Attendance Policy
The University recognizes that regular attendance has a positive impact on a student’s success in his or her degree program of study. Students are expected to be in class for all regularly scheduled class periods and to report to class on time. The University posts attendance for each course every week to support academic success and properly administer financial aid. Absences of five days or more are correlated with increased risk of not finishing a course.
Academic participation includes attending scheduled classes and labs, engaging in the online environment, reading materials, working problems, using the library and other resources, viewing videos, and other academically related activities supporting learning as well as personal and professional developmental activities. The nature of the learning environment and the special needs of adult students require a revised definition of “present” if one of the following conditions applies:
- The student is physically in the classroom or lab.
- The student has participated in the learning environment including submitting an assignment, taken a knowledge check, or participated in a graded online discussion board.
Attendance for the doctoral symposia is defined as 100% attendance on each day throughout the facilitation. The only exception is for extreme cases or medical emergency.
Exceptions:
In an extreme case a student must submit in writing a request to the Vice Provost or designee to be excused from a portion of their symposium. The Vice Provost or designee must approve and forward to the appropriate department for recording. The excused absence CANNOT exceed 25% of the entire symposium. If the absence is over 25% of the entire symposium, the symposium will not count as one of the five required symposia.
Medical Cases:
In the case of a medical emergency that prevents the student from participating in the entire symposium, the student can be excused up to 50% of the symposia by the Vice Provost or designee. If the absence is over 50% of the entire symposium, the symposium will not count as one of the five required symposia.
Students should note that Healthcare programs may have more rigorous attendance requirements. Specific requirements can be found in the appropriate Health Sciences programmatic handbook.