This is in response to Sean Collier's column, "Mandatory attendance policies belittle students," April 13. I'm a teaching assistant, and typically the classes I've taught don't have strict attendance policies, but I'd support them. The fact is that both professors and TAs have to deal with students who have missed classes for one reason or another, wishing to makeup everything, and we have to take time to help. Often, their reasons for absence are genuine; frequently they're not. I can guarantee you the excuses they use aren't that they were sleeping off a hangover on Monday morning.

Now imagine a situation where attendance weren't mandatory. The time these instructors have to dedicate to responding to those students increases dramatically. Ultimately this detracts from the course, because they don't have time to develop the syllabus and improve assignments. You may argue that we don't have to respond to "what did I miss" requests, but consider what the response of the students and university is when all of those concerned get a D at the end of the semester.

Ultimately, I'd argue that attendance policies are there to benefit the students, and if certain students spent their time attending classes and completing assignments, they'd find that their situations and grades might just improve.