Suing students for not attending lectures

So basically in one of my classes today the lecturer mentioned that the university is planning to make sure all classes register students in classes to confirm who is or isnt attending lectures.

Now there is the obvious point against this that students should be able to make their own choice whether they wish to attend a specific lecture or not; but the uni's reasons for suggesting this is that if you are a full time student and you get certain benefits for that (e.g. not getting taxed) then you shouldn't miss lectures without good reason.

Obviously then if you dont adhere to this the university would end up taking action against you

Just wanted to check what other's opinions on this are...

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 1

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper

19

It sounds a bit harsh. I think people should make every effort to attend lectures. If people are regularly not attending lectures without a reason then i agree with taking some action but im not sure about sueing them though.

Reply 2

el pollo diablo

8

I'm no expert but I doubt that a university could successfully sue a student for missing lectures. Sue them for what exactly? The student is paying the university, not the other way around.

Reply 3

Double Agent

18

Thats rediculous. As a student you are paying for their services, it is a resource, how you chose to use that is your own perogitive.

Reply 4

Danny.

14

el pollo diablo

I'm no expert but I doubt that a university could successfully sue a student for missing lectures. Sue them for what exactly? The student is paying the university, not the other way around.

Poster is from Scotland, Uni fee's are covered so I can see where the uni is coming from since it's taxpayers money.

Reply 5

dotty_but_good

14

Can you imagine how long it would take to take a register? What if you wanted to sit in on a lecture that wasn't for your specific course?

Reply 6

TheSownRose

16

dotty_but_good

Can you imagine how long it would take to take a register? What if you wanted to sit in on a lecture that wasn't for your specific course?

Not long - they send around a sheet and you sign your name.

And if you really wanted to do that, you could just take a seat and not sign the register.

Reply 7

edd360

15

The punishment for not attending lectures is you fail you're exams, there shouldn't be further punishment.

And if you are lucky enough to be smart enough to pass without attending lectures, you shouldn't be forced to attend the lectures as it would be pointless, and you also shouldn't be punished for being smarter then everyone else.

We are paying for a degree, not an education.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 8

Pedrobear

12

Another reason for recording attendance is probably to show that there's enough demand/interest in a certain class to justify funding it.

Anyway, on a personal level I don't like this because I have a habit of sleeping through 10am lectures, but objectively I can't deny that they have every right and reason to do it.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 9

You Failed

13

They take a register in all my lectures and have done ever since I've been there. We have a bar code on our student IDs and they send round a small scanner while the lecture takes place. They don't care if you miss some classes but if you start to miss a lot then they'll get in contact with you and give you small kick up the backside.

Reply 10

TheSownRose

16

edd360

We are paying for a degree, not an education.

First thing I heard on my induction day was the opposite for this - we're paying to get the education and chance to get a degree, not to guarantee ourselves a degree.

Reply 11

username234673

17

Ha, yeah, that'll work.

what next, the BBC suing licence payers for not watching enough TV?

Reply 12

lazy smurf

14

I got distracted by your sig, forgot the content of the thread...

Reply 13

THRASHx

2

Sounds stupid, obviously its a bit different in Scotland though.
If I miss a doctors/hospital appointment I dont get sued? Is there a difference?

Reply 14

JGR

9

There's a huge gap between the content of the OP post and suing.
Are you aware of what suing entails? Vast expense, huge disruption, drags on for ages... No, I don't think so.

Universities will probably use it to see who is never turning up and give them a motivational speech/slap on the wrist. Anything more than that is a waste of effort really.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 15

SumTingWong

OP

14

well its fair to say that even the lecturer disagreed with it but its interesting to hear some opinions on this

Reply 16

edd360

15

TheSownRose

First thing I heard on my induction day was the opposite for this - we're paying to get the education and chance to get a degree, not to guarantee ourselves a degree.

Complete bull **** I say. We aren't guaranteeing ourselves the education either are we? If we miss lectures, we aren't being educated. There are plenty of people who have the knowledge of a subject to work in that field, they just don't have the piece of paper saying they can do it (a degree). It doesn't matter whether you know the material or not, it's the degree which gets you a job. The things we learn at university we could easily learn for ourselves (and to an extent we do). If we could just learn for ourselves and then take the exams and get a degree without paying all the hefty uni fees, many people would. But you can't do that, which is why I stick with my original opinion that it is the degree we are paying for, and no we are not guaranteed one, but that's just one more reason why it's unfair.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 17

CookieDoughLove

18

If it's in Scotland then I do think that's fair because the government pay for your fees don't they?

In England and Wales that wouldn't be fair though, we pay for our education therefore should be entitled to do what we like with it. If we want to waste our money that thats our choice.

Suing students for not attending lectures

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