The policy, discussed by the Steering Committee Tuesday, would require students to notify the associate dean of their college via a webpage.
Students would select their college, provide a brief description of the circumstances and how much time they need off. The associate dean would then notify faculty of the extended absence once the student resumes attending class.
In addition, the proposal requests that faculty include language in the syllabi to make students aware of the policy.
For hospitality business senior Anna Wendzinski , such a policy would have saved her stress and hassle when her father died right before midterms during her sophomore year.
“Looking back, I wish I had more chances to miss class and be at home instead,” she said. “I wish that the professors would have been more lenient with my assignments and exams because it was so difficult to pay attention and do homework when I was grieving.”
Although some students might experience difficulty procuring time off to grieve, many professors seem to be in support of the proposed policy.
“I expect students to take ownership of their programs, but they also deserve a bit of compassion in the face of any demonstrable crisis,” Professor Ralph Taggart said. “Most faculty I have known in 40-plus years at MSU would probably behave in a comparable fashion. It seems strange that we need policies to handle the most fundamental consequences of mortality.”
The idea for the policy originated from ASMSU out of the concern that there was not a policy present to protect students dealing with a sudden death of a family member or a close friend.
“Obviously it would be nice to see the policy voted on and in the books as soon as possible, but I understand the importance of being as inclusive as possible and allowing everyone a chance to vet it,” ASMSU Vice President for Academic Affairs Mitchell Goheen said.
The reason the policy took two years to reach academic governance committees was because of logistics involved with the notification system and who would have the responsibility of alerting professors to a student’s absence, Goheen said.
The grief absence policy has been on the minds of university officials for two years, University Committee on Undergraduate Education Chairperson Cynthia Taggart said.
“The thing I think we need to look most carefully at is ... what’s manageable for the university within the current staffing constraints,” Taggart said.
The committee ultimately moved to refer the grief absence policy to various other university committees before going on for approval by other academic governance bodies.
