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On the topic of excusing students for missing class, assignments, etc., due to personal emergencies: Over the years I decided to never ask for details or documentation. Here's why. (thread) 1/8
My position is informed in part by my own experience with family emergencies. During my 2nd year of grad school, my then-spouse was seriously injured in an accident. He was a hospital inpatient for over a year. 2/8
During that year (and beyond), I had to tell the very traumatizing story of his accident over and over to people who needed that information to help. Doctors, lawyers, therapists, social workers, family members. Each telling was re-traumatizing. 3/8
Yes, students could be making it up. They can even fabricate documentation if they want to. Ask yourself, how far are you willing to go to verify their story? Are you going to hire an investigator? And to what end? To prove your trust issues are founded? 4/8
What about the students who aren't lying? Do you really think your class is so important that students who are suffering should re-traumatize themselves in exchange for another chance to do the work? 5/8
If a student lies to get out of a responsibility, that says something about their character. If you assume all students are lying and interrogate them about family emergencies, crises, or other reasons they give, that says something about your character. (adapted from Tumblr) 6/8
My graduate school experience wasn't perfect, don't get me wrong, but my PhD advisor and department were stellar about this. I only had to tell a few faculty members and the department chair. Nobody asked for documentation, not then and not when my mother later died. 7/8
It's a small kindness to someone experiencing grief or trauma to just not ask for more information than you need to. Your curiosity and your trust issues aren't a reason to re-traumatize someone. Just let it go. 8/8
Finally, please consider helping an undergraduate student whose professor insisted on re-traumatizing her during a time of extreme loss. https://twitter.com/aerospacetoya/status/1197881902625107968
