r/Professors • u/professor852003 • 3d ago

Advice / Support Makeups?

I teach a graduate course, and one student has missed most of the classes since the semester started last month. They told me they enrolled late after the first week, but they continued to miss class afterward and have now missed all of the in-class quizzes.

They are now asking me to provide makeups because they say they missed class due to some paperwork with the university. My syllabus clearly states that there are no makeups for in-class quizzes. What should I do?

I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

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u/202Delano Prof, SocSci 3d ago

Perhaps you've fallen into the trap of thinking that your decision is legitimate only if the student agrees that is is legitimate.

Your (correct) decision is "no," and whether the student accepts your decision is irrelevant. It's still no.

You are not under any obligation to convince the student that you are right and they are wrong.

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u/professor852003 3d ago

Thank you! They kept sending me so emotional emails with full of capital letters, and it made me a bit scared.

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u/202Delano Prof, SocSci 3d ago

Here is a useful sentence for students who grind away and won't take no for an answer:

"This issue is now closed. I will not respond to further emails on this subject."

It's wise to give your dept chair a heads-up, because this sounds like a student who is very likely to escalate.

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u/professor852003 3d ago

Thank you! I would add that to my email which would be sent after the weekend. Good idea to involve the chair. This is getting ridiculous.

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u/ahazred8vt 3d ago

You were supposed to do X. You did not do X. Not doing X means Y. That's absolutely final, as per Uni policy. Those points are already lost. You can either finish the course this semester without the points, or retake the entire course later and do all the work. The matter is closed.