In light of COVID-19, professors have been forced to become lenient with student absences when it comes to quarantining. However, when it comes to mental health-related absences, the university has no official policy. UM must require professors to work with students suffering from mental health issues the same way professors have worked with students suffering from COVID-19 and other illnesses. Professors’ attendance policies need to extend the same flexibility with missed classes and work that students with physical ailments receive.
Unwillingness to allow mental health absences can lead to very serious consequences, as many professors at the University of Mississippi have strict, unbendable attendance policies. These policies often drastically lower a student’s grade for every class after a certain number of absences.
Some professors allow extra absences over their allotted number, but only if these extra absences are considered excused. Last year, I had a concussion and had to show a doctor’s note to be excused from classes. This semester, I got sick and once again was only excused from most of my classes after showing my professors medical documentation. Luckily, I was able to afford the price of the urgent care visit, and since I was suffering from something physical, I was able to easily get a doctor’s note.
If a student is suffering from a mental illness rather than a physical one, getting a doctor’s note is not nearly as easy, and without one, many professors will count the absence as unexcused. Mental health is a serious issue among college students, so much so that, according to the Active Minds organization, 39% of college students will experience a “significant mental health issue.” If professors do not respond to an issue of this magnitude on campus, how can we expect students to feel valued?
If a student is going through a depressive period and cannot miss any more classes without a grade penalty, they are left in a terrible situation. One option is to try to power through and attend class, assuming they even can, as depression can make it impossible to even get out of bed. Even if these students get to class, “depression slows down processing speeds and creates brain fog,” with mental illnesses, in general, making it hard to focus. The only other option is for the student to take the needed day off to try to help their mental health at the expense of their class grade. Both options cause a person to face even more adversity and will make their mental health problem even worse.
In a friend’s class, the professor allows students only three absences without penalty, with every following absence resulting in a one percentage point deduction. It even says “there is no such thing as an ‘excused absence,’ other than having to miss class for an official university function.” Attendance policies like this shut the door on a student’s ability to communicate their mental health problems with their professors and can leave students in a dark and hopeless place.
A professor defending their choice to have a similar attendance policy said that “By having a strict attendance policy in my classes, I support (students’) education by pushing the importance of college up their priority list.” Education is obviously a huge priority for college students. However, it cannot be put above mental health. More so, students should not have to choose between their mental health and education, but rather should have understanding professors that allow students to talk to them and explain what is going on with their mental and physical health.
Abigail Myers is a sophomore majoring in English and psychology from New Orleans, LA.
