The Iowa State Bulletin contains policies that apply to all undergraduate students. While it may be dry reading, it is still everyone’s responsibility to be aware of those policies. The following passage appears on page 38.

“To validate their enrollment in each course at the beginning of the semester, students must attend the first or second meeting. The instructor has the option to offer a registered place in the course to another student when a registered student fails both to attend and to obtain prior approval of the instructor. However, those students will not be automatically dropped from the course; they must drop the course themselves or else they will receive an F grade.”

Student absenteeism during the initial days of the semester creates frustration for instructors and fellow students during a time that is already chaotic. Absent students leave instructors uncertain with regard to whether space exists to add more students to their sections.

Instructors adding new students under the belief that absent students will drop can be caught off guard when absent students eventually start attending. On the other hand, it’s frustrating to instructors to turn away students wanting to add only to learn too late the absent students eventually dropped.

I am very interested in hearing from both students dropped from classes and from instructors who have dropped students citing this policy. My guess is that many instructors and even more students are unaware of its existence.

Michael Eraas

Graduate student

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