I am writing in response to the Nov. 11 news article "TCU senator wants retroactive-removal process for grades." I have reservations about the retroactive-removal process stemming from the potential for abuse of the process and concerns about transcript integrity. Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser's comments regarding the necessity of such a grade-removal process, however, must be addressed. These comments present a misguidedly optimistic view of mental and physical health care and counseling — both at Tufts and nationally — and simplify the capacity of mentally or physically ill students to identify the reason for their suffering grades.
While a student with a developing illness, whether physical or mental, often has an inkling of the issue, the actual diagnosis can lag far behind, or maybe never come. Dean Glaser questioned the idea that a student would not be aware of his or her medical issue, saying that he believed the situation was "highly unusual" due to the counseling, assistance, guidance and options offered by Tufts. While medical care for students at Tufts is comprehensive and of good quality, the system sometimes is simply not equipped to address the chronic mental and physical illnesses that would necessitate the retroactive-removal process in question.
My personal experience is a prime example of this. During my sophomore year at Tufts, I began experiencing strange physical symptoms such as frequent loss of consciousness, numbness in my limbs and chronic pain, which were soon accompanied by mental symptoms such as persistent anxiety. Upon my first visit to Health Service that year, after passing out in a Stratton Hall bathroom, I was simply asked how much I had had to drink the night before. As my symptoms multiplied and persisted, I paid more visits to Health Service, often resulting simply in recommendations to see a counselor to deal with my anxiety.
As I began going to the Counseling and Mental Health Service, I soon found myself unable to sleep and spending the majority of my time awake worrying about my physical health. Unable to focus in my afternoon classes and unable to wake up in time for my morning classes, my dedication waned and my grades suffered.
The semester ended, and weeks passed before I returned to Tufts. After visiting various specialists with inconclusive results, I was directed to a Lyme disease specialist in New Jersey, who ran tests for infections specific to my location in my home state. I was officially diagnosed with Lyme and began treatment in February, four months after my first visit to Health Service.
My point in telling this medical history is to illustrate that the system simply does not catch everyone. Conditions such as depression, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia or even mononucleosis are extremely complex and often difficult to diagnose definitively. There are many factors that contribute to this, including one's own — or one's doctor's — reluctance to accept the presence of a chronic mental or physical illness, or simply the myriad of overlapping symptoms associated with those diseases.
A person with a confusing and undiagnosed disease is not immediately considering taking medical leave, which is the worst-case scenario. Rather, one is simply figuring out how to manage one's symptoms and feelings while still functioning in daily Tufts life. In a community of hard-working high-achievers, nobody wants to be the one that couldn't hack it because of some nebulous cloud of foreboding symptoms.
While I'm not sure that I would have taken advantage of the retroactive-removal process had it been available to me, I often say that I would have taken medical leave if I had known what I was dealing with at the time. I'm certain there are at least a few, if not more, students that deal with physical issues — and many more that deal with mental health issues — that are simply impossible to recognize without hindsight.
A retroactive grade-removal process allows these students a privilege similar to that granted to students who opt for medical leave due to accidents or sudden illnesses. Although the system of retroactive grade removal must be examined carefully to avoid abuse and to protect the integrity of transcripts, it is both simplistic and shortsighted to assume that the process is unnecessary because students are taken care of by the Tufts Health Service system.
--
Bridget Reddington is a 2008 Tufts alumna.
