Topic: Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!

[onehappyunicorn]

Student started the semester by missing 7 of the first 16 class meetings. This is a studio art class that meets for 6 hours per week. My suggestion was for them to withdraw, the class has an attendance requirement, but student insisted that they would make up all of the missed time and now that they weren't having car trouble they would be in class. The attendance policy is in the syllabus and I also post it in the course announcements because I don't want anyone to be caught by surprise.

I let Stu know I would be happy to open up the painting studio whenever they wanted to come in and make up time, Stu looks at me like I've grown three heads. No, they'll do it at home. Okay, most students have a very difficult time oil painting at home since it can be very messy, you need a good amount of space, and you need ventilation, but fine. Stu then spends the next class trying to get me to cover all of the material from the first part of the semester. Even when I am helping other students Stu keeps hovering and trying to ask questions. I let Stu know that I'll be happy to help them catch up during office hours, I'll even come meet them up at the studio so I can demo, Stu doesn't care for that option either.

Fast forward, Stu has sporadic attendance and then after the withdraw date passes Stu disappears for almost four weeks. I email two more times with no response so I assume they are just done. I get an email this week with pictures of all the "make up" work Stu has been doing from home. It's all terrible, of course, bad enough that even if they were making it to class their grade would not be a passing one.

I let Stu know that even if they make the rest of the classes there is no way they are going to pass. Stu responds "You mean to tell me that even though I made up all the work you are going to fail me?" Yes, that is correct, please refer back to the course policies as per the syllabus, and as posted in the course announcements.

Stu's mother then calls and leaves a message on my office phone, she wants to know why I couldn't just open a virtual meeting during class so her student wouldn't fall behind. Stu is always working hard, everyone else helps him out, why can't you be more accommodating, etc. Fortunately the chair backs me up and has stepped in. We absolutely are not talking to the mother. Stu has been here for a while, they are in their early 20s, btw.

Stu will be on academic probation after this semester (despite "working hard" they are below a 2.0) and in order to get the failing grade off of their transcript they will need to take the class again. Guess who is the only faculty that teaches this class?

[apl68]

Sounds like a student with issues that go beyond simple laziness and disorganization.  Glad your chair backs you in cases like this.

[kaysixteen]

Do you have to let this student make up this class?

[onehappyunicorn]

Yes, thankfully my chair is very supportive.
We are an open enrollment institution so students can take any class multiple times as long as they pay. If he does come back we'll have a conversation up front and I'll document it just in case.

[kaysixteen]

Ok, but eventually, even multiple failures ought to be able to garner the student enough basic course-related info to pass the class, without, ahem, actually having learned much of anything.