Does anyone have a concrete example where a student-athlete has been shafted in terms of test-scheduling? I have seen countless anecdotal remarks about profs not allowing athletes to reschedule, but no one has ever provided a concrete example, that I have seen.
For the record, Georgia Tech's official attendance policy
requires faculty to allow reasonable makeup opportunities for all course assignments that are missed due to participation in Institute-sponsored activities—explicitly including athletics (
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/4/):
Students who are absent because of participation in approved Institute activities (such as field trips, professional conferences,
and athletic events) will be permitted to make up the work missed during their absences. Approval of such activities will be granted by the Student Academic and Financial Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate, and statements of the approved absence may be obtained from the Office of the Registrar. Course instructors are responsible for establishing reasonable deadlines and/or make-up materials for the missed work, and for clearly communicating this information to the relevant student(s), when absences for Institute activities are approved.
- Student Responsibilities
- Individual students requesting approval from the Student Academic and Financial Affairs Committee are expected to do so at least two weeks before their requested absences;
- Students are expected to inform their instructors about their approved absence by the end of the class meeting immediately following receipt of their approval notice.
- Course Instructor Responsibilities
- Course instructors receiving timely notification of student absence (as outlined above) are expected to establish reasonable deadlines and/or make-up materials for missed work, and for clearly communicating this information to the relevant student(s).
The only possible sticking-point I can see would be if the student does not provide sufficient advance notice—but in my experience, most faculty recognize that there can be administrative delays between making a request and receiving formal approval, and would not nit-pick a "two week" notice deadline. I've personally excused student-athletes
without receiving the official excuse letter, based on the understanding that the approval was "in the pipeline". And in fact, the AA is usually right on top of the notification requirement, since they know their event schedules at the start of the term. With student-athletes, I typically get Registrar-approved absence notices, for the full semester, within the second week of classes.
In my experience as a faculty member, the claim that profs, or the administration, are treating student-athletes as "second-class citizens" is a bunch of hoo-hah.
