Reply #13: The state paid part of my salary

[wickerwoman]

and the students paid the rest *to educate them* and frankly, I'm not doing that if I let a student pass a class who hasn't met the requirements. What if this student were in medical school and missed a quarter of a semester? Are we supposed to let her become a doctor or an engineer (despite the risk that her ignorance might have to the lives of others) because she was off doing something noble?

"A for the death of a classmate" is an urban myth. (see http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp) It's not policy at any university I'm aware of. I'm not scoffing at the idea of make-up work but in some cases it's not practical (often participation in class is how students show mastery of the material and a paper or a test won't accomplish the deal.) I think this student should have gone to her dean (before she went to the newspaper) and asked to retake the class next semester. Any dean I know would have allowed her to retake the class for free without a penalty to her grade (and without the other class appearing on her transcript.)

Finally, even though my salary comes from tuition education is not a service industry. You don't pay x amount of money for y amount of education. Teachers are not servants. They can't do their job if they aren't willing to stand up to students when they think that ultimately it is in the student's best interest. So sorry, the grade you get in my class is going to be a reflection of what you learned in that class and nothing else.