When you hear about a two-week notice, a job resignation likely comes to mind, not calling in sick. Yet, one rather apathetic professor in Kansas decided to make it a policy in his syllabus that all students must inform him of their illness at least 2 weeks in advance. One student in his class learned this bizarre rule the hard way after getting a contagious viral infection, then messaging the professor the night before heading to the doctor’s.
The Kansas professor first gave empty condolences for their sickness and then followed up with: “…a minimum of two weeks notice is required in order for exam accommodations to be provided.” While such a policy would make sense for a scheduled activity or some foreseeable future event, getting sick is something no one plans for. The student who posted their interaction with this petty professor on Reddit also revealed that another student had to drop out of the same class. Their family was in the hospital, but the professor refused to give them any exemptions.
“It’s alright some people have no sympathy for others,” the Kansas student said in response to someone else taking the professor’s side. They later updated their story, revealing that they had taken the exam while still sick and had fortunately passed. They emailed the dean about the incident, but even he didn’t care about the professor’s unreasonable two-week notice policy. His response was that the professor has the right to deal with illnesses in accordance with his syllabus and that he is “required to be consistent with the whole class,” regardless.
As ridiculous and infuriating as this story is, many Redditors in the post’s comment section reveal that they also have had to be hospitalized while taking classes, and even their professors refused to accommodate their injuries or illnesses. On the other hand, many added that their employers were more than understanding when their well-being was compromised, compared to school faculty. That said, there seems to be a recurring pettiness among higher education professionals, for sure.
