It warms my heart to see so many undergraduate students taking a strong interest in preserving every minute of class instruction at the University of Illinois. Next semester, I encourage all classroom instructors to hold themselves to this high standard of accountability when preparing our syllabuses.
Beginning this spring, instructors should penalize students for all nonemergency absences. We should dock students for showing up late to class. We should also penalize those students who text, talk, surf, instant message or sleep during classroom sessions, since this too deprives them of valued educational time.
Most importantly, all instructors should stop the practice of offering late assignment extensions. After all, every time something is turned in late, it forces students to waste valuable time needed to complete assignments for other classes. With no extensions, students will not feel the need to stress themselves out over increased workloads.
Students want full value for their educational experience. It is the responsibility of all U of I instructors to deliver on our part of the deal.
Letrell Crittenden,
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graduate student