Quote:
Originally Posted by kerc
Followup question -- I received this from a student
I am expecting around November 29th. I plan on being back for finals, hoping the pregnancy goes well and there are no complications. I am hoping you are willing to work with me, regarding tests, assignments, or labs I may miss out on. You know how pregnancy goes
Hopefully the baby stays in there as long as possible so I can make it as far as possible through the semester, but you just never know. But my advisor told me to contact all my professors and fill them in with the appropriate information.
This is a student who might have shared this information with me before I added her to the class (after the add deadline). She's a decent student thus far, but I don't know if I think she's being realistic (having been pregnant and had a baby in grad school on Nov 5th, not a giant undergrad class - I took an incomplete).
How do you all handle it?
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I think the last time this happened to me the student came to me before registering for the course. She couldn't find the adjunct who was going to teach the lab she was interested in, and she came to me as chair to ask me if she would be able to make up any missed work after her baby's upcoming birth.
It's best if it's done face to face. First, I heartily congratulated her and said that she must be soooo excited! Then I got out the calendar and had her show me her due date, and then I showed her the day of the last day of classes. In this student's case, she was talking about a physics lab and would have missed four weeks of lab. I told her that there was no way we could set up the equipment for four experiments just for her. If she were going to miss only one lab, the instructor might have discretion to drop a goose egg lab report, but 4 labs out of a possible 12? Surely she could see that it wasn't reasonable.
And that's what I tend to do. I talk to the student so that they know that I assume that they can see the fairness issue and the professor's point of view. I point out all the ways that their education would suffer if I gave them what they wanted. For example, if I could miraculously let them make up the four labs, the student wouldn't have the valuable learning opportunity of working with the lab partner.
Many times the student doesn't understand the purpose of the incomplete. In our institution, even if the student has a perfectly good reason for an incomplete, the instructor doesn't have any obligation to give the incomplete. Students assume that the instructor will have to give an incomplete, when in fact the instructor has every right to turn the student down. So when I tell them that sometimes our adjuncts (or even full time teaching staff) disappear during the summer and aren't available to supervise incomplete work, they understand the situation better and are more accepting that an incomplete won't work.
In the end, after I laid down the facts in a respectful way, the student decided not to register for the course. But I made it seem like she made the decision, not me. I used a few key phrases. "I'm sorry I didn't give you the answer you wanted, but I know you'd rather know now, so that you can plan, instead of find out later the hard way." and "I'm so glad you came to ask me, it never hurts to ask."
Since your student is already enrolled in the course, I would ask her to come in person. Then I would ask her how her pregnancy is going. I would say that so far so good, but do you have a backup plan if your baby comes early or baby doesn't sleep well? I would be up front about what concessions I would be willing to give her. I.e. she could take the final exam two weeks after the end of the semester, and even bring the baby if she wants, but all of the assignments have to be turned in before the end of the semester. Whatever you are willing to do. Then give her some scenarios that you aren't willing to do. For example, if she misses which assignments and tests, there will be no makeup for those. Then also make clear that the incomplete is not indefinitely extendable. If by the first deadline, the work is not made up satisfactorily, then it automatically becomes an F, or whatever. I think the student will appreciate those accommodations that you are willing to offer, and understand that you need to set limits on what you won't allow, as long as you don't wait until too late to make it clear to her.
Several times, I have had students ask me for an incomplete, and I have said, "I'm sorry, I wish I could, but after the semester is over, I am already overextended with my commitments and obligations. I could not give you the attention that you deserve. Thank you for asking, however."
Finally, I have said, "I'm sorry, but the Head Registrar personally told me that the incomplete must not be used in situations just like this. You may give him a call if you wish." (I talked to the Head Registrar and he told me that if there is any reason I don't want to give an incomplete, then I don't have to and he will back me up on it.)