Hello all.
So, as a new officer in an org at my school, I am “heavily encouraged” to attend certain conferences that will be taking place in the next few months. Most of the previous conferences that I have attended have been on weekends and Friday, etc. However, these conferences are for most of the week, excluding Monday and Tuesday.
The biggest issue with that is that I’m taking a full class load this upcoming Fall. Many of my classes will take place during conference days (I mean, it is most of the week). These classes MAY include lectures that only take place twice during the week and/or once-a-week lab(s).
So, I guess my biggest concern are:
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What would y’all do, in this situation? I don’t want to shirk from my obligations to either my org or my classes, so I’m at a loss for what to do.
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In the case of classes that only meet twice or once a week, is missing these classes too much of a ‘loss’, in your books?
Are other officers attending those conferences? Could you switch off between on who attends those conferences? I think as a student, your studies come first. While attending some conferences once in a while may be doable, you need to make sure you have a solid way of being able to absorb the same information or have reliable friends to take notes during lectures. It may depend on your professor’s policy, but some professors may make attendance mandatory which means you may not be able to attend those conferences. If that is the case, there is nothing you can do and it is not your fault you can’t attend those conferences. In any case, once the year starts you are going to have to decide on how well you can manage everything, but personally I don’t feel that “highly recommended” conferences that may take up the majority of the week is worth enough to sacrifice a majority of my time during the semester unless they were absolutely necessary. There may be other ways you can contribute to the organization and pick up the slack in other areas if you end up not being able to attend those conferences
If you are attending the conference as an official representative of the university (student club), it is likely that the Dean of Students (or equivalent office) will send a letter to your professors indicating that you are travelling on official university business and will ask for their flexibility regarding your absence.
Note, however, that professor cooperation is voluntary. You are responsible for information you miss while you are away and for completing assignments (make a friend in the class!), and most professors will work with you to ensure that your attendance at the conference doesn’t negatively impact your grade. However, some professors don’t recognize anything other than their own syllabus, and will penalize you severely.
Clearly, missing a once a week class is more significant than missing one meeting of a 2-3 session one.
As a professor, I find that my best students often have schedule conflicts such as this, and my flexibility means that these strong students contribute even more to class discussion because of their outside interests. The fellow in the next office, however… 
Another thing you might ask yourself is whether your participation in this student organization might lead to a career opportunity for you. For instance, some of my students want to work in “student affairs” type careers and therefore participate in “student affairs” activities quite heavily, sometimes to the detriment of other obligations…but that’s what gets them into the graduate programs they want.
@shawnspencer
There are other officers that will most likely attend. The registration periods are at inconvenient time, so I don’t know for sure how my schedule will be (I am waitlisted to be placed into a random time for a lab class).
I will explain to other officers my current situation.
@stradmom
I’ve had professors that allow conference absences. Although I’ve had professors that don’t allow them either. It goes both ways equally, I think.
These conferences are for people in my field (within STEM). I would say that they serve as a great opportunity, provided I don’t mess anything up. That’s why I’m having a bit of trouble.