Regardless of department, size, high school or college, almost every class begins the same: with an attendance call. Silent hands raise and a few awkward seconds pass behind names of students who are not present. With more instructors moving away from it, is mandatory attendance even necessary in higher education? The best and most frequent argument for keeping an attendance policy is participation, which many professors use as a major factor for a final grade. This makes sense at first to encourage engagement and incentivize students to show up.

But is attendance really the same as participation? No. It seems more reasonable to give points based on who contributes in class. That is not to say that students who speak less are not engaged, they may be taking notes or memorizing the material. However, this poses another reason why attendance should not be mandatory. Students who do not show up will see that reflected in their grades anyway through assignments.

If everything being taught in class is relevant and important information needed to pass, then artificially deducting points from students who do not attend is redundant. If a course can be passed without consistently making it to class, then it is a clear sign that the instructor should increase the difficulty. A student who would otherwise get an A but only attended some of the class clearly has an equal understanding to a student who got the same grade and went every day. It is also worth considering the effect on students who have health issues or even just busy lives that might occasionally interfere with in-person meeting times. In a post-COVID-19 environment, virtual streams of a live class can be a great way to prevent students from falling behind. This proves that some students might not need to be physically present to do well in a class and as long as they are learning then the end result is the same.

One argument may be that regardless of participation, students being present in class can create meaningful connections with other students. This is true, but is not the role of the school to enforce. In fact, many students might be more comfortable socializing with their classmates if they knew that they were there voluntarily, rather than simply to avoid failing the class. Some SUNY Oswego professors have decided to teach without attendance policies, either because they believe that the importance of coming to class speaks for itself or simply because they do not feel like doing it. Others take the stance that all absences are excused if the student gives notice ahead of time. These are both great approaches and hopefully, more professors will consider adopting them and the morning attendance call can be left behind in high school, with hall passes and bell work.

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