For first-year students in the Farmer School of Business, going to class is no laughing matter.
Members of the First Year Integrated Core (FYIC), face some of the strictest attendance policies on Miami University’s campus with only two excused absences before their grades begin to suffer.
According to official FYIC syllabi, anything after those two days, including illness or a death in the family, is considered unexcused and will result in a 3% markdown off the student’s final grade for every day missed. And if you miss nine additional days, it’s an automatic failure in the course, making the stakes incredibly high.
But what is FYIC?
The FYIC program prepares business students for the rest of their time at Farmer. Featuring four core classes that cover everything from team building to beginner coding. The program prides itself on preparing students for the real world, right down to the attendance policy.
Joshua Ferris, director of the FYIC, claims that the stringent rules are reflective of the modern workplace.
“Just as companies have policies regarding paid time off and sick days, this attendance policy is designed to mimic real-world workplace expectations,” Ferris said. “In many professional settings, employees are allowed a certain number of days off for personal reasons and illness, but excessive absenteeism can impact their performance reviews and job security.”
It’s important to note that Miami’s sick leave policy for full-time instructional staff mandates 15 days of sick leave for every contract year, making the FYIC’s policies even stricter.
Some students like there is a safety concern when students feel pressure to attend class. Greta Xhaxho, a first-year accounting major, said she’s been to class even when she’s sick out of fear of getting her grade docked.
“I can’t even count it on one hand the amount of times I’ve been sick and the amount of times I didn't want to go to class, but I knew if I skipped class and something else happened, that I would be penalized in my grade,” Xhaxho said.
She adds that this pressure has been a source of stress for her and other students.
“It’s really anxiety-inducing [because] I don’t want my grade to drop just because I’m sick,” she said. “But also [if] I’m sick, I won’t be able to perform properly in the class.”
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Despite the fact that students will get penalized if they miss more than two days for sickness, the FYIC asks that students not come to class if they are contagious. Students can also contact Miami’s administration if they feel like an illness is affecting their ability to stay in school.
“Students should not come to class while sick,” Ferris said. “The [FYIC attendance] policy also encourages students to contact the FYIC Assistant Director for support during serious or prolonged illness.”
Excluding sick days, another facet of the attendance policy is personal matters, such as a death in the family. Under the current FYIC policy, if you’ve already used up your excused days, skipping for a funeral or other family situations is not permissible.
Lucas Mortimer, an undecided business major, used up his excused days early on in the semester due to such a family situation.
“In general [attendance] is a little stressful,” Mortimer said. “The second week I had a funeral, so I couldn't really miss that, obviously. It got [me] off on a bad start because I already had a couple [of] missed classes.”
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that three days of bereavement are typical after the death of an immediate family member (that’s in addition to sick days), and the State of Oregon mandates two weeks of bereavement.
Xhaxho points out the fact that her own teachers don’t always live up to the attendance policy.
“I have [a] teacher that has canceled class twice,” Xhaxho said. “And then also sometimes my teachers will have us all come [to class], and we'll be there for maybe 10 minutes, and then we can leave, which to me seems like something that could have been sent out as an email.”
Still, Mortimer thinks it’s fair for the FYIC to hold students to high standards of attendance.
“[FYIC attendance policy] is a little difficult, but I think it’s kind of realistic with the corporate world,” Mortimer said. “You have to be there.”
Xhaxho, while disliking the attendance policy, said she thinks valuable skills can be learned from the FYIC as a whole.
“[The attendance policy] is a little outrageous,” Xhaxho said, “but [the FYIC] has taught me a lot more than I thought I would learn in the first year.”
Despite the mixed feelings on the attendance policy as a whole, it is unlikely it will be changed.
“The attendance policy has been very beneficial to the program,” Ferris said. “Students have been more engaged and present, and faculty have been able to focus more on materials than on facilitating attendance-related questions.”
With support from administrators within the FYIC, all that’s left for Farmer first-years is to pray they don’t get sick – their grades might very well depend on it.
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