Officials warn students that budget cuts may mean fewer classes will be offered next year. However, sometimes students are not learning in their current classes when professors repeatedly cancel classes.There is no university policy regarding professors’ attendance at class, just as there is no university student-attendance policy. Professors and departments can require that students attend class. It is more difficult for students to require their professors to attend class.Students don’t get as much from a class if they don’t attend regularly, but it’s equally difficult to succeed in a class if the professor doesn’t show up. After all, you can’t learn material if no one is there to teach it.Professors who are sincere about wanting to help their students succeed will make every effort not only to make class interesting, but to make it to class on a regular basis.Cancellations often are legitimate, but sometimes classes are canceled for silly reasons such as a classroom that’s not at an ideal temperature.Class attendance should be a consideration in evaluating a professor. Those who cancel class rarely are going to be more effective teachers than those who often miss class.One way to evaluate whether a professor misses class too often would be to include a question on class evaluations about the number of cancellations in a class. This could be used when considering professors for tenure or for post-tenure review.Students are expected to be in class, so professors should be, too.editorialboard: Carrie Tett, Jocelyn Marcus, Katie Goldsmith, Andrea Hauser and Tim Paluch