Disability Support Services - The George Washington University

Home > Newsletters > Spring 2006 > case study

case study

Classroom attendance case study

Have you ever been concerned about a DSS student who has had difficulty attending your class? The following case study is from the Faculty and Administrator Modules in Higher Education (FAME) online training module on the rights and responsibilities of students and universities. Review the case and see how you would respond!

* * *

A student is sitting in parked car in front of classroom building. The student is dressed in sweats and has an unkempt appearance. The student is struggling with going into the classroom, or calling the professor and leaving a message saying he will not be in class.

He leaves a message:

Professor Brown, this is Mike Whittier from your Psychology 101 class. Um, I cannot make class today. I’m sorry I didn’t make it last week either. I will try to come to your office hours tomorrow.

The next day: Mike approaches his professor slowly, once again looking unkempt, and also looking disinterested.

Could you please tell me what I missed in class yesterday and last week? I know there was an assignment due yesterday. I was wondering if I could turn it in now, along with an assignment from last week. Your syllabus says you do not accept late papers, but well, I just couldn’t come to class. The papers were complete. I was at the building yesterday; I just couldn’t come in.

The professor sighing loudly:

I’ve noticed you have been having trouble lately--you are very disinterested in class. I’m not sure if I can help you. You need to show an active interest in my class for me to exercise an interest in you beyond the classroom.

Mike:

I know, I don’t know. (Sigh) I know I should have told you before, but I thought I could make it through the quarter without making my depression an issue. I try. Everyday, I try. But it’s hard. This visit is my attempt at showing interest. You sent out grades last week, and I want to know if there’s any way the grades can be improved--I did the work.

If you were the professor in this situation, how would you respond?

Response 1. I’m not sure what to do in a situation like this. I have never had a student come to me with a problem like this before. Do you tell all of your instructors? How do they respond? Maybe we should set up a way to communicate when you are having a bad day. Are you registered with Disability Support Services?

Response 2. I understand. Everyone has bad days sometimes, including me. However, we all have to find whatever we need to work out our personal problems. I don’t know what specific problems are affecting you right now, but you need to be able to differentiate them from your academics. You do need to try harder. Take care of yourself. And show up to class more. Then maybe your grades will improve.

Response 3. I will accept today’s visit as your interest. I still would like to see you in class more because that is the best way for you to improve your grades. I am willing to accept your papers, late, just this once. I think it is only fair that I deduct five points for turning them in late; that’s what I do with all students when I accept late work. We should contact Disability Support Services to assist us in working together to ensure that you benefit to the best of your abilities in this class while creating a learning environment that is fair to the other students.

Click here to find out which response we recommend and why.