Legitimate excuse to miss class?

College Life
1

<p>I was invited by the White House to attend an Arrival Ceremony for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the South Lawn of the White House on October 13th. Realizing I’d have to miss a classes on October 12th and 13th, I emailed one of my professors to see if this would be an acceptable reason to miss class. Her answer: no. </p>

<p>To be completely fair, she did give a reason for it which seems to have some basis, but I was wondering if there’s a way I could get an excuse through the University to give to professors. Her reasoning is basically that professors wouldn’t be payed if they took a day off to attend the ceremony, so it’s not an excuse for students to miss class. </p>

<p>I’m not sure where to go to check if I could somehow be given a written excuse fot this through the University or if she’s right in her judgement. </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Why are you checking? Just skip class, people do it all the time- it’s really no big deal unless you have a quiz or test that day. In which case, no, they’re not going to move it for you.</p>

3

<p>She has these unannounced assignments sometimes that aren’t on the syllabus which account for 25% of the final grade, and if I miss one of those I’d like to have the opportunity to make it up.</p>

4

<p>Just go. You have a good reason. If you had no good reason other than to play hooky… then that might be different.</p>

5

<p>I agree with the others. Worst case scenario you’ll drop a fraction of a letter grade. It’s not a big deal. Just go. Don’t miss a great opportunity over a grade in a class.</p>

6

<p>Skip class for sure.</p>

7

<p>The question really isn’t whether or not I should go to the White House, that’s been decided already. The question was really if there’s a way to get the school to recognize this as a legitimate excuse. But I do appreciate your comments.</p>

8

<p>I wouldn’t go and ask the school. even the people who work there would probably just tell you to skip class… </p>

<p>But cograts on the opportunity! Have fun! :)</p>

9

<p>I think that’s a great excuse to miss class. Go for it- the experience is worth much more than a lower grade in college in my opinion.</p>

10

<p>Yeah, go ahead and go. Not really sure that the school would count it as excusable, but it’d be worth it.</p>

11

<p>Speaking as a professor…</p>

<p>Contact your school’s Office of Public Relations/Institutional Relations/Institutional Advancement/whatever it’s called there. Tell them about your invitation. They will want to write a press release about you as a successful student. While they are interviewing you, mention that you are worried about missing classes and ask whether you could get a letter from the Dean of Students sent to your professors. I don’t know where you are located but they might also be able to provide some funding for your travel to the event.</p>

12

<p>This isn’t a legitimate reason. You’re attending this for your own enjoyment. It’s not an emergency, it’s not something that would cause you great grief if you miss (as opposed to say, visiting your parent in the hospital).</p>

<p>If you knew about this before you joined the class, you should have canceled it/not applied/turn down the invitation (in fact… why didn’t you?).</p>

13

<p>Yeah like others have said, just skip class and go - that sounds like a great opportunity. Take it.</p>

<p>It is not a legit excuse - professors can pretty much set whatever attendance policy they want. And generally that means that only unavoidable things like serious illness or family emergencies are excused. Obviously professors can make exceptions and whatnot, but they are certainly not required to. I would go, even if it meant the possibility of losing a point or two.</p>