It is difficult for Fordham University to create an absence policy that promotes a healthy student body while also ensuring that students do not take advantage of a policy that is too lenient. While Fordham’s strict attendance policy attempts to accommodate for illness outbreaks, improvements can be made to better promote student health. Fordham University limits students to two weeks of excused absences per class. For instance, students cannot miss “six class meetings for a course that meets three days per week” or “four class meetings for a course meeting two days per week.” This policy is susceptible to change depending on the professor. It is a fair policy that balances student health and encourages attendance.
Fordham University can improve its efforts to promote a healthy student body by having better coordination with the Health Center. Students complain that the Health Center does not have a good walk-in policy. Annika Huss, GSB ’27, argues that, “the health center should create a better walk-in system because I’ve had experiences in the past where I have been sick or had a migraine and I didn’t have immediate access to the Health Center, so I had to get the absence approved later.” The Health Center should have more accommodating walk-in hours and create a more organized system for students to get excused absences. This will alleviate stress and ensure that students do not show up to class sick.
Viruses like COVID-19, influenza and norovirus are extremely contagious and highly unpredictable, especially during the winter months. COVID-19 is an airborne virus that spreads quickly in contained spaces, such as a classroom. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refers to historical data in order to predict when a new strain will surface and its magnitude. They predicted that a new strain would appear in October 2024, but “a major new variant has not yet emerged.” Since there is no certainty regarding when the new strain will surface or how it will affect people, it is difficult for universities to plan their attendance policies accordingly.
Norovirus is another highly contagious illness that occurs mostly between the months of November and April. This virus spreads mostly “in places where people are in close contact, such as schools and nursing homes.” Both viruses last for several days, and infected students have to miss multiple days of classes. Students come to class sick because they do not want their absence to negatively affect their grades, which puts other students at risk.
It is distracting for other students when people attend class visibly sick. It can be especially unsettling for people with hypochondriasis or health anxiety. People who suffer from this illness anxiety disorder have a lot of “distress about possible illnesses that it’s hard for [them] to function.” A student excessively coughing or blowing their nose in class can trigger anxiety in other students and distract them from their learning. Rose Onorio, GSB ’27, said, “I do not like when people are sick in class. When I hear people cough, it is all I can think about. My mind kind of hyper-fixates on it.” Natalie Kiene, FCRH ’27, agreed and reported, “I get anxious if someone next to me is coughing and seems really sick.”
Fordham should implement a rule that a student, or professor, should avoid going to class for 12 to 24 hours after their illness ends because they are still contagious. Kiene said that, “people should not be allowed to go to class if they are contagious. That was the policy in school from elementary school through high school, and I think it should stay the same in college.”
Overall, Fordham University’s absence policy is lenient enough to accommodate for highly contagious illnesses while also encouraging student attendance. However, a few minor improvements will help mitigate virus spread and student anxiety during the winter months.
Clara DeVito, FCRH’27, is an English major from Norfolk, VA.
