A joint session of the Arts and Sciences Council and the Engineering Faculty Council approved a new short-term illness excuse policy Thursday that will take effect after the fall break.
Chemistry professor James Bonk, who chaired the committee that re-examined the policy, gave an overview of the proposed excuse policy and presented a detailed description of the e-mail form that students would use to make an illness known to professors. A copy of the e-mail would be sent to an academic dean to keep on record.
Bonk presented three motions to the joint councils regarding the policy. The first motion defined what a short-term illness is, while the second motion explained the two operating principles of the new policy--that only a student can determine if he or she is too ill to complete an assignment in the given time and that students must act in accordance with the new Duke University Community Standard.
Although the first two motions passed without debate, the third motion, concerning the actual procedure for implementation of the short-term illness policy, elicited extended discussion from members.
A major point of contention was the role of the academic deans in the proposed policy. Ron Grunwald, a lecturer in biology, presented an amendment that called for academic deans to notify instructors if a pattern of illnesses emerges for a particular student.
"The concern of the faculty, like the concern of the students, was that abuse [of the short-term illness policy] represents a potential unfairness to other students," Grunwald said. "We are asking that there be some procedure implemented in the dean's office which will provide some reassurance to the faculty... and also give notice to the students that the deans are involved in making sure that there is not abuse."
Among several objections to this amendment, Associate Dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences Kay Singer said that she did not see it as the role of the deans to act as "watchdogs" for the new procedure. Singer said that while the deans would keep a record of illness reports and be responsive to possible developing patterns, it would be the responsibility of the instructors to contact the deans if they have concerns about particular students.
Other members commented that adding language that required deans to police the short-term illness procedure would go against the spirit of the new policy, which requires students to comply with the Community Standard when contacting their professors about an illness.
After discussion, the council voted against this proposed amendment, leaving the deans in a limited role under the new policy.
A second point, raised by Lori Leachman, professor of the practice of economics, called for the plan to require students to contact their professors before a missed assignment is due in order to prevent abuse. She cited an example of a student taking an exam, doing poorly, and then sending an e-mail falsely claiming an illness. This amendment was also voted down by the councils in favor of the current wording which requires students to send their illness report "as soon as possible."
After rejecting the two proposed amendments, the procedure was approved, putting the new short-term illness excuse policy into action. The meeting continued with a presentation by Executive Vice President Tallman Trask describing the current construction on campus, as well as proposed development for the near future. Trask spoke about the new science center, currently in the development phase, and long-range plans for a major overhaul of Central Campus, which he said was neither centrally-located nor a true campus.
He said that construction normally occurs in waves, and that the University is currently in a period of high construction, with five major projects happening now.
"I cannot wait until this cycle is over because it has been pretty disruptive," he said. "I hope that by this time next year, we will have it behind us."
IN OTHER BUSINESS:
Michael Lavine, professor at the Institute of Statistics & Decision Sciences, and Linda McGown, professor of chemistry, were elected to the A&S Council's Executive Committee.
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