The petition
Petition Intent
When attending college, “A” work is “A” work. If coursework has been completed, a student should expect to receive a grade based off of the quality of work, not their attendance.
William Penn University’s College for Working Adults (CWA) has recently revised their attendance policy. A student is penalized in their overall grade if they miss a single session. The students attending CWA would like to have this policy revised to meet their individual needs.
Students
All students attending the CWA program are required to be full-time working adults. Many students attending are in their 30s and 40s and have families. The CWA student body, therefore, is primarily composed of people committed to their education, rather than their social life. Unfortunately, when someone is as busy as a CWA student is, occasional conflicts can and do arise during the year-round session.
Current Attendance Policy
In 1996, CWA policy was that a student could miss one session per class without consequence. A student was expected to turn in coursework as usual, and complete any make-up work from the planned session. This policy was changed in 2006, when a new dean was appointed.
Instructors are now encouraged to threaten a student’s grade and give them a maximum of a “B” if a session is missed, regardless of circumstances. Students are told no exceptions can be made, even if there are emergencies, family issues, work problems, or preplanned absences. You may still turn in “A” quality work, make up all coursework in advance, and have enough overall points to technically receive an “A” grade; however, an instructor is still encouraged to give you a “B” for missing one session.
The new dean’s rationale is that it should be nearly impossible for a student to maintain “A” quality work if they have missed a session, as by missing a session, you are missing 20% of the course. However, in this program, students are taught to rely on their study teams for additional assistance, clarification, and spend countless hours outside of the classroom on coursework, self-study, and research. This additional work is not being considered in the revised policy.
Suggested Attendance Alternative
A suggested alternative would be to allow students three total absences in a one-year period, still missing no more than one session per course. Anything beyond this should be evaluated on an individual basis. Students in the CWA program have been expected to be tolerant of the campus continually being understaffed, resulting in delayed processing of student information, financial aid, and technology services, just to name a few. However, students are not always treated with the same respect by the staff and feel undermined by this change to the attendance policy.
Please, if you are a concerned student, or wish to assist the students in the CWA program, sign this petition. This petition will be an invaluable asset in negotiating a more appropriate and reasonable policy for those attending.
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