have a car. I depend on the commuter rail and on MWRTA buses to get me to classes every morning. The problem is that the trains and busses don't always run on schedule. Some mornings, the final bus I wait for can be up to 20 minutes late, making me extremely late for class. Then the late days start to build up and affect my grade, but professors seem not to care. They tell me "maybe you should just wake up earlier" but honestly, how much earlier can I wake up? It’s really upsetting!
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