excuse me (or not)

I'm writing this post as a response to some of the other posts I've seen about attendence woes due to weather and flu. I'm sure everyone received the same email I did about being understanding towards students who miss class due to weather and travel. I also recently received an email about "excused absences" concerning one of my students who has broken his jaw. The email appealed to me on behalf of the student to be understanding about his absences, but reiterated time and again that it is up to me, the instructor, to determine what is, and is not, an excused absence.

This whole idea of "excused absences" is interesting to me, because it's something I affiliate with high school. Is a student "excused" -- what does that even mean in a college course? It must imply that I will allow the student extra time to turn in work, extend deadlines, etc. But in the case of my student who broke his jaw, a student who was fast approaching missing the 7 class periods I've designated in my syllabus as the pass/fail attendance line even before this accident, how can I "excuse" him? (The final memoir is due on Monday, and I haven't seen a draft or heard a word -- what am I supposed to do about that?) When I was an undergrad, if I missed a class, more often than not I didn't notify my teacher. I simply accepted the consequences of my absence (I took ownership of the class). Now, as a teacher, I receive a zillion emailed excuses for people missing class -- do I excuse those people? What about the people who miss b/c of the same reasons, but don't contact me because they approach the course the way I did? What is "excused"?!

I tend to be more understanding than not when it comes to absences, because I'm just a softie. But I can see how, in the hands of more manipulative students, and if I taught more than two classes, this could be a problem. I do email missed handouts to students. I do this simply because in the event of a student's late paper or unacceptable paper, I can say that I did everything I could to help them and that I must fall back on my overall course policies. Students can't deny that I did everything to help! (I also email students who have missed several classes to show I care, and usually I really do care.) Also, I have to admit, sometimes I'm scared to lay down the law with a student. I think to myself, in the environment of violence in the universities, how can it hurt to be accomodating? But I think that's a blog post I want to explore in more detail next week ...