Editorial: No excuse for A&S, Pratt Councils

Though the majority of students are probably not aware, the last three weeks of the semester have past by without an official dean's excuse policy in place. At the close of the Spring 2003 term, the old dean's excuse plan, whereby students were required to obtain written verification of illness, became ineffective. At a joint session of the Arts and Sciences Council and the Engineering Faculty Council yesterday, a new plan--in which students would be personally able to excuse themselves from graded exercises--was supposed to be voted on. However, due to a lack of attendance on the part of the Engineering Faculty Council, the proposal was tabled until the next joint session one month from now. The issue of dean's excuses is very important to students, and a special session of both councils should be called in the next several days to put a working excuse policy in place as soon as possible.

 The plan the councils were supposed to approve today is a vast improvement over the previous excuse policy. Previously, a student's word alone was insufficient evidence of illness to warrant an excuse. Under the new system, in keeping with the spirit of personal responsibility and integrity outlined in the Community Standard, a student's word is all that will be necessary to obtain an official excuse. Further, officials have made the process of contacting professors and deans about an excuse extremely convenient--students only need to fill out a simple online form, most likely through ACES, which will be sent to their professor and also to their academic dean.

 Up to this point, the fact that no excuse policy has been in place has not been a problem. This is due in large part to the fact that most courses have not yet had major tests or papers, so students have had no need for dean's excuses. Approving the new excuse policy at Thursday's meeting would have been perfect timing. However, there is now a very real danger that a number of students will need to make use of the excuse policy in some capacity before the next joint session of the councils next month.

 Some amount of censure must be accorded the members of the Engineering Faculty Council who failed to attend the session Thursday. At least four members of the Engineering Faculty Council, in addition to the Arts and Sciences members already present, were required to put the policy to a vote--one member showed up. This issue is significant enough to warrant the attention of both councils.

 With the semester coming into full swing, failing to implement a solid excuse policy is irresponsible and fraught with potential problems for students, professors and deans alike. In light of these concerns, a special session of the Arts and Sciences and Engineering Faculty Councils should be called to resolve the issue by early next week.