ATTENDANCE POLICY

Attendance is an important part of university level courses and the college experience. You are expected to attend class regularly, you are expected to be on time, and you are expected to remain for the entire class period. You are also expected to prepare for discussion of the material to be discussed in advance and to participate in classroom discussion. Failure to attend regularly will significantly reduce your ability to perform adequately in the course and may well affect your course grade.

Attendance is taken at the beginning of the class period and Tardiness for any class is considered as an unexcused absence.

Absences may be Excused or Unexcused at the Instructor’s sole discretion.

Excused absences are essentially for reasons of Illness (and must be accompanied by a doctor’s written excuse), for situations where the student represents the university during class (such as athletics or debating teams, etc.), or emergencies (such as a family emergency). Failure to attend class because “I didn’t feel well” or “I had to work” is not an excused absence. The several unexcused absences allowed without penalty should be enough to cover any such situation without penalty to the student. Any request for an excused absence must be accompanied by appropriate written documentation in advance of the requested absence.

Excused absences carry no penalty, but work for those days must be made up and submitted by arrangement with the instructor. Planned excused absences (athletics, etc.) should be brought to the instructor’s attention ahead of time so that any work due during the absence can be submitted before the absence. The one exception is Quizzes – missed quizzes may not be made up; quizzes during an excused absence will simply not be counted for that person’s grade calculation and will in no way affect the student’s grade.

All other absences are Unexcused by definition, and will be recorded as such. All work during unexcused absences is given a grade of zero & may not be made up.

For Monday/Wednesday/Friday (3 days per week) classes a total of 6 Unexcused absences are permitted without penalty. The 7^th Unexcused absence will result in the lowering of the student’s final course grade by one letter (A to B, B to C, etc.). Each successive Unexcused absence will result in the lowering of the student’s final grade by another letter (B to C, C to D, etc.).

For Tuesday/Thursday (two days per week) classes a total of 4 Unexcused absences are permitted without penalty. The 5^th Unexcused absence will result in the lowering of the student’s final course grade by one letter (A to B, B to C, etc.). Each successive Unexcused absence will result in the lowering of the student’s final grade by another letter (B to C, C to D, etc.).

For Evening (one nite per week) classes a total of 2 Unexcused absences are permitted without penalty. The 3^rd Unexcused absence will result in the lowering of the student’s final course grade by one letter (A to B, B to C, etc.). Each successive Unexcused absence will result in the lowering of the student’s final grade by another letter (B to C, C to D, etc.).

For Summer (five days per week for 4 weeks) classes a total of 2 Unexcused absences are permitted without penalty. The 3rd Unexcused absence will result in the lowering of the student’s final course grade by one letter (A to B, B to C, etc.). Each successive Unexcused absence will result in the lowering of the student’s final grade by another letter (B to C, C to D, etc.).