SDSU policy is creating a public health risk on campus
I think this needs more attention.
Some SDSU classes don’t allow even ONE excused absence for being sick, and it’s creating a situation where students feel forced to show up anyway just to protect their grade.
At this point, it’s not just unfair, it’s creating a real public health risk on campus.
When students are penalized for staying home, they are effectively pushed to attend class while sick. That leads to more people getting exposed, more students getting sick, and the cycle continuing.
This isn’t hypothetical. Before Spring break, I got sick after a classmate came to class with a cold because they were afraid of losing attendance points.
What makes this worse is that SDSU Student Health Services explicitly says they do NOT provide medical excuses for short-term illness, and that professors decide how absences are handled.
So students are stuck in a system where:
- You can’t realistically get documentation for a short illness
- But you may still be penalized if you miss
That contradiction leaves students with one real option: show up sick.
Not every illness requires a doctor visit. Sometimes you wake up with a migraine, you’re throwing up, you have a cold that could even be COVID, or you just feel awful for a day, and the responsible thing to do is to stay home.
But current policies don’t support that. Instead, they create conditions where illness spreads more easily across campus.
We’re adults, and we’re paying to be here. We should be able to make responsible decisions about our health without being penalized for it.
I’m considering reaching out to SDSU administration about this, but I want to know if this is just a me thing or if others are experiencing it too.
A policy that punishes students for staying home sick is a policy that spreads illness.
If this has happened in your classes, can you share your experience?