CLASS ATTENDANCE POLICY
Effective learning is facilitated by an interaction between the professor and students regarding course material. The classroom is the principal arena for such interaction. Thus, students have an obligation to themselves, to fellow students, and to the faculty member to attend and participate actively in classroom sessions.
The class attendance policy followed by the College assigns to each faculty member the responsibility for establishing and communicating to students the specific attendance requirements for his or her courses consistent with the objectives of the course. Thus, specific course attendance policies will vary from course to course. The attendance policy for each course will be presented to the student in written form, usually as part of the course syllabus, at the beginning of the course and before the end of the drop-add period.
The course attendance policy and practices, however, will subscribe to the following general guidelines:
1. Each student is personally responsible for regular and punctual class attendance.
2. A student who misses a class bears personal responsibility for completing any assignment presented during that class to the extent permitted by the nature of the assignment and/or the course syllabus.
3. The faculty member has the option of assigning a failing grade to any student who misses more than one-quarter of the class meetings, but this option must be stated in the course syllabus.
4. Whenever possible, the student should inform the faculty member about an absence and make arrangements concerning missed assignments due to that absence.
5. The student is responsible for initiating discussions with the faculty member about a make-up opportunity for missed assignments or examinations.
6. The faculty member has no obligation to allow or facilitate make-up work except for absences due to “extenuating circumstances.” Three sets of extenuating circumstances are recognized by the College: severe personal illness, death in the immediate family, or (when announced in advance through the Dean of Students Office) authorized representation of the College.
7. If an extenuating circumstance is the cause of a student’s missing a class period (or an examination), the student should not view the absence as an exception to the course attendance arrangements, as outlined in the course syllabus, but as a “just cause” for arranging a make-up opportunity. The faculty member, however, will determine the means of compensating for the missed coursework or examination.
8. Students should remain in a class for at least ten minutes after the class is scheduled to begin, after which, if the faculty member has not arrived or given word about arriving late, the students may leave without penalty.
Students reported by an instructor as a no-show (never attended, no contact with instructor) to the Registrar’s Office on the published date will be dropped from the course. The drop decision is final and may not be petitioned. However, students may re-register for the course that they were dropped from using the standard registration procedures until the add/drop deadline.