Academic Participation and Attendance

The faculty member of record will give students a syllabus that clearly describes the attendance policy for that course.

Participation

To meet federal student aid guidelines, a student who is enrolled in a course and is reported by the faculty member as never having attended and/or participated during week one (Monday-Saturday) will be administratively dropped from any or all courses for no participation no later than week two.

Face-to-face modality
Participation may be associated with such actions as, but not limited to, in-person class attendance, submission of a graded assignment or a test (in person or via Learning Management System, LMS), and email discussion of an academic topic with the instructor.

Online modality
Academic participation includes any point-earning activity in the class, including but not limited to posting to a discussion board, submitting an assignment, a student-initiated contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course, or submitting an exam or quiz.

Activities that do not constitute academic participation include logging in to the classroom, emailing the professor about grades, submitting a video introduction, counseling related to academic progress in the course or program, and communicating via email with a student support advisor, financial planning, bursar, or other university staff.

Excused Course Absences
The following are considered excused absences:

• illness or injury documented by a healthcare professional,

• emergency leave, as approved by the Dean of Students,

• single-day course field trips,

• military obligations for students contracted for commissions in the US military and other military obligations beyond the student’s control, or

• varsity athletic contests, and regimental band appearances.

For these types of excused absences, a student is expected to provide notice of the absence to each instructor in advance. The course instructor may deny granting an excused absence for a student currently earning a D+ or below if they believe that the absence will be a serious detriment to the student except in the case of military or emergency leave. The instructor must promptly notify the student and the coach, group, faculty member, or appropriate official responsible for the event causing the absence, of their decision.

The instructor and student will schedule a make-up exam or a make-up lab, or agree on a plan to make up the missed work when the student is absent for an excused reason. The student is responsible for all missed coursework. 

Cancellation of Class Meeting
A class is canceled if a faculty member is not present ten minutes after the scheduled beginning of a class. The class will select one class member to report the cancellation to the Department Chair/School Director of the appropriate academic department/school or the Dean of the College.