DS needs Feb half term off from uni

[roseka78]

Last January we booked a family ski holiday for next Feb half term. Eldest DS was in Yr 13 at the time. What idiots, being parents new to this uni lark we didn't consider the fact that universities do not have half terms! DS he is a cautious type and will not rock the boat by asking his personal tutor or any other support staff if he can have a week off. He says he cannot miss a week of lectures and lab work (lectures are put online though) although he says obviously he would still love to come with us. Cancelling his place will cost us a lot because of losing the deposit and paying extra supplements plus amendment charges - not to mention that we would love him to come with us. My question is, should I contact the uni myself to see how the land lies, at the risk of looking like a helicopter parent, or should I bite the bullet and leave him to make the decision which in all likelihood will mean him not coming. We have to pay by 24th Nov and if we are cancelling his place then we need to give them as much notice as poss. Any advice gratefully accepted

[MrsBright]

Universities with Half-Terms .....

I really do wonder at the ludicrous stupidity of parents sometimes.

[Ehhn]

Every year of undergrad I would miss lectures and take a few weeks off here and there, mainly to go skiing or because I was concussed/injured/hungover from rugby. Got a first from an RG uni, a distinction in masters and just about to go to viva for my PhD. If he is responsible about revision, catching up, submitting coursework/lab work, he can miss a week. He can just be "ill", as long as the panda eyes aren't too obvious...!

[UptheChimney]

And if he then becomes really ill? At my place 3 absences across all modules - for whatever reasons- trigger an invitation to meet with your Personal Tutor.

We say invitation, but it's actually a requirement and can turn into a "studying with reasonable diligence" investigation.

So a week away would trigger that, as at least 3 scheduled lectures/seminars/labs would have been missed. We'd be asking for medical rectification, letter from parents about a family bereavement, or similar.

[chemenger]

I would advise against taking Ehhn's advise. There are a small minority of students who can, through natural ability and well targeted hard work, do very well while taking liberties with the system. They play the rules carefully, never missing essential things, not drawing unwanted attention to themselves. Often the friends of those who can succeed this way are the ones who copy them and fall by the wayside. As Upthechimney has indicated things are tightening up all the time and absence is monitored much more closely than even a few years ago when Ehhn was an undergrad.

[chemenger]

There IS a small minority.

[UptheChimney]

Yes, indeed chemenger you hit the nail etc.

Have I had this mini-rant before? Posters on this forum, and others like it to do with HE, go on and on about the terribleness of the £9000 fee (although for a tuition fee it's incredibly good value). My students subject me to the "We're paying for this" all the time.

Yet they miss classes, they don't turn up for personal tutorials, they don't use the library or read the books, and they don't spend what little money they do have on things which would really enhance and enrich their education in the discipline I teach.

Don't people see the contradiction? Why on earth are students not taking full advantage of the really wonderful things that most well-established English and Welsh and NI universities have to offer? (Scottish as well, but they're not charging the full fee. yet)

I just don't get it.

[MrsBright]

I'm totally with UptheChimney.

University is not some sort of teenage drop-in centre.

Every year I teach people who have apparently got top A Levels but are unbelievable lazy and DONT DO THE READING. When I ask these individuals why they are at University, they regard me with a smirk. Clearly they regard the place as a sort of twenty-something day-care where you can just lark about for 3 years. Not in my time.