As a college professor for 30 years, I’m no stranger to the range of excuses that students provide for missed work or poor performances. But in the past year, a new phenomenon has emerged in relation to excuse-making.

First, students are relying on AI to craft emails to professors. In fact, one of my colleagues just shared with me that a student sent an email to him with the salutation, Dear Professor Last Name . I would have fantasies of writing back to that student, Dear Student First Name.

I’m left wondering if and how students are relying on faculty for good faith responses when they are querying with bad faith questions and excuses.

But the more pressing problem is when students use AI to craft these messages while also incorporating lengthy commentary about mental health, a

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