For several months, the Student Affairs Committee, led by Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster, has been working on a proposal to clarify the attendance policy currently set forth in the faculty handbook.
The committee became interested in the issue after hearing anecdotal evidence that students were experiencing scheduling conflicts. After looking at the number of rooms reserved for use between 4 p.m. and midnight in one week, Foster said that "we were struck by the volume of activity that happens here."
"Students find themselves overstretched and frazzled when commitments compete for their time," said Assistant Professor of Government Shelley Deane, a member of the committee.
"The issue of time management and overcommitted students was one that hit home to me because I personally have had to make a lot of choices about my priorities due to conflicts," said Elizabeth Sheldon '07, another member of the committee.
The new policy, said Foster, "seeks to enhance communication on all fronts."
Sheldon added that the proposal signifies an "increased awareness that everyone's time, including faculty and students', is valuable."
The proposal was based on similar policies in place at Williams, Middlebury, and Swarthmore. The Williams student handbook has a section titled "Division of the Day," which designates the hours during which scheduled academic activities should take place.
When professors want to make an event outside of those hours mandatory, they must receive approval from the College. Middlebury lays out guidelines for students, professors, and coaches in its handbook.
"What we have is more of a philosophy statement and we're trying to give it a little more definition," said Foster.
After circulating the policy to various departments and all faculty, the Student Affairs Committee will bring it to the Recording Committee. The policy could be voted on at a faculty meeting in May.
The revised policy requires that professors make attendance regulations, including required lectures, evening exams, film screenings, field trips, and other required events, clear before the add/drop deadline.
Foster noted that while faculty can strongly recommend that students go to an event that comes up later in the semester, they cannot require it.
However, students are responsible for everything laid out within the syllabus. While the proposal recommends that faculty members work with students when conflicts arise, there is no formal policy.
"As long as it's not an unreasonable request, I've never run into a professor that is unwilling to negotiate," said Andy King '08.
Foster agreed.
"When communication is good, I think that faculty are really accommodating," he said.
Christian Adams '09, a member of the committee, feels that a strength of the proposal is that is doesn't instruct professors on how to run their classes.
"The proposal has been designed not to be too prescriptive," he wrote in an e-mail to the Orient. "This was done to allow 'wiggle room' for different circumstances that might arise, and with the understanding that different professors have different expectations for their classes."
While the proposal does recommend that the hours between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. be set aside "for students to pursue extracurricular activities and to eat dinner," it is not intended to fix all scheduling conflicts.
"Students are going to have to make choices, and we're not seeking a world where students don't have to make choices," said Foster. "But my own feeling is, if we can create some modest guidelines, we can reduce unnecessary conflicts or limit the amount of conflicts."
Noted Sheldon, "Students still need to learn to manage their time and prioritize their activities. This policy can't substitute for that skill."
Sheldon has had to deal with scheduling conflicts in her time at Bowdoin. Currently, she is an honors student in the neuroscience department and is also enrolled in the Chamber Choir. Every week, conflicts between the two arise.
"Despite numerous pleas to change this, I am in between a rock and a hard place," she said.
Other students have had more luck working out conflicts. A professor strongly recommended that students in the sociology class of Nate Lovitz '08 attend a guest lecture which was taking place during the time Lovitz takes an evening class. When he explained the situation, the professor allowed him to miss the lecture.
"I think you can encourage students to go, but you can't make it mandatory," said Lovitz. "I think, for the most part, at Bowdoin, if it will help them, and they have the time, kids will do it."
The policy also touches upon athletic commitments that can conflict with academic work. Although faculty members are encouraged to cooperate with students, they are not obliged to change any requirements.
"Early communication between coaches and teachers should be spearheaded by the student in these instances," said Adams.
The general consensus from the faculty, said Foster, is that it's an important topic but a tricky one as well.
Even if the proposed policy does not pass, noted Foster, "the existing philosophy statement is not part of the student handbook or the catalogue," but will be included in the future.
The committee, which has been discussing and revising the proposal since the fall, believes the issue is an important one.
"Students place the highest priority on their academic work and the College places its highest priority on academic activities," said Foster. "We're not trying to dilute that core value. But learning happens inside, but also beyond the classroom."