In my recent book, Sustaining Colleges and Universities through Community, I write somewhat jokingly:

2019 be like (I’m joking):

“Professor, I woke up throwing up blood and I have a fever of 105, can I make up the exam on another day.” The professor looks at the computer and types the following sentence in to the email reply, “Hmmm, can you please get me a doctor’s note before the test starts? Note it starts in 10 minutes.”

On another exam, “Professor, I broke my left arm this morning.” The professor states, “Hmmm, that’s fine. You are right-handed! You can go to the hospital after the test.”

Yet another exam, a student might have said, “Professor, a grandparent died and I have to go to the funeral”. The professor looks thoughtfully at the student, “Hmmm, that’s why we have four of them. You can make this test today (skipping the funeral), and still go to a majority of your grandparents’ funerals.”

2022 be like

“Professor I think I might have COVID.” Professor responds to the email in a panic. “Oh-no! Feel better! Let me know if you need anything! Do you want me to drop off some soup for you and your family? Let’s schedule a time to take your test when you feel better.”

“Professor I didn’t hand in this week’s homework assignment because of my stress level.” Professor might say, “Ok, even though all of the solutions are already posted, make sure you get it to me by the final exam in two weeks. Do you want to chat about life?”

Long after the pandemic this has become an issue. Students are 100% trying to game out the system. They have gotten so used to flexible professors.

I don’t have a problem writing a new test for a student if they have to miss class for a good reason. Maybe they have a funeral. Or a medical school interview. Or maybe there is a wedding in the family. As a seasoned professor, doing this is fairly easy.

Do students take advantage of this? For sure! I always tell the story of my BFF losing about 50 grandparents in college to get out of events, exams, etc. Whatever. They still have to take the exam and thus they are just prolonging their own misery.

BUT…

I have students missing their final because they are going on vacation. Read the freaking syllabus! Don’t take a class when you are going to miss the final exam because of a vacation. <<I’m starting to get cranky! Anger building!>> But again whatever, you still have to take the final.

BUT…

And this is what really fries my goat!

Don’t try to negotiate with me how you are going to take you exam!

In a class recently I gave two choices. An oral exam on Zoom on exam day or a paper exam when they get back. Talk about a fair professor.

Students: No I would like to discuss a third option. What about if I take the paper test while I am on Zoom? I’ll use the lockdown browser.

There are problems with this

1. The student might the most reliable student ever and would not cheat, but in 2025 the sad reality is many students are going to cheat. Going into the pandemic I had been giving exams for 10 years and I knew that students average between 50% – 60% on the paper exams I make. The average score during online exam during the pandemic was an 85%. That average score is higher than the highest score on most exams I give! Was there cheating? Yep.
2. Surprisingly the students change their minds on what option they want to do. They are asking for specific details about how the exam will be administered – trying to figure out how to best take advantage of the situation. Game the system. What’s the easiest pathways?
3. The lockdown browser is a joke.

I keep trying to be flexible and understanding. That’s the advice of all the professors I listen to on social media and at conferences. Some students appreciate this. Other students see this as a weakness and try to weasel out of exams. Who’s who? I don’t know and that’s part of the problem.

I don’t want to know either. I want to trust my students and I don’t want them to deceive me. Grading is not why I teach. And honestly it is the thing about my job I want to do the least.

Study hard, learn, take the exam like you are supposed to. Done. Period.

Honestly, today I feel the best policy is going back to being a hardass and being consistent.

Image generated by Gemini.