News
Faculty asked to relax attendance policies
The Pointer
jlutz715@uwsp.edu
After the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point proved it difficult to follow mandated attendance policies for their students in regards to H1N1, the policies will become more lenient.
Some teachers were enforcing strict guidelines for students with “flu-like symptoms,” while other teachers were letting students get out of class solely with an e-mail.
Bill Deering, a professor in the communication department, said, “It may be selfish, but I don’t want to get sick. If I have a student e-mail me claiming they have the flu or any ‘flu like symptoms,’ I tell them to stay home.”
A proposal by Eric Yonke, the Academic Affairs committee chair, asks students to make the best effort possible to inform their professors in a timely manner and does not require a doctor’s note. The Board of Regents recently passed a similar proposal for UW system faculty.
Currently the Student Government Association is working on a letter asking to have the same attendamce privileges as faculty.
Some teachers are not persuaded that easily. Bill Hettler told the student senate two weeks ago, “Although the state mandates that students stay home when they have “flu like symptoms,” some teachers are docking students for missing class and not handing in assignments.”
The Academic Affairs committee has been heading up the campus discussion on this matter. They have come to an agreement to leave attendance policies u
p to each individual department, said Wednesday’s edition of the Stevens Point Journal.
Each department has class curriculums that are affected by attendance policies differently. Such as labs and class critiques versus lectures and homework.
Hettler said the state issued a report saying, “People are encouraged to follow good hygiene precautions such as hand washing, covering their cough/sneeze with their sleeve or a tissue, and staying home when ill.”
Locally, St. Michael’s, UWSP and Rice Medical Center released a report stating the many precautions that not only students, but everyone should follow. The report advises people, even if just experiencing one of the symptoms listed, to isolate themselves to eliminate the risk of spreading the disease.
Cough, sore throat, body aches, chills, runny nose, stuffy nose, fatigue, headache, diarrhea and vomiting are all signs of H1N1 or as students prefer to call it, “swine flu.”
So, here lies the dilemma of how to handle their attendance if affected by swine flu. Although students don’t want to fail tests and lose participation points, they are still advised to stay home. One student was even sent out of the residence hall in order to keep the flu from spreading.
Students should get vaccinated as soon as possible to avoid getting sick at all. Flu shots were given free to students this past week but can still be purchased at local hospitals. If students do find themselves fighting the flu they should work best with teachers to come up with a plan to get the work done. Everyone can help stop the flu from becoming a pandemic.
