In the past two years, there have been changes in Fordham’s excused absence policy. Previously, clubs were able to request absences for events. However, this was removed last year when the policy went under review. Near the end of the 2022-23 school year, clubs were once again allowed to request excused absences, but as this year begins, the policy appears to remain in limbo.
At the beginning of the year, the FCRH Dean’s newsletter on Oct. 11 commented on the new policy, “You may request excused absences if you have a documented medical reason, a death in the family, a religious holiday, or a qualified university-sponsored event that you are required to attend. In general, club events (including conferences and performances) are not considered University-sponsored events.”
For the majority of clubs, this causes no issue. However, for clubs that travel, like Mock Trial and Debate Society, this policy can be restricting.
“For Mock Trial, we have to travel on Friday because our competition starts at 8 a.m. on Saturday,” said Mock Trial President Teshley Kamen, FCRH ’24. “We can’t be traveling at 1 or 2 a.m. to get there on time.”
“We have our student-athletes that represent our university,” said internal Vice President of Debate Society Alexander Yankovsky, FCRH ’24. “Academic competition is a very important pillar of Fordham.”
According to Yankovsky, the Debate Society has not had difficulty this year getting excused absences. “No one has approached me so far this year about absences,” he said.
Kamen said Mock Trial has been having issues and is having students ask their professors directly, but that doesn’t always work.
“We are upset. It’s extremely unfair that we are going to represent our university in competition without being acknowledged for the work we put in or for the recognition we bring to the school,” Kamen said.
Currently, there is a group working on creating a policy. The policy group comprises undergraduate students, faculty and administration from the three undergraduate colleges and the School of Professional and Continuing Studies.
“We used last year as an opportunity to get feedback from important stakeholders like students, faculty, and administrators and review how excused absence policies are implemented here at Fordham and at some other colleges and universities,” said Dean Rachel Annunziato, who is working alongside Dean Mark Silver and Dean Marisa Villani.
“The only change this year has been clarifying implementation of the already established policy.”
The policy currently states that “in general,” club events are not considered university-sponsored.
“We interpret this to mean that most club activities, such as club meetings and on-campus events, do not qualify for absences,” said Annunziato. “Exceptions to this are considered in instances when there may be a broad competition among colleges and universities, perhaps at a national or regional level.”
Currently, students involved with sports teams do get excused absences for their games and traveling.
“I plan to reach out to administration because it doesn’t make sense that sports teams who compete under the Fordham name get excused absences, but Mock Trial and other academic clubs who compete under the Fordham name are not afforded that same luxury,” said Kamen.
There is no set date for the policy review to be completed.
“The focus is on developing the best policy possible, and since we are in early phases, we have not set a strict completion timeline,” said Annunziato.
“We recognize the importance and value of club and leadership experiences and are carrying this with us as we kick-off our policy review.”
“Since these [traveling] clubs are run exclusively by students, we don’t have as much administrative support compared to athletics, and we just want to keep doing what we enjoy,” said Yankovsky.
As the policy group continues its review, the Fordham community will remain aware of any updates and should keep an eye out for statements from the administration.
