I ask my students on the first day of class how they feel about
affirmative action.  Invariably, UD being a private Catholic school, the
vast majority (usually greater than 95%, even the minority students)
express displeasure with affirmative action in education and in the
workplace.  When I ask them why they feel that way, invariably they
respond that they don't like seeing others get an unfair advantage, that
everyone should be treated equally, that hard work and determination
should be the only factors that count towards success, etc. etc.

Then I ask them what the difference is between college admissions or
company HR granting affirmative action and someone saying, "I missed the
exam, can I have a makeup," or "I was playing in a tournament, can I have
an extension on the paper, or "I'm going home on a family vacation to
France, can I take the exam early."  I tell them that since they don't
like affirmative action, I too shall take a no-affirmative-action policy,
so unless a student can justify to me why they deserve to be treated
differently than everyone else, my answer will be "no."

I find this approach both allows me to be tough but fair for legitimate
excuses (I've personally limited legitimacy to the student or immediate
family member's illness), while also forcing a re-examination of
affirmative action at the same time.



-----Original Message-----
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 10:44 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: students missing finals

I seem to have an epidemic this year of students missing the final, and
wanting to make it up.  In all but one case, the only excuse is: I wrote
it down wrong.

This means they didn't read the syllabus very carefully, missed several
in-class announcements, didn't double check the official schedule etc.

I'm just wondering what others do in this situation.  One of my colleagues
said she refused to give the student a make-up, but that student was
flunking the class anyway.

I have to say, I'm getting a bit fed-up with their level of
irresponsibility!