Class has started, the seats are filled, but the instructor is nowhere to be found.
Minutes pass, and students start to get achy. But when is it okay to pull out that blank piece of paper and start signing names?Kimberly Wall, a senior fashion merchandising majo, sticks by her 15-minute rule.
"I don't know if there are any specific rules. I just know that in 15 minutes, if (the teacher) is not there, then I'm gone," she said.
Some students think that waiting time is based on instructor level.
"I've heard people say 20 minutes for a tenured teacher, and I've heard 10 minutes for a graduate assistant," said Meagan Simpson, a junior music business major. "But, I think 15 minutes is more than appropriate for everyone."
The student and faculty handbook provides no specific guidelines for students to follow, and some students wonder from where this elusive rule stems.
"It's not in our handbook, or even on our teachers' syllabi," said Jessica Bearden, a junior journalism major. "Everybody talks like there is a written rule, but nobody's actually seen it."
Some professors, like Dr. Mary Fry, an associate professor of health and sports science, think it's more of a respect issue on the side of the teacher.
"I've never really had to deal with it, but if a professor chronically shows up late, then I think students should be able to leave," she said.
No matter what students have heard down the line from other students, there is no official set of rules to follow, according to University of Memphis provost, Dr. Ralph Faudree.
"I have searched, and I don't know of any hard rules that we can find," he said. "There is no information on that, although I've heard of students using unofficial rules."
In an effort to find a resolution, Faudree prepares to take this issue to a higher level.
"I may forward this information to the SGA, and see what we can find out," he said.
