Some of y’all really need to read or listen to that story about WPI’s wave of suicides.

I get that having raised independent, self-sufficient young adults is a major source of pride, reassurance, and identity for you. But every community needs to have in place a system in which human beings check in on their fellow human beings.

Every young adult should know that someone in their community will notice their absence.

Anonymous wrote:
I agree that SOMEONE at a university should be responsible for following up on student absences.

Not professors, they have too much to do and may not know their students personally. But attendance should be taken correctly, and the counselor assigned to students can knock on their door.

BTW, about the roommate thing: there is increased demand for single rooms on US campuses, and colleges are responding to that demand by building more single rooms than ever before. So in some cases, you can't count on roommates to check-in with an absent student.

Huh? Who is "the counselor" assigned to each student?

People get nutty over administrative bloat, but you want each kid to be assigned this extra person for welfare checks? The colleges had a ton of resources and your student is supposed to be capable of taking advantage of them when they need those services. If they aren't independent enough to do that, maybe have them live at home and go to school locally.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s hilarious.

Of course professors don’t check in on students.

It’s not hilarious. It’s sad and pathetic that universities are not held to some standard to check the welfare of students.

There are RAs for those who live on campus who do have some standard of caring for the welfare of students. But a prof in a class of 200 kids? nah.

Professors are not required or typically incentivized to check in on students directly. The ones who do are usually at LACs. I don't think it's that those professors care more, it's just that they typically teach much smaller classes and will notice when a student is missing suddenly.

Most colleges have some kind of early alert program though which instructors can submit alerts on students they are concerned about--could be anything from a referral to the tutoring center, a concern about the student's ability to access course materials, concerns about missing assignments, attendance, etc. Those alerts should route to the appropriate support service on campus that can provide a relevant intervention. In this case it should go to Res Life to do a wellness check.

In my experience professors do want their students to do well and do care about them generally, so they will engage in these kinds of programs if the college makes it easy to do so. Unfortunately, many colleges do not execute this kind of program well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At LACs, professors do this sometimes.

Professors will reach out to parents of adult children to say, "Your kid skipped class"? Wow, that's some handholding there.

Your peers/managers at work will get concerned if you don't show up to work without any explanation because you are paid to show up to work or you get fired.

If an adult doesn't show up to a class that they paid for, they don't get kicked out of school for it.

If you are concerned about your adult child at college you can call the college and ask them to do a welfare check.

If you are concern is that your adult child is just skipping class because they don't feel like going, that's your kid's issue, not the school's.

No, the professor reached/reaches out to the student.

At a LAC it's not unusual, given the sense of community.

That's still some handholding for adults. Is OP's adult child at a LAC?

I guess this is like a sink or swim at big vs small colleges, and also the difference between public HS and private HS where your child is handheld at every step of the way.

I disagree, but whatever. :: shrug ::

if you disagree, your kid is no ready for the big wide world.

I check in with my own kids. I don't expect others to do it for me.

OP is mad because their kid had been skipping class, and the professor didn't followup. Is OP mad because something might have happened to the child, or because the kid was skipping class, and OP is shelling out big bucks and not happy that their child is skipping class?

If the former, then parents should be checking in with their kids on a regular basis. Why would you leave that up to strangers? If the latter, that's the adult child's responsibility, not the professor's.

Well, my kid is 28 and functioning great in the big wide world, but you do you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At LACs, professors do this sometimes.

Professors will reach out to parents of adult children to say, "Your kid skipped class"? Wow, that's some handholding there.

Your peers/managers at work will get concerned if you don't show up to work without any explanation because you are paid to show up to work or you get fired.

If an adult doesn't show up to a class that they paid for, they don't get kicked out of school for it.

If you are concerned about your adult child at college you can call the college and ask them to do a welfare check.

If you are concern is that your adult child is just skipping class because they don't feel like going, that's your kid's issue, not the school's.

Not the PP, but some smaller schools have a system where if anyone (professors, RAs, other students) are concerned about a student, they can alert a particular dean, who will follow up with the student. Missing large numbers of class or failing to hand in assignments was listed as things that could trigger this alert system. Calling parents is certainly not the first thing they do, but it might happen under certain circumstances. There's a lot between doing nothing and calling parents.

My child has a history of mental illness, so having eyes on her is a criteria as we look at schools. I'm happy for you that you don't need to consider it.

If your child has mental health issues, I would imagine that yes, of course, these types of things would be high on your list.

My kid has anxiety, and I've been having discussions with them about not going too far from school. My other kid doesn't, and I had no concerns about whatever school they chose.

Does OP's kid have mental health issues? Judging by OP's post, that doesn't seem to be the case. They are just mad that their kid had been skipping class and the professor didn't tell the parent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At LACs, professors do this sometimes.

Professors will reach out to parents of adult children to say, "Your kid skipped class"? Wow, that's some handholding there.

Your peers/managers at work will get concerned if you don't show up to work without any explanation because you are paid to show up to work or you get fired.

If an adult doesn't show up to a class that they paid for, they don't get kicked out of school for it.

If you are concerned about your adult child at college you can call the college and ask them to do a welfare check.

If you are concern is that your adult child is just skipping class because they don't feel like going, that's your kid's issue, not the school's.

No, the professor reached/reaches out to the student.

At a LAC it's not unusual, given the sense of community.

That's still some handholding for adults. Is OP's adult child at a LAC?

I guess this is like a sink or swim at big vs small colleges, and also the difference between public HS and private HS where your child is handheld at every step of the way.

I disagree, but whatever. :: shrug ::

if you disagree, your kid is no ready for the big wide world.

I check in with my own kids. I don't expect others to do it for me.

OP is mad because their kid had been skipping class, and the professor didn't followup. Is OP mad because something might have happened to the child, or because the kid was skipping class, and OP is shelling out big bucks and not happy that their child is skipping class?

If the former, then parents should be checking in with their kids on a regular basis. Why would you leave that up to strangers? If the latter, that's the adult child's responsibility, not the professor's.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At LACs, professors do this sometimes.

Professors will reach out to parents of adult children to say, "Your kid skipped class"? Wow, that's some handholding there.

Your peers/managers at work will get concerned if you don't show up to work without any explanation because you are paid to show up to work or you get fired.

If an adult doesn't show up to a class that they paid for, they don't get kicked out of school for it.

If you are concerned about your adult child at college you can call the college and ask them to do a welfare check.

If you are concern is that your adult child is just skipping class because they don't feel like going, that's your kid's issue, not the school's.

Not the PP, but some smaller schools have a system where if anyone (professors, RAs, other students) are concerned about a student, they can alert a particular dean, who will follow up with the student. Missing large numbers of class or failing to hand in assignments was listed as things that could trigger this alert system. Calling parents is certainly not the first thing they do, but it might happen under certain circumstances. There's a lot between doing nothing and calling parents.

My child has a history of mental illness, so having eyes on her is a criteria as we look at schools. I'm happy for you that you don't need to consider it.

Anonymous wrote:No.

My BF’s H died during her son’s 1st semester and when he returned he didn’t leave his room for 2 weeks except to go to the bathroom.

Nobody checked on him, nobody cared, nobody GAF.

Her older son was a senior and he had friends check on him and 1 professors checked on him.

It’s pathetic.

I lost a family member over the summer while in college. I so regret that neither my parents nor I told any adults at the school. I really hope that had an adult been told, that somebody would have checked in with me periodically over the course of the year.

While I hope that you never find yourself in this situation, please do let your kid's school know what happened and specifically ask them to check in with your child, even if your kid says they don't need it. After a few months, if that really holds, then fine but at least let them have the chance to find out if it would be helpful.

My university used to be pretty good about this if they were alerted to an issue, but not just for random skipping.

For instance I was seriously unwell and was going to miss a week of classes for medical treatment. My mother called student support services to notify the school (as I was seriously unwell/hospitalized) and they emailed my professors. Those professors did follow up with me throughout the semester.

I also was going to be out for a death in the family and emailed student support services for a "note" so I could turn in a couple of assignments late. That also triggered follow up from professors.

But no, I wouldn't expect professors to follow up for random absences. Someone has to alert the school of an issue, be it the student, a friend, a TA, a roommate, whoever.

Anonymous wrote:
I agree that SOMEONE at a university should be responsible for following up on student absences.

Not professors, they have too much to do and may not know their students personally. But attendance should be taken correctly, and the counselor assigned to students can knock on their door.

BTW, about the roommate thing: there is increased demand for single rooms on US campuses, and colleges are responding to that demand by building more single rooms than ever before. So in some cases, you can't count on roommates to check-in with an absent student.

This is not feasible on many levels.
Also, all the parents who insist on their kids living in singles or nice apartments off campus, I would think twice especially if your kid has a history of mental illness. Or send your kid to a SLAC, where they are less likely to fall through the cracks.
-Professor

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s hilarious.

Of course professors don’t check in on students.

It’s not hilarious. It’s sad and pathetic that universities are not held to some standard to check the welfare of students.

There are student services personnel who have graduate degrees in student affairs, including coursework in psychology, substance abuse, etc. I, on the other hand, am a physics professor. Why would I be the most competent person to check in on a student who might be experiencing grief, depression, substance abuse, etc? You are right to be concerned that the university has some responsibility as to the welfare of students, but professors are not the people with that responsibility.

I agree that SOMEONE at a university should be responsible for following up on student absences.

Not professors, they have too much to do and may not know their students personally. But attendance should be taken correctly, and the counselor assigned to students can knock on their door.

BTW, about the roommate thing: there is increased demand for single rooms on US campuses, and colleges are responding to that demand by building more single rooms than ever before. So in some cases, you can't count on roommates to check-in with an absent student.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s hilarious.

Of course professors don’t check in on students.

It’s not hilarious. It’s sad and pathetic that universities are not held to some standard to check the welfare of students.

The concept of in loco parentis ended in 1961's Davis v. Alabama. Did you not know this?

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/philip_lee/files/vol8lee.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At LACs, professors do this sometimes.

Professors will reach out to parents of adult children to say, "Your kid skipped class"? Wow, that's some handholding there.

Your peers/managers at work will get concerned if you don't show up to work without any explanation because you are paid to show up to work or you get fired.

If an adult doesn't show up to a class that they paid for, they don't get kicked out of school for it.

If you are concerned about your adult child at college you can call the college and ask them to do a welfare check.

If you are concern is that your adult child is just skipping class because they don't feel like going, that's your kid's issue, not the school's.

It's beyond hand holding, it's prohibited by FERPA. If the student is 18, they aren't going to reach out to a parent about anything.

Professor here: we are not allowed to contact parents because of FERPA. I teach at a public R1 and we do have a system (Student Success) to report students in danger of failing, not attending class or seem to be having a mental health crisis but only 40-50% of faculty use the system.

I don’t take attendance, however, if I notice a student is not submitting assignments or missed an exam, I will f nelag them in the system and email them. I personally would feel bad if a student was in crisis and I didn’t notice.

I think there should be an emergency contact not necessarily a parent. Professors who don't use the system should have consequences.