When a student in the University has by permission been absent from a section test or even from an hour examination, a card is sent to his instructors informing them that he has been officially excused. No distinction is made between absences caused by necessity such as illness, and those occasioned by other causes such as the extension of the vacation periods. All subsequent action is left to the discretion of the individual instructor.

In the great majority of cases, the student is allowed to make up his work at a later date, or is merely not graded on the particular test which he missed. There have been instances, however where the instructor has not permitted any make-up or postponement and has given a zero grade on the uncompromising theory that the student should have been present. In the case of men excused by the office for reasons other than that of necessity, this point of view is not unreasonable; but it seems unjust to penalize a man who has been absent because of conditions over which he has no control.

It would perhaps, be wise for the College Office to decide whether the nature of the absence justified excusing the student from work missed on the days in question. When such an excuse were granted, the instructor would still retain the option of deciding whether or not the student should make up this lost work at a later date. Such a change would not interfere with the privileges of any individual professor, and would be of value in standardizing the general treatment of excused absences.