Students who opt not to attend the first day of a journalism class in the spring semester will be dropped from the class, Judy Rossiter, journalism academic adviser, says.

A new attendance policy will be implemented in the journalism department as of the spring semester.

We are going to stringently enforce this policy so the students realize we are serious about it, Rossiter said.

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Rossiter said the problem in the past was that a lot of journalism classes have limited enrollment, especially because of laboratory seatings of about 18 computers.

We were finding people who were blowing off the first couple of days of the semester in classes that were closed, she said. And there were other people who wanted and needed to get into these particular classes that couldn’t. It has become a fairly substantial problem.

Rossiter said an example of this would be the journalism 315 class, where there are eight sections open to the students.

You could have one or two people in each section drop the class, and others would not be able to enroll, she said. It really makes a difference for those people.

The policy was brought up and voted on by faculty members at a meeting early this semester.

Rossiter said several faculty members brought in attendance policies from other universities to find one that would work for the journalism department.

Rossiter said some special circumstances will be taken into consideration when enforcing the new policy.

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Those students (who have legitimate circumstances) need to get in touch with the department, she said. Then I will let the instructor know about it.

This type of policy impacts the budget as well, she said.

We benefit from a full class, Rossiter said. This will allow students to enroll who are there so the seats don’t go unused.

Tom Johnson, associate professor of journalism, said he likes the new policy because he will have wait listed students attending his class the whole week while enrolled students miss the first couple of classes.

On a personal level, often people come in the second or third class, and I would have to explain to them what is required in the class, Johnson said.

Eugenia McKinney, a senior in journalism from Chicago, said she agrees with new policy and said it is an excellent idea.

There are some people that are trying to get into the class that can’t. They can’t for the simple fact that there are people on the register that aren’t showing, she said. I think it’s necessary.