Absentee Giveback Policy

Absentee "Givebacks"
for MAF's face-to-face classes
created 5-22-08; reviewed by current students; adopted as syllabus policy 5-27-08

The ideas here are based on several principles:

Attendance in class is really important. However, there are many justifiable reasons for being absent. I do not wish to judge the justifiability of absences nor to punish those who miss class. My stance is flexibility, while encouraging attendance as much as possible.
However, a great deal of importance happens in class, and you deserve to have an opportunity to "catch up" or to access the information that was shared.
Also, the class missed out on an opportunity to benefit from your presence.
Live electronic attendance does not count as an absence.

Based on these principles, it seems reasonable to present several concrete actions that absentees can take to "catch up," "make up," and alleviate any feelings of guilt or being left out.

Make sure you are square with your group, if applicable. This has to be between you and your teammates.
Naturally, do all the assignments, homework, readings, etc.
Read the agenda carefully for the day missed and all associated content materials and notes.
Follow up as needed.
Finally, I will ask you to perform a specific "giveback." This will typically be some smallish but important task that needs to be done for the benefit of the whole class -- not a "job," exactly, but a one-time research or creative task about which I will be very specific. You should be able, usually, to do it from home. For example, if a question comes up in class that I don't readily know the answer to and would have to research, I might assign it to you as your "giveback" task. You certainly have the right to protest and ask for a different task, or offer an idea of your own. Another possibility might be for you to take on an extra job - if there are enough to go around. Yet another possibility might be to write a guest blogpost of relevance and interest to the class.
Accountability: attendance is tracked in a WebCT column. It begins the term with "perfect." This note is replace with any date missed. Givebacks performed erase the absences, and the column reverts back to "perfect."

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Created by M.Fitzgerald 5-22-08. Expires 8-31-09.
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